stupid cold!

I keep apologizing for my late blog entries!



I have come up with a cold these last few days. Yesterday I woke up for work at 7:30 then was in bed again by 10:30, and didn't go back down to the barn untill 2! Today I'm feeling much better, I'm on some drugs now and resting when I can.

Yang left on Wednesday... and there was only a little drama with the trailer loading. lol mostly on my part! Love Maya... she locked me in and wouldn't let me out when Yang started getting upset! Kidding (well not about her not letting me out), all I had to do was duck down and go under the partition... but my brain didn't think that through. So there I was with my hand stuck in Yangs halter while she is rearing in the trailer yelling to open the door. Maya very calmly on the other side of the divider said "no, just let go and crawl out". DUR DUR DUR DENISE!
So I got my hand unstuck and flew out. I'm only a little brused on my thigh from where Yangs hoof caught me once. Thought maybe my wrist was twisted or sprained but it doesn't hurt much today. I was just being a sissy!

That's my little rant...
I'll go n try to update my blog again soon!

Another Rainy Day

It raining... with a vengeance. And Jo and I are hiding in the office for as long as we can. Saturday is not a motivating day to work, and I really should world all 5 of the babies today... Not sure if I will :) (yes Maya, at least I will do a few)

Yesterday was interesting, we worked our horses (even got my mare into side reins!!!) spoke to the people who are going to come pick my mare up next week :( I guess she is at the humane society. They picked her up about a year ago cause she was just skin and bones... A year ago. She is under 2! So someone starved poor Yang as a baby, no wonder she is so tiny still. How sad, going along with my last post... People suck. I'm going to do all I can this week to prepare her to find a good home. Even gonna put together a little folder of her progress, future potential, ect... Hopefully she will find a home with someone who know what they are doing.

Then I had a riding lesson... on JaxTimex in enlgish (I am NOT and english rider, and he is NOT an english horse). Maya and Jo tried their best, but english taught by europeans vrs english taught by americans is VERY different. Although, their style made much more sense! But man could I feel it in my hips! Jo may have over exaggerated opening my hips I think... but then I may have heard a pop. It's alright... I'll be able to walk in a few days. lol Trigger started getting naughty so Jax and I tried chasing him down in the arena (yup still in english) while the other two just watched... forget english... I WANNA WORK COWS!

We went over to Maya's for dinner and a movie... I must say it's not just Americans that have good home cook'n! Maya's an excellent cook, we had chicken, potato's, carrots and parsnips (which were awesome! tasted like plantain's but looked like white carrots) mmm I was just frustrated she didn't make more of those! Then she had to run to the barn and I stayed, and continued eating... wondering why there were no more parsnips.

Sat on the couch for the movie... Jo and I knocked out then woke up to the rain and had to move 6 horses out to a trailer from quarantine. Well 5 horses and a mammoth Jack (donkey). So 12am this morning we were dripping wet, Jo and I were under the donkeys butt picking him up and trying to shove him in the trailer while maya pulled. Not so easy!!!

And we had a stud that we all were confused by the description of his color...

Silver Grulla ? ? ? where do you see silver

AHHH body clip... now we see it!

so many things I want to do

The more I'm here the more I come up with other things I would like to do in having my own farm!

Love the classes, it's amazing to see the people turn around in such a short time.
Love the horses, working with rescue and remedial horses is SO rewarding, even with the students! We have a horse named Momma (I think I have mentioned her before), she was very distrustful to humans, especially with her feet. Since I'm not teaching this class I have gotten to work with her the most and she has come along so wonderfully. But a lot of times the horses can become comfortable with one person (and the one persons way of dealing with things), today I got to watch the students work with her. And the student assigned to her was an older woman with a slight learning disability, wow... Momma was WONDERFUL! Having 2 weeks of wonderful students just love on her really built her confidence in mankind.
Now I just hope she get adopted by a family that will continue to deserve her respect.
The fear of working with these types of horses and rehabilitating them is when they leave here they have a very open minded view of people again... but what if they go right back into a bad setting? That just reinforces to the horse that people really cant be trusted.
It sickens me the more I learn about humans. I think that is my pull to kids, they are usually opened minded and loving. But the older we get, the more we loose that love.

