Appreciate the small stuff

(just noticed this was unfinished in the drafts, so its a bit more hindsight perspective lol! but still important)

We got two new horses boarding here. Very traditionally trained, rather large, ridden English and used to show jumping. One is the spittin image of Remmer, built just like him, same color, pretty similar horsenality! He seems more LBE though. His buddy is a LBI Appaloosa. They are 23 and 30, but they don't look OR act it! They are so sweet and cute. But since getting my own place I've only dealt with my own Parelli horses, and my friend's gelding to whom I have full creative licence to play with lol.

We left them in the arena all night together until we could get the pasture fixed. The first morning after, I had to bring them into the barn to give them their breakfast before rotating them to the other pasture. By myself. My friend had helped me all weekend. I can't take one at a time out of the arena, because they are sooo attached to each other that they go totally right brain, and the 23 year old freaks out and screams. Whether there is a person connected to him or not. (1 month later, 23 year old still acts like this, he has separation issues haha.) The 30 year old isn't as worried, but he has next to no respect for my space and will shamelessly barge right past me to get somewhere. So that morning...

I haltered the older one first, shoved my way past him, and haltered the other one. He's prefected the art of using his head as a weapon, and it took me a few tries of blocking to not move my feet. Finally got the halters one them, now to get them both through the gate separately. They had other ideas. I opened the gate as far as the sand would allow, and tried to send one out. Riiiiight, normal horses don't get being sent. They both went the other direction. Just dandy. Take two. I walk out with one next to me, hoping the other would stay behind. Nooooope. They both were quite convinced that the world would crumble if they couldn't come out at the same exact moment in time. I I got sandwiched between two big horsey shoulders and scrambled to keep up with them. There's about 50 feet between the barn and the arena. It took me an embarrassing amount of time to take them just into the barn. They were ripping me in two directions as they each tried grass diving in opposite ways. Then one would get too far away, and the other would freak out and jump on top of me again. Finally we got in the barn. I tried to send one into his stall. Right, that doesn't work. Okay maybe I'll tie one up and come back to it.... 5 feet away and they both go right brained, brilliant. Ugh! So I decide to shut the one barn door that I can reach, let the 30 year old stand there, and escort the other into his stall. The moment he gets all the way in his stall, he feaks out, screams for his buddy, and dart right back out the door! Just as I'm wondering how many repititions of approach and retreat this will take, I turn around to see the 30 year old waltzing right out the barn!!! GAHHH!!!! The one I'm holding absolutely loses it, and it takes my whole body strength to back him up off of me to relieve my squashed self from between the door and him. Yeah, that was fun. Slam the door, leave him there dragging his rope, chasing after the other one "HORSIEEEEEE, please come baccckkkk!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Comedy of errors! I just need a video camera following me, I could be tv hit lol! So I cought him, dragged his reluctant butt back inside, and showed him his room. I had to remove the other one's halter while he was eating his grain so he would hold still.

I escaped with only minor bruising, a sore foot, and strained something or other lol. And a new appreciation for all that Parelli has done for the smallest things with my horses. I can lead 5 minis at the same time perfectly fine from the arena to their barn, send each one under my arm between me and the gate I'm holding, separately, and they are perfect little angels. They respect my space when I'm haltering another horse, and they each happily put their noses in the halter for me. And even though they live together, I can take any one of them out and tehy behave just fine. +3 points for the squeeze game, it really does make life easier! Oh, and the porcupine game, if they accidentally step on my foot or I've had a savvy bypass and cornered myself somewhere, the slightest reminder gets them away... as opposed to having to go all sumo wrestler jedi on them lol!

Some people will argue that there's no diffference between a "parelli horse" and a traditional one, as they all understand the same langueage. I beg to differ only because... although they will all understand savvy... Parelli horses are used to being handled naturally, and responding as such. Traditionals, in varying degress, are not. The next day, just because I could, I played with Mesa with just a bale string. Got her out of her stall, she stood perfectly in the barn aisle. I brushed her, fly sprayed her, cleaned her feet, cleaned her eyes, and she stood there while I was darting in and out of the tackroom for different thigs. Then she followed me just like that into the arena. I read in one of the Savvy Times' something Linda experienced with the Savvy Team while on tour. She was asking them if they could do anything really cool or interesting with their horse. Nobody seemed to think so. She asked... can anyone back their horse by the tail? They said of course they could do that. What about mounting from the ground bareback? They nodded. She had to remind them how COOL that is, and how many people can't do that!! Sometimes we do get too critical I think, on trying to do fancy things. But really, the small things that slowly integrate into our daily lives are so important. I love my Parelli horses. <3