Thoughts inspired by this video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xY_MUB8adEQ&feature=share
As I look back on 2012 I think about the events that happened that shape our future. What we do today, sets us up for tomorrow, for better or worse. It is easy to get caught up in the simple things in life, and not pay attention to what the world is doing. I need to remind myself that we all have a voice, and a choice. In the Parelli community we want to make the world a better place for horses and humans; let us use our voice and the choices we make to accomplish that goal, positively, progressively and naturally.
We are constantly searching for something special and inspiration, with our horses, in our lives, through our relationships. Let us continue that search, and find the things that inspire us, and let us share them with others. We are all searching for change in our lives and our world. Don't forget that goal of the change you dream of. Go in to 2013 remembering these things: your voice, your ability to make choices, your drive for change and the special things in your life, and in our world.
Monday, December 31, 2012
Monday, December 17, 2012
Martina
As many of you know, I had to put down my Atwood horse, Martina, this past July. I know I didn't share too much about it at the time, and I would imagine that those of you who have lost someone close to you are understanding of why I might not have.
I believe things happen for a reason, and that we draw experiences into our lives for some reason, although most of the time we have no idea why we night be creating the experience we are having. Only later do we start to see why we might have created certain events.
In the spring of 2011 I was doing an internship down in Florida on the Parelli campus. I took my levels horse, Hank. He was 16 at the time. Hank had a hard life, being a dressage horse, living in a stall a lot of the time, which for him is very difficult. He cribs and gets emotional in small spaces. He had a very normal life for most of his life and then he found someone who does Parelli. With that being said, his body hasn't held up the way ones would if they were in a natural environment and treated in such a way that helps the horses body last rather than a lifestyle that promotes problems such as arthritis. I knew I wouldn't be able to play with Hank at the caliber of horseplay I would want over the next few years. I talked to my mentor on the ranch about it as well. He suggested having another horse to bring along and to have on the back burner is a good idea. That way you always have a back up.
So with that time in Florida began my thought process and my eventual purchase of Martina. I contacted Atwood in the fall of 2011 and Catherine was extremely helpful in sending on information, videos and pictures of horses I may be interested in. After looking at all of the information, I decided to fly out to California and meet Martina, a 2 yo filly being started by Maurice Thibault. I loved her right away. I spent a day with Maurice and Susan, getting to know Martina better. She was a lot of horse, but I could see she would teach me a lot and I would be able to accomplish a lot with her as my partner. I decided to buy her and had her shipped in January of 2012.
I spent the next 6 months playing with her and progressing. We were playing online doing very well, liberty was progressing nicely, and freestyle too. She taught me a lot, as she was a very sensitive horse. She was extremely athletic, the most athletic horse I have spent time with. She taught me a lot about fast twitch muscles....I didn't know horses could move that fast that often. My feel, timing and balance improved tremendously with her, since she was so sensitive, I had to be spot on to not cause her to react rather than respond. I owe a lot to Martina in my ability to handle horses effectively and my confidence with a horse that has a lot of power and uses it!
In July, Steve and I left for our continued education on the Parelli ranch in CO. On our way out we stopped at our good friends place to play and hang out for a couple weeks. There we played with cows, went on trail rides, it was a great learning experience. One unfortunate day though, we were out playing with cattle in the pasture and I was riding Martina. There was electric fencing out in the pasture, and while circling the cattle, Martina touched it. Martina was in no way fond of electric fence, she would bolt if she ever touched it. So when Martina touch this fence which was extremely hot for the cattle, she bolted. She could move from zero to 60 in no time at all, with her fast twitch muscles in great shape, and I came off, and was unhurt. I was hoping she would head back to the barn, but unfortunately she headed for the high tinsel fence. She ran through the fence, and turned around with some wire around her legs. She kept running for a bit, and eventually tripped and fell. She had broken her hind right leg above the hock and it was just hanging by skin. There was nothing we could do to help her, so I had to have her put down. I was in shock, as anyone would be, and in disbelief that my new, young, beautiful horse had to be put down. I am very thankful I was around such supportive people and also that I had Hank with me to help me grieve.
I learned a lot from Martina, and she taught me everything she needed to. I am so very grateful for the time she shared with me, and happy that I was able to be part of her journey as well. I still think about her daily and know she was in my life for a reason. Thanks to Atwood, Maurice and Susan, Nate and Amy, and Steve for giving me the gift of a wonderful horse and being there for me through the loss of Martina.
