Hey why dont you add more photos? lol
and is your name thing (still green) does that mean your horse is still green lol..

Thanks for such a nice note and please keep me filled in on your progress and I'll do the same with Cash and I.

Hi Kelly! it's the week-end!! I am excited about tomorrow. One of barn friends (the one that has the half Friesian) is getting a new 8 year old. She is an off the track horse, Promise. She does not seem to have any noticeable issues from being worked hard in training for racing. She is going to be added to Cash's pasture family and I like to be there....just in case there is problems. I find it exciting watching how they all interact while trying to get used to everyone on the playground. Gets my adrenaline going!
I don't want to give you the wrong impression of Cash. He was trained when I bought him and a good boy but when they are just three and done with professional training there is still much to work through as they are confronted with new things and new stages of life. They may know riding techniques and cues but that does not prepare them for all the things they'll encounter for the first time with you/us, their rider. Nothing but putting the miles on them gets them to the point that they have 'been there and done that' and become what some call 'bullet-proof' (which I don't believe in)
For several years before I got Cash I drove by this very nice boarding place a few miles from my home on my way to and from work. The horses got top notch care and all looked very happy. healthy. frisky and beautiful. It was a highlight of life to see them all the time. I heard they were closing the stable. Soon after that I drove by and all the horses were gone. I got a big clue how much I'd been trying to ignore how much they meant to me when I had to pull off the road and have a big sobbing cry. Kinda silly but it was one of those wake-up calls that we give ourselves when we aren't being true to ourselves.
I totally understand what you mean by being proud to tell you'd fallen off 5 times. "I can do it" "I don't break that easily" Football players hit the ground repeatedly at every game and head in for more cause they love the game. Actually horses have taught me that I'm not as fragile as I'd thought. Each boo-boo and bruise and scarey moment that turned out okay were kinda gold stars. For a few months while I had Cash I was allowed to play with an abused, very large, very scared horse. I was scared he'd freak and he was scared I'd act like past humans but there was a deep bond with him that will always be with me. From the first night I met him when he'd been brought to the barn and left in a stall we had an instant trust of each other and it was sort of like a fairy tale story. But it did not have a fairy-tale ending. My experiences with that horse are a long touching story that I'll save for another time.

I seem to have a fear of loosing control more then a fear of the real possibility of breaking something from a fall .

Thank you for the compliments that I am being a little helpful to you. You will soon be giving out advice and sharing your accumulated horse knowledge. Sometimes the hardest thing for me to do is keep quiet when I want to help and my advice is not requested. I hate it when people pipe in to help and they do not know the situation well enough to be offering advice. When I respect someone as being a good horseman I'm eager to receive advice. Unfortunately it is often 'the wanna be's' that are free with their unhelpful advice. What is the saying " Free advise is worth just what you pay for it?" Often true!
It is nearly 2:00 a.m. and I can't stop yawning so I'm off to bed. It will be time to go meet the new mare before I know it.
Shirl

hey i bet he is very good in dressage and he would look very beautiful..
i am starting jumping lessons...
with my horse indy..she jumps 85cm
What breed is he? and would you like to be friends?

courtney xx

Hi Kelly,
One of the gals where I board has a very dark bay Morgan mare. She bred it to a nice Friesian and got a mare that is now 3 or 4 yrs. old and really neat. Beautiful to look at, especially when moving and such a nice temperament. I love how the Fresians are usually the first ones in the pasture to walk up and say "Hi". And their mane and forelock, awesome! What does he do when he spooks? Try to run off and swoop and slide sideways? Does he usually get control right away?
Today I was having a lesson in the indoor arena. It was very windy outside and Cash kept trying to watch and avoid the big door/gateway to the outdoors. He spooked a few times when I lunged him and then would canter really fast. She suggested that I make him keep cantering if he wanted to blow off the extra energy. He got better quick. When riding, I could feel him get nervous when we went past the door but he never did actually spook. The instructor had me do half circles, circles and serpentines rather then just going around and around the arena. He soon was paying more attention to following my direction then thinking about the door. Yeah! That was cool!!
Do you have someone sharing despooking tasks to help you? If not I can share some other things I got from clinicians.
I started riding Cash when he was just under three and bought him when he turned three. He just turned 8 so we've been through a lot of green things together. My impression of him is that he went through a blind faith stage from 3-4 and then got smarter & realized there were some scarey things out there. It seems like we have taken turns growing in being braver.
I always wanted a horse when I was a little girl. When I turned 15 and was able to get a part time job, I started saving for a horse. My girlfriends dad said I could keep one at their farm if I bought the food . So when I turned 16 I got a little 15 yr. old bay mare. Story short...I did not know how to ride well at all and had no help in understanding what makes horses tick. My Velvet didn't like a novice on her back making her very unhappy and naughty. She fought me all the time! Her favorite thrills were to run me under tree limbs and then straight for the barn to try to brush my leg along the barn wall. I had no idea how to better the situation but I kept riding. Then I got married and started a family. I wanted to stay home to be a full time mom and that meant a tight budget. I decided it was best to sell her under the circumstances. I figured I'd get another horse when the time was better. My husband kept encouraging me to get another horse. At one point he put a nice saddle on lay away for me and said, "Get your horse" & I didn't think we could afford it. Then he tried to get me to buy a beautiful little black yearling and I didn't think we could afford it. Some time went by, our three kids grew up and were on their own. Before he retired he gave me a nice chunk of money he'd safed from working over-tiem and said "buy your horse." I didn't think we could afford it and then I thought I was too old. The money went in the bank. Then things did a major turn. My son started dating a gal with a horse, then she got a second horse and had me come to see and then to ride and then I got spun off in a big bolt and run off. I decided I should take some lessons.
Within a couple of months I started searching for my own. Then I found Cash which I almost didn't buy cause I kept hearing friends say you can't ride a three year old...green on green makes black and blue. For several reason I just decided he was the horse for me and now it's been 5 years and I still think he was the horse for me. I went through a few stages of thinking I was never going to succeed with my young friend. But the thought of not having him in my life would make me more determined to succeed. I got alot of help while boarding at a training barn and then I started home study classes done by the Parelli's and even though it's been a long trip, it's been worth it. It's very satisfying knowing that we have progressed and learned together.
Ride ON!
Shirley

Hi Kellie, I saw some video of Clinton Anderson training recently and he recommends if a horse avoids a certain area in an arena that you can use that area as a rest spot when you are working them. Eventually they should get to want to go there. Seems like it would work.
What kind of horse is your big black? Beautiful!