THIS TIME WITH THE BIG KAHUNA!

Well call me little Tommy Tippy Toes! Guess who came to me today and asked to play at Liberty? He offered it! I love the way things are going. Maybe it's my excitement every time I go out there, but all of my herd is TURNED ON! We are all having so much fun.

Let me set the stage for you. It was fifty degrees today...a major chinuk here in Kansas this time of year. It was sunshiny and still, just beautiful. So John and I spent the day outside, working on the fence line for the new pasture and adding dirt to the raised gardens before the weather comes back in this weekend. The horses love it when we're all outside, so they were up next to the fences watching us and calling ever so often.

I walked over to say "Howdy!" and Lucky "Oooohhh whoooo whoooed!" at me, then turned and looked over his shoulder at me. "Wanna play?" The invitation was that clear. Pat Parelli is right. When all you do is hang out with your horses, it's like putting money in the bank! There's a new level of communication between us that I have no words to describe. Right now, every thing we're doing is magic. We're not necessarily graceful, but we sure are having fun while we find our way through this new level of partnership!

We played for 45 minutes, and he still wanted to keep going! Trying to control my monkey brain self, who wanted to "keep working" wasn't easy for me. But I wanted to end it the same way it did for Apache, with him wanting to have more. He was so excited, he talked to me the whole time!

Lucky is one of the most verbal horses I've ever been around. He nickers, neighs, calls, croons, and even sighs with a little sound. The horse just flat out likes to talk when we're together. Everyone who comes to visit comments on it. Today was no exception. He talked and talked while we played. John told me later that he could hear it over in the field he was working in (Located next to the one we were playing in).

We played Circles that turned into Figure Eights, Figure Eights that turned into Falling Leaf. We played Stick to Me that turned into Walk/Trot Transitions and Transitions that turned into Sideways...at Liberty! We played lots of different kinds of Friendly games with scratching in all the itchiest places and rubbing on his belly, a comfort zone for Lucky. The horse just kept offering! He even changed direction on the Circle, which is very hard for him because he can't see any real reason for doing a Circle, and he was (before I had him) abused on the circle with rough handling while being lunged.

I did use a few cookies at first, but they ran out in fifteen minutes! The rest of the time was just him, having fun. Me too! We even played some cutting games together. I was the "cow" and he was the "wrangler".

I called it at the end. He wanted to keep going. He followed me back into the paddock, the perfect "floating horse", completely in sync with me. Having this happen two times in a row, once with each horse, is going to spoil me! I love every thing we're doing together.

OH the conversations we're having ! This is my shout out to Pat and Linda Parelli and all of their Professionals... THANK YOU...THANK YOU...THANK YOU! The educational system you've put together has given me my dream. I have two horses who want to be with me VOLUNTARILY! You've made my world and theirs so much better than I thought it could be.

I just can't wait for the next time. Can't wait to see what happens next!

I am, ever yours, Nancy with a grin from ear to ear!

PLAYING WITH THE LITTLE KAHUNA

Every day is a surprise, when it comes to my horses. I never know what's going to happen. Some days I go out for early morning chores and they're all waiting at the gate, "Oooohhhh whoo whoooooooing!" and ready to go. Other days they're standing in the sun, under the eaves of the barn, catching some rays. "Hey Ma. How's in hanging?" and then they go back to sleep.

I love that kind of uncertainty. It keeps me on my toes, focused and ready to laugh, ready to move, ready for anything at all! Ever so often I have a day like yesterday...one for the books.

I went out in the middle of the afternoon because I knew the weather was going to be so nice. It was sunny, not much wind and in the forties. That's positively balmy for Kansas in January. Didn't want to miss the opportunity to work with Lucky without having to bundle up or wear gloves. (I work much better when I can feel the ropes without gloves on.)

I set the arena up and the area outside, along the drive. This was going to be fun! All we've had time for the past few weeks is Small Games in between chores and having a cold. I loaded my pockets with broken Winnie's Cookies, Lucky's new addiction, and walked out into their field to whistle him in. It wasn't our usual time, so he was out munching on acorns or grass at the back of his meadow instead of waiting at the gate. And we fell out of the habit of working while the Holidays took over.

