Handsome Fellows

Haymon

New baby brother for Hugo, Harry and Moses....introducing little
Haymon! Found orphaned in a stack of hay with his six siblings. The
hay stack had arrived from far far away the day before. Three black
cats - now that's Lucky!

Zazu and Uma's Hind Legs

Uma's knee surgery last Thursday at UC Davis went well. It's called a
TPLO surgery. In addition to her cruciate ligament being torn, they
dicovered she had a very large tear in her meniscus. She now has a
large metal plate in her hind leg and is on strict rest for two weeks.
After that she will begin taking short controlled walks. We have her
restricted in our bedroom and she seems to understand what is going on.

Dr Brenner ultrsounded Zazu's left stifle and could not locate the
source of her problem. However, she suspects a suspenary problem which
would take an MRI to confirm. MRI's of this sort cost over $2000. I
asked Dr Brenner what could be done once if it is a suspensory
ligament problem and was told Zazu would be prescribed pain/anti
inflammatory medication to be maintained on. So I'm going to get her
started on that now beginning with devils claw supplements.

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Uma and Hank at UC Davis Vet Hospital

Hank and Uma sitting in the lobby of UC Davis veterinary hospital.
Tomorrow she is having the surgery to repair her injured knee.

Ultrasound for Zazu

Today is a big day for me and Zazu. Dr Brenner, an ultrasound
specialist is coming over to ultrasound her stifle. I am intensly
hoping to finally get a diagnosis and prognosis on her lameness.

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Independent Seat

One of the human's responsibilities in the horse-human partnership, is
to have an independent seat - that is, to not rely on you hands
(pulling on the reins) to balance yourself when riding.  I decided to work on that yesterday:
I had a lovely time with Nora at Folsom lake trotting, cantering
and walking up and down hills without touching the reins. I tried
doing all the guidance with my legs and seat and made a game of seeing
how long I could go without using the reins. I also practiced posting
with my arms raised in the air. So fun! All this in preparation for
my enduance horse in training - Tessi. While I was out on the trail I
ran into Tessi's trainer, Janine, on a training ride with one of the
clients and a horse she has in training. Soon that will be Tessi and
me! I am looking forward to the prospect of becoming an endurance
racer under Janine's tutilage.
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Back to Basics with Parelli and Beginner Mind

The rigors of my job and the challenges with Tessi led me to a period of profound introspection with regards to my horsemanship journey.  But I have emerged with renewed enthusiasm, joy and eagerness to learn and PLAY with my three horses.  I have returned to the guidance of the natural horseman I most connect with, Pat Parelli.  Starting with Level 1,  with what in Budism is called Beginner Mind.  Many years ago I attended several Parelli clinics and read all the material I could lay my hands on but I did not have the focus or will to really learn and apply the program in a systematic way - although I applied the general principles.  But now I am ready to delve in deeper.

I feel so lucky to have some great teachers near by to guide me.  My friend Sherrill is a Level 4 instructor and also 5 Star Instructor David Lichman lives near by.  For a while I will be blogging about our Level 1 progress.

For those of you not familiar with Parelli, I encourage you to google Parelli for some insight on this teaching method and philosophy of leadership.  The student must learn the 7 Games which are the building blocks for all other manoevers, whether in the saddle or on the ground.  The 7 Games are:

1.  The Friendly Game
2.  The Porcupine Game
3.  The Driving Game
4.  The Yo yo game
5.  The Circling Game
6.  The Sideways Game
7.  The Squeeze Game

I can do all 7 games with all three mares but I still need to refine them.  Surprisingly, Tessi does the games the best.

Sleeping In

Sundays are for sleeping in. Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday,
Friday and Saturday are also for sleeping in for Moses and Harry.

Mirror of a Beautiful Heart

Nora's beautiful eyes...

A Winter Ride

Went for a ride at Folsom Lake with Dorothy and her Arabian horse, Cash.  It started out very misty and cold but ended sunny.   We rode for about an hour and a half.  I was a wonderful outing.   I took this photo of Nora when we got back to the staging area.  Her clip prevented her from getting all sweaty and she certainly wasn't cold, but she was a little tired and took the opportunity to catch a little nap tied to the trailer.

Tessi's Trainer Solves Mystery

We got Tessi's trainer, Janine, this carrot cake as a token of our
appreciation for her figuring our why Tessi is so resistant and
combative in certain situations. It all has to do with the pain her
mother, Zazu, has when suckling her as a little foal. Zazu would bite
Tessi when she could no longer bear the pain of sucking. Tessi would
try over and over to get the milk she needed to survive and would be
bitten repeatedly by her mother in the process. Tessi learned to fight
for her milk and to expect bearings ( bites). She learned that trying
over and over and taking the beatings is what it takes to get what you
want or need.

What a big break through. Her training will now factor that into it.
I feel such a sense of relief understanding that. The journey
continues.

Uma and Hank

Uma is going to have her surgery to have her knee repaired next week.
Uma is sitting in a chair at the kitchen table with Hank and she made
Hank laugh because she lost her concentration when a fly flew by her
and went into fly-hunting mode. Ah - the good life.

Dreaming of Spring

My aunt Chantal gave us this beautiful table cloth at Christmas and
Hank brought me these fantastic dafodils from his recent trip to
Seattle. I was trying to photograph them to show aunt Chantal - Harry
wanted to be in the picture. Needless to say, the color contrast was
perfect and the pictures with Harry were the best. Chantal thought so
too.

Duck Oasis - another view

You can see the dark brown slats I am weaving in the fence to create a
wind break for the girls. We plan to plant along the fence. Also, you
can see hoe the arena below has flooded due to large amounts of rain
lately. Looks like the long California drought may be coming to an end.

Happiest Duck in Town

Well, the girls LOVE their pond. I saw them do multiple happy dances
and other endearing things that made it clear they are in heaven. It
is so rewarding to watch them and feel their joy.

There Is still some planting and finishing touches to be done - most
significantly, the large duck house that Hank is waterproofing and
will serve as their nesting room.