My Life Before Parelli

Well this is my first ever blog entry, so where do I start?  At the beginning I guess....

I am originally from Buckinghamshire in England.  I came from a family who had nothing whatsoever to do with horses, so they were a little surprised when I became totally obsessed with them at a very young age.  I begged for riding lessons and my parents eventually caved in when they deemed me old enough at age 6.  All through school the only thing I could think of was getting out so I could walk up the hill to where there was a field with 2 ponies in it.  I would spend every evening just hanging out with them and waiting for Saturday morning when my Dad would take me to my weekly riding lesson.  Eventually the owner of the ponies spotted me hanging on her gate and invited me to come in and help.  She didn't see the back of me until we moved away several years later.  Her name was Mrs Embleton-Smith and I am eternally grateful to her for taking me under her wing and sharing her ponies and extensive knowledge with me.   During these years I continued with weekly lessons and helped Mrs E-S most evenings.  In return she let me ride Polly, a 14hh bay mare with no brakes who I adored (after all, what ten year old doesn't like galloping wildly around the countryside?  Ok, so I've since discovered that not everyone is as silly as I was....)  We went to lots of shows, the lovely old-fashioned English summer gymkanas where the grass was always burnt and the weather very hot (what has happened to those summers?  So much for global warming!), I competed in school jumping competitions - I'm afraid dressage held no excitement for me back then, no galloping or jumping?  Not interested!  Then one day when I was nearly 12 my parents announced that we would be moving to Somerset, three hours away from Mrs E-S, the friends and ponies that I loved.  I'm ashamed to admit that I behaved very badly and gave my poor parents a really hard time, luckily they have since forgiven me and life in Somerset actually turned out to be pretty awesome! 

Within the first week I was spotted hanging on yet another nearby gate and this time the owner of the pony simply handed over the tack and said "She's all yours!"  My initial excitement was dampened somewhat when Zara commenced "Operation - Dispose of This Annoying Child".  She knew every trick in the book for dealing with over-excited children and routinely deposited me in low-hanging branches, prickly hedgerows and very wet ditches!  She was the classic LBI, when asked for anything more than a shambling trot she found a clever way to avoid exerting herself - usually by un-shipping me then mooching casually off to graze nearby.  I learnt a lot from Zara and very much wish that I had known about LBIs back then, we could have both been much happier!  My parents would have loved to buy me a smart, expensive (well behaved!) pony, however they couldn't afford it at that time so I continued to ride everything that no-one else wanted.

I carried on helping out at local stables every spare minute, mucking out and riding anything that wore hair, then at age 14 I was offered a job on an event yard by a lady who mistakenly believed that I was 18.  I didn't see the need to enlighten her and immediately got stuck in.  I figured I could break it to her some other time that eventually I would probably be found out and dragged back to school.  For the time being I was just ecstatic to be getting paid £50 a week for 6 long days work.  I loved every minute, even though the boss lady was a terrifying individual who ruled the place with a rod of iron whilst chain-smoking and never once leaving the comparative comfort of the tack room.  I learnt all about caring for performance horses, preparing for events, getting horses fit, veterinary care, feeding programmes, clipping, plaiting, travelling etc.  I had absolutely no sense of self-preservation back then, therefore I was soon put up on every new horse that came into the yard, just to check how crazy it was.  I guess looking back there were a high percentage of RBEs coming through the business.  Again I wish I had known of Parelli back then.  I think of some of the horses I rode and realise it's just luck that I never had a terrible accident.  On the plus side, I did learn to stick on! 

Over the next few years I had a pretty good business trading ponies and starting youngsters for people (I know, I know, I'm sure going to school would have been just as much fun...)  I travelled around going to 1,2 and 3 day events and horse sales, met all kinds of eccentric people, encountered an astonishing array of disturbed equine behaviours and developed my own ways of dealing with them - it would have been cool to have known about Parelli and have had a program to follow instead of just muddling along the best I could!  Finally at age 18 my Mum put her foot down and insisted that I went to college.  So I attended Lackham Agricultural College in Wiltshire and studied Equine Science with Business while I continued trading horses and riding for other people.  I graduated with a distinction which kept Mum happy. 

After college I carried on horsing around (what a surprise) and also decided that a "proper" job might be a sensible plan.  I had no formal qualifications except for Equine Science, so I talked my way in to several "proper" jobs over the next few years, including estate agency (x2), admin jobs (x several) and eventually landed a job in the local council development control department as a planning officer where I stayed for a record 2 and a half years (this was tough for a RBE who really only likes being outside with ponies!)  This was enough to convince the bank to lend me the money to buy my own horse property.  It is small but perfectly formed :-)  As soon as the deal was done, I handed in my notice and haven't done a "proper" job since.  A year or so of horsing around later, my very good friend Becca took me to the 2008 UK Parelli Celebration - and that's where the real story begins.......