Monday, October 31, 2011

Monday Morning Surprise

When I got to the stable this morning I had to find out that our horses have switched pasture with the 3 horses going next to their pasture. Half of the fence was down of course.
Milva, Paulina, Orkan and Annabelle were happily standing in Wolfgang´s, Untan´s and Pinglan´s stable eating hay with a satisfied face expression.
The three other horses plus Tinka were standing in our stable and looking equaly satisfied. Tinka was the only horse that hasn´t switched pasture - daaah.
I had to get Malin for help. When we switched the three horses to another pasture to put ours back, Pinglan the pony decided to run straight through the fence and took the two other ones with her. Off they went bucking and galopping around the big field. With some oats we got them back and put them once again in a different pasture.
The fences are fixed again and everything is back to normal.

Sunday, October 30, 2011

Parelli October Shipment




October DVD:
"Million Transitions - On Line"
In this Savvy Lesson, we will explore the importance of a Million Transitions - On Line. You will learn the importance of the Yo-Yo Game when asking for a transition, setting you up for success in the saddle. Linda's horse Hot Jazz, a Right-Brain Introvert in his early development, shows Level 1/2 techniques and Sapphire, Amy's rescued Left-Brain Extrovert Eventing horse, shares Level 3/4 lessons to increase your savvy.

Mastery Lesson:
Linda's Lesson - Coaching in the Canter
Pat's Lesson - Santana FreeStyle

Audio CD:
"So Natural: Information and Inspiration"

In this interview with Neil Pye, Pat gives us an update on his son Caton's cutting competitions with his new horse, Bolero. Caton's experience with Bolero really reinforces that "riders teach horses, and horses teach riders." Later, Pat discusses the importance of finding a horse that you can develop a true partnership with. Pat also looks back on the Colt Starting event in Fort Worth, where his dream of creating a more "seductive" presentation for the colts was realized. He also looks back on the Wild Horse Taming Naturally event in Reno, emphasizing how well the group of young Parelli Professionals worked together. Finally, Pat gives us an update on his Lusitano stallion, Santana.

Spiritual Week



Lots of Aha-moments this week - with Milva and in other areas as well.
Our liberty sessions have come a long way this past week. We have refined our online sessions and are well playing in level 4 now.
Our level 3 journey is more of spiritual journey as well. I have found out lots about myself and still continue to do so. One of the discoveries I made is that I know way more about horses than I give myself credit for. Shawn always says that anyway, specially with the amount of theory books I read all the time. But I think I´m more of a Milva person than a horseperson.
I helped to take in the foals last week. The person who was supposed to do it had real troubles with it and must have been kind of desperate to turn to me. I made a clear statement that if we do it my way it will take time, if there are any signs of impatience or agression shown I quit. I waited for a response but there wasn´t any - just a surprised face. Needless to say that the foals are passing the scarry gate now without any hesitations and troublefree.
I asked the old farmer if there is any possibility to do something about all the mud around the feeding bathtubes. I was thinking about the winter approaching and all those big hoofprints freezing. Well, it kept the farmer busy all weekend. He jumped right on my project and created 5 feedingstations with big stoneplates and gravel. So if the horses now only would decide to actually stand on the plates when they eat their hay they would pretty much keep their feed try.

Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Hump Day Play




Middle of the week already. Where does the time go?
We played online and at liberty again. Playing with the differences between engaging hindquarters, change of direction and draw towards me.
Maintaining gate on the circle and shoulders in on a circle in walk. Milva is such a smarty pie and has it all figured out already.
She shows a bit of an attidude on the figure 8s pattern at liberty but I don´t worry too much about it right now, she looks cute in her dragon face as well. And maybe she thinks it´s appropiate with Halloween coming soon...

Tuesday, October 25, 2011

Rock Star Pony!


