Dandy and Dixie

Newest members of the family-Dandy the Horsette and Dixie the Dog

A Year Later...

I can't believe I let a year go by since my last blog! Twenty eight year old Bo foundered and was later euthanized due to a horrific colic. He left a huge hole in our hearts...he was a gentle giant who raised Jason through 4H, horse shows, summer horse camp, and lots of friendly games. We also lost his dear dog, Brogan, who lived 14 loving, devoted years. She was our angel dog (unlike devil dog Sweetie Pie).

We had great things happen too. Last summer, Dandy (our mini who looks like Honey I Shrunk Black Beauty) and Dixie (sweet, yellow lab pup with a fetish for chewing wires) joined our family. But best of all, I finally retired in November. Life is GOOD! It is so good that I didn't know what to do first. I went about having frantic fun with my newly found freedom. I am now getting a grip and having sane, organized fun, which lead me back to Playing with Fire (and now Dandy) with Parelli Natural Horsemanship. I've decided to go through Liberty and Horse Behavior and then return to Level 2. I started last week and am already learning SO MUCH. I've been riding Fire with a Parelli Hackamore when it cools off in the evenings. Dandy, who is morbidly obese from summer grass, is getting some much needed exercise while trotting behind. So far we have been doing the Passenger lesson in the pasture and Follow the Rail in the Parelli pen. I've been playing LOTS of friendly games for the last year!

Sweetie Pie

This is Sweetie Pie, the Hero Dog!

This is not about Parelli, but about how Sweetie Pie, my black lab, saved my life today. Animal communication works with more than horses!
I was reading in my hammock, which is strung between 2 oak trees that are surrounded by many plants that I recently added to my landscape. I was petting Sweetie Pie as I was reading. After about 15 minutes, she got up and started sniffing the bush next to us (about a foot away). I look to see what she was so curious about and saw a black snaky tongue flicking out of a mouth in the bushes. I jumped out of the hammock, ran around the tree to get Sweetie Pie out of harm's way, and dragged her to the house. I called to my husband, and he went to the bush with a gun and a stick. He poked around until he could see it (I was afraid it would bite him before he could shoot it), called out that it was a rattlesnake, and then promptly blew its head off. (Coincidentally, Sweetie Pie just got an anti-rattlesnake venom shot yesterday. I now highly recommend them for only $15!) I am so grateful that Sweetie Pie alerted me before anyone got bit!

The Friendly Game

Even though Fire and I have been practicing PNH for two years, I have not progressed as far as I had hoped. We got off to a good start and got through Level 1 in about 6 months. Fire is very intelligent and a quick learner. Initially, he is curious but frustrated when learning new things, until he finally gets what I am asking him to do. It is language issue. I am learning to speak horse and he is learning to speak human body language. Once he understands what I am asking him to do, he is willing to please and responds quickly. It is truly amazing how well you can communicate with your horse once the two of you develop an understanding.
I confess that I have not made much progress since December. My job consumes my life during the first 6 months of the year. I've spent a lot of time playing the Friendly Game at feeding time. That has really helped with our relationship, but I really need to get back to the program and learn more. I hope that this blog will motivate me to step it up. I have explored the beginning of Level 2 and the beginning of the Horse Behavior program. I am not sure which one to focus on first. The best thing is that I will be retiring at the end of October and will be able to spend LOTS of time playing with Fire!

What is Parelli Natural Horsemanship?

If you would like to know more about Parelli Natural Horsemanship, you can explore the website at www.parelli.com. Probably the most enlightening thing to do is to attend one of the tour events. Check the website for the details about the Parelli Tour in Jacksonville in October 2007. Another way to see the Pat and Linda in action is to watch the RFD channel (379) on Wednesday nights at 10:00. You will be amazed! And the best thing is IT WORKS!

Fire

Fire is a 22 year old roan chestnut 14.2 hand Arabian. He was born and bred at Plum Grove Arabian Farms in Ocala, Florida. He was donated to the Boys Ranch in Palatka and was sold soon afterwards. I bought him from a friend of a friend who bought Fire and his half-brother Rath when they were young and in poor condition. She turned them around, trained, and showed both of them. Fire had a successful show career at an early age. I was looking for a horse for trailriding because my childhood horse, Champ, was very old and needed to retire. Fire's owner warned me that he would probably not be a good trailriding horse. She took him trailriding whenever she wanted him to blow off steam, which created a lot of bad habits. I was so impressed by his intelligence and push button training that it was love at first sight, so I bought him anyway. Needless to say, he is definitely not the kind of horse that you can sit back and relax with as you are taking in the sights on a trail ride. He might have been a trail class champion, but in the woods he's what my farrier calls a "booger hunter". He's always looking for something scary! And if I thought he was a handful at 5 yrs. old, he has definitely worsened with age. The older I get, the more I think twice about hitting the trail.

Now that I've learned how to read my horse, thanks to time spent studying PNH, I realize that I have a hot-blooded horse with a big play drive. He is very confident and easily bored. I am learning to understand him and continually work on our relationship. I have seen a remarkable change now that I'm learning to speak "horse"!