Snow in NC

We finally got some snow, we usually only get 1 day in January for snow and have not had this much in a long time! 5 inches as of 8 AM and still coming strong, no school today!

The Barn...

The Arena...

The Shed... (Where the ponies are munching.)

The Gazebo by the Arena...

Snowy Hay in front of Barn...

Breeze and Sundance munching hay under shed...

Sundance playing peekaboo...

Taco inspecting the camera...

Yummy...

The Pasture...

Snowy shed...

Peekaboo, I see you!...

Here's a video, Bebe made it special for us... he made it clear his teeth were white and clean and deserved some attention from the camera, not a shy guy, eh?

His teeth really are white! His canines are coming in, he has half of a lower on his left jaw, very cute to look at... it's like seeing a little kid without teeth and half a one growing in!

Have an awesome week, and keep it savvy for me!

XOXO

Mariah, Breeze, Sundance, Taco, Bebe, Starsky & Doc

Where am I?

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding, in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will direct your path. - Proverbs 3:5-6

Where am I? In stage 7 & 8! I just checked off all the tasks on stage 5 and all but one on stage 6. The last task I have not done before but I know I can do it, so I will test when I go out today to make sure. So, I have Stage 7, 8 & 9 left and have about 6 months to finish them in order to get my green string before October. I will be assessing my online, liberty and freestyle as soon as the auditions are out and then as soon as I am done with finesse, I will assess that also. So I am pretty excited, I really hope it works out and I get accepted in to the FL Celebration Savvy Spotlight. Oh, the SAVVY Kids made it into the TN Celebration Savvy Spotlight! I am very excited about it, I will not be there... because of current financial situations but hope they do really well. I am sure they will, I can't wait to see the video. You can find them at http://www.foxpointfarm.com/.

Please keep rooting, sending positive thoughts and prayers my way... it's not easy doing this alone but I am sure if I give it all I have, I can do this.

Thank you!

All my love,

Mariah Helms

Comment Responses Conversation

JO said...

I loved the mounting from behind! I spent literally the WHOLE summer trying to do that, and could only manage if I did it from a tyre...
so well done, !!!
Jo xx

Thanks Jo! I know I wouldn't have been able to do that before, because I have been going to the gym and working out the past couple of months! Got to get those leg muscles strong, it gave me those extra couple of inches I needed. I bet you could do it if you built up more muscle, it worked for me! Thanks!

NICOLE said...

 

Hey Mariah!
I really like your new video. :) :) :)
How did you learn to mount like that? :-O
Great job the the barrel jumping! My horse is getting more confident with jumping, but I think it will be a while before he can jump that high. :P
About the ears- I am at level 3-4 and my horse (LBE) is exactly like that lots of times. And he will have his ears like that at liberty lots of times, even when we play in big pastures when he will stay with me and do stick to me and circling without wanting to leave, so it couldn't be because he doesn't want to be with me...
He especially does this on figure 8's :/ Even when he is doing them at liberty. One way I have found that gets him to put them forward on the figure 8 is asking him to canter on a small figure 8 with a shorter lead rope (8ft) lol I have not asked him to do that much, and he doesn't get it perfect, but he tries (he is a pretty coordinated horse). His ears usually go up when I ask him to do that, so maybe he was just bored with normal figure 8's...
Another thing on figure 8's- sometimes I use my stick to much and accidently use higher phases to direct him when he would have listened if I just pointed with my finger. That is one thing that makes him put his ears back.
For my horse, backing him up does not seem to work for getting his ears forward and "Wipe that Look off your face!" REALLY doesn't work at all. I don't know if this kind of ear pinning should be treated like dominance. I think it is more like the horse is saying he is either bored or there is too much pressure. With my horse, if I treat it like dominance, his attitude gets worse.
I have also noticed that when I play outside of the arena or in a pasture I with lots of trees and uneven ground, he usually will not have any problem with ears. :)
I sent a question to membersupport@parelli.com about it a while ago and they said that it sounds more like he was putting his ears back because I am asking him to do something he already knows how to do and he is a little bored. They said that I should just not pay too much attention to it and try to get more interesting, and eventually he will stop putting them back.
I have been working on playing less in the arena and when I do play in the arena, to ask for more challenging things, reward for a good attitude, teach lots of new things, and when he does something with his ears forward and a great expression to always move on to something else. :) That has been helping.
Thanks for posting the video, I really enjoyed watching it. :)
Let me know what works for you and your horse :)
I love LB horses, mine is sure teaching me a lot! :P
-Nicole
nicolekhg@gmail.com

I saw Amy Book mount like that, and just decided to try one day! I am sure it helps being 5' 11" too! ;) Thank you for the comment, I have used a lot of these and have had success. I also started a thread on this topic on the Savvy Club, maybe if you check that out it will help you too! Yes, LB horses really make you think! I love it too.

LUCY  said...

Hi Mariah,
Thanks for the video update, I really enjoyed watching it.
I think the beginnings of the Spanish walk was my favourite bit, in future I hope you can get a clearer film of it.
It must be mild in NC if you can play out in a t-shirt, lucky! :)
xo

Great! Yes, it was getting quite dark when I filmed it! I hopefully will get a new one up soon. The weather changes as much as my mares mood does, a lot!  69 degrees (Fahrenheit) one day, 20 degrees the other... that's NC for you!

LISA R said...

Hey Mariah!
Loved your new video! Is is very inspirational! You are quite athletic to mount like that! Loved the spanish walk too! Hopefully I'll be able to get to one of your play days when you have one! I'm not too far!

Thank you Lisa! We are having a play day soon in the spring, maybe the beginning/mid of February... if you'll give me your email address, I send a notification to the members and you will hear a long with them.

Thank you everyone, I enjoyed talking to you! Hope to have more conversations like this in the future.

Cheers!

Mariah

YouTube - Mariah & Sundance - Level 3 & 4 Update

 

Lakeland, FL Celebration Savvy Spotlight Application

Here is what I submitted in email: (I also submitted my form, but it's got some information I am not going to share.)t






Hello Parelli,>> This is Mariah Helms, I am 17 years old and an un-official Level 3 graduate. I started Level 3 in June of 2008 and am almost ready to audit and get my green string as of December 2008. I have not > participated in any clinics and have only had 2 private lessons from > a Professional in my journey, I also am a backyard student... > learning by myself. I plan on becoming a professional as soon as Pat > says I am ready and will be down to the courses in Florida as soon > as I am old enough. I count myself as a super student, because > Parelli is my life and I study and play with my super horses 2+ > hours daily. I hope and pray that I will someday become someone who > can teach and help other people live their dreams, such as I do, as > a Parelli Professional.>> I believe applying for the Savvy Spotlight and being passively > persistent in the proper position will help me get out there, and > maybe someone will recognize the potential I may have. I appreciate > very much the opportunity you all having given us students (the > future of Parelli), I do believe the Savvy Spotlight is another > great step-up for the program that will change the lives of horse > lovers everywhere, and will better the chance of the program > thriving in the future.

Here is their response:t






Dear Spotlight Applicant, We received your application successfully. We will contact you with the final decision between Sep 21st and Sep 25th, 2009. Thank you for your patience. Best regards and Happy New Year! Operations ManagerParelli Natural Horsemanship (Inc)







I am very excited, I replied and asked if I needed to submit a video closer to the celebration... so we'll see what we have to do.




Keep on praying please, and sending good thoughts... it is very appreciated!




Much Love!