Sue – How Do You Do in Arena Chaos?

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The arena was filled with horses. One horse and "new to us" rider  didn't even know we were fearful. She was new. We rode in an organized chaos. We all rode in a straight line somewhere and first stopped and did hindquarter perfect turns. Then we trotted, stopped and did our hindquarter perfect turns. After we did that for a while, we started at the walk again and did perfect forequarter turns...and then again at a trot. How do you think Sue did with horses going every which way? She was…

Sue – How Do You Spell Progress?

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This was a three hour group lesson in brutal heat. We started at 9:00 am and by noon everyone was very willing to STOP. Last night I had watched the latest Parelli pod cast. It was about horses that are scared to have horses behind them or meet other horses. Talk about right on time Pod Cast! Pat rode his pretend fearful horse, Cash, in the round pen. Linda's job was to canter around the outside of the round pen. Cash rode on the rail inside and when she got…

Sue – How Do You Deal with Susan’s Fear?

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It's become apparent. It's out there for the world to notice. Jenny noticed today and that's a sad thing. Yes, no longer can we talk about Sue's fear. Her fear has abated to flinching and perhaps a few quick steps...or a head up. Yes, we have to talk about Susan's fear. It's now greater than Sue's fear. My latest fear came from being bucked off last year and breaking my collar bone. Boy Howdy did that hurt! My brain flashes back to a horse bunching up and then bucking. My…

JR’s Journal – Walk in the Park Horror

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JR and I were practicing our gait last Sunday. I like to call it purity of gait practice. We rode by ourselves at James A Reed Park. The park has a lot of trails and they are flat and grassy. It's just great for consistency. We were zipping up the side of a paved road going to the trail head on the other side of the road. Out in the parking lot FLASHES a 7-8 year old girl RUNNING with a KITE! The KITE is low to the ground and…

JR’s Journal – Jenny’s Opinion

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JR’s proud Daddy came over to see him and Jenny wanted to show us how she first gets on a colt. She gets on the colt bareback. In case she has to suddenly bail off, there’s no stirrups, horn, etc preventing immediate ejection! Jenny got a small stool and stood by JR’s side. He moved and she went through about 3 minutes of moving him around until he was very grateful to stand still. She jumped up on his back and just hung there, rubbing him all over with her…