Love, Language and Learning

Teaching began on Thursday in earnest! We recapped horsenalities, addressed common issues with sideways game and change of direction, had a finesse lesson in soft touch and ended the week with an enjoyable group trail ride!

I have been typing up my notes so that they sink in and are more readable for future reference. As you can imagine, we are getting snippets of information and advice on all sorts of things so I would find things relating to one subject in several places (even after just two days). I have set about the task of putting my notes not into chronological order but into subjects. By the end of the Externship I imagine I will have compiled something resembling Pat Parelli’s next book!

During our sideways game online session, I realised that I was being too firm with Boaz and not being fair enough. It was a horrible feeling but the other externs comforted me that I was allowed to make mistakes. Boaz was certainly just as happy to be with me as ever, so he wasn’t holding it against me. I found it difficult because most of the time he is so confident and left brained. He is the master of manipulating me so I am in a position where he can push me with his shoulder. I asked Susan, the instructor, about this and she confirmed that just correcting him gently every time would eventually have him respecting my space more. It’s all about polite and passive persistence in the proper position, or, as Lynette would say, patience.  

The afternoon session went better. We had a demonstration and simulations in soft touch. This is a finesse concept and a prelude to contact. Basically it is a friendly game with your horse’s mouth. You take a light feel on the bit and then do your absolute best to maintain that feel in both reins no matter what the horse does. The only rule was that the horse was not allowed to pull its head lower than its knees.  If it did I had to just engage my core and close my hands making a clear barrier. IT was a challenging task but very interesting. Gabi had made me do a similar task, and it is great training for the hands, which, at least well into level three, are not required to operate at this degree.

We focused on change of direction and I found that my circling game with Boaz was starting to improve. He seems to be realising that I am persistent and he is making more effort to maintain gait. Maurice showed me a more refined way of using my stick and rope so that I could be clearer and it made all the difference for Boaz. I can see that Boaz will do pretty much anything for me if I can be 100% correct in how I ask him. Maurice called a break during class and was demonstrating th same technique he had shown me when Boaz decided to roll. I was happy to see him so relaxed in the arena. He got up and rolled on his other side and whilst he was down I saw him wonder whether to stay down for a nap or not. I got down with him and gave him a carrot, letting him know that staying down was fine by me. We stayed like that for a while as Maurice covered the finer points of position and timing. 

We had all agreed that a trail ride was a good way to end the week. It was nice to learn the trails and get to know the area, as well as take some pressure off of our horses. For some horses it was not so relaxing but Boaz found his energy again and was marching out in front ears forward ready to see what was over every hill and around every turn. He is such a lovely fun horse! On our way home the horses near the front, including Boaz, were caught in a mass spook as two cows tried to camouflage themselves in the bushes. Before I knew what had happened I found myself cantering sideways down a hill (toward more cows) and I automatically used the emergency one rein stop. We regained our calmness when the cows moved again and the horses spooked again. This time I had Boaz bent and stopped before he had taken two strides. It had been exhilarating and I was so happy to find out that the cheap treeless saddle I had bought, which is held together by Velcro, had coped well with the test and Boaz was as quick to calm down from his adrenaline as he had gone up. I certainly don’t think Boaz was afraid of the cows, he just spooked because so many other horses did. I must take my hat off to Jeannie at this point; she was riding in a bareback pad and sat both spooks beautifully.

A few people suggested going to the Hot Springs for the evening and, even though I am concerned about making my money last as much as possible, I did not want to miss out on such an opportunity. I don’t know when I will ever be able to return to Colorado and I want to make the most of my time here. The springs are wonderful. They are naturally occurring hot water springs, full of minerals, which have been channelled into numerous pools. The temperatures are measured in each pool daily and you can choose from various temperatures. Whilst we all enjoyed being curiously warm in outdoor pools, we chatted about Parelli and then more pressing matters... boys! Waiters came around serving drinks and we stayed there, relaxing as the beautiful blue sky darkened and stars came out to add their company. When we headed home I knew I would sleep well.

This weekend I have been watching Parelli DVDs, particularly the old level 2 DVD box set. Lynette lent it to me and I would like to give it back to her before I return to the UK. So far I have covered disk one and know I can do what is on there, I don’t expect to find too much I can’t do on the set, but I want to have a thorough knowledge of the Parelli materials that have existed, different teaching techniques and ensure there are no holes in my knowledge as much as possible. It is important to me that I can be the best Parelli Professional I am capable of being.

We visited a few stores in town and I bought a set of spurs. We have been told that we are expected ride with spurs at our level and, since I have the right people to guide me through the correct use of them, I have decided now is the time to learn about spurs. I was already surprised to learn that Spurs are not used as a porcupine game but as a driving game, which is why spurs with rowels are actually kinder when used this way than spurs without. They roll rhythmically along the horse’s side. I think that they will also help me to get more response in lateral manoeuvres from Boaz.

When we reached the barn yesterday the play ground was empty so I let Boaz loose to enjoy some grass and found myself a spot where I had access to wifi whilst I watched over him. Lena turned her horse, Sundance, out too and then Graham added Dixie. All three were content to graze different parts of the field. I was pleased when I saw Boaz keeping his distance from the others as I did not want him to get into any trouble, but it was so nice for him to have grass and freedom from his little pen. I cleaned out his pen and enjoyed the luxury of time to really be pedantic and groom it to perfection. I filled his water buckets, prepared his dinner and added his new salt block. I constantly kept an eye on him as I observe him make friends with Sundance and stay out of kick range from feisty little Dixxie. Graham and Lena returned from lunch and helped me to remove all the horse poop from the playground and then told me they would keep an eye on the horses whilst I went to the lodge to eat. I needed to use the microwave and it was getting late so I was grateful for the offer and headed off with Anne. When I returned I saw that many more externs had arrived and added their horses to the field. Many of these horses were much more extrovert and running around. I scanned the field and saw Boaz peacefully grazing with Jeannie’s mare in the shade. I smiled at having such a lovely smart horse. As I reached the barn I saw Lena wit Sundance and a man looking at his leg. I went over and discovered that Dixxie and Sundance had got into a kick fight and Sundance had come off worst with a couple of cuts to his leg. The vet gave a promising prognosis but said he would stitch it and dress it so that it would heal as fast as possible so that Lena could return to the course in 3 days. Jennifer had had lease horse issues and now had two horses so she offered one to Lena to use until Sundance was better. The externs are all so helpful, everyone will do what they can for anyone else and it makes it a very enjoyable community to be part of. 

