Books About Trakehner

Hans Graf von Lehndorff
Menschen, Pferde, weites Land
Das Leben unter liebenswerten, teils auch skurrilen Menschen, der tägliche Umgang mit den Pferden, das naturverbundene Aufwachsen in diesem weiten Land: Graf Lehndorff lässt aus der Erinnerung eine unwiederbringlich verlorene Welt noch einmal vor uns entstehen. Die Aufzeichnungen handeln von der Zeit zwischen dem Ersten Weltkrieg und dem Beginn der dreißiger Jahre und schildern ein Stück Vergangenheit im Osten des Deutschen Reiches.
Wonderful book about Eastprussia, Trakehnen and their magnific horses. I´m not sure if there are any translated version into english though.

Taking It Easy

It was super fun to meet Ulrika. Yesterday we played a little bit with Milva. I had to show off our backing up from z5 and sideways at liberty. Milva is such an entertainer. At one point she walked off but stopped after 5 meters. You could see her thinking....and then started to back up towards me. Too funny! Well, I guess it´s dominant behaviour but netherless funny.
Later on in the evening we drove up to Halmstad to visit Sofie and Josefin. Too much fun again! It sure feels good to hang out with Parelli people!
Today I just gave the horses some hay, cuddled Milva, Mandrake and MissTik for a bit and drove home again.
Pooped after the hospitalvisit.
Surgery is going to be in 2 weeks. 2 more weeks of watching Parelli dvd´s :).

Waiting For A Savvysister To Arrive

Supper is prepared and I´m sitting on the couch with a hot cup of tea and a swedish teacake and waiting for Ulrike and her two dogs to arrive. She is going to stay until thursday morning and I´m looking forward to a horseyday tomorrow which includes a visit to another savvysiser - PanterSofie, like Elisabeth calls her.
Isn´t Parelli amazing? Bringing all those people around the world together which without Parelli I would have never met.
Now I just wonder what our two cats are going to say when they meet the two dogs. Molly is probably going to hide which she always does when new people arrive - or I should say when visitors come, it doesn´t really matter who it is. Hoodlum probably won´t care at all and just think it´s fun.
I haven´t done anything with Milva today either. Just spent some udt with her. Maybe some play tomorrow.

The Art Of Not Doing Anything

Mila and I have mastered it pretty well. I took her out to the big field again yesterday and let her do her own thing. On the way down there I played stick to me and look how far she would follow me without me touching her leadrope. She did follow me all the way down to the big field but after getting there she wasn´t intrested in me and my little games anymore ;) - gras, lots of gras....

Budweiser 9-11 Tribute

"When You Take Off The Halter And Lead, There´s Nothing Left But The Truth" Pat Parelli

Milva and I had a super fun playsession at liberty today. We started with stick to me over a cavaletti in trott and canter. She put so much effort in it that she actually jumped over it and afterwards bucked away. I disengaged her and she came trotting towards me again. Gotta love my little pony!!!
Then we did circling. I got one circle very close around me but then she had enough and wondered off "can´t hear you, don´t see ya" typ of thing. She walked straight to the ridinghousewall and sniffed it. The wall was probably 8m away from me. I gave her the sign to back up to me and shazam - she backed straight up towards me!
I have to figure out a way though to make the circling game more intresting so she stays connected to me.
We also did some figure 8s at liberty. First with stick to me and then I was sending her. I got it perfect the first time but after that everytime she came around the cone she came sidewards towards me instead of changing direction. Argh.
Maybe instead of taking a step backwards I should just engage her hindquarters and send her off again. I think she thinks me going backwards means coming sideways towards me unless I´m behind her.
You can see it in her face that she is trying so hard to understand me and getting all angry when I screw it up.
New try tomorrow.

