Surgery Over

Surgery done! Just to correct myself, the abcess came from the toe... not the coronary band. The ponies will stay here for a few hours then we will take them home. Hopefully he will trailer well, I have a feeling all will be fine.

Surgery in Process

Starsky is now in surgery. Here are some pictures! Christian in the stall with Starsky, pictures of the x-ray and we brought little Aamira just to keep Star calmer and of course for her development... she is LOVING this little adventure, she is so extroverted and confident about all of this! Very encouraging to know I have set her up for success in the different situations she will encounter in her life. Goes to show how well the Parelli program prepares horses and humans! Will update ya'll when we get out of surgery. Wish us luck! Mariah and Aamira

Heading Out for Another Adventure - Surgery Day

About to leave for the equine vet, for my club footed rescue horse. Bacteria seeped in his right fore and created an abcess which came out near his coronary band, then a week later found out the bacteria ended up eating out the tip of his toe on the bone even after my family treated him numerous times a day (this all came to about halfway through my fast track). We are bringing him in this morning at 8:00 am to do a nerve block and have that floating bone removed, after that and he begins to heal we will be working with a Healthy Stride farrier to help build that hoof up! This will be a very educational and interesting adventure, please keep Starsky in your thoughts and prayers as we take on this with faith and determination!

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Home with my Family

Got home around 4:00 pm last night, I am back home with my family and friends... and my horses and my farm! What a great place to be, ready for the holidays with good food and lots of love.

Heading Home with Hope

Woke up around 3:00 am and headed out around 5:00 am... we're now out of Florida and into Georgia, I cannot wait to spend time with my family and enjoy the holidays. Sarah and I will both be back together for the externship in Janurary, starting the fifteenth. We are very excited! Hoping we can prove ourselves worthy somehow... I hope we can do it, please keep us in your prayers and thoughts. See you at home and MERRY CHRISTMAS! Much Love, Mariah Helms

Another picture from Game of Contact Clinic

Testing Over and Surprise Trail Ride

Testing is over! Looking forward to results mid-Friday! Our instructors surprised us with an invitation from Pat to let the whole 40+ group on horseback to trail ride up to Pat's Performance Barn... it was beautiful as usual, good to see it again. We got to see all the celebrity horses, Pat's new gadgets and let ourselves relax and breathe. We have so much to be thankful for on thanksgiving!

Testing now over, I can

Testing now over, I can breathe! Tests may be strenuous but it pushes you to become a better horseman in unexpected ways!!

Just received a full scholarship

Just received a full scholarship for my 12 week Externship ($12,000) in January!!! :-D YEAH!!! Thank you so much everyone!

Linda Parelli's Game of Contact Clinic

Did someone say chocolate?

Linda riding Donner Hall dressage horse...

Entertainment for the break...

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Filming Linda's Game of Contact Clinic

Demo went well! Did group riding session yesterday morning and individual coaching session yesterday afternoon. Orientation last night with Linda Parelli from 6:30 to 8:00 pm, which was beyond amazing... on the way back home I was crying tears of joy, my dreams are coming true! I am living my dream and it's beyond amazing. Got class at 8:00 am and Linda's clinic at 11:30 am... so we're jumping to get out there! Wish us luck! Savvy out! Mariah

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Midterm Scores Links and More

Picture from riding in freestyle station, helping fast horses slow down and slow horses speed up. Got our test scores, I recieved a 67% at my midterm over all. My individual scores that made up the final scores were very encouraging! Was hoping to hit the 70% mark but that is very rare at mid terms so I guess I'll take that for now! Take a look at my traveling sister's blog at http://sarah-berg.blogspot.com/, we traveled down here together and are sharing a house and a truck, she's my new equine sister. Take a look on facebook, under my name "mariah helms"... Pat Parelli's photographer "Coco" snapped some pictures of us, she is AMAZING! Keep an eye on my facebook page for updates! If you are recieving updates via mobile please get on the computer and check my blog as I update larger portions over the laptop. Thanks guys! Please keep me in your thoughts and prayers... It would be GREATLY
appreciated! Savvy out! Mariah and Sundance

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Turn the volume up!

Pictures from finesse testing, day 2.

Waiting yesterday morning for Coco to take our pictures...

4 Responsibilities of the Horse and Human

Baron talking about the 4 responsibilities of the horse and human... playing with Jasmine (Casper x Nova).

Coco, Pat Parelli's photographer, taking pictures of Sarah and Savannah at Liberty. Just got done with On Line and Liberty pictures with Fabio, he was a ham and offered some good things! We are ending week 2, today hopefully will be low key. Sounds like we are meeting around 11:30 am for a special speaker, owner of photonic lights... natural healing. Then we should be doing our instructor groups this afternoon, switching instructors for the next week. I've got lots of notes I want to share... hopefully I will have time to share around lunch time. We should be going out to dinner to eat with Jim Crew, which will be nice and relaxing... I do believe we are going to give the horses and our worn out bodies a rest. Talk soon! Savvy out!

Royalty in the Round Pen

Linda on West Point and Amy on Casanova, warming up with us this morning in the lower pasture.

Passive Patience

Looking on at other stations... waiting for next turn to improve freestyle.

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Peaceful Mornings at Parelli Florida

Playing at the lower playground...

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Breakfast at the Lodge

Eating breakfast at the lodge...

Say 'Hello!' Fabio!