I checked Boaz over whilst the vet was there in case he had managed to get hurt but he was fine. I put him away onto his beautiful pen and we headed to the supermarket for provisions. I was tired from the sun and in a quiet mood so I spent the evening in my room with my Parelli materials.

At 2.30 am my Skype woke me up as Will, seven hours ahead of me, messaged me. We had a nice little chat before I went back to sleep and I slept in quite late. We headed to the barn and, because we didn’t go shopping first, we were there earlier than yesterday. Unfortunately (and I mean that in the nicest possible way) so were all the other externs, and the playground was full of horses running around. After the reality check of Sundance’s injury the day before I decided to keep Boaz safe. An injury doesn’t have to be from a kick; just galloping around on that hard ground could be enough if he made a funny movement or found a hole in the ground. I wouldn’t risk Paris in such a scenario so I certainly would not risk one of Lynette’s horses. I put him in the back arena, which was rarely used and so had tufts of grass growing and the edges were lined with grass growing under the wooden criss-cross fencing. I cleaned out Boaz’s pen and set about walking around with my laptop near the extern barn to see if the wifi would reach the grass in front of the main arena. It did so I set up a chair with all my stuff and went and got Boaz so he could eat grass and spend undemanding time together whilst I checked Facebook and emails. When he saw me coming he came walking over and when I put energy into my body he broke into a trot and theen canter all the way to me. Eventually I decided Boaz deserved some better grass so I put my stuff away, got his grooming kit and gave him a good brush as he munched on the grass. It was a thankless task trying to brush the dust from his coat but with the help of some fly spray I soon had him looking like a show horse. My housemates were not ready to go home yet so I put Boaz back in his personal arena and sat in the office with Kim, messing around on our computers, both trying to contact our boyfriends. Samantha came in and asked to take me up on my offer to help her with her renegade boots. We soon had the cables adjusted and she came back a while later to announce happily that they now fitted her horse perfectly.

We returned home mid-afternoon and I caught Will on Skype. I am pleased that we are managing to get time to talk to each other, as I was rather concerned with the time difference that it would be extremely difficult.

I have spent the afternoon sorting out photographs on facebook and doing this blog. A couple of externs are visiting this evening and I will spend some time with them and maybe watch some more DVDs.  I’m looking forward to tomorrow, the start of a full week of learning and we will be told the schedule for the externship.

Early days!

I’m in Colorado!! I’m an Extern!

So I guess I should let you all know the most important thing... my shepherd’s pie was a success! Well, it was a success but it already feels like an age ago when I was sitting in Lynette’s kitchen chatting to her friends as we enjoyed my cooking followed by a yummy apple crumble pie with cream and ice-cream. I never got to play with Jazzy again, but I expect I will when I go back to Lynette’s after the externship.

Saturday morning I fed the horses with Shirley and we went out on a last trail ride together. We had fun cantering and just enjoying our wonderful horses! When we returned Lynette was already busy organising things for our packing. We un-tacked the horses and gathered our equipment and washed and cleaned and brushed and polished everything in the hopes of making the best first impression we could. We had to mark everything so we would be able to identify it and then pack it into crates and load up the trailer. We enjoyed our last evening together eating pizza watching a movie documentary about the West and ranch life. I packed the last of my belongings and set my alarm ready to get up early.

Sunday morning, instead of doing my usual hay feeding task, I lead Boaz’s herd out to Breezes herd. I let Breeze and Boaz out to eat grass and put all the other horses together so that they would have access to the automatic water and larger pasture while Rick and Lynette were away taking me and Shirley to Colorado. We had breakfast and loaded the last bags and were on the road by 7.15 am. We averaged about 2 or 3 hours between fuel stops and would offer water to the horses and every second stop we unloaded the horses and gave them 10-30 minutes to stretch their legs. We were fortunate with the traffic and, despite some patches of rather wet weather, we made good time and arrived at Pagosa Springs 3 hours ahead of our estimated arrival time.

Lynette had arranged for horseboard and accommodation for us for the night so that we could be as ready as possible. The horses had a rest and we could shower and smarten up. I did manage to get some sleep around the worst bouts of Shirley’s snoring and got up Monday morning, keen and eager to get started. The horses had relaxed and were pooping, eating and drinking normally so the signs were good that they had not suffered stress or dehydration from the journey. We cleaned out their pens and loaded them up and made our way to the campus, stopping at the Parelli sign for a quick photoshoot.

At the check in I was met by George and Sue Nelson. George directed me around and Susan took Boaz’s temperature and gave me the ok to unload him. After giving Boaz water and food in his pen, putting my equipment away and signing the relevant paperwork, I headed to the Lodge for our induction. Mark Weiler introduced himself and was telling us all kinds of stories, he was very funny actually. Then Anne Kiser introduced herself and the facility staff and spoke about the course a little and handed over to our instructors Maurice Thibault and Susan Nelson. We played the name game and were told which parts of the facility were off limits and where we could be before we had lunch. Apparently, Pat and Linda Parelli will be here in a couple of weeks and we will definitely meet them. After lunch we went to the extern barn (where we checked in) and learned a bit more about the place and the course and then we played me and my shadow with the horses to get them used to the place. Boaz and Breeze were very confident and even rolled whilst we had them out, showing how comfortable they felt. Boaz was happy to see me whenever I visited his pen and has handled the new environment so well that he has boosted my confidence for the Externship. Maurice also commented on what a nice looking horse Boaz is which put a little swagger in my step!

So it wasn't a particularly taxing day but a lot of logistical information to absorb. Then I went back to the condo with Graham and Lena and I had to wait for Anne to arrive because she had first dibs over me in choosing which room to have and she opted for one of the upstairs bedrooms, which means I have basically got a whole apartment to myself! I have the "basement" room which has a kitchen, living room, bathroom, spare room, broom cupboard and a patio area! I really can't believe how good the condo is. Also it is closer to the ranch than I had thought.

