Debbie Hill Clinic

Had a great ride with Kisia at a clinic with dressage rider/trainer Debbie Hill. The clinic was only one day. I would have loved for a nice 3 day clinic with this trainer as she was very intuitive about just what Kisia needed to keep her relaxed & not bored. Anyone with a LBE knows how dangerous boredom can be! It's always a challenge for me to be interesting enough for Kisia. I warmed her up freestyle (on a long rein) prior to our ride playing with follow the rail, direct & indirect rein positions just letting her stretch & move but still trying to keep her a bit busy. For our ride with Debbie, she discussed Kisia's want to root or push into the reins with contact (Linda discussed this in her "game of contact" as typical of LBE's when they don't understand contact) & suggested that I be very soft & giving when she is quiet & accepting of the contact. Then really match her pressure when she goes high or low then back to soft as soon as she accepts the contact. She had us make lots of transitions & incorporate patterns like serpentine, circles, side-pass down the quarter line to the side taking as much time as needed to get there & spiraling circles. Was a wonderful ride. I'd definitely recommend riding with this lovely trainer & hope to get to do so myself again soon!

Snowhorses: Instrumental Music From Film & Documentary Composer Simon Wi...

Composer Simon Wilkinson enjoyed Randy's video "Discovery" so much that he asked if he could use some of the footage to showcase his composition "Snow Horses". What a nice compliment for Randy to be appreciated by another artist & of course I love seeing my horses to any music! To hear more of Simon's music & see a higher quality version of the lovely footage of our gang enjoying a rare snow in North Mississipp, visit http://www.thebluemask.com/shop/snowhorses/.

Snow Day Video

"Discovery" from Randall Barr on Vimeo.

Another beautiful video from my talented husband. As I said in my previous entry, we don't get much snow. Honestly, we like it that way! Winter has been more wintry than usual this year, treating us to three snow storms this season already. This one left 8-10 inches here in Oxford & actually stayed on the ground several days. The weanlings, Zorra & Cash had never seen anything like this. All the horseplay in this video was totally unprompted, natural play so was wonderful to get it on film. Features Foxy (deep red chestnut), Zorra (big black filly), Cash (black colt) & Sedona (smaller & pregnant chestnut with stripe). Cash & Sedona have since returned to Have-A-Heart rescue having rehabbed to better health with us. We miss them & hope to continue to follow them as they find new & permanent homes in the future.

Snow Day 2011

This much snow is super rare in Mississippi. Normally, we may get a light snow that is pretty much all melted by 11am. So very rare & thanks to Foxy for allowing me to experience a dreamy bareback ride in the snow.

Direct Line Thinking & Cash's 1st trim

If you follow the Parelli program, you hear the term "direct line thinking" a lot! If not, it's probably something you never hear & certainly not something most people in the horse world think about. Interesting (to me at least) how much happens when my horses have their feet trimmed. I'm incredibly fortunate to have a farrier who not only has studied Parelli but is a very natural thinker. The previous time he was here, our rescue & foster, Cash, was still pretty wild so didn't get trimmed. He's now been here 3 months & for all appearances is the definition of gentle, loving, sweet, tolerant, etc. So it surprises me when he reacts to new things like a normal horse. Now when I say normal, I mean a horse who hasn't had tarps, umbrellas, flying plastic bags, bright orange sticks, etc. as part of his life since birth or shortly after as my Kisia & Zorra have. When my farrier approached him, shiny rasp in hand, he kindof left the planet. That little guy is lightening quick...he moved up & away from that thing before you could blink. Hmmm, I didn't think about that! It was clear we weren't getting near him with the rasp so I informed my farrier that I would work on that & he could just trim him next time. Being a natural puzzle solver he said OK & that he'll just pick out his feet. What he really did although, was a sort of dance of trust. He moved slowly around him, clearly & so quietly asking for a foot....cleaning it, but so much more! Cash keeping a close eye on him stood perfectly still & was the model of concentrated effort. He then allowed him to approach with the rasp & rasp each foot. I was mesmerized! It's hard to even say what happened. But taking it slow, starting with what he understood already (picking his feet up) & being very clear helped him to accept the rasp which obviously terrified him. Mark left me with an old rasp & Cash's cute little feet look WAY better! Patience, clarity & solving the puzzle rather than just doing what your there to do (direct line thinking!) is what horses understand! Cash pictured here yesterday getting a back scratch & letting me rub the white hairs on his nose. He almost always stands this still & has that zen-like expression on his face.

Cash's sire, Repo

Another video from Mississippi Horses. This is Repo. A few months ago he was a stallion in a herd of mares, foals & young horses. He was also starving to death. After rehab at a foster home, he's just recently been gelded & sent to a trainer. He is most likely Cash's sire as well as the sire of the foal Sedona is carrying. What a temperament! What great work this organization does! Picture below is Repo with the leake county herd just before being rescued.

HorseRescue 2010