“The only courage you ever need is the courage to live your heart’s desire.” - Oprah Winfrey

Milva totally rocks! Smarter pony you have to look for!
Yesterday I wrote that we have a long way to go with our liberty figure 8s. Well, never mind.
We did them in the open ridinghouse - I didn´t put up a round corral today.
Of course after the first time I had to re-check if it wasn´t just a coinsidence and I still couldn´t believe it after the second time but then after the third time I got my senses together and quit. Awesome pony!!
We also played with maintaining gait on the circling game, change of direction, draw towards me and hill therapy.
I think we could tape our liberty audition any time now. Just need to coordinate everything with borrowing a car and trailer again *sigh*.

Follow Up Post aka "Last Will"

After lots of consideration I decided to follow up on my last post.
The reason why I decided for it is quick explained - what happens to your horse - or your animals for that matter, if you die tomorrow??
Ever thought about it? Did you make a last will considering your pets?
It´s tuff to think about it, isn´t it?
The topic "death" is very much tabu in our society. But you know as much as I do that it could happen tomorrow.
As many of you know, I work as a reg.nurse in a hospice. Patients that come to our hospital have only little time left. They come to our place because they applied for it and they are all very much aware of what´s going to happen to them.
As macabre as it sounds - I totally love my job. I know I´m an excellent nurse - professional and caring at the same time. I never take my work with me home - or I should say, usually I don´t. It sure makes it easier that I work in Denmark and live in Sweden too.
Anyway, last week we got a new patient. An old, very sweet lady who moved in wearing her stable shoes - still with horsepoop on it, stable clothes - were horses left slubbery kisses on it and lots of plastic bags coming from various tack shops. But not in her right senses anymore - or at least not all the time.
To make the story short - it´s way more complex that I can explain here. The lady is very wealthy, lived on a huge farm from 1745, no family or relatives left but some gold diggers in her baggage since september. 3 horses left on the farm, danish warmbloods under 10 years old and totally healthy. No one knew what to do with them, who feeds them or cares about them.
Good thing I can be so tremendous stubborn, unbelievable persistant and convincing and yes, ok I admit it - maybe a tiny little bit manipulative.
Fast forward the horses are save - it was close to were they were supposed to be put down. But now they are allowed to spend the rest of their life in a retirement home for horses on a danish island. Thanks to some good friends who knew the old lady from before when she still was a well known breeder. How life goes sometimes....
Another result of this story is that several collegues wrote their last will according to their pets - I sure hope they are gonna live a long and prosperous life otherwise I might be forced to open a zoo.

Monday, October 24, 2011

Autumn Holiday


(picture from Michelle´s blog)

Gotta love Denmark for 6 weeks of paid vacation :).
I had a couple of stressful days at work last week. I try to avoid the word "stress" - thinking, if I don´t use it, it doesn´t exist. But that didn´t work out last week. I might write about it a bit later because it includes horses.
On a happier note - I had a super fun liberty session with the munsch. You just gotta love her! She made me laugh a lot today, she always does but today was extreme. Wish I would have brought my tripod and the camera.
I started to play at liberty and she put her own show together. I just stood there and watched and she was awesome! I really would like to know what she is thinking when she does all that by herself. By all that I mean, backing up, spinning - it actually was real spinning today - going fast, sideways, laying down. And when she does all that she is always keeping an eye on me to check if I´m looking. Such a clown!
I also did a bit of hill therapy to build up muscles and we played with change of direction and draw towards me online.
I finished out session with figure 8s at liberty. We still have a long way to go when it comes to that but we are getting there.

Thursday, October 20, 2011

Ferrier Time :0)



“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.”

