| All change! |
Wow, what a crazy few weeks! A lot of change has been going on but it's great 'cos the more change I have thrown my way, the better I'm getting at embracing it. Boy oh boy, I am absolutely spent so this'll only be a rather brief update unfortunately.
Basically my now-old landlord informed me that he was selling the fields I was renting a week or so ago, that didn't really go down too well and I was panicking about where to go. However, thankfully I didn't have to look far. I have moved literally onto greener pastures on my hay merchant's farm which is under 10mins drive from my house. We have a little under 2 and a half acres with solid, brand new fencing, natural shelter with beautiful views and off road trails which is a luxury I've never had before. The next obstacle was travelling, how would I get Lily there and how could I pick up Saffy? My wonderful friend and her husband offered their help to go pick up Saffy with me so we went up yesterday and brought her to her new home. We spent most of the day travelling to and from the yard we picked her up from and just as I unloaded her and turned her out we went off to pick up Lily!
I was so worn out by this point and a little worried that Lily would be in one of her challenging moods. However as soon as I got to the gate she was there waiting for me which was very nice. We played for a little while and then I spent a while loading and unloading her, she was a gem! Then off we went to the new yard to see her new home and new fieldmate. She backed off the trailer by the tail like a pro, bless her. I turned her straight out in with Saffy because I knew both of them would be on unfamiliar territory and bunch together as prey animals do. After a little adrenaline and a trot around, they both settled nicely. I'm going to give them a few days to settle in properly before I play with either. Plus I need to rest up as I'm going to Arran's yard on Wednesday for a one-day clinic, playing with a new horse in a positive atmosphere will be very cool.
Here are a couple of pictures of our new place and Lily and Saffy, sorry about the quality; they were taken off my phone.
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| My new levels partner! |
Now that I have a way of picking her up and a date set, I can finally let it start sinking in that I have a new pony on the way! That means that I can at long last be less vague about her to you, my readers.
Saffron (Saffy for short) is a 13.2hand chestnut New Forest mare who will be 10 this year. She is a true blue mild-moderate LBi, low-medium spirit but mostly low unless she has the right incentive! She's got plenty of ridden experience, had a natural start and has had her owner achieve his level 1 on her a few years ago. I've known about her since the new year because her owner is a friend of mine, I've been up there and tried her twice now and I'm smitten. She is definitely what I'm looking for in a levels partner and I have played with her online, freestyle and ridden her out on the local roads with confidence. I haven't got a good, up-to-date picture of her yet so my apologies but she is very cute. I'm so excited to go get her! :] |
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 This week my Painted Ponies arrived and I thought I'd make a sub-post to talk about them! The blue one on the left was originally bought by my mum for me for a birthday present to symbolise my teenage journey from stormy weathers to light. I cherished it until Tyler accidentally knocked it off the window-ledge and it's leg was snapped. I had forgotten all about them until a friend mentioned them recently and I went on their main site hoping that I could find the same model again. Thankfully, although it is retired, I could still purchase it and whilst browsing I found the 'Tip-Toe Through The Tulips'. I loved the design especially seeing as it is a piebald so I treated myself to that also. As I said above, they arrived this week, packaged well and they are even more beautiful in real life!
I found them originally on the official site but then, to save on postage, I found a UK retailer . I thought I'd post both links for my international and UK blog readers in case they were interested in looking at the wide range of Painted Ponies available. |
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| Attitude |
| Today I had an interesting play with Lily today, we did nothing new but were still struggling with Friendly Game issues. So it wasn't a step back or forwards but whilst I was sighing and thinking "how long will it take before Lily realises that this is a Friendly Game!" I had a mini-revelation. I asked myself how I felt about the Friendly Game and I am sick of it so my attitude towards it won't be helping... How interesting! Something for me to have a little lick and chew about. 'Attitude' sure isn't #1 of Parelli Seven keys for nothing. |
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Wow, today and yesterday have certainly been busy! Yesterday I didn't do much with Lily but hang out and groom her. Her mane is very thick and close to being a double mane so she's constantly got it in her eyes, especially at this time of year when the flies are causing her to shake her head a lot. So I decided to give her a bit of a trim.
Before:
 There's a pony under there somewhere, honest!
After:
 I got a little scissorhappy whilst playing Paramore out of my phone but, as far as previous mane trimmings have gone, this isn't too bad! :)
We then had a little bit of a play with the blue barrels seeing if she could jump them if I laid them on their side. As long as I've known Lily, she's never done jumping calmly so this was really tough for her and she got quite impulsive. Although if she was tense, I'd ask her to come in front of the barrels or ask for sideways beside them to get her to think. After 10 minutes or so, she calmly walked up to them, stopped, asked a question so I yo-yo'd her back and resent her and she jumped them very nicely. Success!
And today I popped up to a friend's in the next county to see if two of his ponies might be suitable for me. Both New Forest mares except one was bay, one was chestnut and the bay was 14.2h and the chestnut was 13.2h. My friend had told me the bay was a little more extreme than the chestnut but I thought whilst I was up there I'd have a play with both of them, he wasn't kidding! She was such a monkey and quite a challenge for me so although she was nice, I'm not looking for another project. I then played with the chestnut mare and she is more mild LBi than mod-extreme like the bay and she did really well. I then had a rode around the arena and then a mosey out onto the roads on her and she was so well behaved, I couldn't fault her at all. I got 'that feeling' about her but I'm not going into too much detail because I need to speak to Arran first and don't want to jinx it. So you'll have to hold onto your seats in anticipation just as I am until then, sorry. :) |
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My name is Lucy Middleton, I'm 17 years old and from the United Kingdom.
I started Parelli in January 2008 and it has been an incredible journey so far.
Pre-Parelli I did the best with what I knew but now I know better; I want to do better!
This is my blog to document my progress as a natural horseman.
Want to 'follow' my blog, fellow blogspotters? Add my url to your list on your dashboard to stay upto date!
View my profile
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I am owned by this gorgeous piebald cob mare, Lily. She's an interesting character, fun to play with and is a great teacher.
There's more about her on her own page.
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It's not about disposable horses; it's about relationships for life.
It's not about quick fixes and artificial aids, it's about savvy; true understanding and expertise.
It's not about winning and others losing; It's about win-win: you and the horse need to feel good.
It's not about me me me; It's about changing the world for horses, becoming a person of knowledge and influence, and sharing what you know.
It's not about fear and doubt; It's about unconditional love and trust.
Love for the empowerment of others and trust that you'll never ask the horse to do something that would hurt or diminish his dignity.
Reveal your horse. Discover your potential. Live your dream.
-Parelli
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Profile designed, made and coded by Lucy Parelli Student.
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