But look at who came in first!  Apache, my Left Brain Extrovert was happy to see me and ready to go! He offered. And I never turn that down no matter what my plan was. It's such a gift, especially from my rascal.

I didn't have my halter with me, or my carrot stick. I usually go out as just myself. It's such a nice opportunity to walk in together at Liberty. Our connections are getting stronger every day, so I like to encourage their participation as a partner, not as an animal that has to work.

He came to me with such a soft look in his eye! And he was ready too. He came to me head on, no shyness at all. Looked me square in the eye, flicked his ears at me and said " I'm ready. Let's play!" Oh my. Gives me chills every time. It's such a tribute from a thousand pounds of scary smart horse when they want to be with you.

I started with Friendly Game, giving him a quick massage, especially on his haunches. It's a game we've played together since he was a colt. He loves to relax into having all of those muscles rubbed. But I kept it short. His capacity to begin to take over and get into an ornery state of mind is HUGE!

After we played our Friendly Game, I suggested we walk together. We were in perfect sync! Magic. Now I know Apache pretty well by now, so I also know that I have to "keep ahead" of his ideas. So I made my little click with my tongue and took us up to a trot after only 7 steps of walk. I vary that too, by the way. He counts and will begin to do things very quickly when I'm not suggesting them. I want the 51% of the partnership...and so does he. It's always challenging to keep it under control and still let him think he's teaching me. I love that! It's so complicated with him.

I brought us down to a walk in ten steps, then stopped and backed up four steps. He already had the pattern! He was ready to repeat it, so repeat it we did. Then I threw him a "Nancy style fast ball". I lifted my front left leg ( I sometimes identify so deeply with them, I begin to think in terms of having four legs too. Kind of wacky doodle, I know.) and I held it there, waiting. So did he! The tension was almost too much, and that's EXACTLY what Apache loves.

I put my leg down and tapped the ground. He put his leg down and tapped the ground! Then I did something I've seen in the videos on Youtube, but I've never tried. I figured there was nothing to loose. The worst that could happen was that he wouldn't try it too. I put my leg straight out in front of me and started a Spanish Walk (I think that's what it's called.). First one leg out straight, then the other one. AND HE DID IT! We did that for six paces, then I stopped and gave him some Winnie's Cookies. It was so over the top amazing, I had to let him know how happy I was.

I don't usually give him any treats when we're working. He loves the games so much the treats are irrelevant to him. He ate it, but his focus was still on me. I was right. It isn't goodies he plays for. He just flat out loves to play! We started off again  at a walk, then transitioned up to a trot, back down, then back up. By then his energy was so high it was electric! That air was fairly crackling with excitement. So I decided to send him out away from me in a big Circle. If he started his "Up and down like a pogo stick" bucking, I wanted him a bit further away. He's never hit me, but no sense taking any chances.

"Circle? You want Circle? I'll give you Circle!" and off he went in this lovely, light canter. WOW! Leaving him alone and just hanging out with him for three weeks was giving me all kinds of pay back. He was so beautiful and so hooked on, one ear on me like a radar dish. After he had Circled for four times around,  I stepped back and he changed direction...JUST LIKE THAT!

I was having a hard time seeing at this point because I was crying. Silly me. I just couldn't help it though. Here it was...THE DREAM!...and I hadn't been expecting it at all, much less from Apache. I disengaged him after about six times around and stood there with his head on my chest, rubbing his neck and ears. I'd had nearly fifteen minutes of THE DREAM with him. It was perfect, and time to stop. I wanted to leave him wanting more...to remember how much fun we'd just had the next time we played together.

He was still so hooked on that he followed me back into the paddock, a happy, peaceful "floating head" right next to me, matching me step for step. We went up under the eaves of the barn and staid there for a while, catching some rays. It was all so NATURAL, like we were just good pasture buddies who'd spent a few minutes playing before stopping to take an afternoon fiesta.

I played with Lucky too, on line. He stood quietly under one of his trees, waiting until Apache and I were finished. Sometimes I think they have this stuff planned out!