Mark Twain (1835-1910


Still very busy here. On the good note - I caught up with all my studies and our liberty is coming along.
Spent all morning in the stable. After mucking out all three turn out stables, feeding, filling up all the watertubs, getting and preparing 3 horses for the ferrier I finally had time to play a bit with Milva and then it was Milva´s turn to get her hooves trimmed.
This was our first time with the new ferrier - a young kid who has been going as an apprentice with the old ferrier. Both of them always come every second thursday to our stable to shoe and trim. Very convenient.
Soooo Milva had met our new ferrier two weeks ago for a meet and greet and to see if she would try to kill him immediately or at least give him a change. The last two years she always got sedated by our last ferrier/veterinary because Milva simply hated her. Sometimes it can be funny to have an opinionated horse and sometimes less funny.
Anyway, two weeks ago our new ferrier came to the point where he was allowed to touch Milva - she still made big eyes though and you could see the white in her eyes, steam coming out of her nostrils, but at least he was allowed to touch her and after a while he was allowed to look at all four hooves.
I was still pretty nervous today though but everything went fine. Well first he wasn´t allowed to come close again but then he turned around and waited and after a while Milva changed her mind about him and everything was ok. The trimming went pretty fast and she stood completely still, didn´t move one inch, good girl.
If it wouldn´t have worked today I would have started to trim her myself because of course I have never any problems with her hooves.
Must be her Trakeherblood coming out I guess.

Saturday, October 15, 2011

Goals!


“Goals are a means to an end, not the ultimate purpose of our lives. They are simply a tool to concentrate our focus and move us in a direction. The only reason we really pursue goals is to cause ourselves to expand and grow. Achieving goals by themselves will never make us happy in the long term; it’s who you become, as you overcome the obstacles necessary to achieve your goals, that can give you the deepest and most long-lasting sense of fulfillment.”

~Tony Robbins~


Spending two relaxing hours in the stable this afternoon. I fed the horses quickly this morning and did the stable chores.
When I came back this afternoon the stable was full with people, jumping training in the ridinghouse and the dressage paddock was busy as well and so was the big sandpaddock. I chose to just relax with Milva, laying in the hayball - yeah, it´s back, taning my face in the sun and reading some literature for my studies. Jezzz, what was I thinking when I started those courses. I´m already behind with my assignments but will catch up soon - or so I hope.

My Favourite Pic :)


Milva in a nutshell :).
Yesterday we had the first time frost on the cars in the morning. Winter is on it´s way and I´m not sure if I should be thrilled about it or not.
Our liberty sessions in the morning are improving. Figure 8s are still a bit challenging but I have the tools to fix it now. Milva is such a quick thinker and learner which means I have to become quicker too - way more quicker. It really shows at liberty. Well, liberty is the truth right.
As soon as I slow down she starts with her own show and is going through the whole reportoire. There is no stopping her. It´s pretty entertaining to watch her though.

Thursday, October 13, 2011

Liberty Fun


I was at the stable at 6 a.m this morning cause I couldn´t sleep anymore. I had those fantastic ideas for my liberty audition and couldn´t wait to try it out. I can send Milva sideways over the barrels at liberty :), spins are working perfect and so does sideways towards me, backing up from z5 - 15 steps, laying down was really quick today as well.
The only thing that´s not working right now is figure 8s but I think it has more to do with that she doesn´t undestand what I mean and gets all confused and then angry. Instead of figure 8s she is making up her own stories and is offering everything else. I think I know now what I did wrong though - thanks to Billy´s mum who wrote a very good post in her blog. Can´t wait to try it this afternoon.

Wednesday, October 12, 2011

Hug Your Horses Today!


After a long day in Denmark - work related course, I spent 2 hours of udt with Milva this evening. I experimented a little bit with liberty on monday and I´m gonna start my program tomorrow morning. It´s going to be early mornings for me now. I´m planing on being in the stable at 7 a.m and play with Milva before feeding breakfast, like I did before my online audition. Usually no one else is at the stable that early so I should be able to built up a round coral in the ridinghouse without bothering anyone else.
I don´t know how many of you are reading Andrea´s blog http://eventing-a-gogo.blogspot.com/
My thoughts and prayers are with Andrea.
Rest In Peace beautiful Gogo!

