Tuesday, November 25, 2008

New Pictures and More Progress







We had a great day yesterday, hanging out and playing with savvy. With Sundance, I concentrated on what would be best with handling the tasks according to his horsenality and how he likes it... I got a very obedient and motivated horse in turn. With Bebe, I kept it slow because he was in the RBI mood today. He did very very well with what I asked him and for the first time he offered figure 8's at liberty, so I was very happy about that. We also played with cantering stick 2 me and it was a lot of fun, he is very good with that. We ended the session laying on the ground together, how perfect?






Saturday, November 22, 2008

Is your horse happy? Take the Parelli Happy Horse Quiz!

http://files.parelli.com/IsYourHorseHappy_USA.pdf

Sundance was a 126, "Very Happy", 4 points away from the the happiest.

Bebe was a 129, "Very Happy", 1 point away from the happiest!

Now I'm real happy!

XOXO

Mariah

Thursday, November 20, 2008

Update, of course...

Duh, Mariah! You have a blog to obtain! So life goes on, Love, Language and Leadership in equal doses, and so many unstable doses of everything else. Life is good though, I have a lot going on family wise, school wise, horse wise, work wise and socially too. As for the horses, I am very very happy with the progress we have made and the relationships we have formed. I am hypothesizing that Sundance and I will be done with Level 3 by June/July of 2009,which is only about 6 months away... and leaving plenty of time there for oopsies, I am getting done as soon as I can, maybe I can get done before then, that's how it's looking. I am almost done with my website, I am just having a friend Alain Martignier and Parelli Tour Team Manager look it over and consult the legal website manager for Parelli about it and make sure we have everything legally perfect, and see if there is anything I need to add to make it perfect before he sends it to Pat & Linda... I am very excited about this. I will present my website to the public when Alain and I are sure everything is legal, so be crossing your fingers! Please keep on praying that Sundance and I will be able to perform at the TN Celebration... being able to do that will make a HUGE difference and I do think it is possible. Here's one of my favorite pictures of Sundance, I LOVE his ears...




Where are you in your journey? I would love to hear where all of you are and when you want to finish the level you are on.

Monday, November 10, 2008

What's Up?

What's Up, you ask? LIFE! And it's good. Been very busy, been to the beach, air shows, teaching, preparing for play days, school, website designing, answering 10 million emails... all that good stuff. My website is almost done, almost ready to present to the public, only a choice few have seen it at the moment! Including a man that will be sending it to Pat and Linda Parelli,  so I am very excited. I have gotten the blankets for the horses, they look quite cute together with their matching yet different colored blankets. We're getting more and more meat on the seniors and hard keepers, in hopes they won't look like skin bags by February! Sundance and Bebe have taken leaps and bounds since the private lesson, here's what I am working on individually in the recent sessions -

Sundance

Respect and YES MAM! on long back ups.

Canter when I ask please.

Zone 5, 1 rein driving - Stop, Back, Walk, Sideways and Trot.

Bareback, bridle-less and carrot stick-less riding.

 

Bebe

Cantering within 6 ft diameter

Stick 2 me - walk, trot and very nice canter!

Zone 5, 1 rein driving - Stop, Back, Walk, Sideways and Trot.

 

Both horses are doing very well, and I am very proud of them. I have hope with Bebe now, I feel like we can reach the stars now... and that feels really good.

Here's a laugh-box tickler for you, it is a video of my favorite stand up comic.. Known as Ricky Mokel (The character he plays, not his real name) This is at the Alabama Theatre, he plays as a back ground employee filling in and taking up time for the show... funniest darn comic I've ever had a pleasure to see.

Tuesday, November 4, 2008

Back to Teaching and Private Lesson Notes

Hello everyone,


I am back to my regular teaching schedule now, which is really nice! I hadn't been teaching in a couple of weeks because of the tour stops and clinics, I forgot how much I loved it. I have studied the Parelli Patterns and am incorporating them into everything I do, including teaching... it is making me a better teacher, and the horses and students definitely get a good catch on them very easily. I enjoyed the 3 hour lesson with Jesse Peters, I really like his teaching style and am incorporating it into my teaching style too. When I used to teach, I didn't act like enough of leader, I needed to really act like I know what I'm teaching, because I do. I am very excited about the patterns, it's going to really help me become a better horseman and teacher... and I have about 400 patterns to pick from!







I had devotion today with my group, here is the devotion:





Mariah’s Devotional



Since I was little, God placed in my heart a love horses. I couldn’t stop thinking about them, I begged for one, I read book after book about them and prayed. When I was eleven, I was blessed with my own horse and knew I wanted these animals to be apart of my life forever. When I was fourteen, I knew I wanted to be a Parelli Instructor and teach people how to live their dreams with their partners. I am not just a dreamer, I live my dreams. I have a wonderful partnership with my horses, and experience a bond that not many people have the privilege of experiencing, I want to teach all horse lovers so they can have that bond and live their dreams… that is my passion.

Raise your hand if you know what you want to do with your life?

Who here can identify what their dream is for their life?

