I passed the original Parelli Level 1 with Mocha, my Left Brain Extrovert ex-race horse. Right around that time I was packing up and moving to Montana to pursue a Bachelor of Science degree in Natural Horsemanship from the University of Montana-Western in Dillon.
Not long after I got to Montana Mocha injured his hock and I had to retire him. I needed a horse for my college program and didn't have much time to search around for the perfect partner. Some "settling" had to happen and I went from a big, sexy Thoroughbred to a chubby sport pony!
He was round as a rainbow, a solid 14.2h (just small enough so I could jump on bareback!), and a beautiful smokey grulla color with pinto markings and a dorsal stripe. He was fancy, he was athletic, and he could buck!
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| The Pony and I. |
I had Level 2 going pretty well with Mocha but I was a little lost starting over with this introverted pony. I had a hard time reading him, he wasn't interested in me, he didn't want to play, and he was unpredictable and explosive (sound like a Right Brain Introvert by chance?). Riding him felt like riding a ninja with dynamite in his feet.
I had this little guy throughout college, which was unfortunately very anti-Parelli, I focused on my academic studies and not so much on the Parelli Levels Program.
Not long before I got The Pony (that was his terribly original name) I had been in a bad accident with a colt and had been suffering confidence issues since. With The Pony I was getting bucked off all the time. My Natural Horsemanship program instructors couldn't help me with his bucking issues and there were no other Parelli people around. It was terribly damaging to my confidence and I was constantly hurt and either at the chiropractor or the hospital.
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| The Pony and I at La Cense toward the end of college. |