I believe things happen for a reason, and that we draw experiences into our lives for some reason, although most of the time we have no idea why we night be creating the experience we are having. Only later do we start to see why we might have created certain events.
In the spring of 2011 I was doing an internship down in Florida on the Parelli campus. I took my levels horse, Hank. He was 16 at the time. Hank had a hard life, being a dressage horse, living in a stall a lot of the time, which for him is very difficult. He cribs and gets emotional in small spaces. He had a very normal life for most of his life and then he found someone who does Parelli. With that being said, his body hasn't held up the way ones would if they were in a natural environment and treated in such a way that helps the horses body last rather than a lifestyle that promotes problems such as arthritis. I knew I wouldn't be able to play with Hank at the caliber of horseplay I would want over the next few years. I talked to my mentor on the ranch about it as well. He suggested having another horse to bring along and to have on the back burner is a good idea. That way you always have a back up.
So with that time in Florida began my thought process and my eventual purchase of Martina. I contacted Atwood in the fall of 2011 and Catherine was extremely helpful in sending on information, videos and pictures of horses I may be interested in. After looking at all of the information, I decided to fly out to California and meet Martina, a 2 yo filly being started by Maurice Thibault. I loved her right away. I spent a day with Maurice and Susan, getting to know Martina better. She was a lot of horse, but I could see she would teach me a lot and I would be able to accomplish a lot with her as my partner. I decided to buy her and had her shipped in January of 2012.
I spent the next 6 months playing with her and progressing. We were playing online doing very well, liberty was progressing nicely, and freestyle too. She taught me a lot, as she was a very sensitive horse. She was extremely athletic, the most athletic horse I have spent time with. She taught me a lot about fast twitch muscles....I didn't know horses could move that fast that often. My feel, timing and balance improved tremendously with her, since she was so sensitive, I had to be spot on to not cause her to react rather than respond. I owe a lot to Martina in my ability to handle horses effectively and my confidence with a horse that has a lot of power and uses it!
In July, Steve and I left for our continued education on the Parelli ranch in CO. On our way out we stopped at our good friends place to play and hang out for a couple weeks. There we played with cows, went on trail rides, it was a great learning experience. One unfortunate day though, we were out playing with cattle in the pasture and I was riding Martina. There was electric fencing out in the pasture, and while circling the cattle, Martina touched it. Martina was in no way fond of electric fence, she would bolt if she ever touched it. So when Martina touch this fence which was extremely hot for the cattle, she bolted. She could move from zero to 60 in no time at all, with her fast twitch muscles in great shape, and I came off, and was unhurt. I was hoping she would head back to the barn, but unfortunately she headed for the high tinsel fence. She ran through the fence, and turned around with some wire around her legs. She kept running for a bit, and eventually tripped and fell. She had broken her hind right leg above the hock and it was just hanging by skin. There was nothing we could do to help her, so I had to have her put down. I was in shock, as anyone would be, and in disbelief that my new, young, beautiful horse had to be put down. I am very thankful I was around such supportive people and also that I had Hank with me to help me grieve.
I learned a lot from Martina, and she taught me everything she needed to. I am so very grateful for the time she shared with me, and happy that I was able to be part of her journey as well. I still think about her daily and know she was in my life for a reason. Thanks to Atwood, Maurice and Susan, Nate and Amy, and Steve for giving me the gift of a wonderful horse and being there for me through the loss of Martina.
Saturday, November 17, 2012
Frustrations
How often in your life do you find yourself frustrated? What do you do when you get frustrated? What causes you to get frustrated?
Frustration is one of the main reasons people end up getting out of horses. It is part of many fights in relationships. It is emotion that is no fun and well...frustrating!
Linda Parelli has said that she doesn't get frustrated anymore. I admire that quality greatly. How can I become someone who doesn't get frustrated? Well, what is frustration? In Parelli we define it as a lack of knowledge. We get frustrated when we run out of knowledge, and we don't have any more arrows in our quiver. I can see how, for each person, this could effect them differently. Some shut down, some get mad, some yell, some blame. All normal reactions. How do we change our reaction to a response? Just like we want with horses, we want a response, not a reaction.
Get more information. If we can have the ability to be humble, and ask for help, reach out, seek answers, we are responding and not reacting, we are not allowing frustration to control us, but we are gaining control of ourselves. Who do you see that reaches out and seeks information from others more than we do? Linda Parelli. She is constantly studying self development techniques, she is seeking out information from people like Colleen Kelly, Walter Zettl. She is confident in herself and has the ability to feel comfortable asking questions without the fear of people judging her for not knowing the answer. What a wonderful support system we have within Parelli full of people we can turn to for help, for more information.
