Nova’s Notebook – Liberty Obstacle Course

October 18, 2010Posted inNOVA
It was called "Follow the Leader". We couldn't believe it. An obstacle course at liberty.  I was fairly confident that Nova and I would do well.  Were we going to start, run around a barrel and come home? That's all I could imagine. Imagine my surprise when the facility put up a real obstacle course, including a tipping bridge.  1.  Deer head mounted on one long arena rail and you needed to go close to it. 2. Scary stack of haybales with a scary Scarecrow stuck in the top of the bales with…

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…

Powder’s Progress – Development Pending

October 15, 2010Posted inPowder
Sunday, Powder will be headed to "For the Horse" Ranch to enjoy 30 days of training with Jennifer Vaught.  Jenny was a Parelli 3 Star instructor for 15 years.  Pat found Jenny near the beginning of the development of the Parelli people training system and asked her to be an instructor. She has influenced untold numbers of people in the midwest.  She has influenced my life a great deal! Jenny has taken two Horse Development courses with Pat Parelli and Pat's mentor Ronnie Willus and was certified as a Young…

Powder’s Progress – Take a Giant Step

October 6, 2010Posted inPowder
Surprise!  I asked Jennifer Vaught if she might want to train Powder for 30 days and the answer is YES! We're talking mid October thru Mid November.  I've also just about talked Jenny into blogging about training Powder. Wouldn't that be something! I think everyone should send Jenny an email and tell her how excited you would be to read a blog about Jenny's thoughts during 30 days of training.  What does she hope to accomplish in the daily sessions? What happens during Powder's training.  When does the first ride happen?  How…

Powder’s Progress – Two Years Old Today!

October 4, 2010Posted inPowder
  She was born two years ago.  Her birthday is today!  But hold on! She's going to be two again in 2011...for showing purposes!  Powder is two, she'll have two birthdays.   Isn't that two cool! Powder was born in October and the rule is...Oct. thru December babies are deemed to attain their age in the following year. In this past few weeks, I'm determined that Powder will have the best horse development ever.  I've been playing with her at home and taking her to Pine Dell. Taking Powder to Pine…