This time we were practicing some of the Eight Principals of Horse-Man-Ship. # 1 Horsemanship is natural (did that one in spades!)  #3 Communication is two or more individuals sharing and understanding an idea (and it was his idea this time!) #6 Body language is the universal language (I never spoke a word while we played) and last but never least #7 Horses teach humans and humans teach horses. I'd dub him Professor Apache this time around! Yesterday was a true gift that I'm STILL thinking about.

I know I say this all the time. But it just doesn't get any better than that, at least until the next time when it DOES get better.

I am, ever yours, Nancy, smiling and shaking my head in wonder!

THE PENNY ANGEL COMES TO VISIT

My Mom wore penny loafers. I still remember waking up in the morning and listening to her scuff down the hallway to the kitchen.

I'd lay there in my bed with my dog curled up next to me, burrowed down into the covers just exactly right. I loved my little room at the end of the hallway. I designed it myself. All of my furniture was white and the walls were a clear, soft lavender color...just the color you see at the end of the day along the rim of the earth as the sun goes down. That was why I chose it.

Schotsi, my dachshund (She really wasn't supposed to be on the bed. It was one of our stolen pleasures.) and I would watch the sun come up through my window and listen to Mom get breakfast ready. She'd hum and sing one of her favorite songs while she scrambled eggs or made oatmeal. "Sugar in the morning, sugar in the evening, sugar at supper time. Be my little sugar...and love me all the time!" I loved getting up. New day, new things to do, new adventures, people, places to go. I never knew what was going to happen and I loved that feeling. Still do too.

When my sons were little, I'd do the same. I loved repeating that pattern. It made me feel like my Mom was right there with me, maybe sharing a cup of that coffee she loved so well while she sat at the kitchen table, watching me get the day started for my family. She died right after my first son was born, so it was always in my head that she was there, talking and laughing with me about whatever adventure the boys had been on the day before. And I always knew when she really was there because I'd find a penny, just like the pennies she wore in her loafers.

I'd find my penny on the floor next to the stove, or under the kitchen table and sometimes I'd find it in my pocket, even when the jeans I'd put on that morning were fresh and clean from the laundry. I never questioned my pennies and the odd places they showed up. They were there, so my Mom was too.

Today, when I went out to whistle in the horses, there at my feet was a penny. It was inside a hoof print left by Lucky. (I can tell my horse's separate hoof prints. Apache's is perfectly round and thick walled. Lucky's is more oval and slightly smaller than Apache's.) Now how in the world did a penny end up in my melting paddock inside Lucky's hoof print? And a new print too. The sides were still sharp. I could even see the outline of the frog. I squatted down to look at it. Maybe it had been there before and now it was frozen into the mud? It wasn't. It was sitting on top.

I smiled as I picked it up. Mom was there. She's been my Penny Angel for all of these 36 years since she died, always there when I needed some comfort or there when I had something wonderful to share. Today I think it was because I felt like celebrating. It's a new year! A new start! Anything is possible.

As I squatted there in my cold little paddock, I felt a presence over me. When I looked up, there was Lucky leaning over looking at me! His ears were forward, asking a question. "What's going on Ma? Any carrots down there? You OK?" I stood up and ran my hand down his neck and settled into him, thinking about how he made me think of warm beds in the morning, and I smiled at him too. I told him " Just the penny angel, leaving us a gift to start the new year with. Wanna see it?"

By then Apache was standing next to me, on the other side. I held up my dirty little penny so they could see it. Then I held it down so they could smell it. They both took their time, examining it thoroughly with that amazing upper lip a horse has. And then we just stood there, watching the sun go down together. We didn't do anything flashy, nothing at all in fact. Just stood there and sighed together.

Here's an interesting thing I've noticed this year, maybe because I'm a bit more Savvy than I was last year? When I'm not taking them out every single day and and working on something...patterns, games, precision, whatever my monkey brain is obsessed with at the moment...they're softer, happier and more connected. Aaahhhhhh. How interesting! Horses love doing nothing, just hanging and being in the moment. And they're letting me know that by coming to me right away, every single time I'm out there, because this year I wasn't able to keep working with them through the holidays.

