Hello all. Had time to read a little bit here - what a breath of fresh air!
Thank you Miriam for inviting me over here. I really look forward to a friendly place where I can read and discuss and learn without feeling people are censored and criticized for silly little things. I love the concept of NHE but the darkness over there would sometimes depress me so I wasn't over there a whole lot. I like to be able to have a logical discussion.
Just a bit about me - don't have much time right now to write a lot (and I still don't know how to do all the camera stuff - will try to get something going with that
) so I'll try to condense a quick intro.
I'm 53, had horses all my life, and I live in the midwest of the US. Done a little bit of everything with horses over the years except dressage. I've always beem fortunate to have my horses live at home with me except for a brief time, so its always been about the relationship for me above anything else. I showed on and off a bit years ago but really didn't care about it. I just like playing with my horses and learning new things together. Each horse teaches something different. I took some dressage lessons a few years ago and didn't like the method or the teacher and there are no other choices of dressage instructors around here so I put that idea aside. Got involved with Parelli stuff and had lots of fun, learned a lot about horse behavior and discovered how much fun ground work is - I have more fun doing that now and riding has taken a back seat. I guess I'm different than so many Parelli people I've read at NHE - I never did go for any upping phases stuff - I could never bring myself to whack on my horses but found that I didn't need to anyway since I had raised them gently and respectfully. Actually, the new Parelli material is getting away from that and they are focusing on being lighter and reading horse behavior better. Through Parelli, I discovered how much fun liberty training is, and Parelli showed me the way to riding bitless. I will never use a bit on a horse again. I have friends who do use bits and show and I do not condemn them. I feel everyone has their own journey and it's no use to judge, force or condemn (unless someone is abusing in a bad way). I love the beauty and art of dressage but only if done in a natural and kind way. When I found NHE, I was totally fascinated and it really opened my mind to what lightness could be and how to develop an even better relationship with horses. Plus, one of my Trakehners, Crystal, hates to have anything on her head at all so it was great to start learning new ways to do things with her that made her happy.
About my horses. Well, I have too many.
But I love each one. I keep all my horses for life - most I got as weanlings and a couple were born from my mares, so I have some older ones and some with medical problems who are happy to be pretty much retired but I groom and visit with them all every day - just a big happy herd family. There is Dunn, QH mare 25 yrs; Lucky, QH mare 21 yrs; Pageboy, QH gelding 19 yrs; Annie, QH mare 17 yrs; Ketcher, QH gelding 3yrs; Shi, QH filly 1 yr; Ebony, Russian Trakehner mare, 5 yrs; Crystal, Russian Trakehner mare 4 yrs; Splash, Spotted Tennessee Walking Horse mare 6 yrs; and then there are Sugar and Spice, mares 5 and 7 yrs - 2 miniature horses (not the dwarf size) who are too much fun! And then there is Lucy, a 23 yr old QH mare who is now retired at my friend's farm. Lucy was a broodmare all her life - she had 16 babies! I bought her with a foal by her side which is Ketcher. She was supposed to be pregnant when I got her and Ketcher but she wasn't - the poor old girl was just done having babies and people sticking their hands inside of her.
Had she gone back to the breeder, she would have been sent to an auction, very likely end up at a slaughter because few people want a horse who isn't friendly, can't produce babies, can't ride her, etc. So I vowed to Lucy, who had never known love and affection from people until she came to me, that she would have a good retirement and permanent home after spending her whole life being a baby machine. After living a couple years here, a very good friend of mine was so very kind to invite Lucy to live on her 150 acre farm with lush pastures with some other retired horses so now she is in paradise and loving every minute of it.
So, more later. Happy to be here and looking forward to learning more from everyone and enjoying good exchange of knowledge.
Kind regards.