To start with, I am SOOOOOOOOO incredibly excited about the new courses. I cannot stop thinking about our trip next year.
With Tucker still not feeling "right" I decided to take it realllllly easy for awhile and just build the relationship. He's such a sweetheart. We've been working on lots of little things that will make games and patterns so much easier. It's interesting when you have something you can't do, like riding, how you suddenly can come up with dozens of other possibilities. Our yoyo needed work on the waiting part, and touch it needed help, and so many other things that I didn't take the time to work on beause they seemed so small.
I was able to rub Rascal all over with a plastic bag on my carrotstick. I waved it around, and swished it over his back, and he did wonderfully. He was tense like a RBI for awhile, but was much much more confident within several minutes. I watched a parelli video yesterday when Pat said something that stood out to me that I've heard hudreds of times before. Rythm, relaxation, and retreat. hmm, lick and chew. No need for things to get wild in order to train a horse?? hehe. I like it.

Professional Pathway

Parelli has released their "pathways" for those interested in becoming a parelli professional. It makes it so easy to see where I'm headed, and what I need to do to get there. I'm excited to have that map! I'll be working this summer to finish my level 2 riding, and head into level 3. I'd like to at LEAST be self assessed online by next spring. But I think I may be able to audition some of it too.
I started thinking that Tuck probably took a good tumble on the hills out there. He came off butte last week and has been looking sore ever since. May take him out and stretch his legs and back today. Can't imagine what the fall must have looked like to get a bloody nose, fractured orbit bone, and achy body. Scares me a little bit.
I've been trying to do extreme friendly with Rascal. I feel it's just his next step. He does well with most of the games, and now that he's not afraid of the halter, carrot stick, string, sneezing, stretching, hand clapping, or brushes...we can start playing with other objects! hahahaha! I've heard people say, "whenever you're with a horse, you're training him". And Rascal has definitely shown me that. We're ALWAYS learning something, and crossing new thresholds. It's so important to me to make sure he gets some sort of contact everyday so people in general are "regular" to have around. He's a load of fun, and teaching me a lot.

Well, it was a lot of waiting for Tuckers eye to get better. It still looks...different. And now he's been limping on his front right. I guess he needed some time off. So I've been trying to get him to gain a little weight too.
I started liberty with Rascal. It went fairly well. We just practiced a bit of the first 3 games and catch me. I'm still suprised at how quickly he recovers now after something scares him. It used to be if I was the one who took him by suprise, he would stare at me a moment(like, "I cannot believe you just did that"), then explode. And it would be awhile before we could pick things back up. And he doesn't really explode anymore. He checks in with a quick "am I okay? am I okay?" and we're on to something else. So plunking our way along.
Pepper...still so strange to me. One minute he almost looks rideable, and I consider slipping a leg over. Then next I'm chasing him down the road. No joke. And that unpredictablity is why I'm not riding him yet. Had I never met this horse before I would have gotten on yesterday, but I knew better. Sigh. He's such a cute, clever little horse I would love to ride. Maybe we'll get there someday.

Of Vets and Pain Meds

I looked out the window yesterday and saw the boys being silly out in the pasture, I went to grab my camera to snap a few shots, when I noticed Tuckers eye seemed weird. As I approached closer to see, I realized not only was his eye nearly swollen shut, but his nose was bleeding!
He had looked like something really clobbered him in the head. I had a good horsey friend come out and have a look, and she recommended a vet if not better in the morning. So I cleaned up his nose, and left him in the roundpen for the night.
This morning his nose was bleeding again, and his eye didn't look any better...so time to start seaching for a vet. What a task! To find someone you feel is trustworthy of poking and pulling your dear four legged friend. We really lucked out when we lived in Cool with an awesome vet whom I trusted with my horses life.
We eventually found someone willing to make an emergency call. He said Tucker may have even fractured the bone that goes over his eye! What the heck happend to my horse!? He said it didn't seem like we needed x-rays, and loaded us up on pain meds, The bleeding was from his sinuses, which should clear up in a couple days.
So Tucker boy will have about a week or two just getting better. Poor guy...
If anything Mr.Vet was impressed with how well he took his shots! hehe

Today I got Liberty patterns and a natural hackamore! I loooooooove liberty. It feels great to put in all that hard work, then be able to take off all the ropes, and STILL have your horse asking you all kinds of questions, "What now? Circle? Sideways to that barrel over there? Or just hang out?" I love having a conversation and communication with my horses. I've really noticed how much they appreciate knowing what's expected of them, kind of eliminates the pressure. Both right brain and left brain, in any savvy. And I feel confident knowing what they expect of me, feels like it takes away the direct line thinking.
The hackamore is wonderful. It has such a great feel to it. Tucker hates the snaffle, and while we're working on bridle savvy, it's great to have a little more clear communication down the reins rather than just a halter and lead rope. I see him getting bored in the round pen when we ride. While I've advanced into the levels on the ground, I found I still have some old habits to break in the saddle. My mind draws a blank sometimes, and I need to be more interesting. No more circle circle circle. Break out the toys!
I also started Tuck on a new diet...in reverse. I hope to help him gain weight. So we'll see how it goes. I'm really excited to have found a natural way of adding calories to thin boy's feed!