I'd caught a cold and family were coming (first doggone cold in nine years!). Something had to give, so "training" was where I gave. Hmmmmmmm. How VERY interesting! Doing nothing is important too. Stopping and resting, just being in the moment like my herd, was what they'd needed. Maybe THAT was why I'd found my penny. Maybe the Penny Angel was telling me that allowing myself to relax and enjoy my life with them was just exactly right. I know the horses were telling me that.

So my new focus this year is digging into and really trying to understand what Pat Parelli wants us to know about the Qualities of a Horseman. Tonight I thought about #2 RESPECT (respect for the herd and their needs), #6 FEEL (putting myself into their hoof prints), # 7 TIMING (understanding the time to work and the time to rest), #9 SAVVY (always working on this one...never ending self improvement!), and #10 EXPERIENCE  (This one comes with time and deliberate practice of ALL aspects of horse-man-ship, including knowing when to rest).

Oh my. A whole new year in front of me, all brand new and shiney like the perfect new pennies my Mom always wore in her loafers. Anything is possible!

I am, ever yours, Nancy, grinning because it's only just begun!

LITTLE DEVILS AND THE GREAT HAY HEIST

The years race by, don't they? I remember hearing my two Grandmothers laughing in the kitchen like girls. I'll never know what it was they were giggling about. They wouldn't tell me. I was a little girl. But I remember what they looked like, sitting at the little table with the red linoleum top. For just those few moments, there were no years between us. They were girls, like me, that time  had worked on just a bit more.

More than fifty years have gone past since that memory. They ran through my hands like water from a leaky faucet. But, oh, haven't I had fun watching it run away from me! I learned from my Grandmothers that day. They were my best teachers. They told me " Honey, LIVE! Live every single day with no regrets. Live big, live hard, live well. Push yourself. Decide who you want to be, then be better. And remember to laugh. It makes things that much sweeter."

I always loved the "...then be better." part of that conversation. It gave me liberty to keep trying, to keep pushing, to have no limits. I've "failed" over and over in my life, but never at anything serious. I lost a business or two, lost our house, and lost quite a bit of money but those aren't things I count as "serious". I'm one of the luckiest (spelled W O R K) people I know. I still have my family.

I watched an old cowboy movie last night. In it, one of the leads says " Blood counts." It does too. But my family is bigger than that. I have "family" all over the world. We talk about our horses, our children, our spouses and lovers, our dogs, politics and religion (although I'm very careful with those subjects, even with my "blood" relatives), aches, pains, joys and sorrows.

And I have my horses. I spent the evening outside with them tonight, watching the sun go down. It was cold. The wind whistled out of the North...nothing like last night when it was still 60 at bed time. The year is going out on a hard North wind bringing ice in the buckets and making  branches in the tree clack like old bones. And I guess they are too. This year is nearly gone, just like all the others. And it's going out with laughter behind it, pushing it's way through all the cracks and crevices.

A couple of weeks ago I came out to the barn after taking the dogs in, to bring the herd in from OUTSIDE. They'd been out long enough on the hay field. It was time for grain and the second half of the day.

The barn door was open! I didn't leave it like that. I was pretty sure. But maybe it was the "pretty sure" part that was important here, so I shrugged and wandered on out into the field to see where they were.

I couldn't see them. That's not too unusual. There are hills and valleys, trees, and hidden places out there. And Apache especially loves to play Hide and Go Seek. They were probably just around the bend, hiding back behind the locust trees. I decided to go mix the grain and supplements first, then whistle them in. So I walked back to the barn, turning the corner to go in the doors, thinking about the games I wanted to focus on with them. I wasn't prepared for what I found.

Apache was up on the hay stack! He had his back hooves on the bottom row of hay bales and his front hooves up on the next row. He turned to look at me, then reached up and grabbed a bale and threw it over his head to Lucky. From the looks of things, he'd been doing that for a while too. There were bales all over the barn! My first thought was "HORSES DON'T CLIMB HAYSTACKS!" Obviously I was wrong about that one. And my second thought was " AND THEY DON'T TOSS BALES EITHER!" The only thing to do was to dissolve in a gale of laughter, of course!