When do you get frustrated? What do you do when it happens? What can you do differently next time? I know I have a lot of room to grow in this area. And I am looking forward to it. And I may even ask you for help one day! Thanks in advance...
Frustration is one of the main reasons people end up getting out of horses. It is part of many fights in relationships. It is emotion that is no fun and well...frustrating!
Linda Parelli has said that she doesn't get frustrated anymore. I admire that quality greatly. How can I become someone who doesn't get frustrated? Well, what is frustration? In Parelli we define it as a lack of knowledge. We get frustrated when we run out of knowledge, and we don't have any more arrows in our quiver. I can see how, for each person, this could effect them differently. Some shut down, some get mad, some yell, some blame. All normal reactions. How do we change our reaction to a response? Just like we want with horses, we want a response, not a reaction.
Get more information. If we can have the ability to be humble, and ask for help, reach out, seek answers, we are responding and not reacting, we are not allowing frustration to control us, but we are gaining control of ourselves. Who do you see that reaches out and seeks information from others more than we do? Linda Parelli. She is constantly studying self development techniques, she is seeking out information from people like Colleen Kelly, Walter Zettl. She is confident in herself and has the ability to feel comfortable asking questions without the fear of people judging her for not knowing the answer. What a wonderful support system we have within Parelli full of people we can turn to for help, for more information.
When do you get frustrated? What do you do when it happens? What can you do differently next time? I know I have a lot of room to grow in this area. And I am looking forward to it. And I may even ask you for help one day! Thanks in advance...
Tuesday, September 25, 2012
Internship: the end
Hello all, it's a rainy afternoon here in Pagosa and I finally have a spare moment with an internet connection to update you all on what I have been doing here!!!
Well, to update you first on my internship: I had a wonderful time with the 8 other interns and many externs, getting to know each person and their horses. Kristi was fantastic as our leader. I completed my level 4, and was grateful for Steve and Kristi and their support in helping me finish it up! I am so excited to get another horse asap and get that horse through level 4 so Hank can be retired! It will be fantastic to use all my knowledge and learn more from my next partner. More about another partner later though.... Our last weekend as interns was the weekend of Summit, and it was a great weekend full of education and fun! There were lots of great presenters, and great friends and fellow instructors here. If you ever get the chance to come to a summit in Pagosa on the ranch, do so, it is a once in a life time experience. From there, I started assisting Kristi with the rest of the externship. There were four weeks left at that time and so for the past two weeks I have been helping Kristi with whatever she needs. I haven't been riding much as Hank has been lame most of the time. I don't know what is causing him to be lame, and it's not terrible. I will have it checked out when I get home and have more money! Many of the externs have been passing parts of their level 4 which is super cool to watch. They are a great group, and are going to do a good job as instructors in the field. Yesterday, a few of us got the opportunity to spend the day at Linda's barn, which was fantastic. Linda had Walter Zettl here to teach lessons and we got to watch them all day. It was great now that I have a better understanding of finesse and the level 4 maneuvers, so I learned a lot and was able to get a lot out of watching him teach.
I am now continuing to help with the externs and looking for a new partner. My ideal two partners are a 3-5 yo cowy qh mare, and a 3-6 yo warmblood. I want a horse to do english on and a horse for western. I am not particular with which one comes first. I have a few prospects on the line, but I am not sure yet, and need to go visit a few when I get home.
Steve and I will be home October 18, and we will both be ready to teach, so I hope to see you all. We both have a lot of new knowledge to share, and we can wait to share it with you!!
Well, to update you first on my internship: I had a wonderful time with the 8 other interns and many externs, getting to know each person and their horses. Kristi was fantastic as our leader. I completed my level 4, and was grateful for Steve and Kristi and their support in helping me finish it up! I am so excited to get another horse asap and get that horse through level 4 so Hank can be retired! It will be fantastic to use all my knowledge and learn more from my next partner. More about another partner later though.... Our last weekend as interns was the weekend of Summit, and it was a great weekend full of education and fun! There were lots of great presenters, and great friends and fellow instructors here. If you ever get the chance to come to a summit in Pagosa on the ranch, do so, it is a once in a life time experience. From there, I started assisting Kristi with the rest of the externship. There were four weeks left at that time and so for the past two weeks I have been helping Kristi with whatever she needs. I haven't been riding much as Hank has been lame most of the time. I don't know what is causing him to be lame, and it's not terrible. I will have it checked out when I get home and have more money! Many of the externs have been passing parts of their level 4 which is super cool to watch. They are a great group, and are going to do a good job as instructors in the field. Yesterday, a few of us got the opportunity to spend the day at Linda's barn, which was fantastic. Linda had Walter Zettl here to teach lessons and we got to watch them all day. It was great now that I have a better understanding of finesse and the level 4 maneuvers, so I learned a lot and was able to get a lot out of watching him teach.