Somewhere There Is Grim Reaper Without A Syth

Busy saturday. I cut the gras around the pasture so it wouldn´t touch the electric fence anymore and making this annoying "click" noise. Well, I cut a quarter of it then I could feel my kidneystones moving which was the sign to take it easier again and do something else. Which I did - fixing the fencing around our pasture before the autumnstorms start again. I would love to get the fencing changed that goes down from the stable. It´s more or less batched together and it´s not safe at all nor does it look good. Just don´t know how to bring it on to Malin yet.
While I cut the grass Milva was loose on the big field and doing her thing, which included eating alots. Later she helped me to fix the fencing - or was in the way.
In the evening we went down to Landskrona to Michael´s 30th birthday. Sonja and Paul have been doing the cooking - Indian food. We got to bring home alots of leftovers cause they were cooking for a 100 people but we actually were just 25. So now I´m wating for lunchtime to eat the delicious food and for supper to eat more of it. Love Indian food - especially when it´s cooked by Paul & Sonja!

BRRRRRR

Where did the Indiansummer go? And what happened with those long swedish summernights? Now it´s already dark at 8.00pm - brrrrr.
I followed with Patricia & Tinka to the veterinary today. Tinka is going to be fine and allowed back out to the turnout in about 2 weeks :). What a trooper she was today! She is just 4 but was super well behaved. She went straight on the trailer and no fuss at the veterinary. Even when they x-rayed her she didn´t care.
The veterinary clinic was small but cosy. I loved those stonebuildings they were in!
More trailerloading with Milva. Today in Anita´s trailer. I have to say I like that trailer much more than the other one. It´s way smoother and easier to handle than the big Boj-trailer. And it is much lighter inside and the ramp was more stabil as well. Milva walked straight up to her oatbucket and munched her snack up on the trailer. She did come down a few times to check out the other horses in the pasture but was overall more confident with staying on the trailer today. I´m pretty proud of her I have to say.
We also played a little bit online while Patricia watched us. Yoyo is working again - most of the time anyway. Transitions on the circle are getting better as well. It just seems to be that I speak a different language when she is going to the left cause somehow she doesn´t understand what the whoahand means then. Hmmm...how intressting. Better make sure I don´t do anything different in my body.
Change of directions were going nice as well today.
Canter on the 45-foot line with no bucking and she started to canter only using phase 1. Well the first two times anyway when I asked her the third time she had enough. My fault, silly me, what was I thinking?? Cantering twice is really more than enough in the beginning. Point taken Milva :).
I went back to the stable again in the evening to let her graze on the hand again. Lots and lots of udt.

Play At Liberty

Milva and I did some liberty today - stick to me, change of direction, yoyo and walk-stop transitions.
We haven´t done much liberty lately but I will put it into our daily play now cause it´s so much fun! I haven´t decided yet if I should use the roundpen for the liberty audition or make a little roundpen in the ridinghouse.
No trailerloading today cause it´s was a stormy day once again.
I did watch the level 4 online dvd from the new levels program today. So much information! I started to make notes while watching the dvds.
Tomorrow I´m going to follow Patrica and Tinka to the veterinary clinic to check out Tinka´s leg. Hopefully it´s nothing serious!

More Trailerloading & Circling

Another busy day - or as busy as you can be with a kidneystone.
As always I started with grazing Milva for one hour while talking to Sofie (Pantersofie) on the phone. She gave me some clearity about the level 3 online audition which she just passed.
I already have a plan in my head how our program is going to look like.
More trailerloading again. Milva put all four feet on the ramp - all by herself. I didn´t even ask her to do it.
Helene trailerloaded Dupont. Dupont is a swedish warmblood and a year older than Milva is. It was not a big deal for him either. He just went straight on the ramp but did get a bit worried while inside the trailer.
After the trailerloading I did some online with Milva. Nice canter departure today without bucking.
She did ignore my whoahand today though. I had to remind her what it ment. And she also forgot about change of direction - what change of direction?? You clearly must mean that I come towards you so we can cuddle! Oh, and btw lets forget about that stupid circling game and lets scratch each other instead - or sleep.
And yoyo game was like a foreign language to her too today. Instead she offered the compliment and sideways towards me. I´m just glad I haven´t thought her yet to lay down. And on a second thought I think I will not teach her to do that before we have established our riding. I already can picture her laying down all the time - with or without the saddle on.
She becomes very inventive when it comes to not doing the circling game ;).
It´s hilarious and she makes me laugh alot.