I leaned back against the wall, slapped my hands on my cheeks and laughed...an out loud, bent over belly laugh. And I didn't have my camera with me either. Why is it the best stuff happens when I don't have my camera? Well, this morning I DID have my camera. I caught some of it as it happened. They'd planned it while I took the dogs inside again, the rascals!

Bring up the Mission Impossible music. My Left Brain Extrovert is ready to play! The world is his oyster.

And I didn't leave that door open either. So who opened it? And where's Lucky and Willow?

Now I want to stop here for just a moment and ask you to think about what they had to work out on their own to accomplish what they did. I haven't directly taught them any of this. They learned and generalized by watching me.

I have a rope hung on the door because it's hard to open. It gives me leverage to pull an old, creaky, slightly crooked door with some ease. One of them had to figure that out...how to grab that rope and which way to pull it to open the door. It slides to the side, not out. And then they had to go through a squeeze, an opening not much bigger than them and into their barn from a direction they usually don't go. Everything looks different to them from the outside.

Apache wasn't all the way up this time...just part way up onto the pallets that they hay is sitting on to keep it dry and well ventilated. I followed him in, so he's not the only culprit here. See those little legs back behind Apache? (the spots are probably spit from me laughing so hard while I took pictures! I'm usually pretty good with a camera, but I had to prop my hand on the table to shoot this. I was laughing that hard!)

Hale, hale the gang's all here! I didn't correct the reflections in their eyes because they're all little "devils" in this episode. 15 acres of hay on the ground, but it's much better when it's stolen goods! Not one of them is showing any remorse either. Look kind of smug, don't they? And look at Apache! He's going up the stack again! Well, one thing I've got to say. It's never, ever dull! And, just between you and me, I'm so proud of them my buttons are popping!

Something like this means that they, all three, have real self confidence. They're thinking and planning and accomplishing difficult tasks on their own. And they all have such confidence and trust in me that they just kept eating, even when I caught them. (No one ever takes me seriously when I'm laughing...sigh.)

I am having so much fun with my life! The hard things make me stronger. The "failures" teach me better than any of the "successes" ever do. The easy parts? That's where I catch my breath. I laugh every single day about something, even when I have to spend another half hour cleaning things up...again.

I hope you, faithful reader, find something to laugh about as your year runs out too. And I hope your New Year is never, ever dull. I know mine won't be. 2011 is going to be great!

This is the last sunset of 2010 from our place here in OZ. Look out 2011! I'm hitting the ground running this year.  YEEEEEEEEEE HAAAAAAAWWWW!  I am having so much fun!

I am, ever yours, Nancy, head back and laughing!

THIS TIME I WENT TO THE EXPERTS

A couple of years ago a friend of mine reconnected with me after I sent out cards at Christmas and put my email address at the bottom. We hadn't seen each other for almost 40 years, since High School.

We caught up on marriages, children and grandchildren (Hers. I don't have any yet.) And then we got around to having ordinary conversations. She gave me an idea that I've been using ever since.

I told her that I was struggling with my New Years resolutions. There were so many things I wanted to accomplish! How was I supposed to choose? Her reply was "I don't do resolutions. I choose a word and work on that." Talk about genius! That took all the stress away. No more resolutions to break and feel like I'd failed myself...again. All I had to do was choose one word. How hard could that be?

I think I agonized over one word more than I ever did over writing resolutions! If you choose just one word, it becomes a philosophy.   gulp    I made lists and erased lists. I did research, read books, talked to friends and, in general, made what should have been an intuitive choice into a headache. Oh, the agony and the ecstasy! I confess that I even lost sleep over it. Living by a one word philosophy was not going to be easy.

So you're wondering what my word was. (This is so apt...and so funny!) SIMPLIFY   That was my word for 2010, my first year for living a one word philosophy. It gave me reasons to laugh all year long.

I have a tendency to suffer from "paralysis of analysis" (Pat Parelli, talking about saddle choices). I waaaay over do things. It's the Type A Nancy, former business owner and straight A student, who makes mountains out of teeny, tiny bumps...not even mole hills. I make everything too hard and it's always me I'm hardest on.

