What do you mean... there's only a day and a half left!!??

Good evening! Hope everyone had another good day...

Today was interesting for me as usual! We started off the day at Vern's having some JYMUNGOUS! pancakes...See, I told ya!!We went up to the Ranch about 8:30 and arrived there at 9 ready to work. First we started the morning giving our own demo's. Almost all of us... not me... were asked to show the class a way of working on an area of the horse. This was really neat because even though we were all taught exactly the same things we all have a completely different way of working with the horses. It was nice to see these ways to think of new ways to work with our own "clients!"

After we were done with the demos we each gathered a horse and got a chance to work on them for about an hour. I worked with Scooter - he is about 13.2 hands tall and is totally cute as a button... and about a mile wide! I enjoyed working with him but was having trouble keeping his attention when I went to work on his back end so this was a challenge but I think that I succeded and was very happy!

We had lunch on the log in the sun... kinda! and then it was back to work on another horse. I worked with Red in the afternoon. He was off in a pen by himself because he has some "girls" that are his and only his and when he was on the pavement slab he paced so much that he wore his feet off until they almost bled... what boys will do for girls! I worked with him in his own little pen and he was alright. The wrangler girl told me he also has a lack of manners so this was interesting to work with! I was excited to see that he enjoyed having his hindquarters worked on because I felt that he would really need it!

Red had an itch when I took the one above!!!!

Tomorrow we get to go to a new Ranch we haven't been to yet, it is down South. I can't believe it... only 1 1/2 more days!!! we have a full day tomorrow and then we will get off at about noon on Friday!! As much as I want more time with the horses... I really don't think I would be able to concentrate Friday afternoon... my family will be here!!! YAY!


Love You all!! I can't believe I will be back on Canadian soil hopefully by Tuesday or Wednesday!! and back in my cozy bed!!! And I will get to try all of this amazing and powerful stuff out on my horses and others!!!


See you all really soon!!!


Have a great night... talk AT you tomorrow!!


Love Sara XXO

Our last Tuesday!!

Hi Everyone! Today was a day of lasts!

This morning we had our final (last!!) Business class with Michael where we finished up some things (scripts) and also presented our 5 minute presentations to the class! I decided last minute last night that I wanted to do a power point presentation and it took just over a half hour to put it together last night!! It turned out really good! I think we all did really good jobs!!! Everyone's presentations were different and very informative!

This afternoon we had our final (last!!) Quieting and Handling class with Rick and Crystaal.. :( It went really well and I was very excited because I got to work more on the leading aspect today with Crystaal! The first time I tried to do it it was a total disaster, but I got through it! But the second and expecially the third time I was rocking! I was really proud of myself. Between the first and second times Crystaal went over it once with Song (the pony) and I was able to pick up some suttelites from what she was doing and I found it a lot easier when I tried it the next time!!! Yay for me!!! I can't wait to get home and work with Copper!!!!

Asking Song to come to me!
















Going over the Bridge!

Asking Song to back into the straight stall.

Asking Song to back into the stall
















Asking Song to back into the corner stall
















Getting ready to walk through the noodles!
















Walking through the noodles!!
















Sidepassing over the rail.
















Tonight the class is going out for our final "Class Dinner". We are going to the Rock Bottom Brewery again as it is Tuesday and if you order a beer you get a free glass! And we like the food too - I guess!!!

Tomorrow we are going to the Ranch that is up North West of here way up at high altitude.. the best part is that we get to go to Vern's for breakfast and get some killer big Pancakes... I will take pictures... I promise!

Have a great night! Much Love

Love Sara XXO

One of these things is not like the others...

Hey! So we have a theme going in class, but I think it would do better justice to show you an example than to try to explain it!

One of these things is not like the others, one of these things just doesn't belong... in Business class almost 2 weeks ago now we were looking at our posters we made and Michael was telling us about things that don't belong! (hence the picture!!)

I took some pictures of the flowers in front of my apartment yesterday, I thought they were beautiful and reminded me of home!

Today Chelsea and I spent the day at the pool, it was kind of cloudy... and went out for dinner to our ultimate favorite Mexican Restaurant! yum, yum!!

Tomorrow is school as usual... 5 days to go!!! We are in the classroom all day so I have prayed for Rain!!!

Have a great night everyone, happy father's day dad!

Love Sara XXO

My last weekend!

Hi everyone! Yesterday was a very busy day! We started off the day in the classroom for our Business class in the morning and went over our Business plans and other important business like tid bits!

