I audited a Level 2 Advanced Parelli clinic this weekend up at Kozy Manor in Ridgefield, Washington. I would like to get back on track with my Parelli work. As some of you know, the day I received my Level One certificate, I first noticed Maddy "hop" on the lunge line. X-rays revealed that she had fractured her coffin bone and things and life got put on hold for awhile. The Parellis are changing their teaching format from levels to patterns in on-line, finesse, liberty and freestyle. By going to the clinic this weekend, I was hoping to get re-inspired and I am. 
While I was there I met this woman, Wendy, who owns Curly Horses. She was doing all sorts of cool stuff with her horse, Dan. I have read about Curlys, but have never seen one. They are compact, with spiral twists going thru the mane and tail. Their bodies have whirl patterns of fur and the fur on their fetlocks is so thick, it looks like they are wearing hand knitted socks. Wendy chose this breed because her husband has allergies. The Curlys don't have the dander that other horses have. Another cool thing from the clinic....three men. I have never done a Parelli clinic with a man much less three. Nice to see guys out there. Although Ann Kiser pointed out, they are much less chatty than the women:-) The photos posted are of Wendy and Dan doing their thing at the clinic. It was a perfect weekend. It was hard to sit there knowing I could be out on the trails, but I got a lot out of it and ready to work towards passing Level 2.
The rain has begun, the mud is here, the blankets are on and still we are squeezing the last bit of summer out of every day. If there is even a chance of decent weather, Maddy and I are hitting the trails. I know I need to be working on some drills in the arena, but the allure of the changing leaves and the crisp air is too much to resist. We have some new boarders, Karen and Sonja. I hooked up with them this weekend, to show them a few trail options. Sonja is 15 and should be very proud of herself. Not knowing a lot about horses, she bought a yearling and turned to Steve Rother to help her get through the training. Her horse is now five and you should see this paint side pass over and open and close the gates. Sonja has done a fantastic job. She is a natural. Karen is living her dream...always wanting to have horses and now in her 50s she is enjoying them at last. They really are a nice family and I look forward to having a teenager out at the barn.
Maddy was raised in Southern California at the Hart Ranch. I got a message today along with some photos of the 2000 acres that burned down there and the rescue efforts to round up the the Hart horses. Here is the email Laura sent me....
It is an amazing herd...I can see why Maddy was so bitter about being put to work when she arrived up here. She ran wild with these horses until she was four years old. So happy to hear there were no injuries or casualties from the fire.
Kacy over at All Horse Stuff tagged me with a good game. 
Maddy just finished her half trace clip in this picture and realized there was a bag of apples just around the corner. Being a pig trapped in a horse's body, she couldn't resist sneaking around to try to nab them while I was trying to take a picture of her pretty new hairdo. I decided to do just half a trace and see how she does with that before taking so much hair off. Just this past week, the rains have started and the temperature is dipping down at night. The bag of apples was their Halloween treat. I wanted to have them "bob for apples." I cut them in halves and dropped a bunch into their water trough. I have a little video clip of Maddy and Classy trying to figure out why suddenly the water tastes so "applely." Hope everyone had a wonderful Halloween.