I walked to the supermarket, which was a nice walk in the sunset. As I walked around I thought I should not buy too much because I had to carry it all back but it didn’t take long for me to start filling the trolley with bargains. I considered borrowing the trolley to et the shopping home, but the thought of the classy area I was in out me off the idea and I picked up all the bags. Before long, my arms were aching and I was losing the circulation in my fingers. I had to keep putting the bags down. The bag with tins split and I began picking them up thinking how clever I was to be out alone at night in bear country carrying bags of food. I suddenly had the idea to put the tins in my pockets and, as I tried to stuff one in the inside pocket of my coat, I figured it would be easier if I could carry everything on different parts of me so I tied the heaviest bags to my jeans and began walking homeward with milk and fruit bashing my legs, the weight pulling my jeans down my hips. It really lightened the load in my hands though and it took a bit longer for things to feel heavy and even then it was bearable... until the bag of fruit split pouring apples, oranges and bananas all over the road. I picked the least full bag and spread its contents among the others and then used that bag to hold the fruit, which I just carried in my hands this time. I was now on the home stretch, one long road past the gold course, up a hill around the bend and a little further and I would be home! I saw the golf course foot path that would enable me to cut a corner off of my journey and just as I got on the path I saw the sprinklers turn on ahead of me going right across my path. I sighed and headed back for the road and leapt out of my skin as a loud hissing close behind me announced that another sprinkler had come on just where I had been standing! I was very lucky not to be soaked. As I walked on I thought about all the warnings we had been given about bears and again questioned my own sanity. I found myself wondering if bears were afraid of sprinklers. Finally, after what felt like an eternity, I got to the house. The bag of frozen goods attached to my jeans was full of holes and I guess was just mere moments away from splitting. I put everything away and headed to bed, too tired to unpack but feeling satisfied that I had made it all the way here.

The following two days have been about us getting to know our horses and our instructors, getting to know where we’re at. Tuesday was focused on our online and freestyle. I played with Boaz on the circling game and just generally keeping a connection. He is a very smart horse and learns very quickly but he also has his own agenda and as soon as he thinks you’re finished he gets back to his own ideas, like eating grass, sniffing poop, answering the neighs of other horses... He has a very confident energy and I can tell that he will improve my leadership skills massively. Simply “tagging” him doesn’t help and I don’t want to have to be getting on at him all the time. So I have been flexing my mental muscles finding ways to get his attention. It is already better than when I first met him and I am very optimistic that with Maurice and Susan’s help we will be achieving great things in the next eleven and a half weeks.

With the freestyle Boaz was a little unsettled at first. I guess he hasn’t been in such a big arena with so many strange horses before and there was a lot of activity and energy from every direction. I used transitions on the follow the rail and threw in circles to bring relaxation. We were soon settled enough to maintain a more rhythmic trot and we did some excellent canter and canter halt transitions and I was happy to discover I could steer him to canter a circle too. We have done a lot of trail riding but I had not tested the steering at canter to that extent. Maurice commented that I had a good mount for the 12 weeks which confirmed my own opinion but still came as a relief to hear.

I was ready for an early night!

And today was about liberty and finesse. We had already done a bit of liberty, mostly stick to me, at Lynette’s, but I now had 7 minutes to show the seven games in the round pen. As we waited our turn I hung out with Boaz in his pen and we enjoyed some mutual grooming and Boaz was very interested in me. I did a small warm up online and he gave me some nice stick to me, lead by the tail, perfect friendly game, sideways from zone one and squeeze game.... the only thing left was the circling game. I guessed that he would not be so enthusiastic and boy was I right! I sent him out and he trotted over to the panel, put his head out and said “everything out here is way more interesting than you and your silly circles”. I snuck up on him and tagged him, I walked circles, I tried several strategies to engage his mind but again and again he did the same thing. Finally he trotted a whole lap and I disengaged him and said “wow! You did a whole lap, good boy!” and he came in looking surprised that I had stopped him so soon. Susan told me I could finish and suddenly he made a squealing noise and leapt into the air and took off in canter. I laughed and drew him to me... we had found his play drive! I was happy to end on that note and took him to graze whilst the others took their turns.

The afternoon’s finesse session was interesting. I did not have high expectations as I had not ever really focused on my own finesse and I’m pretty sure Boaz hasn’t done any. Lynette had ridden him with a bit but I think purely freestyle so I had no idea how he would respond. I was delighted to find out that he had not learnt that the bit means stop! I rode him freestyle first, making huge efforts to keep out of his mouth. When he was giving me all the transitions I asked with my seat I picked up the reins and started playing the friendly game by combing the reins rhythmically with my fingers. He relaxed and did not have any negative reactions so I picked up the reins and took a gentle feel on his mouth and continued to ride my freestyle follow the rail with transitions, using my seat just with short moments of holding the reins mixed in. I wanted to pepper in the finesse rather than overload him and I wanted him to be sure that I did not expect him to change his responses because of the reins. I must add that when I took up the reins I started at halt and waited for him to find some vertical flexion before I released the reins. I did this at walk and trot too and soon found that he used himself very well at the trot and we had moments where he was in self carriage. We were both light on the rein and when I released he did not fall on his forehand, but rather maintained his position for a few more strides. I asked for a few steps of shoulder in here and there and did leg-yield in both directions as well as the nine-step back up. Susan told me she was surprised at how much better he moved than when he was purely freestyle and then I felt things deteriorate a little. I think he was becoming bored of all the effort and he started to get slower and less responsive. Maybe it was because I suddenly felt pressure to maintain what we had achieved but whatever it was, Boaz was quitting on me. I immediately dropped the reins and went to freestyle and cantered the entire arena in the hope that opening him up would help him think forward. But as soon as I went back to the walk and trot he was like a snail again. I had already got rid of my carrot stick so I took the neck string off and tied it around my wrist and used it as a whipwhop, spanking the myself then his butt on both sides and asking him to just Go! I felt him make a microscopic bit more effort and I decided to do one last leg yield and then call it a day. He had covered a lot of new stuff, we had had a much better ride than the day before and he had made me happy so I didn’t need to keep going until he hated me. As I got off Maurice asked me how it had gone. I told him that with finesse we were both feeling around in the dark. He commented that my saddle encouraging me to sit forward, which I agreed with. At the de-brief I shared that I felt that I had hit the end of my knowledge but was pleased to discover that I felt both Boaz and I were ready to learn more. Maurice said that it was funny because he and Susan had said to each other how nice Boaz and I had looked!