So back to my original statement about learning what I want to do with my own farm... Kids, rescues, remedial issues, and classes. Surround myself with the positive side of this industry. With being the type of person I am, I think I could start really disliking humans if I went into the competition side of things. I already dislike my species enough... don't want to add fuel to the fire!

woohoo followers!

I'm glad I finally have people reading! It was starting to feel like a creepy diary that I put online hoping someone will read and love me! lol
Anywho... had an interesting class this weekend I signed up for. About animal communication... trying to see pictures in our minds like a specific animal (my horse, someones dog, Maya's cat lol). Very unusual but interesting.
Makes sense though in the fact that horses (we will use this as an example cause that's what I know) have half the size neocortex that we do (which is responsible for problem solving) yet there Limbic system (responsible for emotion) is the same size as ours. Wouldn't that suggest that they are able to communicate on an even more complex level then just body language?
Think about the small fraction of our brain that we actually use... What are we able to do that we haven't tapped into yet?
food for thought... (I can't wait to find out what exactly we are capable of) :)
Back to my life here though.
Yang did very well yesterday. I walked her around a bit, let her run, groomed and gave her a bath. She is such a spaz though, because she did great yesterday all except for when we were walking I sneezed... she reared up. Which made me laugh. So I'm excited to see her progress but it's still slow going.
I have gotten a horse to ride while I'm here and we are working on doing a competitive trail ride in April. So everyday I take him out and we do a bit of hills or track. This morning around 7:30 Maya n I rode the track at a nice trot, I believe we did 2.5 miles (that is a lot of posting). My gelding's name is JaxTimex, he's from the willing partner program yet hates arena work. So trail riding is perfect for him, and me, three months with no riding would have been brutal!
For now I should go... I have 10 willing partners, 5 babies and 5 intern project horses that I need to trailer load sometime today and tomorrow, clean our tack room, work Yang and Momma... yet I'm sitting here on the computer...

Is anyone reading this?

What happened to my followers?! How sad, I come on here hoping for a comment... and nothing... silence! COME ON PEOPLE! :)

New class has started, and I'm not really apart of it. Which is ok with me, I'm working my horse and a few others. Really glad to be able to have a nice variety.

Wonder what this week will bring. It's raining now, but that's fine because I get to work with clippers on 5 of the baby's (well 2 year olds) so that will keep me inside stalls, nice and dry.

Woke up later then I wanted... so didn't spend as much time as i should have grooming.

Will try to post pictures soon!

one class down... 3 months to go.

Cant miss home yet! If I start now I will never make it the rest of the three months.

So I tell myself every morning "I'm enjoying this... only 3 months so make the most of it!"

The weekend class was really interesting, we had a wide variety of people from 50ish man to a 13 yr old girl. Very educational and I really enjoy teaching in a classroom! This was for horsemanship 101, so just the basics. We went over theory on the horse, went outside to tour the farm, leading, grooming, and even let them do a mock Join Up. It was wonderful to see their enthusiasm, something that we can find so mundane to new and exciting!

LOVED IT!

I'm trying to stay as positive about this whole adventure as possible. It's a whole new world for me, new people, new horses, new place! Very interesting how we work in new settings.

Strength I believe is one of my virtures (I'm sure friends at home would agree), but finding a balance between student and instructor is huge.
Thats all for now I guess... funny this wasn't about my horse at all!

my internship so far

I'm so sorry it has been so long! time really does get away from me out here.
Well... I made it. Feels like barely, but I did and that's all that matters.
My test was intense. one of the worst horses they had seen in an exam and of course I got her. Lovely Maya had realized this horse had an issue when she went into her stall and Yang (my mare) reared up, struck out at her and then turned and tried to double barrel her into the wall! Nice, and some how I drew her for the exam.
So during the test we go in and the two instructors and Monty are watching. We have to do a full join up, meaning tack up and long line. She did ok on her Join up then came long lineing and I didn't do what I should have so the turns were crazy. Monty had to come in and assist me, then I figured it out. So then we stop her and ask for a step backwards... and she went nuts!
She laid down 4 or 5 times, reared up, flipped over, everything she could think of to get away from the pressure. Finally she knocked herself in the wall and fell over. Every one ran into the pen to try and flip her over to get the tack off and she got right up and acted like nothing happened. Funny mare.
Monty then asked for a step back and she practically ran backwards across the pen. NICE YANG, THANKS FOR MAKING ME LOOK BAD!
Maya then decided she would be a good intern project for me.
That's been my job the last week, playing with her and other things of course. I have to figure out how to fix this issue she has with rearing. Bathing... rear, pivot... rear, tacking up... rear.
see a pattern?
She is doing much better though, I can now tack without the rear, and when the rain stops we will try with the bath again.
I'm learning so much, and really enjoying my time! Will try and update more often as I need to keep a log of Yangs progress anyway.
So hope to write again tomorrow!

