Nova’s Notebook – Fun Show Ups and Downs

October 17, 2010Posted inNOVA
Out of our comfort zone we took part in a Fun Show.  The ringmen were rodeo clowns-dressed in their rodeo clown clothes. Does that tell you how far out of our comfort zone we were?  Hope and Chip and Nova and I went to the show! Nova did fantastic in everything and she provided a great deal of comic relief during the obstacle course at the hay bales stacked up with the scary scare crow.  Think hay bales as a source of food. Forget about the scary scarecrow.  snort To get into…

Nova’s 100 Mile 2+ hour group lesson

October 16, 2010Posted inNOVA
Nova and I resting in the middle of the arena after cantering miles and miles.  Well, that's what Nova and I thought anyway.  We worked on flying lead changes today. We didn't get any, but she is a "pop" away from getting that done. Flying lead changes aren't really easy for a Missouri Fox Trotter.  It takes a bit of work to get that done. We also flew around the arena today with 10  other people in our 2 hour group lesson!  Jennifer Vaught gave our lesson today and we…

Nova’s Notebook – Gaiting Out on the Trail

October 3, 2010Posted inNOVA
  Hope and I got to ride on the first crisp days of the Fall Weekend.  Hope's husband wondered if 50 degrees was going to be too cold for us to ride. ha! We are cowgirl trail riders (for a while yet..until it gets too cold for us) Here's Hope on Chip, a beautiful silver chocolate Rocky Mountain horse. Today, even the green alge was beautiful on one of the many lakes and ponds we ride by at James A. Reed park. We had a great time in the windy…

Nova’s Notebook – Lesson time with Jenny

September 17, 2010Posted inNOVA
Pat Parelli has done various studies of their students and why they enter the program.  Some of them have specific problems and when these problems are overcome, the students move out of the program. Many stay a long long time. Others drop out for various reasons. The category I'm in is "Want to Always Learn More - Can't Ever Get Enough" Lessons are my favorite horse back riding activity.  Lessons with the right people.  My right people are Jennifer and Tony Vaught. Tonight was the first time I've rode Nova since…

Nova’s Notebook – Show-Off Junkie

September 16, 2010Posted inNOVA
Thursday, 23 April 2009 Dearest friends, It came over me again-the need to show off. Larry Whitesell is doing a clinic at Pine Dell Farm this three day weekend. I came to Pine Dell to ride Nova tonight. I got to ride with good friends, Hope and Edna. I had just finished all my ground games and got on. In walks Dana-a gaited horse trainer who specializes in Paso Finos, and Larry Whitesell. They sat down in the viewing area and watched us. After I realized that Larry Whitesell was…

2010 World Celebration Highlight

September 10, 2010Posted inNOVA
Versatility Vision – Ribbons and Patterns September 10th, 2010 | Author: Susan I’d just like to start out with how difficult do you think it is to pull a tire on the end of a long rope in a mixture of finly ground rock and sand after a Hurricane Hermoine dumped a million inches of rain in the area last night. I had no idea, either. Nova and I practiced pulling a barrel in an arena and a few lighter things on a gravel road. In no way were we…