I have enjoyed the last couple of days of getting to know Boaz and myself a little better! What I mean is that I have surprised myself that I have managed to keep calm and relaxed and truly put the relationship with Boaz first, ahead of trying to show the instructors what i thought they wanted to see or feeling like I was being assessed. In part that is because Maurice and Susan have done such a good job of helping us to feel relaxed and not judged, but even so I know what my tendencies are and I am overcoming them. I certainly feel like I have as much right as anyone to be here and I can tell from the snippets I’ve had from the instructors that I will learn so much more.

Tomorrow our first day of official teaching begins and I can’t wait!

Preparing for Take Off: the week before

My nerves for the externship are settling down more and more. I know I want the best result I can get but I also know that what will be will be and I’d be crazy not to make the most of enjoying y time here. It’s so easy to become goal orientated but now that I’m here with Boaz I really feel like I don’t need to prove anything. Maybe I will come home a 2** PP, maybe I won’t make it as a PP at all, who knows. What I do know is that Boaz and I are going to have a lot of fun, learn a lot, do new things we never thought we’d do, and come home calmer, smarter, braver and more athletic!

I’ve mainly been trail riding Boaz through the mountains and he really will do anything. He is calm and confident and responsive, a perfect trail partner, and he really enjoys being out. He comes to me when I visit him and gives me a buzz when we play liberty stick to me in the yard. He is just such a lovely fellow, it’s hard to imagine I’ll have anything but fun on the externship. I know if I get emotional or frustrated it will only be my ego that’s to fault because this is the most honest horse I could have hoped for! He’s been a little more challenging to connect with the last couple of days so I decided to give him today off of the long rides and just build more of a relationship with him. He is still young, only 4, and I want to make sure he has as positive an experience as possible. Shirley has been helping me learn to vault onto him, I still need some help but I did far better than I'd expected. Who knows, maybe I'll be able to get on from the ground by the time I finish the externship!

I played with Dag the other day, he was fascinating. Dag has had a terrible past and Lynette took him on with a lot of baggage. She as come a long way in healing him physically, mentally and emotionally but yesterday I discovered that he gets most of his confidence from the herd and Lynette. When he gets insecure he gets cranky rather than flighty and he only really bites when he is worried, he’s more lippy when he’s left brained. I spent time doing quiet zone 3 driving with my arm across his back and staying in as low phases as possible doing figure 8 patterns and touch it. I was surprised to see him so quiet and subdued when he’s usually such a punk but that’s when I realised the punkiness is a defence. He actually wants to do the right thing but he is expecting the human to prove they are stupid or dangerous. When I did not push him past his thresholds and just waited with him he was very surprised and after a lot of processing and licking and chewing he began to yawn and yawn. I saddled him and took time using disengagements to help him start using the left side of his brain more. When I would offer him my hand he would touch it and start licking it rather than try to eat it. At one point he went introverted and suddenly he started biting in my direction and I suddenly had the image of someone woken from a deep sleep and they start punching out in the shock, like post traumatic stress. It was really a fight response to a mental process and not a personal attack because he kind of shook his head and started blinking and stopped without me doing anything. He could have bitten me loads of times because I did not prevent him, but instead by being calm, quiet, and 110% with him, he didn’t need to go there. I took some time to do the friendly game in motion and found that he was actually just plain less confident away from me and needed to crowd me for his security. After a while he discovered he could find comfort about 5 or 6 metres from me and he could relax a little but he still has some way to go. So it is not a surprise that when I started to do some circling game his cranky face came back. When I treated it as a lack of confidence and just repeated the question without getting louder in my phases he found he could settle into it and his attitude changed. Finally we were ready to mount and when I did he still did not try to bite me, which is something Lynette had said he would do. However when we started riding off he had his ears back and, whilst he went through the motions of doing what I asked, he was mentally resistant. By keeping the exact same energy as I had done and being polite and persistent in the proper position he realised I was not going to be pulling him in the mouth or doing something to make him uncomfortable and he could put his ears forward and enjoy our short little ride around the paddocks. 

The next day Dag had a pleasant soft attitude and was exceptionally well behaved.

I have been continuing to play with Princess Jasmine too. She is now really starting to understand the driving game and the use of energy and neutral as part of our conversation. Whilst she can still be reactive when surprised, she is making a massive effort to think her way through situations that she was unsure about. We have played with each of the seven games now and whilst they can all be improved she is showing a desire to please and learn. She loves to get attention and cuddles... and cookies!  I found her in the field sleeping and she allowed me to approach her and give her a treat whilst she was laying down, which is a big deal as Lynette tells me a year ago she would have been striking out in defence and was terrible to catch. She has started to whinny when she sees or hears me and has even trotted up to me, which Lynette said was the best catching game she had ever seen Jazzy do. I am totally smitten about her and I could not resist looking up how much it would be to transport her home. I will definitely not forget about her and I will see what I can do once I get home because she really is something special.  Her biggest challenge has been her confidence with the ropes, especially around her back end. I had been doing lots of friendly game with the carrot stick  and savvy string and throwing the rope over her but when I sent the rope around her to have her do a full disengagement from it she really freaked, fortunately she span in the right direction and stopped, looking at me like “what was that?!” So I have been playing with breaking it down and going slower to build her confidence and understanding in the ropes. I really want her to yield to pressure because she is so fast and reactive she could kill herself if she got caught in a fence or something, and because life will be so much more comfortable with her. We have reached where she can sometimes respond to the rope around her, rather than react, but it’s not as solid or consistent as I would like. She is now reading my energy better and I can jump around her and she watches me a bit but relaxes quickly and is not going introverted. I have been leaning over her a little and she is not worried about my weight over her, or me standing tall on things, but she still needs to have some more confidence with things touching her flanks and legs before I would want to sit on her. I think she would actually be ok at the halt but if she gets scared she is so fast. She doesn’t stay freaked out for too long but it does take a long time for her to relax. She has learned to lead by just a few hairs of her tail, is doing the circling game and touch it, she can do a few steps of sideways and has a great squeeze game. This filly just keeps on impressing me and more than anything I love how interested she is in doing things with me. Yesterday I stood in front of zone one and was throwing the rope over her neck. It’s quite easy for a horse to feel like you are attacking them when your bellybutton is pointed at them and you need energy to get the rope to swing, but I kept the energy rhythmic and neutral and after a bit of trying to move back away, then standing and throwing her head, she soon settled and I could walk backwards with her walking toward me as the rope swung over her head one way then the next. Considering that as a foal she was traumatised by roping this is such an achievement for her, and testament to how much try she has.  Tonight we have guests for dinner, I am cooking them all a shepherd’s pie and then I will play with Jazzy so they can see how much progress she has made. 