In the afternoon we went to the Dressage barn for a movement class with RaeAnn - our teacher for the day! We got to watch some horses go through their paces on the lunge line first and then some others free in the arena, some of those horses can really move well! It was nice to see "correct" movement from some horses, we are so used to incorrect movement that being able to see something like this was very beneficial.

After school I headed up to Maritza's house - she is a neighbour of Ruth (the vet that taught us last week) to see Pixie the little baby horse! She is very cute, she is 1/4 Mustang, 1/4 Shetland and 1/2 Lucitano and she is 2 weeks old!

This is Pixie and Dixie, her mom!

Today I had a riding lesson with Rick and spent the rest of the afternoon lazing at the pool. After the pool Chelsea and I went down to 7 Eleven to get slurpees and to Safeway to pick up some dinner ingredients. For dinner I made pasta with mushrooms, asparagus and chicken in Alfredo sauce... yum yum!

Tomorrow will be another lazy pool day, it will be nice to be able to spend a day without having to go out somewhere!

Only 1 more week! See you Friday Mom, Dad and Kyle!

Love you all, talk to you soon!!

Love Sara XXO

An interesting day... hopefully not the last!

Hello Everyone! I hope you all had a good day and that the rain is starting to give up!

It was another learning day here in Colorado and I can’t believe that I only have 6 more days of school left! Today we were out at a Ranch that is out on the east side of Colorado and a bit north as well.

The class met at McDonalds at 7 am this morning and then we headed off into the depths of Eastern Colorado!!! We arrived at the Ranch just before 9 am and got to work promptly gathering horses. The first horse I had was seriously a LOT of horse!! He was a very large Draft and he was like a puppy! He wanted to follow me around and didn’t have half a mind or idea about standing still! I was actually pleasantly surprised when he began to stand and soak up the attention, he was really cute! One of my classmates said that I looked like I was taming the “Gentle Giant!”

The second horse this morning, after a short break involving cinnamon rolls… mmmmmmmm!... was an older chestnut gelding, he was very gentle and really needed to be reassured about what was going on and his role in it all. I felt kind of bad because I was getting agitated by his lack of attention and then realized he was completely and utterly confused, all he wanted to do was please and once I said good job to him he began to soften his body and relax!

For lunch we were fed another amazing meal by the staff of the Ranch and I even bought myself a down filled vest with the Ranch logo on it, imagine… it is baby pink!!!! I decided I am totally worth it!

After lunch we worked on one more horse… remember that horse from 2 weeks ago that I was totally smitten for… well, I got to play with her again today! I was very excited not only because I love her and want to take her home, but because she remembered me and was very well behaved! All of the things I worked on with her 2 weeks ago were still there and I was able to get even farther than before with my work today J yay! The kicker about the whole thing is that I really think she belongs at home… my home… Get this… She is a papered AQH, had a lighter body and darker mane and tail, has a sassy but kind attitude, oh… and her name is “Apple Cider”… I know… she could be my Brown Sugar’s twin… literally! Imagine that, Brown Sugar and Apple Cider entering the ring! They are even about the same size! I just don’t know what I’m goona do… Daddy, bring on the trailer!!!

Today was a very good day for me, I felt that I learned a lot and that I made a difference… even though I spent much of the day working on the lead rope to quiet the horses I was working on, I really made changes! I love my NEW job!!! The amazing part in all of it was that all day the people on the ranch were branding cattle and moving livestock from pen to pen and all of the class was able to keep some attention of their horses and we all did a really good job! I was impressed... now I can walk into a herd of 30, pick one and massage and work with many distractions, loud noises and curious horses!

Tomorrow we have Business and then we get to go to the fancy Dressage barn again for a movement class!! Exciting! Then I will take a little detour to go and see Pixie, the little baby I was talking about last week!!!

I took this picture for you mom, I think Sheba is back in Colorado!!! I couldn't believe the commonalities!

Have a great night everyone, love you all!

Love Sara XXO

A different day!

Hi everyone! Today was a kind of interesting day!

As I said last night we were supposed to go to Vern's for breakfast and then up to the Ranch, well, the weather was kind of crappy up there and so we got a call early this morning that we would meet at the classroom at 9am. Well, this gave me a few hours to kill so I finished up my Business Plan for business class... hrm, imagine that!... on Friday morning and then we were off.

We started out in the classroom and watched a video with a couple (one in particular) amazing horse(s), one day I really want my Copper to be able to do the moves the horse in the video did! It was Sara's Birthday today and we wrote "Happy Birthday" on the board and sang to her when she came in the classroom this morning! She was very surprised, and we all must thank Karen for the flowers she brought for Sara.