Trailerloading & Online & Liberty

Our online session was a bit of bla, bla, bla today.
Weave patterns in trott are improving. I could use more of the 45-foot rope.
Cicling game was a big bla, bla, bla. Lots of bucking in the left lead canter in the beginning. I just ignored it and let her do her thing. She was flying and leaping around for a few rounds. I think she just needed to get it out of her system. When she was done she came in to me with a face, ok, now I´m able to concentrate a bit more ;).
So we started again. This time the cantertransission was smooth. I let her canter for half a circle and asked her in again. Same on the left lead - nice and smooth canter.
Then we had a little break and went grazing. Then we did squeezegame over the cavaletti again. First in walk and trott and then in canter where she jumped again. This time we did it in both direction.
I gave her a little break in the pasture after our online session and in the meantime I put the trailer on Yosemite Sam. I´m glad I didn´t buy a new car yet cause once again I managed to back into the trailer. But Sam has already so many scratches so one more or less really doesn´t matter anymore. I might as well keep him some time longer until I´m able to put a trailer on the car without backing in to it ;).
Trailerloading was not a big thing. For todays session I wanted to achieve that she is putting her frontlegs on the ramp and she did that as soon as we got there.
Such a good girl!
Helene watched me for a while and we started talking about Parelli again. I told her that I would trailerload Milva for 7 days in a row now so she asked me if she could join me with Dupont tomorrow. Awesome!
Lead by example, ey?

More Play With The 45-foot Rope

The swallows are leaving for the south soon. End of summer.
We had a wonderful Indiansummer day here today. I spent all afternoon in the stable playing with Milva.
She was coming in full gallop towards me again when I called her - talking all the way. Too cute!
I always start our time together with grazing. I think it´s a good way to do it like that - and a polite way. While doing that I check on which side of the pasture she woke up that day and according to her moode I plan our playsession. I do have kind of a plan what I would like to do when I go to the stable but in the end it´s Milva who decides what we are going to do.
Today we started our playsession on the 45-foot rope again. First I yoyo-ed her in to the ridinghouse, using as much rope as possible. She knows exactly what to do and I almost don´t have to wiggle my finger. Then we started playing with the weave patterns again. I haven´t done that for a while but it´s going to be required for level 3 online. We did the weavepatterns first in walk and then in trott. Then we did sidewards away and towards me. Sideways is really easy for her and so is backing up from z5.
Our figure 8´s were not that good today. Change of direction is not the problem but she likes to cut the corner around the cones - I have to work on my focus when doing them.
Milva choose to start the circling game on the right lead today. Because that´s her bad side I let her do that. When I asked her to trott she started to canter after a while - by her own!! No bucking involved. I let her canter for a round and asked her then to trott by switching the carrotstick to the whoa hand - and it worked!! Yeah!!
After giving me one more circle in trott I asked her in and then we took a little break and went grazing again - she deserved that big times!
After the break we played the squeeze game over a cavaletti in walk and trott and in canter - which made her to jump it for the first time!
The last time I tried to jump her she took the whole cavalleti with her and stumbled over it. She just didn´t know how to jump until today. I disengaged her after the jump to make a squeezegame out of it and rewarded her big times.
Another little break with grazing time and then more circling game on the left lead with canter. On the first ask she bucked again, but not much and I think I asked her with too much energy. Second try was much smoother and no bucking so I stopped our playsession right there.
More grazingtime with Patricia and Tinka afterwards talking Parelli :).