Tomorrow will be packing day, getting all the horse stuff and my bags sorted for the journey to Colorado. We are leaving early on Sunday morning and will arrive in Pagosa sometime after midnight. Lynette has organised a place for us to sleep and rest the horses for a few hours before we join the queue for checking in. Checking in is between 8 and 10 and then induction begins at 11am.

It’s really happening! I’m on my way to the Parelli University Campus in Colorado and I am going to spend 3 months with some of the world’s greatest horsemen, learning all I can!

Arriving in America

When I got home with Paris after our almost two year adventure together it still felt like going to the Parelli campus in Colorado was a far off dream. I had to recalibrate to life in the real world (as real as the world ever gets for me anyway) and my priority was on getting Paris settled in.

We arrived in Canterbury at 3 o’clock in the morning and Paris stepped off of the massive transporter like royalty. He was as dry as a bone and looking smart with his boots and sweat blanket. I lead him up the road to his new home, a paddock in the “back yard” of some of our friends. They already had a Fjord, a donkey and two sheep so Paris would have company during his 3 month vacation from me and would be able to live out for the three months as he was now used to doing. One look at the donkey and Paris’ eyes nearly fell out of his head. He really could not believe what he was seeing. I visited him the next day to sort out his feeds and see how he was settling in. When I saw that after a few days he was still having trouble relaxing with the donkey I decided to play some friendly game with it and had my mum leading it around whilst we followed. This didn’t work out as the donkey got worried when he was lead away from the sheep and Paris tried to attack the donkey when he got close. When they had both become a bit calmer I put Paris back in his field and hoped that time would be enough to help him gain confidence in his unusual companions.

Unfortunately we didn’t end up with so much time because Paris began chewing through the fence posts and our friends said that they could see all their fences being ruined by the time three months were over. My mum and Jane agreed that Paris could live in the arena at our yard until a corral could be made for him. We have planned a walk in/out stable for him so he has a place to go when the horses come off of the fields, as our fields cannot sustain 24 hour grazing, but where he will be less confined. I hope to build his real comfort and confidence up so that he can one day be comfortable in stables but he has so many negative associations with them and as an extrovert he struggled with the restrictions of being confined. When he arrived back at our old yard he looked completely different to how he had done on his arrival in Canterbury and it was clear that he recognised his surroundings. We put Mum’s horse, Havewe, in the arena with him and they ran around together playfully as though they were delighted to see each other again. I know that this borders on anthropomorphism but it really seemed that way. Having Paris back on our doorstep meant I could see him much easier and I put him up to three feeds a day to try to recover the weight he had lost during the journey and time in Canterbury. We went out on rides with Mum and Gemma, went to the beach, Will had a lot of fun riding him... backwards... it really has been great having Paris back home again. 

I spent a lot of my time up at the stables, but I also met up with some old friends whilst I was home, went to rehearsals with Will, to lunch with my sister and the first two weeks flew by. Then I had my interview at the US Embassy in London. I was very anxious about it because I now only had one week to get my VISA before flying out to America and I wanted to make sure I had everything possible. I spent most of Sunday printing things and gathering letters and documents ready for Monday morning and I arrived at the interview 15 minutes before my scheduled interview time. As I neared the front of the long queue I heard the Embassy worker ask the man in front of me if he had a mobile phone or laptop on him because if so they had to be deposited at the Pharmacy down the road. I then walked up the road and dropped my own ones off; annoyed that it wasn’t made clearer that this would be the case.  One into the Embassy, which was no mean task, I then waited an hour and a half to be fingerprinted and then another two hours before I had my “interview” which was a short series of questions from a woman that was bashing her keyboard and looking at her computer the whole time. She finally told me that I was done and that my VISA would probably take 5 days. I pulled a face, thinking about how short for time we were and praying that the VISA would arrive in time.

Needless to say, my stress level was rising on that last week and, as my stress rose, my ability to remain left brained faltered and I had a right brain panic. I sent a message to two star Parelli Professional Sara De Vries to come and give me a lesson as I really wanted some focus and to talk to someone who had done the Externship. My lesson was booked for the Thursday morning with me to leave on the following Monday.