A little later in the morning we decided to go the Ranch we go to alot of the time because it is close and we were all itching to get our hands on some horses. We worked on one horse in the morning before lunch. I had another Sombrero horse today he was kind of neat, and we think that he has a little bit of "string halt" (a muscular disease) developing in his hind legs so he was very appreciative of me working on his hindquarters. He also really liked having his head worked on, he was kind of sad and had a tear drop in his eye when I first got him and once I started working on him he really understood that I was trying to help him. He was a very sweet boy!

For lunch we all (most of the class) went over to "The Great Wall" chinese buffet for lunch again (we had gone there once before as well). The food is really good there and I still can't get over how cheap some restaurants are here!

After lunch we went back to the ranch and worked on one horse each. I had a horse who was very into having one spot on his neck scratched and he would cock his neck really funny and get right into it. I think that he had a bite where it was really itchy because there was a little bump and when I was done scratching the bump was a little smaller! When we were working on the horses in the afternoon all of a sudden there was a very large gust of wind and dust storms all around so we quickly put the horses away so nobody got hurt and called it a day!

We came right home after school and then Sue (one of the ladies from our class) called me up and asked if I would like to go to the tack store in Lafayette (a town) today instead of Saturday, seeing as we had a few hours to kill! The store was beautiful, I drove and Chelsea, Sue, Barrymore (Sue's dog), and I all had a fun mini roadtrip! I bought a very nice padded saddle pad for my ponies - it is white and big and very nice, I think that my saddle will fit with it well :) as well as a DVD video of the horse in motion - this is one of those where they draw the bones on the horse and then have it to movements so you can see how the bones actually move. I haven't watched it yet but as soon as I stop blabbering I will get on it!!!

Tomorrow we are going to meet at McDonalds for breakfast at 7am and then off we will go to another Ranch out East. This is the one where they feed us an amazing lunch!!! It will also be good to get my hands on some other horses!

Have a great night everyone, sorry there are no pictures - my picture taker Casey was missing today... we really missed her! I will be sure to try and get some tomorrow!

Much Love

Love Sara XXO

Busy Busy! only 8 days of classes left!!!

Hello everyone! Today was another great day at school! I am learning so much everyday I can’t even being to explain it!

Today we stared off at the Ranch working on horses. My first horse was a big chestnut and he was having some very interesting problems, I really don’t know what we going on but he as kind of ADD, he was responding to every noise, every movement, every breeze! I really learned how to diversify my massage by working on him, I had to get big sometimes and get small other times, a little in limbo between listening and telling. I really enjoyed him. I was talking with Casey (she helps out in our class) and we both think that he has had an injury on/to his left shoulder. I took some extra time to work that area in and around the scapula as well as with the withers and spine and he seemed to really make a change… I kind of wish I had taken a before and after picture of him, he made some real positive changes!
For our second horse we all went into the pen again and worked on the horses with no halter or anything. I had a really big bay horse and he was very sweet… I am really going to miss these horses; they are so quiet and forgiving. I was instantly drawn to his hindquarters and when I started to work on his psoas and adductor muscles he was very grateful; stepping is legs apart and leaning into me when I hit that “just right” spot!


















This afternoon we were at Rick’s and, as usual, this was very fun and interesting. I so enjoy working with the horses in this manner and feel that I am making really big strides towards being able to work in an entirely different way with horses. We got to lunge one of the ponies this afternoon and I was happy that I was able to get things accomplished… once again, thank you Pony Club! Second in Rick’s class we had to use feel to maneuver another one of the ponies through an obstacle course, I hadn’t had any practice with this yet so I was kind of horrible, but next week I will get to do it some more so that will be good and should help to solidify things… seeing as it will be the last class!!! AAAHHHHHH!






This is Joe handing the line off to me.

A walk to the left.

A quiet walk to the left.A trot to the left.

Changing directions.

A pat for a job well done!

Maneuvering the obstacle course with Song. (the horse!)

And another pat for a job well done!









This Saturday I will be going out to Rick’s for a lesson on one of his horses, he is so amazing that I want to pick his brain as much as possible and embrace as much of his knowledge as I can while I am here!
Tomorrow we are going to another Ranch (we were there once before) to work on more horses. We will be there all day and I hope that the weather is really nice! These horses are a little different than what we are used to because they are handled a less than the usual ones. I am really excited!
On the way we are going to a place called “Vern’s” for breakfast… the place with the jymungous (that’s a technical term!!!) pancakes and amazing cinnamon buns! This should make for a good start to the day!
Anyway, have a great night everyone! Miss you all!
Much Love
Love Sara XXO