Million Transitions

After watching a Savvy club dvd this morning I realized that it´s high time to get more creative with the circling game. Of course we have been doing traveling circles, circles with obstacles, cloverleaf, S-patterns, falling leaf, figure 8s and change of direction...
Hm, ok maybe we have been creative after all BUT what I never asked Milva to do before was transitions on the circle. Yeah, transitions up but not down. Our trotting and cantering circles usually end with me engaging her hindquarters and her coming towards me in whatever gate she was in.
I started of walking next to her and switching the carrotstick from the go-hand to the whoa-hand making my ssss-sound for stopping and rewarding her. On the second try I just had to switch the carrotstick and she stopped. She is so super clever.
After that I sent her out in a circle and did the same thing there. First walk - stop - walk transitions and then walk - trot - walk transitions. All that by just switching the carrotstick from one hand to another - not wiggling the rope once.
She was a bit unsure about the trot - walk transitions and stoped in the begining but with a little tongueclick she understood what I ment.
She was putting a very concentrated face on while doing those transitions. Too funny.
A million transitions definitely works for motivating a lbi.
I wanted to finish our day with taking a walk around the pastures but realized quickly that I couldn´t walk that far so instead we did some travelling circles in trot on the big field and went grazing again.

May I Introduce One Of My Mentors - Mark Lemke

I met Mark in the winter of 2005 at Petawawa´s annual Christmas market. Shawn and I went there for inspiration and to look at all that wonderful craftmanship.
Inspiration I truly found - in a different way than I was looking for and way more than I could ever imagine.
I guess you could say that was the birth of my Parelli journey.
I had heard about Parelli before but I guess I was just not ready for it. Like the quote says, "When the student is ready the teacher will appear".
Back to the Christmas market. Mark offered candlelight holders made out of horseshoes and everything horserelated I had to check out of course. On his displaytable he also had a Savvy magazine. While Shawn started to talk to Mark I frantically stared at that magazine and wondered what the heck SAVVY means. Of course I missed the whole conversation and was kind of baffled when I noticed both guys looking at me.
"Ha?"- was my typical response to their faces. Shawn explained that Mark had a bunch of horses and that he had told him that I was a rider. I don´t recall much of the rest of the conversation, only that Mark had invited me out to his farm to come riding.
Horses!! By that time I had been without horses for a year due to my move to Canada. I had sold Tjelver in Sweden befor my move and the man I was leaving Sweden and my horse for - my ex-fiance (I guess that´s the closest thing to marriage I ever was and will be), showed no interest in horses and wasn´t very supportive for my passion either. Living on a military base didn´t make my wish for another equine partner easier. I don´t think it would have been appropiate to have a horse in the PMQ´s.
Anyway, with Shawn the horses came back into my life. He arranged with Mark that I would come out on sunday to look at his horses.
There it was - in front of my nose, the opportunity I had been dreaming of in months - to touch and smell horses again!
Sunday came and Shawn drove me out to Mark´s farm. It was another cold winterday with alots of snow. Mark introduced me to his herd. I think it must have been around 12 horses back then. The first thing he explained to us was that the pasture is the horses home so he is not just entering it but knocking on their door instead and asking for permission to enter their home. Then he started to talk about Pat Parelli and his principles and their homeschooling program and their levels.
The more he explained the more I felt like home.
After talking and discussing for a while Mark must have found that we were on the same page and he offered me to ride any of his horses. I didn´t wear any appropiate ridingclothes nor any suitable clothes for being outside in the cold, -20 we are talking about, for several hours. But I didn´t had time to care about such small things cause I was going to ride.
Shawn left and I started to ride...after Mark had explained the 7 games to me. That day I rode 4 horses. When Shawn picked me up that evening I wouldn´t stop talking about Mark and his horses.
That winter I learned alot about Natural Horsemanship, about Parelli and about people who do Parelli. I spent alot of hours at Mark´s farm asking him questions - and he was never tired answering them but at the same time encouraging me to solve the puzzle. We had alot of discussions, watched many Savvy Club dvd´s, rode alot of trailrides in the snow by -25, played alot with his horses and drank alot of tea.
Another significant experience for me was meeting all the other Parellipeople. Coming from the competetive, english dressageriding world I wasn´t used to so much camraderie between horsepeople. It truly felt like being accepted in one big family.

Super Fun Playsession!