After mucking out the stables and preparing the feeds I brought Paris in to get him groomed before Sara arrived. When I saw him walk my heart skipped a beat.  He was very lame on his right hind and as soon as I looked at it I could see some blood. I brought him down to the yard and tied him up so that I could inspect his leg and I found a cut about 3 inched wide and an inch deep on the back of his fetlock. It was still fresh. I called a vet and spoke to a nurse who told me how to initially clean it we both agreed I should have a vet out to it because it is a highly risky place for infection. If a horse gets an infection in a joint it can lead to the horse being put to sleep.  The vet arrived very quickly and sedated him so she could do a more thorough cleaning and inspection of the wound. She said that the cut went through a ligament and possibly into the joint behind it but the ligament was in the way and that he would need to have his joint injected to see if there were any perforations. It meant he had to go to the hospital to be checked and if he had a cut in his joint he would need to go under general anaesthetic to have the whole joint cleaned out or else there was a real risk of joint infection. Naturally I was quite upset and I called my step dad and asked if he would be able to come home and take Paris to the hospital. He said I should get my Mum to call him and they would make a plan. I messaged her to call me ASAP as I knew she was driving a bus and would not be able to answer the phone. Will called me and tried to comfort me but it was rather rubbish because telling me everything would be ok was not going to cut it at that moment.  In the end my Mum got the rest of the day off and came home and drove me and Paris to the vets where he was scanned and x-rayed and had his joint injected. He got several forms of antibiotic injections, on top of what the first vet had given him. It was good news, no ligaments, tendons or, more importantly, joint capsule were injured and there were no foreign particles in the wound, in fact it was extremely clean. They even said hit fetlock joint was the picture of health with no issues what so ever and no arthritis. This meant that whatever had been going on in January had completely healed. Maybe he will be able to do finesse after all! He had to stay in the vets for three more days so that they could inject him with antibiotics and dress his wound and then he would go home where Mum would take over his wound dressing and give him oral antibiotics. Paris was not too happy about being stuck in a stable at the vets and it was sad that the last time I saw him was in there but he’s home now and I am getting reports that he is refusing to eat his antibiotics unless they are accompanied by a grain mix, the little so and so. 

Sunday was my last full day in England and I spent it trying to keep Summer amused whilst I stressed about packing and checking in to my flights. I was very happy to have Lizzy there to spend some time with and she helped me with Summer. The three of us went and caught the last hour and half of Will’s rehearsal for his upcoming show, the HMS Pinafore. When we got home we had a delicious meal cooked by my Aunt Lou and “Gruffalo crumble” – Summer had requested Gruffalo crumble and, being the Savvy step mum I am, I told her that tinned peaches were baby gruffalos. So Aunt Lou was able to save the day by making a peach crumble for dessert (which Summer didn’t eat!).  Will and I took Summer home to her Mum and then returned so I could finish packing and stressing. Checking in online was impossible as I was travelling on a VISA rather than an ESTA. I decided to call it a night and join my loved ones around the bonfire in the garden when my Mum asked me which terminal my flight was going from. I went cold. I didn’t know and I had read every bit of that itinerary – it wasn’t on there! Fortunately all the info I needed was on the internet although I had to look through various airport and airline websites to get all the info I needed.

In the morning Will took me to the airport with plenty of time to get through security and check in. I had managed to keep my luggage down to one bag and everything went smoothly and before long I was comfortably seated on a plane watching the last Twilight film. I then watched the Hobbit, Hansel and Gretel and finally the Life of Pi. A rather odd mix of full length films which demonstrate how long that flight was!  When I arrived at Minneapolis in Minnesota, I had to go through customs and was made to sit in a waiting room whilst they went through my luggage and all of my documents. I guess it’s a good thing I only took one bag because I was released into the USA with just 15 minutes to get my bag, put it back on for the next flight, go through security and find my gate for boarding. I raced through and ended up with time to board but not to change up my Euros as I had planned. The next flight was not so comfortable and had no complimentary movies so I listened to the free radio channel as I tried to sleep. As I was now on domestic flights rather than international there was no problem going through from arrival to departure at Salt Lake City and I had half an hour to sit on my laptop before going through my gate to board. My final plane was a tiny thing, just wide enough for three people and only 9 rows. In row three, I was at the front and middle of the plane at the same time! Funnily enough though the seat was more comfortable than the previous larger plane although I did feel the urge to pay extra careful attention to the safety information! As the plane landed I could literally feel the pilot’s effort to try to keep the plane level, it was one of the more scary experiences I have had. My plane arrived 10 minutes early and as I walked into the airport I immediately saw Lynette waiting for me. She introduced me to her husband Rick, their friend Beverly and her adopted daughter Yeung. My bag arrived very quickly and I was relieved to not join the statistics of lost luggage whilst Lynette was surprised that I had travelled so light for three months. Apparently the previous externs had come with three bags each!

I squeezed into the front of their pick-up truck next to Lynette and we chatted as we made the one and a half hour journey back to the ranch. Their drive is 4 miles long and the nearest town is called Recluse, total inhabitants: 6! If I had thought the Plessis was remote it is nothing compared to the 3 Bar Ranch! I was brought to the guest house and Lynette gave me a quick tour and I picked my bedroom and was quickly asleep, shattered after my 24 hour journey.

The next morning I woke up to my alarm, which I had set in fear that I would waste half the day to jet lag. I would much rather just get into the new routine and sleep well the next night. I got up and took a deeper look at my new home. There were many things left there by the previous externs, Lynette had told me I was welcome to help myself to any of it and a few things I was relieved to find because I had been planning to buy them anyway! When I walked outside the surroundings were quite overwhelming. My house is on top of a hill across from a barn next to a paddock which then sloped down onto a grassy space cut up by red pathways leading to a large workshop and the main house on another hill. As I walked down the hill I was struck by the silence. It was far more peaceful even than the Plessis and I and the feeling I could almost be the only person left on earth! I headed for the main house and spotted Lynette at a nearby paddock throwing hay to the horses there. I joined her and followed her around as she showed me her pre-breakfast routine of feeding the two herds hay and feeding her cats. We then went into the main house and joined the others for breakfast. I was quickly taught that I should treat the place like home and help myself to food and drink as I wanted. Next we went out the horses and went through the routine of feeding them all their supplements and brushing them, checking them for ticks and handling their feet. As well as meeting my lease horse Boaz, I was charmed by a buckskin paint filly named “Princess Jasmine”, or Jazzy as I call her. 

 princess Jasmine!