I am now continuing to help with the externs and looking for a new partner. My ideal two partners are a 3-5 yo cowy qh mare, and a 3-6 yo warmblood. I want a horse to do english on and a horse for western. I am not particular with which one comes first. I have a few prospects on the line, but I am not sure yet, and need to go visit a few when I get home.
Steve and I will be home October 18, and we will both be ready to teach, so I hope to see you all. We both have a lot of new knowledge to share, and we can wait to share it with you!!
Saturday, August 11, 2012
Update!
I haven't updated in quite a while, sorry everyone about that!
Steve and I arrived in Pagosa Springs about 4 weeks ago (wow we've been here a long time now!!), and Steve checked in to his externship. I helped out with the 1* course for a few days and really enjoyed that, learned a lot of behind the scenes of how the courses go from a teaching prospective. I took of the middle of that week and flew to Minnesota to work on road staff at the tour stop. It was really nice to catch up with the team and friends there. I really enjoy working the tours, it's a great team and such a wonderful energy! After I got home from MN, I helped with the end of the 2* course, enjoyed getting to know all of those students. That weekend was my birthday and Steve took me on a walking tour of Pagosa. The river is beautiful and there were people tubing and swimming. We went on to a lake just outside of town, and went for a hike, and did some fishing. We caught quite a few bluegill type fish. That evening we had a wonderful yummy dinner with friends and I had cake and gifts to open. Steve got me a nice scarf and a bosal, it is beautiful!! The following week, I began the internship. There are 17 externs and 9 interns all together. Kristi Smith is our instructor and is doing a fantastic job leading us. We started the first week with testing in all four savvies, and Hank and I did as well as I could have asked. He was a bit unconfident in the new environment, and has relaxed quickly since then. That week we began doing some learning, watching demos from Kristi, and I began a regiment of doing a trail ride each day to help Hank's physical fitness. There was also a county fair in town last week and Parelli went and did a demo, we went to watch, support and help out. The demo team did a great job, and Kristi did an inspiring demo with both of her horses. That weekend, the interns helped run the Parelli games, and then I had the opportunity to give a lesson and have Kristi watch and give feedback on my teaching. Sunday was a day off, much needed! Steve and I took a drive out to Williams Reservoir, and stopped a ton on the way out to take a look at cliffs and rivers and such. The scenery here is just breath taking. We made it to the lake, and it was beautiful, mountains surrounding and big lake. Abbey had a great time playing fetch and running around.
This last week started with more horsemanship lessons from Kristi and lots of horsemanship time. Hank and I are focusing on our freestyle flying changes, getting more forward and finesse. We have been trail riding everyday, and his body is changing and developing more muscle. :) Thursday Jim Patterson came in and did a Play to Win session with us and it was the third time I've done it, still lots of new awareness and really good reminders. Friday we had some more play time and then the interns got to do one audition each with Kristi to see where we need to go with the rest of our time here. Kristi said all of my freestyle was level 4, I just need to get my flying changes, so I was really happy about that!!
Today I got to go on a trail ride with Lillan, Hillary and Jackie Chant and it was a fantastic ride! We had great time, and it was so good to be out with Hank! They are al such talented ladies, I felt very privileged riding with them. :)
Will try to update again sooner!!