I totally love the 45´rope and so does Milva. Today I skipped the 22´rope and started with the 45. For a warm up we did follow the rail, first with one rein and then I used the 45 as longreins. I wish I would be able to run so I could do some walk-trott transitions but it is impossible right now. Well, only 2 more weeks and then the kidneystone nightmare should be over.
After longreining we did some figure 8s in walk and trott. I used as much rope as possible, speak I was on the end of the 45´ and I put a big distance between the cones. It worked perfectly and she changed direction nicely and walked for most of the times around the cones. I noticed when I put my focus farther behind the cones she walks around it but if I focus on the cone she often stops at the cone or cuts the corner. Intressting! In trott I have to get better and quicker with my ropehandling. Somehow the 45´seems to be longer in trott and Milva got it between her legs more than one time. I´m just glad she is so used to that and doesn´t freak out about it. Often she stops by herself out in the circle and looks at me with a face - again?
We also did some travelling circles in trott and canter. Canter, yes! On both leads :)! She did buck a bit when I asked her to canter the first time but it was nothing compare to last weekend.
Ulrike reminded me to change direction when she is trying to come towards me without asking a question. After doing that a few times the problem was solved.
For travelling circles I used the whole ridinghouse. By doing that I gave her somewhere to go and therefor it was more meaningful to her than just going around in circles.
Now we have to work on being neutral while she is maintaining the canter. But I will wait with that a few more days until she is more used to the canter.

What A Difference A Day Makes

Moll-Poll sitting in the dill, and we always wondered why it was doing so bad.
"Fika" with Sandra, Patricia and Sofie (Panter-Sofie)
Quick update on our cantering experience. It´s all good. Panter-Sofie was coming down for a visit today and I showed her Milva´s cantering tantrum.
Today it was definitely not rb and she didn´t buck very much at all. It was more little happy bucks and everything was under controll and on the second try no bucks at all so I quit there. She also starts cantering by just pointing and a little tongueclick. Gotta love my little pony.
Pretty happy with today´s session.
We just got home from the movies - watched Inception and loved it. Finally a good movie again. Off to bed now. Good night everyone!

Flying Dragon Milva

pictures are taken in our new dressage ring 20m x 60m
Cantering online is a whole new experience for my little girl. The only time she cantered so far was in the pasture and my guess is that it´s not cantering more galopping like maniacs with her pasturebodies.
I tried cantering a few times before but it always ended with her flying a few meters above me and pulling the 22 foot rope out of my hands.
So this weekend I did alots of friendly game with the 45 foot rope. Got her used to walk on the end of the rope in big circles - which is kind of hard for her because she loves being close to me and sometimes she looses her confidence being so far away from me.
But after a while it worked out fine so we started to do some change of direction. I then asked her to trott. The first rounds of trotting are more like a jog. It looks super comfortable and I know some people don´t agree with me but I love it when she trotts so slow and you shouldn´t ask a lbi in the beginning to go faster anyway until they are more motivated and offer it.
And right she did offer a "real" trott after a few rounds. I just can say "Oh my goodness what movements!" I think it´s easier for her to trott on the 45 foot line cause she has such big steps in trott - it looks like she is floating over the ground.
So because everything was working out fine I asked her to canter and flying dragonmilva was back. Who could have thought that a lbi is putting so much effort in bucking and flying above the ground. I have to get that on camera as well otherwise no one believes me. I can say so much - those bucks are impossible to sit and as it looks right now I won´t be cantering her under the saddle for quite a while.
On saturday I just waited for her to finish - usually it ends with her bucking towards me and stopping in front of me, but still looking relaxed and happy. I asked her to canter again and did get 4 laps of kind of a calm canter on the left lead. There were still some bucks involved - mostly in front of me, but they were not very high and nothing in compare to those from before. The bucks in the beginning were for sure a few meters above the ground. First she is jumping with all four legs up in the air and then she starts bucking - while she is up in the air.
On the right lead I just get a few steps of canter but that´s ok in the beginning. I know that the right lead is harder for her.
On sunday I blew her up. It was the same circusshow she put on again. Leaping and flying around. So I thought - you wanna run, let me help you with that. But now afterwards I can see that wasn´t such a good idea after all. I blew her up completely. She got very right brain and putting more pressure on her didn´t work at all. I don´t know if I should have waited longer or put even more pressure on her?
So what I did was asking her in and she came flying right up to me. Standing next to me, the head high and tensed and you could see the white around her eyes - very rb, I thought. The nice thing was though that she was standing next to me and didn´t want to leave. So I waited until she calmed down and started to sigh and lick her lips. I reassured her that everything was fine, asked her to back up again and to walk and trott again. I looked for any tension but she looked fine so I asked her very, very softly to canter again and got 6 nice steps before she came in again. That´s were I stopped and went grazing with her.
Maybe I asked her with a too high phase to canter before? I think I have to be more aware of how I ask her - even though I thought I asked her nicely, maybe it was still too much for sensitive her.
Another thing is that she is really not used to much pressure because I never put much pressure on her because when I do she blows up. Milva and I have some kind of agreement - I ask her nicely and soft with phase 1 or less and she does it. She hates any kind of pressure - I guess that´s why she doesn´t like the ferrier either. Sigh. And she also hates it when she is wrong so if she offers something I go with it and ask her for whatever I wanted later again.
Well, I don´t know if I´m doing the right thing or not. Sofie is coming down tomorrow and I will ask her to have a look and see what she is thinking.
Maybe I´m reading the whole situation wrong and instead of being right brain she is behaving like a leftbrain punk?
Questions, questions so many questions.