Every time the mountains appeared on the horizon, I saw the word. I should capitalize that. The WORD. And for 2010 it was SIMPLIFY. If I'm going to agonize, do it in a Zen way by following my one word philosophy. SIMPLIFY.

It wasn't a bad year either. I had my word posted where I could see it every day, and then I tried to adhere to it. I kept breaking things down in to smaller and smaller blocks (obstacles) to work on. Don't sweat the small stuff...and it's ALL small stuff. It's become such an important word to live up to that I've decided to keep it posted.

    This year I consulted the experts when it was time to make my choice. Apache said "You ASKing me?"

               Lucky said " ASK and ye shall receive...especially if there's Winnie's Cookies involved!"

                                                        And Willow said "ASK."

And that's my word for this year.   ASK   Another toughy. Ruminate and cogitate on it for a while. How many of us never ASK because we're too polite? Or we put it off because the answer isn't one we really want to hear? Or we're too doggone proud to ASK for help, to admit we need it. (There's that ugly fellow, ego, getting in the way. He runs the 'monkey brain'.)

It's going to be an interesting year! I plan to be doing A LOT OF ASKING here.

I hope your New Year is even better than this year. And I hope that this year was amazing, incredible, spectacular, AWESOME.    (Oops. There goes my SIMPLIFY, right out the window. See why I need to keep it around?)

I am ever yours, Nancy, laughing out loud!

"HOUSTON, WE'VE GOT A PROBLEM"

I've made a new friend! His name is Houston. You'll love his full registered name. It's " Houston, we've got a problem." I'm still laughing about that one.

Houston belongs to a neighbor of mine, across the road from us. They have a very nice little ranch with long, lovely open fields...much flatter than our place. He's an 'only' horse. His buddy died a couple of years ago, so he gets pretty lonely over there by himself. I've watched him from the road. He stands as close to the fences as possible, gazing off towards his neighbor's horses.

His human partner has severe arthritis, so she isn't able to work with him much or ride him. He's just a bit chubby and out of shape himself. (Well, OK...he's fat!) She was one of the people I called the day we had Chaucer come to stay for a while. While we were talking about our mysterious visitor (Chaucer, also known as Beau), she asked what we were going to be doing this year for Christmas. I told her " I spect we'll be staying home. I think one of my sons may be coming in for a visit with his wife. It's going to be a nice, quiet weekend for us."

The conversation wandered around a bit, as they always do with neighbor ladies who are catching up with each other. And then she asked if I might not mind coming over to care for Houston while she and her husband were out of town. Of course I said yes! I never pass up the opportunity to meet another horse, especially one I've watched from the road for so long. I'd heard that he was a "keeper"...real sweet and easy to be with.

This was out first encounter without his "Ma" there. " Grrrrr. I'm big. I'm bad. I live up to my name!" I'm sorry. I just couldn't take him seriously. His nose was going the whole time, sniffing. " I'm bad unless you have carrots in your pocket." All I could do was laugh.

John went with me to record what happened...and to learn. He's a new Parelli student himself, and just as bitten by the "horse bug" as I am.

Look at the contrast in his face here. On the right side (his right), his eye is soft and his ear is towards me. On the left his ear is still back and his eye is harder. The muscles in his face are contracted on his left side too. Fascinating! John caught his change in expression at the exact moment it began to change!

"Grain? Carrots? Grrrr...no wait. I don't mean it! BRING ME MY GRAIN! I didn't mean it. Honest. I'm nice. Really." See why he made me laugh? What a character!

 This is the second day, later in the morning. She'd told me that she's only letting him out into his field for an hour or two a day. She's trying to help him loose weight. (I"ll get to that later) So we didn't let him out the first day. I wanted to make sure he was comfortable with us and saw us as a source of pleasure. IE. Bringers of food. It's not too hard to tell that he's a Left Brain Introvert. This big boy is ALL about food. And he's bored and lonely too, which his human partner is aware of and most distressed about. She loves him a great deal, but is trapped by circumstances she sees as overwhelming. We let him out in his field for a couple of hours while we went back across the road to do chores for our own herd.