Steve and I arrived in Pagosa Springs about 4 weeks ago (wow we've been here a long time now!!), and Steve checked in to his externship. I helped out with the 1* course for a few days and really enjoyed that, learned a lot of behind the scenes of how the courses go from a teaching prospective. I took of the middle of that week and flew to Minnesota to work on road staff at the tour stop. It was really nice to catch up with the team and friends there. I really enjoy working the tours, it's a great team and such a wonderful energy! After I got home from MN, I helped with the end of the 2* course, enjoyed getting to know all of those students. That weekend was my birthday and Steve took me on a walking tour of Pagosa. The river is beautiful and there were people tubing and swimming. We went on to a lake just outside of town, and went for a hike, and did some fishing. We caught quite a few bluegill type fish. That evening we had a wonderful yummy dinner with friends and I had cake and gifts to open. Steve got me a nice scarf and a bosal, it is beautiful!! The following week, I began the internship. There are 17 externs and 9 interns all together. Kristi Smith is our instructor and is doing a fantastic job leading us. We started the first week with testing in all four savvies, and Hank and I did as well as I could have asked. He was a bit unconfident in the new environment, and has relaxed quickly since then. That week we began doing some learning, watching demos from Kristi, and I began a regiment of doing a trail ride each day to help Hank's physical fitness. There was also a county fair in town last week and Parelli went and did a demo, we went to watch, support and help out. The demo team did a great job, and Kristi did an inspiring demo with both of her horses. That weekend, the interns helped run the Parelli games, and then I had the opportunity to give a lesson and have Kristi watch and give feedback on my teaching. Sunday was a day off, much needed! Steve and I took a drive out to Williams Reservoir, and stopped a ton on the way out to take a look at cliffs and rivers and such. The scenery here is just breath taking. We made it to the lake, and it was beautiful, mountains surrounding and big lake. Abbey had a great time playing fetch and running around.
This last week started with more horsemanship lessons from Kristi and lots of horsemanship time. Hank and I are focusing on our freestyle flying changes, getting more forward and finesse. We have been trail riding everyday, and his body is changing and developing more muscle. :) Thursday Jim Patterson came in and did a Play to Win session with us and it was the third time I've done it, still lots of new awareness and really good reminders. Friday we had some more play time and then the interns got to do one audition each with Kristi to see where we need to go with the rest of our time here. Kristi said all of my freestyle was level 4, I just need to get my flying changes, so I was really happy about that!!
Today I got to go on a trail ride with Lillan, Hillary and Jackie Chant and it was a fantastic ride! We had great time, and it was so good to be out with Hank! They are al such talented ladies, I felt very privileged riding with them. :)
Will try to update again sooner!!
Friday, July 6, 2012
Ft. Collins CO
We made it to Ft. COllins a few days ago. I get mixed up and lost on my days easily, so I don't know how long we've been here! A few days though. :)
We got here mid day, and spent the day getting to know the place, reconnecting with Nate and Amy Bowers, and settling our stuff! It is a fantastic farm: they have 60 acres, 16 steers, a few horses in for training, a great playground and arena, and they live right on a lake. There is a track around most of the lake that we can ride on, we can't go in the lake though. It is a great trail ride for the horses! The first full day we were here was the 4th of July, and we got to play with some cows, move them around in the arena and get our horses confident with them. Martina and Sarge we both pretty scared. Martina relaxed after a bit and got more curious about the cows. Hank did great later in the day helping to move the cows, he has done it plenty of times before and enjoys putting some purpose to his play! We went for a refreshing swim in the lake and played some bachi (sp?) ball on the beach. That evening we went over to Molly Sanders' and her husband Brett's house for dinner. We had a great meal with beef from one of Nate's steers, and watched some fireworks, all in good company! Molly and Brett live right on another lake too, and it was full of people that night!
The next day we spent more time with our horses and I got to watch Amy teach a lesson at the farm. She is such a great teacher, and makes concept so easy to understand. After that, I played with and rode Martina, she had a bit of explosion after I saddled her too early, and then played with and rode Hank. I got to opportunity to ride most of the way around the lake with Amy and a horse she has in training named Willy. He is an extreme horse, and had a couple good spokes, plus he is almost 18 hands, and when I watch Amy ride him, it looks awesome, and all I think is, "no thanks!" He's too much horse for me! On our ride though, we did a lot of trotting and Willy was trotting ahead, and Hank and his little trot had to get going!! It was really good for him because he then had more motivation to trot faster. We broke in to a canter at one point and Willy was still out there trotting his nice slow trot for him. On a nice long stretch we were both cantering and Hank was probably going the fastest I had him go, it was extremely fun. He did a great job and I felt in control the whole time. Very cool, he is such a great horse.
