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