Here, There, and Everywhere!

Hi guys!!

I just went through, found, read, edited, and ultimately deleted literally 4 posts that I have started to you since my last one, and then got sidetracked on before finishing. What an awful blogger I am! So sorry!

Per usual, life has been insane around here. This month has been a particularly busy month, coupling horses with really cruddy weather has not done nice things for me. I've had two trainee horses come and go (Sunny and Gunner), and practically no time for my own ponies, mainly because every waking moment at the barn NOT in the pouring rain (and/or snow!) was being spent putting time on the horses I was being paid to play with. It's a wonderful concept for an LBE, being so busy you don't have time for relaxation, but it got a bit overwhelming toward the end. Fortunately things have calmed down here, and I can now relax and breath a little. I'm looking forward to having the rest of the fall to develop and advance my own horsemanship and focus on my students as well.

I have some exciting upcoming events around here--I have a lesson weekend in Mosinee (Near Wausau, WI) planned weekend after next (if Anyone is near or around Wausau, and would like a lesson, please contact me (savvyup@yahoo.com), I'd be happy to swing by Friday, Saturday, Sunday, or Monday, November 6th-9th.)

On November 12th, I'll be heading down to FL for a week. As of right now, my plans are to ride down with a friend who's going to the Parelli Center for a month, (that'll be an adventure in and of itself--the two of us in a truck for 26 hours is a hilarious thought!) and I'll stay with my friend Susan, in Orlando. I'll be teaching, riding, and just re-connecting with friends and enjoying the nice warm weather :)

Finally, schedule pending, Farrah Green may be in the area teaching in late November. Hopefully that happens--it's been discussed. If that is the case, I will be filming part of my Level 4 that weekend. Won't THAT be neat? Freestyle for sure, hopefully my online, as well. If not then, I'll do it sometime before FL--our freestyle especially is just SPECTACULAR, I'm so proud of Prinny!

Anyway, I think that's all for now--I'll leave you with some fall photos from the Brown Coulee Farm Paddock! Enjoy!


Prin came trotting to me when she heard me call this afternoon--it warmed my heart to see that eager expression, had to snap a photo :)


What a pretty face, despite the mud! Such an exceptional girl!


I've been lusting over Crest since I downloaded this photo. Isn't he just GORGEOUS?! And check out those leaves!!

When it Rains, it POURS!

It's amazing how when life picks up, and a horse person needs all the nice weather in the world, it just POURS rain. We're on day 6 in a row without a day's break (We had about 3 hours of sun yesterday, which was then ousted by MORE rain), the ground is totally saturated, and it's affecting everyone's moods. I personally have been a big ball of emotions recently, and for no particular reason, either. Just the weather, I think, coupled with some big decisions that need making soon. Anyway...

I mentioned on a facebook a couple days ago (and then failed to follow through) that I would blog about an awesome opportunity that has presented itself to me. Well here's the update: My vet, who treats 300 some odd horses around the area, (including several professional training facilities, as well!) has asked me to start a colt for him this month! Not only is this a huge compliment to my horse handling and to Parelli Natural Horsemanship, (He's not the most tolerant of horses that don't stand for treatment), but can you IMAGINE the word of mouth this can and will do for my business, should this go well? Now, the catch is that Tom wants to sell the horse at a sale at the end of the month, so I'm kind of on a time line, here. I'm seeing it as a challenge to stick to my principles on a timeline. I think it'll be a wonderful experience.

So, we picked the horse up on Sunday. Gunner is his name, and he's a 3 yr old Quarter Horse colt. He's chestnut with a front sock and stripe on his nose (I'd have a picture for you, but it's been raining since he got here!). He appears, so far to be very Left-Brained. I initially had thought he was LBI, but he's shown me a fair share of LBE traits as well. I guess time will tell, I plan on playing with him for real for the first time tomorrow, because I guess it's supposed to be pretty nice outside, finally. I'll definitely keep you posted :)

Anyway, that's all for now! Savvy on!

Sunny Days

Two for one post day today, but I thought this deserved special introduction. I have a little gal in for training for 6 weeks. She arrive here on Sunday the 23rd, and she is really quite the character. Her name is Sunny, and she is a 3 yr old Palomino QH mare. She stands 14.2ish (haven't measured), and is a totally LBE. She's very interesting to watch because she is SO extroverted. You can tell this little girl HAS to move her feet. She was trotting/cantering around the pasture for the fun of it this evening, while her boys (Crest and Hart) stood and watched from the long clover.

And MAN...so SMART, too! Her owner is a L1 graduate who is a student of mine from Minnesota. She'd already taught Sunny the 7 games before she came, but even so, I CANNOT believe how fast she's picked up on things. She's already playing on the 22' line with fairly high quality, considering she's only been here 4 days, and we're playing with developing some more particular and subtle things that I think will really help this little girl move to the height of her potential...and fast!

Anyway, more to come on this sassy little blonde, but for now, here's a picture ;)

Nuggets and Assessments

Hey all,

So, news for the day is that I've got a new horse in training!! I know, random right? Who'da thunk in the middle of November? Anyway, about the pony :)

Her name is Nugget, hence the first part of the title. Nugget is a 2005 Tennessee Walker mare, about 15.2 I'd guess, black with two white socks on her hinds, and VERY sweet. Upon first impression, I pinned her at RBI. She was shy, there was no tongue when she licked her lips, very untrusting and tense, and she had a high tendency to whip and kick (tried once at me, twice at other horses), and was overall just kind of aloof. Well, that couldn't have been a worse misread, upon actually getting to KNOW the horse.

Innately, she's actually a very silly LBE. This morning, after haltering her up and cluing her into the wonders of the Winnies cookie (I have another addict on my hands!), Nugget showed me her snotty, dominant, "let me eat your gloves!" side of her lovely little horsenality. We played with the friendly game, and then "Hi there, Meet my stick and string, these are my tools." which started out a little spooky, but by the second toss over her back, she was turning her head to nibble on the string, and was trying to take the stick from my hands with her muzzle, etc.

I started a little bit on teaching the other two Principle games, too, which I would call "rocky". As with many horses that haven't been approached with the Parelli technique, Nugget was pretty clueless when it came to yielding to any sort of pressure, be it rhythmic or steady. This made teaching the porcupine game especially difficult, since if there isnt' a response to the steady feel, the addition of driving is generally encouraged. At first, she REALLY had a tendency to want to lift UP, she actually reared and struck once while I was driving her forhand to the left, something I really don't want to deal with, let alone ENCOURAGE. Anyway, after about 6 or 8 rocky attempts, we finally started to get the concept, and we quit on that. I think tomorrow will be devoted to a similar session, but hopefully I will get the opportunity to refine, and hopefully won't be quite as "all thumbs" as I was today (cold weather+wind+awkward leather work gloves=VERY weird rope handling).

I'll try to get some photos tomorrow, too. She's really a cutie with such a beautiful face. Can't wait for you all to see :)


Also, on another note (Second part of my title), I helped a student film her L1 today. We got about 3/4 of it done, which was pretty good, considering my camera was threatening to die the entire time we were out there. The filming went almost flawlessly, Jenifer handles pressure and hardly gets stressed at ALL in front of the camera, which made for quick progressive tasking. I'm really looking forward to editing it together. For some reason, the lighting was really pretty, and so I'm looking forward to playing with music, fonts, and fading to go with the video. Nothing like a well-put-together assessment :)

Anyway, time for me to go eat dinner. I'll get some pics of Nugget tomorrow! Savvy on, all!