Rainy Saturday

I´m laying at the couch, re-watching the new levels pack and listening to the rain outside. The cats really seem to love the rain. Both of them are outside on the balcony sleeping. Hoodlum is sleeping on the chair and Moll-Poll in between the tomatoeplants. Too funny.
I played with Milva a little bit yesterday. Using the 45-footline and experimenting with the canter. On the first try she behaved like a flying dragon again, bucking and bolting around. The second attempt was more smooth though.
Mikke watched for a little while and so did auntie Anita and Patricia. I tried to keep the focus but it´s hard when other people are around and as soon as I´m not focused naturally Milva isn´t either. Something to work on...

Autumn Has Come

way too early this year. Even though it´s my favourite season of the year I still would prefer some hot summerdays.
I was busy all day today to find information for Malin about her Hollsteiner breedingmare. I talked to some very nice people down in Germany and got complimented on my german. Kind of amusing, being it my mothertongue.
Milva and I just hung out today together with Patricia and Tinka.

Facebook | Videos Posted by Santé et beauté pour tous!! The Meaning of ...

found this at Elisabeth´s blog

Blown Away

...by the storm. There is a reason why people call Helsingborg the windy city.

The Man from Snowy River

A wonderful movie for rainy days. A friend of ours - Greg Eady, a ferrier in Cobden, Ontario, knows the whole movie by heart. The sequel of the move is called " Return to Snowy River" (1988).
The movie is based on a poem written by Banjo Paterson and was first published in "The Bulletin", an australian news magazine 1890. Legend has it that the poem was based on a true story.
It´s definitely one of my favourite movies. And I think today is the perfect day to watch it again.

Connery

Milva´s dad Connery, picture was taken in autumn 2008, Anna-Sophie Fiebelkorn riding him.
For more information go to http://www.hoerem.de/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a76SdWVhGoQ
Tomorrow I´m going to bring my labtop to the stable and I´m going to show Milva the video of her dad and granddad. So I can proof to her that she too is able to canter and trott ;) - my little munchkin :)

Favourite Pictures From Last Year

Sunday Play

3 h i t stable
1 h online
2 h udt
Playing with the 45-foot line, circling game and figure 8´s in walk, change of direction. Trotting travelling circles - it seems to be much easier to maintain trott on a long line. And last but not least....tatatatatata cantering 4 laps!! on the left lead. Right lead is not her strong side we have to improve that over the time. I asked her to canter two times and then I quit. The long line really seems to make a big difference for her which is good :). And I just love to watch her cantering. She has this naturally uphill canter and carries herself very well. So if she now just would stop bucking going in to the canter I would be happy. Little punk, she always needs to have the last word ;).

