Parelli Heaven

For this blog entry, I don't even know where to begin.

I started riding horses at summer camp. I don't know how old I was. Young, though.

I couldn't get enough of them. I rode during my cabins riding time, I rode during other cabins riding times (if there were horses left over).

I tried to spend every waking moment at the barn.

Eventually, they let me start getting up early in the morning to come up to the barn to help with the morning chores. I remember walking through the thick fog at dawn, across the grass field soaking wet and smelling thickly of dew.

Then I started running up to the barn after dinner to help let the horses out to pasture,

and some awesome 'special' evening rides arose from that.

I remember scooping up poop and feeling like I was in heaven.

Yep, I must have been nine.

But that was it, no training, no year round riding, no nothing.

My first ever riding lesson was when I was in college at Truman. Up to that point, I just guessed and watched other people. After joining the Equestrian Team at Truman, the coach recommended I spend the summer on a dude ranch getting in as much time as possible riding.

And while that summer didn't work out exactly as I had planned, it was because of that coach that I met Gretchen.

Have you ever met someone and connected instantly? Had a friend who you could just look at and they always, ALWAYS knew what you were thinking, and vice versa? You could sit in silence with them for hours....comfortably. Her friendship goes well beyond that.

And when I broke my elbow in Colorado, she never left. She was there by my side, and stayed by my side even after the summer when we returned to Truman. She helped me with my casts, helped me bathe, helped me pull stupid pieces of toilet paper off of the roll, helped carry books and backpacks to classes, took me to every single physical therapy appointment...in her car!!! She let me yell, and scream, and cry, and she was still always there. You have to love that kind of friend. They are one in a million. No, one in a billion.

She was also there for some of the best moments in my life. We've laughed so hard together we've snorted and peed. She was a bridesmaid in my wedding. I was at hers, and it was beautiful. When I'm with her, I feel like I'm at home.

Now Gretchen is living in Madison and has started The Horse First Farm.

Gretchens story with horses is the opposite from mine.

I think she was riding before she could walk and while I love horses,

Gretchen has a heart for horses.

Gretchens ease and confidence around horses has always been apparent, since the first time I saw her around a horse at Truman. Even before Parelli entered her life, I believe she was practicing them with her horses. When I watched her ride, she was never ordering them around, she was always listening to what they were saying, and responding accordingly.

So we visited her farm on a beautiful Sunday afternoon, on the 4th of July.

The Horse First Farm teaches the Parelli method of natural horsemanship.

"The Parelli method is less a horse training program and more a method for teaching humans how to train horses using love, language and leadership."

Learn more about this method here.

The farm is GORGEOUS!

Honestly, these pictures do not do it justice, and I think these pictures are amazing.

Gretchen greeted us with one of her horses named Tequila.
I later got to watch Gretchen play with Tequila.
I didn't take any pictures because first of all, I couldn't tear my eyes off of them,
and secondly, I didn't want to disrespect what was going on between them by fiddling with gadgets.





Um...this is a beautiful horse.
Grace, our big animal lover, was immediately in heaven.
This is the 100x200 arena (with a sound system). For those of you who aren't familiar. Huge.
The lounge overlooking the arena. Beautiful.

Some super cute adorable people!

Also, let's keep in mind that this chica had a BABY three months ago!

Jess, you're one hot momma!!!

Here is their miniature horse, Dovey...

All Alex wanted to do was ride him, but he'd never been ridden before, so we decided to pass on that. He was super cute though, and great with the kids.

We...I mean Alex, took him back to the barn for some brushing.

And he did brush Dovey, for a minute.

Grace took a turn brushing him too.

Then, on to riding. I was sure it was going to be no problem at all, but it was a little problem...

...for both!

And while Sundae is quite possibly the kindest calmest animal alive, we decided to start on something a little less....alive.

Mommy went first, and then Grace was ready...for the Mighty Broncy!

