A Visit to Parelli School for Tessi

I visited my friend Sherrill's Parelli Natural Horsemanship Group. The group meets on Friday nights to play together with our horses in Sherrill's lit arena.   Little Tessi and I went for the first time yesterday and met up with 7 other participants. It was a totally new experience for Tessi. Her eyes were bugging out for the first hour because she is not used to having so many horses around her. She also got to meet Sherrill's two adorable little donkeys - "Oakie" and "Dokie". Even though they were trying to be friendly she was very scared of them and tried to strike them with her front legs. Luckily, she missed and they scooted away none the worse for the experience... Later in the evening, Tessi also kicked out at a horse she felt was too close. Fortunately, the Parelli folks in this group are really nice and understanding. They even gave us an opportunity to practice walking through a sort of corridor of horses to build Tessi's confidence. This is a great opportunity to socialize my youngster in a fun, friendly and safe environment - and get her ready for group activities such as trail rides.

Happy New Year Ride!

We participated in our traditional New Year ride with friends and acquaintances. The ride was organized by Sherrill and her Parelli students. Nora and I led the group (We are the 3rd in from the left). We managed to just squeeze a ride in before the rain started coming down. Then we gathered under canopies for delicious hot dogs, chili and other goodies. A great way to start the year!