Saturday Play

5 h in the stable
1 h online
I played with the tarp, green ball and an umbrella today. Friendly game with the tarp and having it on her back again almost up to hear ears. Kicking the green ball, now I can send her towards the ball and she is kicking it, all proud of herself. Too funny. Friendly game with the umbrella, having it in all 5 zones, opening and closing it and playing with it above her back.
What she doesn´t like is having the green ball on her back.
At the same time I was playing with Milva I played with Mandrake too. Getting him slowly used to the tarp, green ball - he actually dared to sniff it, and the umbrella - he watched it from 4m away but got closer with the time. Lot of approach and retreat with him. Shawn spend some undemanding time with Mandrake as well and got him used to have his arm on his back. Mandrake is suspicious about everything and it takes alot of patient to touch him. But he is getting better every day. You just gotta love that little hoodlum horse. Too bad he is so expensive otherwise I would really consider buying him.
Playing with Milva in the ridinghouse. Lots of friendly game with the 45-foot line and a little bit of circling game with the 45 and a bit of longreining with it.
We also played with travelling circles and clover leaf in trott but with the 22 foot line and we worked on spanish walk and the compliment.

Found The Perfect T-Shirt...lol

Be Careful What You Wish For

The universe must have clearly misunderstood my quest for more time for my Horsemanship studies. My quest did not involve any tubes, bags, pain or urinestones.
I was at Ängelholm´s Hospital yesterday to get my stone removed. I waited for that appointment 4 weeks which I consider a very long time.
To make a long story short - Extracorporeal Shock Wave Lithotripsy did not work on me because my lovely stone is too hard and too big and wasn´t at all impressed by some waves. So the stubborn stone is still at the same place, in the same size as it was before the treatment.
The whole treatment took more than 1 hour and was rather painful. On the way home I puked out of the car several times - the result of too much painkillers. Luckily Shawn was driving and he just took Sam for a well needed carwash. Poor Sam smelled really puky.
No Milva time yesterday cause I felt more like dying.
I have to go back to the hospital for an x-ray next wednesday and then the doctor will decide if I get another ESWL or if it´s going to be an operation. All the facts are pointing towards an operation though. Waiting time for that is approximately a month.
Hmmmm....I did get alots of time for watching Parelli Dvds suddenly :).
So I guess I shouldn´t complain too much. And no one has died of a little bit of pain yet.
It´s not going to be much playing though. But I´m thinking of doing little things with excellence. Like using "Parelli 10 Minute Tips" http://www.horsechannel.com/horse-exclusives/parelli-10-minute-tips.aspx
I´m also going to make a studyplan otherwise those timeghosts will eat up all my time and suddenly I wake up and haven´t anything achieved.

Have You Hugged Your Horse Today?

If your horse could choose, would it choose you as his partner? How many of us are taking our horses for granted and just assume they are happy with us? But are they?
Are you giving your horse what it needs? Have you ever THOUGHT about the needs of your horse? Do you think your horse is happy standing in a 4m x 4m box 18 hours a day? And do you think your horse thinks it´s fun to be in a little sandpaddock for the other 6 hours - by itself, so it doesn´t get hurt? With no room to stretch his legs with no friends to play with or scratch each other.
Oh, and why do you actually have a horse? Because you love horses or is it some kind of status symbol or is it because you want to be seen - on competition. Oh wait, wouldn´t that be kind of selfcentered? - to have a horse just because you want to compete?
NO, of course we have horses because we LOVE them, right?
So if we love our horses so much wouldn´t it be our duty to read up on their needs and make them happy? Treat them as our partners and not as some subject?
Partners, that would go hand in hand with a partnership.
So what kind of partnership do you want with your horse? An abusing one or a respectfull one?
For me partnership includes respect, doesn´t it?
Yelling has nothing to do with respect and neither has jerking your horse around or beat him up or using any kind of artificial aids.
Just some thoughts that popped in to my head this evening.