That night we went in to Ft. Collins and had wings for dinner at a spicy wing place, and then got some ice cream sandwiches down town, they were great! This morning Steve and I had the opportunity to do a little fishing and I went for a run on the beach. He caught a carp, they are all over in that lake, you see them all the time!! They are very big too!! Abbey went running with me, and played some fetch along the way. Then I had a play with Martina, and thought she was ready to saddle, when she wasn't she exploded again the same as yesterday. I unsaddled and re saddled again and she was good, hoping to make it right tomorrow!! We had a great play, focusing on flexion and maintain gait, and yielding off my leg. I had a play with Hank next, and he was great again, he is really impressing me these days. We did some nice drop to trot changes, I am hoping to play with flying changes tomorrow. Then Steve and I went with Amy and Willy again around the lake. Amy does such a great job riding him, he had a nice couple of bucks in there!!
It started raining this afternoon, so Steve and I came in to town to do some computer work. Everyone is enjoying the rain!!
We got here mid day, and spent the day getting to know the place, reconnecting with Nate and Amy Bowers, and settling our stuff! It is a fantastic farm: they have 60 acres, 16 steers, a few horses in for training, a great playground and arena, and they live right on a lake. There is a track around most of the lake that we can ride on, we can't go in the lake though. It is a great trail ride for the horses! The first full day we were here was the 4th of July, and we got to play with some cows, move them around in the arena and get our horses confident with them. Martina and Sarge we both pretty scared. Martina relaxed after a bit and got more curious about the cows. Hank did great later in the day helping to move the cows, he has done it plenty of times before and enjoys putting some purpose to his play! We went for a refreshing swim in the lake and played some bachi (sp?) ball on the beach. That evening we went over to Molly Sanders' and her husband Brett's house for dinner. We had a great meal with beef from one of Nate's steers, and watched some fireworks, all in good company! Molly and Brett live right on another lake too, and it was full of people that night!
The next day we spent more time with our horses and I got to watch Amy teach a lesson at the farm. She is such a great teacher, and makes concept so easy to understand. After that, I played with and rode Martina, she had a bit of explosion after I saddled her too early, and then played with and rode Hank. I got to opportunity to ride most of the way around the lake with Amy and a horse she has in training named Willy. He is an extreme horse, and had a couple good spokes, plus he is almost 18 hands, and when I watch Amy ride him, it looks awesome, and all I think is, "no thanks!" He's too much horse for me! On our ride though, we did a lot of trotting and Willy was trotting ahead, and Hank and his little trot had to get going!! It was really good for him because he then had more motivation to trot faster. We broke in to a canter at one point and Willy was still out there trotting his nice slow trot for him. On a nice long stretch we were both cantering and Hank was probably going the fastest I had him go, it was extremely fun. He did a great job and I felt in control the whole time. Very cool, he is such a great horse.
That night we went in to Ft. Collins and had wings for dinner at a spicy wing place, and then got some ice cream sandwiches down town, they were great! This morning Steve and I had the opportunity to do a little fishing and I went for a run on the beach. He caught a carp, they are all over in that lake, you see them all the time!! They are very big too!! Abbey went running with me, and played some fetch along the way. Then I had a play with Martina, and thought she was ready to saddle, when she wasn't she exploded again the same as yesterday. I unsaddled and re saddled again and she was good, hoping to make it right tomorrow!! We had a great play, focusing on flexion and maintain gait, and yielding off my leg. I had a play with Hank next, and he was great again, he is really impressing me these days. We did some nice drop to trot changes, I am hoping to play with flying changes tomorrow. Then Steve and I went with Amy and Willy again around the lake. Amy does such a great job riding him, he had a nice couple of bucks in there!!
It started raining this afternoon, so Steve and I came in to town to do some computer work. Everyone is enjoying the rain!!
Day one: MI to IA
July 2, 2012
Atlantic, IA
I am happy to say that Steve and I made it safely to our
destination in Iowa. We got up this morning around 4, ate quickly, packed last
minute things and loaded the horses. They had never been in our new trailer so
we were wondering how they would do, and they all did great, and hopped right
in. We were on the road by 5am, as planned. That is quite the feat for us; we
tend to run a bit late at times. I got to drive the first shift, on our way
towards Chicago. This is our maiden voyage with our new trailer, so we were
curious to see what gas mileage would turn out like and how it would do in
general. Both the truck and trailer were great, and we got better mileage than
we expected. It was quite a quick drive really; it took us about 11 hours with
stops. We got to see the Mississippi river, and lots of Iowa corn fields. We
found our horsey hotel, got our horses settled. They got to play in the arena
first, rolling and running around bucking, making dust. They got some molasses
water and hay, and are now happy as horses. Steve and I got to then get the
trailer up and running…turns out it is pretty easy. Now time to relax and cook
dinner!
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