Congratulations! You’ve survived all the teasing and here are the goodies as promised.
-Hands out gold stars and Winnie’s cookies-
*flashback*
Hint: I’m going on a trip. :)
*end flashback”*
Where?
Pepin, Wisconsin
When?
Today! We leave this afternoon.
Who?
Franny! (http://www.savvyup.blogspot.com)
What for?
A lot of hands-on training and a wonderful learning experience.
How long?
We’ll get there either the 25th or the 26th and we’re leaving Wisconsin on the 17th of October, I believe.
Specifics:
Okay so here is the whole story.
The other night (not sure which night this was) Fran and I were chatting on Yahoo and my mother came in to talk to me about cancelling the trip to Mariah’s.
I had already been thinking about having to cancel the trip because Lady is nowhere near ready to be hauled anywhere and I felt like I wasn’t savvy enough to get her there on my own.
I had been preparing for a month and when there were two weeks left, I realized that if I kept going I was going to get rushed, turn into a predator and ruin everything we had worked on so far. So, I told Fran about it and asked for advice on whom to go to for help in my area.
I honestly didn’t think I was going to be able to stay dedicated and focused on my horsemanship without some help.
After saying she’d keep her eyes open for me, she was generous enough to offer to come over and help me out whenever she was in the area and mentioned me coming to visit her. That flipped a switch in my brain and the planning began. I think we had the plan totally concocted within two days. It was very quick and everything just clicked into place!
My mom had already taken the 25th and 26th off of work to take me to Mariah’s. We had already been saving up money for a trip and I know that if I had not been preparing for the trip to Mariah’s I never would have had this opportunity. I feel like I’m prepared to make the most out of this. A quote comes to mind:
“Luck is spelled W O R K and is defined as when preparation meets opportunity.”
Anyway, that’s how the plan came to be.
I’m going to Fran’s place this week, staying until the 17th of October and then Fran and I are flying down to Jacksonville, FL for the Parelli Tour stop 18th-19th. My mom is going to meet us down there and then bring us back up to my house where Fran is planning on staying for a while to work with Lady and I together and visit her friends in the area. :)
I’m a person who fully believes that everything happens for a reason; that past successes and failures help to mold and prepare you for your future.
I feel like this is the turn my journey is supposed to take and I want to take this moment (Yes, I’m getting all sentimental) to thank Lucy and Mariah, my closest savvy sisters. They have been essential in everything I have done with Parelli so far. They are two of the huge pillars that hold up my support system and without them, I doubt I would have ever gotten this far. It’s because of Lucy that I never give up when I really feel the stress of working with a complex horse. It’s because of Mariah that I am able to make the most of this opportunity because without her drive, I wouldn’t have been prepared for it. Both of these girls lend me their strength and they always listen to me complain and I’m so lucky that I know them. :)
Don’t even get me started on what a gift Franny is! Haha! I’m really looking forward to this trip and I am practically giddy on the amount of knowledge I am going to be exposed to there.
I think one of the best parts of the whole trip is going to be watching Fran work with Crest and just learning about their relationship and journey. Crest is one of those fabulous complex horses and I plan on walking away with a million different things that I can apply to my relationship with Lady.
I will continue blogging. I’m just contemplating on how I’ll do it.
I’ll either blog as usual or I’ll journal about every day and then post it all at once or in big chunks. I’m leaning towards the latter.
As you can see, there are a few details to be worked out but most of my questions will be answered when I get there. :)
That’s all for now, folks! Wish me luck and I’ll update soon.

Love,

Katie.