Courage Is Being Scared To Death But Saddling Up Anyway – John Wayne

Melody & Rio 2009

 

My progress:

I continue to be grateful for the miracle from GOD of life and healing strength for my mind, body, soul and spirit!  Attend Physical Therapy twice a week and acupuncture for pain management finally the right side neuropathic pain has stopped felt like a million needles were poking me where they cut my chest open to save my life and placed four drains removing internal bleeding.   Now it just feels like someone punched me really hard in the right side and aches badly so much better than before praise GOD.  My right hip hurts something horrible and in the cold wet weather it is hard as the screws feel like they are grinding into the pelvis.  My lower back hurts bad as I am not able to walk without a limp and this causes all kinds of pain but I keep pressing forward and believing I will some day ride again.  Every day is a chance to enjoy life and I work hard to squeeze the most out of life I can as we never know when our time is up and or family and friends. 

 

Why did I choose Parelli for training?

The Parelli program has the most home study information of any natural horsemanship program in the world all at the finger tips of your computer.  Most importantly for me personally “Parelli’s leave the dignity and curiosity in the horse their spirit intact and provide the human a set of clear and concise tools to stay safe and stay in the leadership role.”  If I wanted a motorcycle or a car I would be riding one of these things I want a relationship with my animals one where I am the leader and they have the freedom to be themselves and not have their spirit ripped out of them (traditional equine training, bigger bit etc.,) I personally do not see the good in this training methodology it goes right back to my principles in life “treat people and living things how I want to be treated with dignity and respect and strong boundaries.”  Donkeys and mules can not be trained the way most horse trainers train horses they will shut down turn off and Parelli works for donkeys and mules, this is why traditional horse trainers will not attempt to train a mule or donkey!  Donkeys and mules learn best from a human who has a relationship with them not just a training must build trust with these magnificent equine.  Training a donkey or mule takes a person who has patience and a clear plan of how to train them; kinda like fishing love to go but it does not matter if you catch a fish just enjoy the moment.  The rewards are gold as donkeys never forget good or bad things ever.

Lily is doing great hives are gone and all of our equine are healthy and happy the weather has warmed up into the forties and it is truly wonderful.  This morning as I type my blog I can see the sunshine like spot lights shooting through our trees on our farm with moss glistening off each tree in the cool temperature.  Living in the Pacific Northwest is beautiful always bright green full of life and when we get a morning like today it is like a Walt Disney movie all the colors and textures GOD has created are full of life.  As I write this blog it is raining and I mean raining hard it has been raining since yesterday about 3:00pm and lighting and thunder.  This brings me to an important consideration when planning, building or upgrading an equines paddock in the Pacific Northwest make sure you have excellent gutters off your barns, walk thru shelter and a place for all the water to go.  We use ¾ clean gravel on the path wear the equine walk the most and this stops thrush and hoof problems as they are not standing in mud all day for months.  Additionally I use iodine solution mixed with water in a spray bottle and spray it directly on their hooves in the rainy season at least four times a week.  If you notice a smell in their hooves thrush buster  http://www.smithbrothers.com/product.asp?pn=PJ-22128&sid=froogleSALE&CATALOG_CODE=SX807&EID=X3807001&zmam=1460880&zmas=2&zmac=51&zmap=PJ-22128&bhcd2=1291824141 works the best watch out as it stains a bright purple.

 

Yesterday when I put Rio & Lily out into the arena Lily took off with a big cantor and a few bucks and then Rio mimicked her it was truly a delight to see.  Her being the horse and him the mammoth donkey they balance one another as she gets him to move his feet quickly and he takes his enormous mammoth donkey head and places it on her back to say “hey slow down enjoy the moment no need to run girl” I thank GOD every day for my farm equine as they give me so much joy and smiles.  As they run freestyle in the arena it is an amazing thing to watch as she the horse has her winter coat on and is pure white now and he the (mammoth donkey) is jet black with big white eyes, white muzzle and a pure white belly, super soft and cuddly.  Little Rocket Man has his Eskimo winter coat on and I can hardly see his little eyes when the snow came last week he refused to step outside stayed in the barn.  Rocket Man is 16 now and I am sure he knows what the snow is and prefers to be warm. 

 

The other day while feeding breakfast for our equine I observed the equine herd balancing act, truly amazing moment to witness.   The boys Rio and Rocket Man were in their barn (both barns are open to all) and Lily walked in; With just a look little Rocket Man took off running out of the barn and believe me it is not easy to get Rocket Man to trot off he saves every calorie.  Rio is growing up now he is four this summer and he did not run off he walked off and took his right back leg balancing on the other three and tapped lily in the but not a kick just a tap and a look that said “yes I am moving but some day I may not move for you.”  I am amazed every time I see the donkeys use one leg so easily never see the  horse do this always two legs this is another special gift GOD gave the donkey the strength and balance of an acrobat swinging truly amazing to see.

 

Christmas is almost here and soon it will be a new year oh how excited we are to bring in 2011 as GOD is sending double for our troubles and soon this difficult time will be just a tale and a memory.  I will forever wear the scars of the semi truck accident and walk with a limp but oh how grateful I am to still be here and able to keep my equine and the Donkey Whisperer farm.  Please keep sharing good things with others and stay positive as no problem is too big for GOD in Jesus Christ name amen. 

 

I share my life with the world via the internet to help others understand that life is hard for everyone not just a few and to provide hope, faith and wonder in the life of walking with Jesus.  Walking with GOD is not saying I am a Christian nut; it is a peaceful and balanced way to live life as I am letting everything go to GOD, I am not stressed out with worry when things go wrong I know GOD will take care of me as GOD loves his children just as we love our children and if we have no children our pets.  So enjoy your life it is precious and fragile and live each day as it is your last as it very well could be we do not know when our time is up on this game called life.

 

http://donkeyparadise.wordpress.com - interesting Donkey site!

 

GOD bless you and your family two and four legs!

Melody

http://www.donkeywhisperer.com