Monday, October 10, 2011

Much To Do So Little Time


I´ve started today to play at liberty. I´ve made a plan and hope to film my level 3 audition in september - with the help of my little support team. Sure hope they don´t get tired of my anytime soon.
I´m planing on building up a round corral in the ridinghouse using the post of the jumps which involves lots of carrying around and building up.
Lots to do at work as well and another work related course on wednesday. I also started to read 3 distance courses at the university to upgrade my nursing degree. Kind of wonder what I was thinking when I signed up for it though. Time, time, time...

Wednesday, October 5, 2011

Parelli Celebration Of Horsenality 2011 Dvd


Parelli UK Celebration 2011 DVD


In April 2011, more than 6,000 horse lovers traveled to a lively, fun-filled and thought-provoking Parelli Celebration at the LG Arena,Birmingham.

Now you too can share in the excitement of this revolutionary event!

Delving deep into the life-changing concepts of horse- and human-personality profiling, this educational and entertaining documentary will change the way you look at your horse – and yourself - forever.

Stepping into the spotlight, Linda Parelli explains her pioneering work in developing a model for horse personality typing that allows everyone, from novice horse enthusiasts to Olympic riders, to better understand the motivations of their particular horse. Putting the model to work, both Pat and Linda showcase a variety of challenging training issues with horses of divergent Horsenality types. Along the way, they show owners how to master their own Humanality habits for improved success in and out of the saddle.

With guest appearances by top Parelli Instructors Wally Gegenschatz, Silke Vallentin and Mikey Wanzenreid, you’ll be wowed and inspired by all that can be accomplished with your equine partner when you have the tools, knowledge and heart for success.


Sections include:

•How Horsenality was Developed
•How to Decode Horsenality Through Observation
•How Your Humanality Affects Your Horse
•How to Be Provocative with Extroverts
•How to Match and Mirror Introverts
•Training Secrets with Pat
•Magic’s Retirement Performance
•Savvy Team Spotlights
•Special Bonus Footage

Runtime: 189 minutes



I ordered the dvd on monday and it arrived today - wednesday :)). On the homepage it stated sold out so I had to call Jenny from the Uk office who fixed the problem.
This dvd is definitely one of my favourites!! Wonderfully made and the magical atmosphere got captured well.
I did have a little debate about the shipping cost with myself though and almost did not order it - 25€ for shipping is way overpriced I think.
Unfortunately it´s hard to reason with myself if I´ve set my mind on something - so I got it anyway.
Think I gonna watch it a second time now....

Parelli Scorecard


Marion, great distance on your Circle Pattern! Keep playing to get a stronger "maintain gait" and contact on the circle. Savvy on!
Assessed by: Ashley Tippetts

Tuesday, October 4, 2011

Passed My Level 3 Online With 3+ - :)))) - IIIIEEEHHHHHH

http://youtu.be/0Zblb9bQ3Fk

Canonball Milva


I have to admit I´m not getting much done right now - not with Milva anyway.
I´m feeding the horses in the morning, mucking out, scratching Milva a little bit and that´s pretty much it.
I´m trying to sharpen up though and start playing again.

Sunday, October 2, 2011

Milva The Modell


Frida, the mum of sweet little Annabelle, took this awesome picture of Milva. Frida is only 14 years old but sure has talent. Totally love this picture of my little pony!
I´m gonna show Frida a little bit of Parelli on wednesday and she also offered me to ride Annabelle, which is super nice of her and I´m looking forward to it!

Saturday, October 1, 2011

Orkan Is Back Home!



Poor son-in-law got kicked by Annabell (I guess) and had to spend a few days in the hospital. He came home yesterday but has to have boxrest for another week. Now he lives next to our turnoutstable, in Unta´s stable who got closed off. Seems to work fine so far.
Otherwise it was a crazy busy week. Susana and Manu arrived here today - their plan couldn´t land in Göteborg yesterday because of the fog so they got stranded in Stockholm, which is 600km away. We were up in Göteborg to pick them up - 300km away but had to leave without them. Poor them had to take a train down this morning. Crazy! Manu had to teach at the clinic all day and Susana and I took it easy with lots of coffe, cakes and good food and a visit to Milva of course.