I didn’t get where I am now by saying a magic word, I have gotten where I am now through hard work and determination, and have a lot to do to get where I plan on going. I haven’t chosen an ordinary job either; there are only 90 people in this world that do this job and it’s not easy. So no matter how hard the challenge may be or how big the goal may get, it is obtainable with Gods help. A verse that has always helped me when things get rough is found in Jeremiah 29:11

For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."

God has put a passion and a dream in all of our hearts; we are all a part of something bigger than ourselves. I know that, and it makes every hurdle I go through even more worth the fight. I know everything I do and every choice I make everyday makes a big difference in the picture.

Has any one here put together a puzzle?

What happens if a piece is lost, or has something wrong with it? It won’t ever be complete; it won’t ever be what it was meant to be. The person that designed that puzzle had a picture and a plan of what he wanted it to look like in the beginning, but if something goes wrong in the process of making that puzzle into what it was meant to be, it won’t turn out the way the creator intended. Everything you do makes a difference in the big plan. Do you have a plan? I have a plan written on my website and on my school desk that I pray over everyday. God tells us to write down our plans and dreams in Habakkuk 2:2-3

“Write down the dream and make it plain on tablets so that a herald may run with it. For the revelation awaits an appointed time; it speaks of the end and will not prove false. Though it linger, wait for it; it will certainly come and will not delay.”

Writing my dreams and plans down has kept me on track and gets things done, makes me feel as if my goals really can be accomplished, many have already been accomplished thanks to the grace of God. I want to challenge all of you today to identify your dreams, write them down, pray over them and work hard on them everyday. Doing this may help you find some of those missing puzzle pieces you have been looking for. Don’t be a dreamer, live your dreams. Thank you!





I had to tone it down a little down horse wise, because these people are homeschoolers - not horsemen. I think it was a pretty good point, because I KNOW if I didn't have these goals and didn't try this hard I couldn't be where I am now. I know some of you reading my blog are not Christians, and I have no problem at all with that! But I still hope you can get something from it, because I do think it makes a big difference!


Here is an honest attempt to share and type the 5 pages of notes I took right after my lesson with Jesse...


Sundance


Circling - Instead of promising you need to PROMISE! PROMISE! PROMISE! 3X at least.


YO-YO on 45 ft. Line-


1. Don't make me move my feet!


2. Energy like SPIDERMAN


3. I SAID DON'T MAKE ME! WHAM! WHAM! WHACK!


4. Identify when he gives you the picture you want, then STOP and walk away and let him think, try again and look for lighter phases and reward the slightest try. YES MAM!


Driving with 1 Line (45 ft.)-


1. Teach him forwards is okay


2. Drive with CS at zone 1 first


3. Patterns are GREAT


4. 2 reing driving is for LATER, learn everything on one line


Shims-



2 thick, 1 thin for BOTH HORSES, stirrup right behind second scapula line.

Posture-

1. BAY WATCH!

2. Move shoulders with his shoulders

3. Pedal without taking toes out of stirrups

Indirect Rein-(Lateral Flexion and HQ movement)

Moves hindquarters around forequarters and lateral flexion.

Lateral Flexion

1. BUNNY EARS

2. Reach down

3. Other hand behind horn

4. Hand lands at mid-thigh

5. Don't bend horse in half!

Moving HQ

1. BUNNY EARS

2. Slide one hand down (direction for head)

3. Other behind horn

4. Eyes (What color is his tail? FUSHIA!), belly button, leg, hand (fingers 1,2,3,4).

5. Dirty fingers at belly button (hand in a fist, fingers up! How men look at their dirty fingernails.)

3 pages left to type! Will finish tomorrow, time for bed. Good night!


















Sunday, November 2, 2008

Looking for Wintec Saddles

I am looking for a BROWN 18" Wintec Wide English Saddle.
New or Used, without fittings and with CAIR panels if possible.
OR
A BROWN 18" Wintec 2000 English Saddle.
New or Used, without fittings and with CAIR panels if possible.

Something that looks like this-

I prefer the longer girth straps.


I am located in North Carolina, just outside of Charlotte.
Comment or Email me at mariahelms@hotmail.com.

Thank you,
Mariah Helms

Saturday, November 1, 2008

Jesse Peters 3 Hour Private Lesson Pictures and Notes

Here are 80 pictures of the lesson, quite easy to view considering all the pictures.


http://picasaweb.google.com/parellifuture5starinstructor/JessePetersPrivateLessonSession#


This lesson went better than I expected, and have many more savvy arrows for both of the horses now that I understand them more.


I've got 5-6 pages of notes written down!


Notes for Sundance


NOTES ADDED LATER


Notes for Bebe



MORE NOTES ADDED LATER


Bebe is OFFICIALLY figured out, he IS a Left Brained Introvert on the POSITIVE chart and a Right Brained Introvert on the POSITIVE chart. He is not an average, stick your tongue out LBI. He is not the average RBI, scared and intimidated. He is a very centered, balanced horse that needs a leader that understands what he needs, I am that leader now.


I would LOVE comments, are you all out there?