Pontiac Lake Park

We trailered her to Pontiac Lake Recreation Park it was about a 45 minute drive, she did ok. She didn't have anything to drink and didn't eat her hay or grain that was in the trailer. We went on a little trail ride with just my halter on. I didn't use a saddle or bridle and she did awesome we even tried a little canter in the field.

The countdown

Today I realized that I only have 5 more days left at work. And only 14 days until I leave, the anticipation is killing me. I am excited and as the day gets closer I will become more nervous then I am now. I can't wait to learn and its exciting saying that because I have never felt this way about learning before in my life. Bring it on!

The horse that started it all

In a way this little mare is what started it all. After a rough winter with ex-friends and ex-boyfriends our family went on a trip to Colorado. I decided that I needed to find me again. Begging my mom to go horseback riding (like I did on every vacation) she gave in. The guide was awesome and gave me enough confidence to try a trot, and I didn't fall off. He told my mom that I did very well with his newly "broke" horse that had about 100 rides in. It boosted my confidence just enough to get start volunteering to clean stalls for 5 hours every Friday morning to get a half an hour lesson. Once I started there was no going back. And this little mare changed my life forever.

A Swimming Pony

Annabelle has always loved the water, so I wanted to see if she really would swim. And she did, as soon as she got comfortable she stayed in and ate the cat tails. The next day I swam with her it was so much fun the only downfall is that I got a leech from walking barefoot in the muck but it didn't bite me and it was very small.

A little girls dream

    What seems like a life long dream came true on Saturday. I decided to see how Annabelle would do with the barrels she has awesome flying lead changes and turns. We did the pattern for a couple days walking and trotting. Then I decided to try it cantering and she did it. I think she enjoyed it too.

  My dream is to be able to do barrels bareback and bridless. (We are a ways away from that, I can hardly canter in a straight line bareback haha)

     When I started Parelli my goals for being able to barrel race went away. But now that I have a relationship with Annabelle and a different perspective, I want to do it again but for more reasons, not just to go fast. I wonder if I can get her response using my leg fast enough to be able turn without steering her. Can I use my body to speed up and slow down to have her turn and do the flying changes while still being relaxed? Can she pick up the canter nicely without jumping into it or feeling rushed? All of these things I never thought of before. It puts a whole new perspective on "running the barrels" and it makes it more fun for the both of us.

31 Days

I thought as I got closer to the trip to Colorado I would become more nervous. However I am very excited, I am having dreams about being there. I can't wait. Next weekend we are getting the trailer ready to go so we can start trailering her around. I have been practicing her getting in and out with taking her halter on and off and she has been good. I don't know how she will act after being in there for a long time because the longest trip we will get to do is 2 1/2 hours not 12.
The hardest part is going to be getting her out there, I think.