Guess the "Bringer of Food" title worked. Look at how nicely he's coming in to me!

I have to stop and tell you here that it really is easier to get a horse to bond up with you when he's as lonely as Houston is. On his side of the road, since his nearest horse buddy in the next field died in October (a lovely, gentle and ancient quarter horse of more than thirty years), he can only hear neighboring horses. From his point of view, he's ALONE! Very scary situation for a horse.

Doesn't he have a nice posture, as he's coming to me? His head is down and his ears are focused on me. If you can't tell, I'm already in love with him. He is a total character.

Look at that massive neck! He is way, way over weight. But his conformation is very nice and square. His back is still level. He's a Tennessee Walker, by the way. Somehow these gaited horses keep showing up in my life.

What a nice greeting! It was a lovely, long "Horseman's Handshake". We took our time here...several minutes of sniffing, licking and chewing on his part. He was processing who John and I were, friend or foe. It didn't take him long to categorize us as "Friends".

And here it is! Our little "breakthrough".( John, if I haven't told you before, used to be a very good journalistic photographer. He's doing a great job of capturing all the important moments here, isn't he?) His head came down and the change in his energy was palpable. He completely gave himself to me, just like that! I didn't know whether to laugh with delight or to cry because it was so poignant.

Look at how soft and willing he is here. He's so vulnerable at this moment! We spent several minutes just standing there, getting to know each other. There was no hurry. It was all on his timetable, his pace. And he just kept offering and offering! I tried to brighten the picture just a bit here. I want you to see the softness in his eyes. At one point they were closed in a kind of Ecstasy. He was that relieved to have company that spoke "horse" !

This was the real surprise of the morning. I'd left my halter and lead, Carrot Stick and Savvy string outside the fence. I wanted to greet him just as me...no equipment...if possible. I gave him the same signal I give to Lucky and Apache when I want them to Circle around me and go into their paddock. I visualized it, then ever so softly pointed in the direction I wanted him to go, leading with my eyes and shoulders...AND HE DID IT! His leg has just come forward there (left lead) and he's beginning his walk around me. SON OF A GUN...HE DID IT! I am having way too much fun!

After he had his tiny, wee bit of grain (just enough for incentive and to give him his supplements) and a lovely slurp of water, he came to me again just as if we'd been together for years. He was as soft and easy with me as my own herd across the road. I put this image in so you can see his chunky body. If you imagine him in better shape, without his tubby belly, he's a very nice horse. His human told me that he's 17 years old. I think he still has great potential!

"Want to play...dribble, dribble, dribble? How about going out for a ride? A nice grooming? Scritching? Got carrots?" Oh, the conversations we were having. Look at that focus.

We spent more than an hour there with him. The whole morning was at his speed, and it was all about Friendly Game. I moved at his pace, accepting what he had to give me. Look at the expression here! He's practically in my lap at this point. What a great, wonderful, sweet, shaggy bear of a horse he is.

This was when I knew it was time to stop. It was perfect! He let me find his scratchy place! I've never had any horse except Lucky allow me in that close, that intimate, and with such complete abandon THAT QUICKLY before! I stopped here, turning and leaving him half asleep with contentment, making these soft, little crooning noises. It was that profound for him.

As we drove out, his person drove in. We stopped at the end of the drive and I told her how things had gone while she was out of town. Then I offered to help her with him. She said " We'll see. I need to think about that." Good answer! Always be cautious and thoughtful about who you let work with your horses.

We went back home and spent some more time outside with our guys, playing at Liberty and just hanging with them. When we went inside, there was a message waiting for me. Houston's human had called. The message said " I don't know what you did, Nancy. But I want you to come back and do it some more! And I hope you'll teach me too!" Her voice had tears in it.

Maybe she will be one of my Parelli Recruits?!

I am, ever yours, Nancy...smiling at the wonderment!

THE MOVIE WE WROTE...TOGETHER

Sometimes the games we play aren't easy to define. I've been incorporating Parelli's Seven Games into everything I do with my herd. The more I stay with the program, the more consistent they are. It works two ways. Yesterday I used the Games for everyone when my friend brought three of her Grandchildren for a Holiday visit.