Video of the lower playground, I'm sitting on a big log attached to a honeycomb pen while everyone is playing... Fabio and I just got done with a session, that's why he's so sleepy! Basking in the sun!

Goodmorning Friends

Looking up a gorgeous tall spanish moss covered tree near our feed room and stalls... such a beautiful sight! Off to start a new week! Wonder what I'll eat for breakfast??? Savvy out!

Sundance, Savannah and Sarah grazing with me in the enchanted forest... rest... ahhh!

Sundance's New Pajamas

Sundance's new fleece dress sheet, to keep him warm at night. It's his color and fits just right, he seems to like it very much!

Beautiful View

View from the Parelli lodge, sitting here with Sarah and surfing the computer before we go to lunch... checking my bank account balance, making sure I haven't spent every penny I have yet! ha ha!

Average scores are around 40%, only two people we're higher than us on overall score! Sarah and I both got an overall score of 63%. Tool Tasks 65% - Online 62.5% - Liberty 75% - Freestyle 68.8% - Finesse 43.8% - Overall 63% - Theory 71%... pictures are of Pat Parelli's electrical cow seat fourwheeler and the frog that jumped on my chest and scared me during demo time! ha ha

Day 4 Notes - Bit o' Savvy

Parelli Bits and Bridles

November 4, 2010

Questions-

When do you transfer to the Parelli Shank bit? Towards or working in Level 4

What is the use of the cavesson with the western performance bridle set? Is the same concept of the Parelli Cradle bridle

Control > Contact > Engagement

HACKAMORES

Natural Hackamore (H1) Control

H2 Bosal (between H1 and H3) Control in preparation to H3

H3 Regular traditional bosal and hackamore - Control preparing for Contact

SNAFFLES

Comfort Snaffle - 3 piece - control

Confidence Snaffle - 3 piece (learning contact)

Sweet Iron Snaffle/Jeremiah Watt - no contact - control

CONTACT BITS

Cradle Bride

C1 - comfort snaffle piece (tongue pressure) RBE

C2 - more port (more pressure on bars than on tongue) RBI

C3 - wider (less pressure) LB

Points of Contact

- NOSE

- CHIN

- POLL

- BIT

Large rings put more pressure on the mouth and the poll

Small rings on the noseband and chin strap

LATITUDINAL FLEXION VS. LONGITUDINAL FLEXION

LA. FLEX is for bending and control from zone 1 to zone 5 from side to side.

LO. FLEXION is for engagement and contact from zone 1 to zone 5 from topline.

SPADE BIT

B3 (equivalent to C3) and B2 (equivalent to C1/C2) for longitudinal flexion, western performance. B2/3 to be used with romal reins. Weight Ratio is about 5-6 : 1

DOUBLE BRIDLE (2 reins)

Weymouth curb/ shank - longitudinal flexion

Bradon Snaffle - latitudinal flexion

Testing is all over! Regular schedule has resumed.... going to online stations, demos and playtime today. Will show pictures as much as I can! Savvy out! XOXO

Day 3 - Midway

Got done with Liberty tests very early, we are situating our horses and tack for the Finesse testing so we will be properly prepared and ready! Going to grab snacks and the laptop from the truck and hang at the lodge, call about the new Parelli Faetherlite lines... eat, renew our strength! Just RELAX! I love this! We can't wait to do Finesse, today has been so great... and it's not even half way through!

Day Two Events

Playing after Freestyle testing, finished all 12 stations very quick! 3:00 to 5:00 pm. We have the ponies clean and eating hay, stations clean etc. heading to RCC Western Store to get a cap for our heads and a cell phone holder for Sarah's Droid before the store closes. Going to go back to the horses at Parelli and finish currying them, since they'll be dry then, grain them make sure everything is clean and probably clean Sundance's hoof walls off to finish up the polished look and comfort of his hooves. We are expected to continue testing I believe Finesse tomorrow, not sure about Liberty? We'll see soon! Oh, and we'll get supper when we get home! Organic spinach pizza, yum! Stay tuned, I will try my best to update at every possibility.

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Notes from Fast Track - Day 1

Sitting here in the Parelli Lodge during lunch break, enjoying the cool AC and quiet peace... there is no internet at the house so here at the lodge is the only place I can update my blog with extensive characters as my phone can only handle so much!

Straight from my notes!

Breakfast 7:00 to 8:00 am

Lunch 1:00 to 2:00 pm

Supper 6:00 to 7:00 pm

Regular Daily Schedule for Month

8:00 to 11:15 am Exercise time and Focus station

11:30 am to 1:00 pm Demo and Classroom time

LUNCH

2:30 to 3:00 pm and 4:30 to 5:00 pm Afternoon sessions

5:00 pm and on FREE time

Course Outline

Week 1 ~

Catching Game

Online Skills

(Online purpose? *Teach us something

*Teach them something

*Prepare them for something)

Week 2~

Freestyle

Pat gets back from Portugal

Don't make me use the reins for...

*steering

*stopping

Goal is "bridless"

Week 3~

Liberty

Refining Freestyle

Precision Riding

Week 4~

Precision

Core Values of Parelli Natural Horsemanship for Students and Instructors

1. Put the relationship first

2. Be the best me I can be

3. Get it done with a little fun

4. Exceed expectations

5. Embrace never-ending self improvement

6. Do more with less

7. Be humble

8. Keep it natural

That's all! I will share more as time and opportunity allows... I skipped lunch to share notes with you!

FWD:

Sundance and Savannah drinking molasses at Parelli University Florida