 Boaz!

a truck load of hay at the big boy paddock 

I played with Boaz online and he tested me as any self respecting left brained horse would. I was a little concerned that maybe we would not get to where I wanted in time for the course but I knew it was early and a lot can develop in 2 weeks. After lunch I played with Cookie who Lynette had told me a lot about. She had told me he was RBE/LBE and he sounded a lot like Paris so I was quite shocked when I found a LBI on the end of my rope! Whilst there were some things that we got going easier than with Boaz I felt no desire to change plans for which horse to take to the externship. I needed to get to know them better. Lynette told me all she needed was three days notice to get the Coggins done in time if I changed my mind about which horse I would take. She also told me that Jazzy could be my project horse for my time there. I jumped at this chance because she is such a lovely little thing and I have never had the opportunity to play with a horse that has not yet been backed. Infact she is pretty much just halter “broke”. Lynette got her a year ago as a terrified yearling whose only experiences of humans had been being roped and eared to the ground, haltered and left to have the halter grow too tight. Poor Tigger, the other two year old had had basically the same story but his halter had actually tightened into his head so much he could not eat and was very thin when Lynette took them in. I played with Jazzy and took he around the arena and discovered that Lynette had done a great job of the friendly game with her, and she was naturally very light to steady pressure so her porcupine game was very good, but she did not know there was a difference between rhythmic motion and rhythmic pressure and so she was moving into my driving game! This initial session was about getting to grasps with each other and starting a relationship. I found she did not understand when I asked her to go up into a trot either. I was ready to start forming a plan for our time together. That night I was early to bed and sleeping very well!

Wednesday morning I was up and I hayed the horses before breakfast. Lynette watched over me as I did the feeds so that I would be able to do them for her when she went to work. After feeding and grooming all the horses we had a look at my treeless saddle which I had bought on Ebay. The equipedic pad looked awesome and we tacked up our horses and checked them out online before getting on. I was on Boaz, she was on Cookie. We both checked out our riding in the arena before heading out onto the trail. Lynette was more than happy to share her incredible terrain and beautiful landscape with me. It was real cowboy country and she explained how horse and rider needed to be prepared to go under the lowest trees, up and down the steepest slopes, through the most treacherous rocks and tree fall in order to get the cows. The more challenging the task the more fun I found it and Boaz was proving himself to be a steady and confident mount despite being only four years old! In the afternoon we explored the Wyoming and Montana border further by quadbike. Rick had me on the back and I could tell he was making an effort to not scare me too much until the end when he felt I had shown I was gutsy enough and he asked “shall we go for it?” Of course said “yes!” and got such a rush of adrenaline as we took off over the undulating road all the wheels of the bike leaving the ground momentarily and my belly being left behind as we landed and tore our way up the final path back to the workshop. After all that scenery and excitement I  went to retrieve hay which had been abandoned on the side of the road not too many miles from the ranch. Apparently Rick had seen a bale had fallen and exploded off of a truck and a tractor had come and simply tore it apart more and spread it out on the side of the road. As it was clearly not wanted, it would be going to waste and Lynette needed hay for the horses Rick, Beverly and Yeung had loaded a truck load and brought it to the Ranch. I went with Lynette, Beverly and Yeung to collect another two loads. I couldn’t help smiling in the knowledge that my Mum would have had me do exactly the same thing if she could! 

When we got back we had dinner and then I went out to visit Boaz and Jazzy. My plan was to take Jazzy to the arena but as I headed to her (massive massive) paddock in the dusk light I thought that taking her away from all other horses, in the dark, and playing in an arena with lights on which she had never yet experienced, and being a relative stranger to her might be too many new things to be conducive to a positive learning frame of mind. Instead I decided to see what we could do at liberty in the pasture. Soon I realised finding her would be enough of a challenge. I have never been anywhere where horses have so much space and Terrain (it really earns the capital T). It was getting dark as I was stumbling down the rocky hill and finally came across the boundary wire. I followed it around back up the hill, over some fallen logs and into a forest and back down the hill. I was wondering just how big the paddock really was and whether I had any hope of finding any horses when I heard a noise. I know that noise. It was horse. I walked in the direction and through the dim light I saw the back side of a dun horse grazing. I continued to walk toward her and she looked up and started walking determinedly away from me. I followed her knowing that if all I achieved was a bit of catching game and friendly attention it would still be a positive experience for her. It would be good for her to learn that people can come and be friendly in odd places at odd times. She headed toward Tigger who was the only other horse nearby. He was much more left brained and came over to me to see what I was bout. He was busy stealing cookies from me and eating my carrot stick when Jazzy decided to come near. Maybe she was missing out on something good. When I turned to give Jazzy attention Tigger began eating my ponytail. He enjoyed every bit of attention I gave him. Before long I was able to rub them both all over, feeding them a few treats before I turned away and headed toward home. They both followed me all the way to the main gate and watched me leave with interest. I was hopeful I had made a good impression on that sweet sceptical little filly.

Thursday morning was a change to the routine. Beverly and Yeung were leaving for home and Lynette had an appointment in town. Town was two hours away. We all went out as I wanted to experience some of America whilst I was there. We went around a tack shop which had its own museum , browsed JC  Penneys, had lunch and then headed to Walmart. I was going to buy a few disposable cameras because I had not brought a camera with me but I found a $20 kids digital camera (Avengers!). I am sure the picture quality will be pretty bad but I will be able to take more pictures and to put them on Facebook. By the time we got back to the house I had time to play with one horse before dinner. Jazzy came straight over to me so I haltered her and we began playing with having her understand the driving game. It did not take too long for her to realise the difference between me approaching her hindquarters with intention or a neutral energy but her front end was a different storey and she showed how bracey she can be. We did friendly game with the rope around her legs, which she was still afraid of after her roping experiences, and with me jumping around near her. I’d like to be able to lay my weight across her and maybe sit up on her before I leave so I need her to be calm about these things. We managed to get a few steps of trot and she made a lot of effort to find answers so I was very pleased with our session. After dinner I played online with Boaz. He was much more connected with me and I played the circling game on the lasso rather than the 22 ft line which made a positive difference. By the end of our session we were doing stick to me at liberty, walk , trot, canter and back up back to the pasture and he stayed with me as I put him back into his herd. I was feeling great and optimistic about our time in Colorado together. I went back to the main house to share my happiness with Lynette and she showed me the great work she had done to fix the stirrup bars of my saddle so that the leathers would not keep popping off as they had been doing.

