Ouch!

Well, we're back.  We left Wendover, NV at 4 a.m. Pacific Time (well, it was really 5 a.m. Mountain Time, but since you enter Pacific Time about 20 feet west of Wendover, I'm going with Pacific Time) and streaked across Nevada and California with the minimum possible pit stops to arrive back home at 2 Tuesday afternoon. Getting away is great but getting home is even better. Got unpacked and re-acquainted with the cat, who was happy to see me, and with the horse, who was not quite as enthusiastic. Vacation over for him too! I'm easing back into work--I had planned to hit the ground running but easing back seems a lot more friendly.

I got (more) saddle shims while in Colorado in my never-ending quest to get the saddle fit right. We now have not only white spots on his shoulders but actual rubbed-raw spots. NOT good! I'm at my wit's end trying to figure out how to make the horse comfortable.  I tried the suggest shimming and was met with pinned ears and bucking when I requested a canter. I finally had to drop the whole project as I was on the verge of losing it completely.

Enter our veterinarian, who visited on Wednesday to administer rabies shots. A quick eval of Cowboy pointed the problem, not at the shoulders, but at the back end of the saddle. Most saddle fit today is geared toward allowing a lot of freedom at the shoulders and is designed to allow a lot of room for wide horses all the way from the front to the back. Cowboy is not wide, in actuality is quite narrow, and the back end of the saddle tends to float when the front end is shimmed correctly. All the saddle fit suggestions are geared toward allowing enough room for movement and don't address excess movement from a saddle that is actually too wide.  So this may (or may not) be the problem. Yesterday I tackled the problem again with Tere's suggested shimming, and was again met with pinned ears and bucking. Changed the shimming. Same result. Finally, in frustration, took off the saddle completely and hopped on bareback. Same result. Hmmmm.....perhaps this is behavioral and not related to saddle fit.  After a few corrective measures, I got a happy relaxed canter, ears forward, no bucking. Sort of a good thing but doesn't solve the problem of why he is getting white spots and rubbing on the shoulders.  So I remain flummoxed about this.

But Tere did suggest laser therapy and body work for Cowboy, so today Laura and I started working on that. His head should be down for the body work, so we took him out in the pasture. Cowboy is a horse who likes to move his feet, which can drive you a bit crazy if you are trying to keep him still. I followed the suggestion to just let him move around, and we took quite a journey around the pasture. Until he finally jammed his foot in a yellow jacket nest. Talk about exciting! I was trying to apply pressure to his belly to get him to lift his back at the withers, and suddenly the horse was airborne and heading toward me. This was a bit disconcerting but while I was trying to figure out what the horse was up to, I suddenly realized that something tiny was squirming around high in my blue jeans. That was my first hint that the problem was bee-related. OUCH! So now I am trying to control a completely frantic horse, who doesn't know if he should run or roll (opted for rolling) while dealing with a fiery set of stings to my person in a very inconvenient location. We headed toward the barn at high speed and bucked our way through the barn with Laura trying to shut the barn doors on the angry swarm.  We exited on the other side and Cowboy dropped and rolled again. Meanwhile, I am still fighting the bee in my jeans. Laura grabbed Cowboy and I made my way to a nearby stall to drop my drawers and tend to my wounds. Ken conveniently showed up with more beer but he was directed away from the stall I was occupying to honor my modesty, which frankly I didn't much care about at that point. The beer was medicinal though. Cowboy and I both got topical Benadryl and we'll see how we are tomorrow. But if I am sighted wearing baggy pants with absolutely no visible panty line, there's a reason for that.

Tomorrow night I am headed for Dressage in the Wine Country to cover the event for the Horse Journal. I requested, and got, a press pass--my very first press pass! So I get to attend THE horse event of the season for free. Woo Hoo! I guess I better start figuring out which baggy pair of pants I should wear for the occasion.

Last Day in Colorado

Today was the last day of the Parelli Summit. We'll be heading home tomorrow eager to inflict our new learnings on our blissfully unaware horses. As always, the Summit was inspirational, motivating and emotional.

We had a beautiful day for the finale after 2 days of cold, clouds and light rain. This is the view from the covered arena, with a balloon visible in the background.

A moment of silence was observed for the 10th anniversary of 9/11. This was followed by a ride by one of the top Parelli instructors, Kalley (the Cowgirl) Krickenberg, a former firefighter, carrying the American flag in a pattern around the arena at a high gallop. All without a bridle, by the way, as the theme for this Summit is Bridleless Riding.  Not a dry eye in the place after that. At least mine weren't.

I always come away from the Summit red-eyed and emotional. In addition to Kalley's ride, we heard from Lauren Barwick who rides with the Parellis and won gold and silver at the 2008 Paralympics in Hong Kong. Lauren is paralyzed below the belly button and has overcome tremendous challenges in her quest for gold, and is going for more gold in London next year. And Pat's son Caton, who has faced challenges since birth and was not expected to ever walk, now rides with the best and competes (and wins) in spite of serious physical and other impediments. Today he and Pat, along with several other Parelli pros, gave a demonstration of working cows during the lunch break. Caton is the closest rider in the picture. He's in his twenties now and riding well. We've been watching him for several years and used to be terrified watching him ride. I still wish the Parellis would endorse helmets.

So after 3 days of hearing about damaged riders and damaged horses who have overcome the odds to become inspirational success stories, I have to say their strategy works. I'm inspired to be a better person, to, if I may borrow the Parelli mission, to make the world a better place for horses, and also for people. I signed up to volunteer for the Parelli Foundation, which offers aid to rescues, therapeutic riding centers, and offers scholarships to Parelli students.

I just hope the inspiration can last as we start our journey back to Normal tomorrow!

Living Large at Parelli Land

It's been a whirlwind last few months, mostly related to work, but Cowboy and I did manage to pass all our Parelli Level 3 assessments and are (well, at least I am) eagerly awaiting the coveted green string. Meanwhile, I've managed to get work (barely) under wraps and am now blissfully on vacation in Pagosa Springs at the Parelli Summit. Laura and I had an uneventful 2-day road trip to get here and are now hanging out in the Rockies surrounded by horses and crazy horse people. Weather has been cloudy and cool with sprinkles of rain occasionally but it's still gorgeous here, even if someone did seem to steal all the oxygen.

The mood here seems to be a bit more subdued than in previous years. The effect of budget cuts are evident but why should the Parellis be any different than the rest of the world? The horsemanship is still top-notch and is, as always, inspiring and motivational.

My neighbor Ann is watching after Jasmine, and Laura's husband Ken is home tending the horses. Cowboy and Dexter are vacationing across the fence at Laura's place to make things easier on Ken at feeding time. Apparently they don't miss us at all since there is no riding, breakfast is considerably earlier than at my place, and Ken is an extremely good carrot supplier (locally famous as Carrot Man). We miss them terribly though. Although we did have to scope out the Atwood Ranch yearlings. After all, our horses are not getting any younger and it might be time to start looking for replacements.

Speaking of which...Here are a couple new friends of ours, Big Ben and Ladybug, who we think would make fabulous additions to the herd. Ladybug is a Dexter twin, a striking strawberry roan, and Big Ben has Cowboy's exuberant and cheerful personality. They are NOT coming home with us but wouldn't it be great...

Two more days of horse heaven and then time to head back home. My cell phone, which rarely rings, has been busy. Apparently I have clients who DO miss me after all.

The Horse Journal is out, and is even posted online, with my article on a local mustang training project the featured article!

http://www.sonomacountyhorsecouncil.org/content/sonoma-county-horse-journal