#25

Hey all! Here's a new update for you. Bella and I are progressing so much. I find that she is so much more willing when I just take the halter off and let her play with me instead of controlling her and keeping her so close with the 12' line. She has grown so much and is filling out beautifully. I just love her to pieces. I have also had the opportunity to realize how wonderful she is. I've been doing ground work with another 3 year old mare that is about 14.1 hands and a LBI/RBI. She is so dull and dead to the world. I can't see what she's thinking and it makes it harder to find what makes her comfortable and what makes her tick. She is really a sweet mare, but definitely a challenge. I've been playing with her for about a week and it's she is slowly improving. I was following my riding instructor's ground training methods which are close to Parelli and very natural, but Julep (the mare) was just not wanting to cooperate. She would stick her head in the corner and not budge through the phases... she just would have rather "taken" the phase four instead of moving. I started her out in the bridle doing the round pen work but now I find that if I start with the halter first and then switch to the bridle she does much better. She's a bit more responsive and shows a little interest in me. I'm doing things a little differently than what I was used to doing with Bella and I think I'm getting the hang of playing with "jules" as I call her. I am so excited that today she finally gave me a canter when I asked. She is getting better at managing herself in the Circling Game instead of expecting me to micro-manage her. It's a tough, but rewarding journey and I know that I will only come away with more knowledge and I know she will keep on improving. The only disheartening thing about working with someone else's horse is that you don't know exactly how they will treat the horse and if all your work will be ruined. I have no clue who the owner of jules is, but I am determined to give her the best training I can while I'm working with her. Learning to adjust to different horsenalities is difficult to say the least, but I want to be as changeable as I can!

On another note. Earlier this year in July, Bella was found suspiciously outside her pen in the barn with the resident Haflinger stud. Bella had just come into heat and it was obvious that she had been bred by the little stud. Today's Vet check confirmed the pregnancy, though we couldn't see the foal because the vet couldn't get the Ultra-Sound probe far enough into Bella, she is undeniably in foal. I am both thrilled and a little dismayed, because Bella's training will have to be put on hold for the latter part of the pregnancy and then until the foal is weened. Plus, Bella is only 4 and she's never had a baby... so a little bit of concern lies with that topic. I am excited to see what the foal turns out to look like. Bella is a tall Quarter Horse/Thoroughbred and has a leaner Thoroughbred type body and the unusual coloring of the dun... Armani, the Haflinger, is a small golden boy with a beautiful head, nice conformation and a thick mane. He's average Haflinger size and not too heavy but plenty stocky. A good looking little horse. Anyways, I'm going to see if I can get some pics to post of both of the delinquents so you all can see them. I'm already thinking of a name for the foal, whatever the gender it turns out to be. I want to name it something that has "Memory" in it... in honor of all the family we have lost in the past 3 years (6 people to be precise). I also thought of giving it the nick-name of "Char" in honor of my 10 year old cousin Jackson who passed away earlier this year from a re-occurring bout with brain cancer. He loved all things Pokemon and was quite the Pokemon information buff, his favorite of all the characters being Charizard. Anyways, thanks for reading my blog and I hope you all have a glorious fall! ^_^