Friday Lynette had to work the postal round so I fed and checked all the horses in the morning, trimmed Jazzy’s feet (I think maybe it was the first time they’ve been done but I need to check that with Lynette) and then took Boaz out on a trail ride alone. As I was about to leave Rick told me that Parelli had called and would call again at 1pm so I decided to keep fairly close to the boundary of the land I knew and not go too deep into the 7,000 acre ranch. We had our first canter outside and he was not so forward, it felt like riding a bunny rabbit. He was better when I asked him to go for it along a wide long, long open path. My stirrups held up to the challenge and we soon found ourselves at a large field of Alfalfa up by the ranch owner’s house. I had Boaz canter across it and earn a nibble on the other side. Then we followed the fence line which took us past a dead dear and through some questionable terrain before regaining the main pathway back to the front of the property. As I neared the main gate Boaz began to lean on my leg and question my leadership. I corrected him consistently and when he realised left and right doors were closed he picked up his forward march and we headed away from home across the driveway toward the water trough on the other side. I decided to have him reach the trough in a direct line by crossing the ditch rather than going back on ourselves to use the easy slope. Water was overflowing from the trough and had made a small stream running down the hill and along the ditch. This caught Boaz’ attention and for the first time her didn’t simply go. He tried to turn away from the ditch but I kept him straight and prepared myself for whatever he might do. Usually a young or inexperienced horse will cat leap such an obstacle out of lack of confidence. However, once he realised I was serious, he made a nice economic leap over the ditch and trotted on up to the water trough for a drink, the scary stream already forgotten. We followed the driveway back into the yard and I put Boaz away just as the wind suddenly picked up. The air turned cold immediately and I felt moisture in the air. A storm was coming in. I wondered whether to put ay out for the horses but they were nowhere to be seen and the wind blasted me again and I knew I would be throwing hay all over the place against the wind for no reason. I headed for the main house and saw Lynette drive up. I joined her and Rick and they were discussing what needed to be done to protect the hay and other property from the elements. I offered my help and soon we were shutting barn doors and pulling tarps over the hay. Soon we were indoors sheltered from the rain outside. We were happy to have the rain though, as the hay fields and alfalfa needed it. Every now and then there would be a break in the rain and just as I would wonder about going out and resuming horseplay the rain would come down harder, even turning to hail at one point. Then suddenly, as fast as it had arrived the storm blew away again. I headed out with Lynette through the big boy herd pasture to find the horses we wanted to ride that afternoon. I was to ride Gunnie, a blue roan who is blind in one eye. It took us the best part of an hour to find the horses and get them in. We brushed them, as they had all rolled in the wet dust, tacked them up, had a short pre-flight check and got on. I checked out my steering, my woah and go and off we went. Gunnie was like riding a cob. He was happy to mooch along behind Dag and Cookie (who was accompanying us at liberty) and was a perfect gentleman with me. He’s a really nice horse and I can see why Lynette is considering choosing him as her levels horse. I would consider him for the externship but I can see his one blind eye creating some issues, and Boaz has increasingly won me over.

After dinner I again went out with Jazzy. This time we went into the arena in order to work a little on her concentrating on me away from her herd. I allowed the others to come into the area but not into the arena and we began using the touch it pattern in order to give purpose to our driving game. She caught on very quickly and rocket through “nose, neck, maybe the feet”. She gave me more trot and was quicker to settle down to my jumping around and throwing the ropes around her legs. She now has the friendly and porcupine game, a fair driving game and yoyo, and the start of a circling game. A few more days and i think she’ll have the full seven games going.

Today I rode out with Lynette and she showed me more paths. We had a small canter together and I jumped Boaz over some logs. Well over one, the rest he just took in his trot stride as they were not worth the effort of jumping... He is such a cool little man, I have no doubt we will have fun together. We might not be able to do everything the others can do on the externship but we will learn a lot, and he will make sure I learn what I need to!

This afternoon we went into Gillette and I picked up a pair of Ariat short riding boots for $15 from the Back to the Rack shop. I then picked up a cheap but good little external CD/DVD player for my computer so I can install my digital camera software and watch Parelli DVDs in my room. It felt like I was on a spending spree but I am proud of the thriftiness of my purchases. We then headed to the airport and waited for Shirley’s plane. Shirley is another extern who is leasing a horse from Lynette and will be sharing the guest house with me. I was looking forward to meeting her but she never arrived! We realised she had not been on her flight and as we headed back home Lynette got an email from her saying that she had been held up by customs and they made her miss her connecting flight. She now had to spend two nights in Denver! I really feel for her, it was the exact situation I was dreading for myself on my way here and it also happened to both of the girls who came here last year. It is not so uncommon. When I had been in customs I had asked one of the officers if I should worry that I would miss my flight and her response was “no you can just get the next one, everyone is in the same situation”. They really don’t care. I understand security but I don’t understand treating people like crap when you know that the vast majority are legitimate and have jumped through hoops to satisfy regulations and blue tape and have a very real reason to be in the country. At least Shirley is now in the USA and will be with us on Monday.

So we have just one week before we head to Colorado and I begin the much anticipated Externship. I would be lying if I said I wasn’t a bit nervous but I have definitely turned a corner and will make sure that I have fun and learn all I can and what outcome I get I trust will be the outcome I deserve. Whatever it is my life is on a great track. I am missing Paris, my family and of course Will. I know Paris would love to explore this countryside with me and I wonder what he would think of the wild turkeys, dear, antelope and elk that roam around here. I have also seen porcupines already. Wyoming really is an awesome state!

And now for a bit of gushiness: As  much as I miss Paris I know that he is in good hands, probably enjoying a break from me and I will come back a better human for him. Years ago I realised that I wanted to love someone more than I loved my horse. As you can imagine that’s a tall order. Well I have achieved it, I really do miss Will even more than Paris! We have managed a couple of Skype conversations but the seven hour time difference is proving a pain in the butt, and, rude as I feel for doing it, I can’t help but keep pulling my lap top out at every opportunity in the home he might be online. I am having a great time, but when all us externs say goodbye I imagine I will not be among the saddest to be going home!

So... The next instalment will be soon, and shorter I promise! Regular updates is my goal for the Externship!