Fabulous Saturday!

It's so hard to remember to update this thing after class!
Lazy Saturday is perfect for blogging and studying... THEN I'm going to pick up Mom and Dad from Santa Ynez! Very excited to spend some times with them, showing them around.
Class has been interesting, cold and wet... but interesting. It's amazing how many bad little habits we pick up at home in the round pens.
Day 1 we all stunk! and I'm not exagerating, all of our horses got tangled in our lines and my horse turned into me each time I asked for a turn (they are suppose to turn out). But 5 days later we are all MUCH better. The horses have all improved right along with us!
The test starts on Monday and lasts untill our presentations on thursday. I'm most nervous about our written exam on wednesday and presentation day!
Well I should get back to my studies before I have to head to the airport in Santa Ynez.
Feel free to email me!!! denisesandmann@yahoo.com

Well, Now we are here!

Tomorrow class starts, we have a week of review... getting to work with some practice horses (gentlers and starters). Then testing starts next Monday.
I'm about as nervous as I have ever been and wondering if I'm really ready for this? Or will I ever be ready for this?
Jenn is here with me, that helps... but I threw her on a bus! She keeps making fun of me cause I'm having her ride a shuttle from Santa Barbara to LAX tomorrow night, I told the reservation woman her last name is Hernandez and I'd drop her off with some Avocado's and she'd be just fine... It wasn't my fault the reservation woman is expecting someone a little different then my blond haired friend here!
Not ready for her to leave! Our trip has been amazing. Colorado was beautiful (your right Sheila), got to see Vail for the first time, then stayed in a creepy Super 8! Then on through Utah where I had to leave my prejudice behind because Southern Utah is amazing (not northern which is what I had seen before). Found a place to take my brother Billy someday. Arizona of course is phenomenal, with the Grand Canyon (sunrise was indescribable). Then Vegas ... ahhh Vegas . . . I got called a Chicken (which supposedly is a good thing)!
Last but not least California, I had forgotten how beautiful this place really is. The ocean, mountains, rolling hills, forests, vineyard, orchards ... an endless variety of beauty.
That's all for tonight, I'm tired and need to enjoy the last evening with my buddy.

Well I'm heading back again

Haven't blogged in forever! then again I've been home this whole time.

But I'm heading out west again come Jan 11th! It's my final test and (hopefully) an internship.

Right now I'm studying and finishing my project and getting more nervous everyday.

I thought I would hop on here and share my studies. Plus I remember it all better when I write it down. So here goes Monty Roberts in my own words (mostly)!

CH.1

Equus and Join-Up

Everyday we use language... talking with friends, family, coworkers; much of this is verbal but we also use body language to express our points. Hands on the hips or crossed showing annoyance or defiance or a smile for joy.

In 1948 Monty Roberts observed a clear language used by wild horses being gathered from Nevada for the wild horse races in Salinas, CA. It was a non verbal communication through body movement. The understanding of this language inspired Monty to attempt a violent free training technique that would eventually come to be known as Join-up.

Horses form of communication is clear and discernible, and with our understanding of this language it can be very effective in our training. Our 'conversations' become predictable, we can come to read what the horses responses will be.

The language is called Equus, some key communication points to equus are: eyes on eyes-sending away/predatory, ears on- paying attention and respect, head down - acknowledging leadership. So far over 170 gestures have been identified between humans and horses, gestures and body language work together and in synchronization. They have to flow to be meaningful, our body is communicating whether we realize it or not, we much develop a sensitivity to each move, gesture and flick of the eyes we make.

so... I wrote this intending to finish in essay form. but then I got into a car accident. (not while typing!)

I leave for CA on Monday (supposedly) and my car is totaled. So I have to find time to get a new car or figure something else to do, finish my project, study, pack, and work...

so I will update asap.

until then enjoy my half of an essay on equus