She spent a lot of time with horses when she was a girl, so she has some horse sense. But her Grandchildren are suburbanites who spend most of their time in fenced in yards and in carefully supervised play time with their friends. Coming out to our place is like going to a National Park. It's big, wide open and yesterday I had the horses OUTSIDE, so there were no fences between them and the horses. It isn't like seeing wild horses, but from their point of view it was just as exciting.

We practiced some simulations before we went out to visit, playing Friendly game, Wax on-Wax off, Porcupine and Driving. It was a diverse group too. The youngest was 3 years old and has Downs Syndrome, the next is 5 and has been out before, so she became the instant expert. And their cousin is 12 years old and quite full of himself, as all healthy 12 year old males are. Grandma is my age and has been a friend for many, many  years. Her children grew up with mine, next door neighbors.

When they all felt confident enough, out we went to bring the horses in for their morning grain. I'd saved that for them to do. It can be so empowering the first time you interact with  horses if it's done right and set up for success. I wanted them all to go home with an exciting story to tell their Mom's and Dad's.

I had things set up so all they had to do was mix the grain, add some carrots and whistle the horses in. I LOVE THE PARELLLI'S! I have to stop here again and say my "Thank you!" for giving me a program I can follow and apply. My horses came in and gave those kids the morning of a lifetime!

The kids did exactly what we'd practiced. They walked out about twenty feet down the path, whistled my three note signal that means "REALLY GOOD THINGS ARE WAITING!" to the herd, cocked over onto their legs and waited.

I swaney. Sometimes I think those horses are psychic! They were way out in the field, so far you couldn't see them because of the hills. But when the 12 year old let loose the whistle I'd taught him, heads came up and in they came, right on cue. But this time the energy coming across the field was low and easy...no wild and wonderful "woohoo!", the way it is when I call them.  Lucky went to the 5 year old and leaned way, way down to carefully touch her hand and then slowly walked into his grain bin with her right next to him, perfectly matching energy to each other. She held the bucket for him so he could have the first bite, and then her Grandma picked her up so she could empty the rest into Lucky's green bin hanging on the fence.

All the way through Lucky was the perfect gentleman, standing quietly to the side while his bin was filled. I never moved. She handled all of it. OH MY. I was so proud of Lucky...and proud of my little friend too. It was the perfect match for the two of them too. Both of them are Left Brain Introverts. He chose his little person just as if they'd been together for years.

Apache chose the little 3 year old girl! He came up to her and carefully, gently touched her hand. The amazing part was that he stood there and waited his turn without moving, matching himself to her tiny self and waiting while Lucky (Big Kahuna around here...alpha) took his turn. I walked the "littlest horseman" along with Apache, taking him to his shed stall, but I think he would have walked with her alone! He was attendant on her, not me. I was as neutral as I could be and still move along with them.

She held the big bowl, using all of her strength to do it, so Apache could have his first bite. Apache was so gentle with her! He took just a little nibble out of the bowl, no pushing at all, then he stepped back while I held her up so she could put it in the corner bin for him. When he stepped forward to eat, she threw her arms around his leg and gave him a kiss! He stopped eating and leaned down and touched her on the top of her head. Golly.

Willow chose the 12 year old. She came in and grabbed the edge of his jacket and led him to her spot! He was so startled, he followed. I was close to crying, I was so moved by the love and careful, respectful way my horses had interacted with those little girls. Willow made me laugh out loud! That was exactly what that ornery young man needed!

All three of them closed the gates and doors for me. They latched them too (with me checking afterwards) and then helped to coil the ropes I put up as temporary fencing. The morning couldn't have worked out better! Before they left, after lunch, we all had to go down to say goodbye to the horses!

Yesterday we were writing our own movie and every "take" was a "cut and print"! I sent them all off with big smiles on their faces! It couldn't have been more perfect!

It doesn't get any better than that! Sometimes the "miracles" that happen, happen because we worked for them.

I am ever yours, Nancy, smiling because I'm amazed every single day!