Licensed Parelli Professional 2* Junior Instructor

My official Parelli Professional website can be found at;

http://instructor.parelli.com/lillanroquet

Thursday 19 February 2015

The Ups and Downs of Rehab

As many of you may know Damo had her 120 day ultrasound at the beginning of February. I have been pretty quiet about it because the results were not quite what I had imagined :(. The tear in her LF flexor tendon didn't show any additional damage.... But it also didn't show the rate of healing we would have liked. Sigh!! 



So! We have readjusted her rehab plan.... I'm able to ride her and hand walk her, but still NO trotting. And she now gets to be in a bit bigger space so she can move more consistently on her own. We are giving this plan 30 days and then will re check her again in hopes of some more stimulated healing. 

Being an extravert the JUST walking is tough for her, and I am continually impressed by her emotional fitness. She was especially super for the recent video story by the Salt Lake Tribune, where despite not having done anything but her therapy walks, she pulled out all the stops and showed Parelli in a beautiful light, even though we ONLY walked! :). We stop and graze, walk different places, and visit the cows in order to keep things as interesting as possible. It has been such a learning curve to play with Damo and attempt to keep her calm and connected without having the usual arrows at my disposal; as there are many things we CAN'T do in order to not re-injure her tendon. Having strategies taken out of my arsenal has made me more compassionate to students when they lack the correct technique with their horse to get the desired result; I now know what that feels like!! 



A huge thank you to the team at Horse Lovers Haven who have taken great care of us, Dr Karen at Elite Veterinary and Jeannie Parkinson for walking Damo when I'm out of town teaching. I couldn't do it without this super support structure!

Thank you yo everyone who has been sending love and healing thoughts and prayers our way! We will keep receiving everything we can get! 

Thursday 12 February 2015

What's Apt to Happen?

Well, it's been a long time since I have been hurt by a horse. And as such, I thought I would take this opportunity to share what I have learned from my experience with all of you. Because we all know that it's only a mistake if you don't learn from it!

From years of being around Pat at his barn I have taken away a few things regarding safety. First of all ... as a Parelli Instructor, my FIRST priority with all of my students and horses will ALWAYS be safety, its Level 1, its the foundation of this program ... your progress ... actually comes second. This is tough for some students to understand, and sometimes that means I'm not the correct instructor for them. But it also means that I walk away from every lesson feeling like I did the best possible job I know how to.

After that one of the things that Pat has shared is how important it is to be constantly aware of "What's apt to happen?" especially around horses. He teaches us when we look at different situations to really analyze what is it that is APT to happen with your horse? For example ... when you dismount after riding and your reins are around your horses neck ... if they put their head down to itch their front leg... what's one of the things that is APT to happen? One time while traveling with Pat and Linda as their groom to an event with some dressage trainers in Wellington, FL, I learned another such valuable lesson. Pat and I were leading two of his best horses through a very narrow and semi twisted squeezey area. I was going first and I assessed the situation and thought that sending the mare through the gap and then following her would be smartest. Pat said, "Think about what's APT to happen! Just walk through ... swiftly, keep her back at least six feet and then let her have as much line as she needs, and let her decide where to put her feet." I thought I was doing the "correct" thing by squeezing her through, but I didn't look at the fact that that would reduce my leadership by causing me to stop and change my plan, and it would also give her less ability to take care of her own feet.

In yet another situation I had a Level 4 Student helping me to halter three young and very pushy horses. They were in a pen where the barn blocked their view of the road. As we were haltering, I noticed that she had positioned herself with the horse between herself and the road ... So what's apt to happen? As a noisy truck and trailer came around the corner of the barn, right behind the horses Hindquarters he spooked and she was in the way. Luckily she was just fine ... but it's another lesson in  "What's Apt to Happen?"

How about horses tied long enough to put a foot over the rope? Opening trailer doors before horses are untied? Going through open gates when they are opened TOWARDS you as opposed to away? Circling your horse with your saddle girthed too loose? Leaving halters tied to arena rails?

So what was my recent story about what's apt to happen? Well ... When you have a 2 and a half year old horse that's been in the trailer all day ... and a year and a half old puppy who's been in the car all day ... You may learn a lesson! I had arrived at a barn I was staying at for the night after a full day of driving. I had taken Merrida (a two year old warmblood filly I had with me for training for a few months), out to allow her to move around in the arena a little bit before putting her in her stall for the night. I had also let Laila (my year and a half old Boxer puppy) out to have a run around since she had been in the car all day. As I led Merrida down the barn aisle to her stall, Laila ran up behind her, spooked her and she jumped forward and landed on my foot. OUCH!



Now, besides thinking about "What's Apt to Happen?" in a situation ... the other thing that Pat would always ask is "What'd ya learn?" I took away a few things from this injury. First off horses are prey animals and when they get scared there are lots of things can happen; however, I KNEW that I had a missing link in the respect piece of my rapport, respect, impulsion, flexion puzzle. This is because when the chips were down, she didn't respect my personal space like she would have with the dominant horse. She jumped INTO the herd, or in this case me, instead of putting effort into avoiding me. The cool thing though, is that this happens din the first week that Merrida was with me; I would be willing to put money on it that if you put her in the same situation today, she would avoid me, But I'd prefer not to test it! The other thing I learned was when you have a young and energetic horse ... and a young and energetic puppy ... and a tired human ... probably best not to try to divide the few brain cells you have left!



By reading this you shouldn't start walking around over-analyzing every situation that you and your equine partner are in. However, you SHOULD start to look at all different situations and pay attention to "What's Apt to Happen."


Thursday 5 February 2015

Merrida Looks For a New Home ...

Well, it is time to make a little announcement ... as not all things are always meant to be, Miss Princess Merrida, who has been with me on trial since November 23, will be returning to her home in California in just a few days.


She is a WONDERFUL and very talented mare, and I have had an amazing time developing her. In the spirit of truth and transparency, I only had two hesitations with this horse, one of which will settle out in time Im sure. My first hesitation is her size, she is just a BIG mare, some people love that ... I really have enjoyed it, and have realized its not quite for me. The second is that she is slightly environmentally unconfident when left alone. She is great with another horse, and great if you are playing with her ... and if you turn her out by herself she gets emotional. As I said, Im sure that this challenge will dissipate with time and training, but with my lifestyle it didn't seem like a fair hurdle for her to jump in the rapid time I would need her to do it. 



As I mentioned she will be returning to her owner in California for the time being ... However, her owner would love her to find a perfect forever Parelli Home. She is a Selle Francais X Thoroughbred, and so far a Left Brain Extrovert, but more Left Brain Introvert under saddle. 


She LOVES to learn and she LOVES people. She has traveled with me from Reno, NV, to Pagosa Springs, to Phoenix, and back to Salt Lake, and next week she will head back to the Sacramento area.  Rhett Fincher also put 4 rides on her for me over Christmas, an we filmed our "Level 1" video just for fun, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wO-fg21pGsQ . She has had many great experiences while she was in my care, and I can't wait to help her owner find her an AMAZING Parelli home. 



I wish that I could keep them all ;) ... I just know in my heart that she is someone else's 100% perfect partner! PLEASE feel free to email me if you have any questions about her, or might be interested, and I would be happy to help! lillanroquet@hotmail.com