Gretchen gave us quite the ride!

Yee Haw~!

Then it was Alex's turn, but he wanted to ride all by himself.

He got comfortable really quickly on the Mighty Broncy!

Look Mom! No Hands!

(as you may have guessed, this was all VERY EXCITING for me.)

And then he just got plain old cocky!

So, after this warm up, we decided we were ready to go back and try the real thing.

This is where a couple of dreams came true for Mom in a matter of minutes.

May I present,

Dream #1

and

Dream #2

Sweet Sundae, sweet Gretchen, sweet Arena,

Sundae, like, REALLY wanted to make out with Grace.

At first she thought she was into it, but quickly realized that in fact, she wasn't.

Jess got to go for a ride too.

Clearly, she was a natural!

The proud hubby and niece watching Jess ride off into the sunset.

Daddy and Alex

The whole facility was absolutely captivating.

A gorgeous tack room, grooming area, classroom, tracks for the horses, play areas, and tons more to come.

I am so so proud of Gretchen.

If you are interested in learning more about Parelli and her farm go to The Horse First.

Gretchen, thanks for the wonderful tour and for taking time out of your crazy day just for us...

we love you!

Fireworks!

RASMUSSEN

"together we make a family"

Our Rasmussen family had such a great time with this Rasmussen family during our stay in Madison. Chris just loves getting some time to hang out and catch up with his brother, and I love getting to hang out and catch up with Jess...and of course, getting to meet baby Nadia was so.much.fun!!!
Momma smooches are the best, huh, Nadia?!

Thank You Dan and Jess for being such a wonderful host and hostess! They took such good care of us while we were in town and really made us feel welcome.
And the kids will not soon forget getting to meet their new adorable and squishy baby cousin!

Okay, on to the Fireworks!
The night before the 4th we drove down to The Terrace overlooking Lake Mendota.
We watched the sailboats, the sunset, and fireworks to music that was broadcast over the radio. This event has been named Rhythm and Booms. Wehad a lot of fun, and it was kind of crazy, but we made it through.


Here are some pics of Lake Mendota:
(Dan, Jess, and baby Nadia in her stroller are on the far right)
There were lots and lots of sailboats lined up here, and each time Alex passed one he would say,
"There's another lellow boat,
There's another lellow boat,
There's another lellow boat..."

Madison was so crisp and clean and pretty and fresh.

Our hotel was pristine,

every lawn was perfectly manicured,

smooth lines in all of the architecture,

it makes you just feel comfortable sitting down anywhere and being satisfied with where you are.

Ahhh...

When we got to the Terrace we grabbed a table, parked the moms and kids, and the men went out to hunt for food.

Seriously adorable, huh?

Sweet Baby Nadia

(Yep, I made them matching bows. I think they were cute.)

Happy 4th of July gettup!

They did get lots of compliments, but Nadia won that ooohing and aaahing contest by a landslide!

These guys were certainly a close second though...

Look at those gorgeous baby blues!

I love this picture of Dan and Nadia...I love how he's looking directly into the lens and saying, "This is my perfect daughter. I love her, and will protect her from all harm!"

What a good Daddy!

Fireworks!

I don't really know how to use my camera, so the pictures of the actual fireworks are really, really lame.

Mommy and Baby

Hmmm...I wonder who Nadia got those beautiful blue eyes from...

This is how everyone looked during the first sixty seconds of the fireworks show.

The last thirty minutes was absolute pandemoneum, pure chaos, and involved lots of following, chasing, catching, and negotiating, all to no avail.

Ahh well, just another day...

While not captured well, the fireworks were pretty amazing, especially with their reflection in the water. Gorgeous. It was also a perfect set up for kids, in theory, because we were so far away from where the fireworks went off that we couldn't actually hear them. No scary booms.

All we could here was the music that they were set to.

I think that night all of us literally fell into bed and were fast asleep by the time our head hit the pillows. It was a good day.