Week 1 Round-up

Wow, that was week one. I would have love to post some news earlier, but the internet broke down. Now we are in Seymour, sitting in a cafe and connecting with the world again.

After 3 days in Dallas we headed out to Truscott where the ranch is.

Dallas Downtown

On the way from Dallas to Truscott

After one lunch stop in Wichita Falls we arrived after an app. 3 hours drive at the Ranch.

Lunch stop in Wichita Falls

The drive was really nice and there is so much land and a wide open space we don't have in Germany. No town, no hills in the way.


The Colt Start is really exciting and I advise everybody to do it, if you ever have the chance. It's such an experience in every way. To me all what I learned so far within the Parelli program makes even more sense. "...Principle to purpose...".
Especially the better understanding of the difference between taming and starting. We are still in the taming process. Imagine that most of the colts had little to no handling except some branding.

Thanks also to Eugenie and Jerry Bob (owners of the Circle Bar ranch) who host us for the 3 weeks of the course on their ranch. The size of the ranches are big comparing the the farms are rural places in Germany: from 16.000 ha to 200.000 ha...Well, everything is bigger in Texas.

Bankhouse. First bank of Truscott. The place where we (Courtney, Erin and me) sleep in.

We stay in a bankhouse which was once the first bank of Truscott. Very historical. I will add a pic of the old safe they have. Historical piece of art.

Thunderstorm on the first day at the ranch.

The first evening we had a thunderstorm and we were allready instructed what to do and where to go just in case of. There are also rattlesnakes and I am glad I did not face one so far. It's a different place and I have to say that in Germany all seams to be very "cosy" comparing to their weatherconditions (sun is burning...) and the rattlesnakes. Ok we have crouded places and smog....

The first 2 days it was rainy and muddy so we had more of a talk from Pat and the instructors, shared our stories and started to get to know each other. We also had the chance to see the ranch cowboys driving cattle from one place to another place horseback.

On the 3rd day the weather was better (no rain but sun) and we headed out to the horses. It was quiet and experience and still is that these horses are not tame. They come from different local ranches (Circle bar, Pitchfork, Muleshoe horse and other breeders) and breeders. We are 30 participants and there are 70 colts to start. Nobody has always the same horse. The horses that catched you in that moment is the horse you play with for that session which gives us the chance to play with different horsenalities and different stages of taming process.

Cowboys finished their job by driving the cattle to a different area.

We have breakfast, lunch and dinner together and the food is great! In the evening there are opportunities to chat or to play pool or poker in the lodge which is a beautiful decorated former church. 

Lodge

Playing Pool in the Lodge. See the Poker table in the background.

All the instructors including Pat are so patient with us, let us find our own pace of learning and share all the experience and knowledge with us. Looking forward to the 2nd week of the course.

John, Maurice and Ryan demonstrating how to make contact with the colts.

Laundry in Crowell

Wearing a pad and saddle for the 2nd time.

Colts in the big round corral.

 

Day 3. The day before we had out to the ranch

What a nice day again. We had breakfast together before be went shopping the last items for our stay on the ranch. The ranch is on the countryside, so it will be hard to "just" drive by a supermarket.

We visited a very nice Western store in the historical district in Dallas which is a very nice area. The shop funiture and the interior design is really nice.

We had a little refreshing break in the cafe of the JFK museum in Dallas. I bought also this postcard in a Texas Souvenir shop, yesterday:

In the museum shop I found a nice book for children with a very nice picture and saying which is the theme for the next 3 weeks:

After lunch we spent the afternoon in the pool, relaxing, whirlpool. Probably we staied too long in the hot whirlpool which was around 40 ° C which was to reason for this kind of photos.

I found out that the Gasmonkey, Dallas are very close to our hotel. They have their own TV serie, called "Fast N' Loud".

Dinner we spent all together (Barbara, Natasha, Tina, Martin and me). Tomorrow we will head out for the ranch!

Traveling to Dallas/ Day 1 - 3 in Dallas.

It's unbelievable how smooth everything went on the journey including connecting flight in Frankfurt to Dallas, Car Rental, (complete) luggage and Hotel.
The flight was really short and everybodys (Aurelie, Barbara, Natasha and Sandra) luggage was complete.
The hotel is quiet close to the airport and very nice. We even have an indoor pool with whirlpool and a small exercise room. Breakfast is not too bad for a Motel type accomodation.
We tried to get used to the new time zone as good as we can by staying-up until a CST-it's-time-to-go-to bed.
I finished the day by being in the pool area. Very relaxing!

Today we were more north of Dallas in a shopping mall (Grapevine mall) and had lunch together which was very good and tasty. The funny thing was a little desktop computer on each table. You were able to check emails, play games, fireplace simulation, check the menue and re-order softdrinks. I'm sure, there is so much more to find out about the things offered by this little desktop computer...

Some more (window) shopping at a Tack shop  which has more items related to english riding style. It was very funny how little details vary from country to country. I found a toy horse which looks similar to Jabato (Thomas' horse):

After that we had a little break at Starbucks's
Beside we bought already some items, which we'll need on the ranch.

In the evening we met Tina Kolhammar from Sweden and had dinner together in a japanese resaurant (Beninhana) which was more kind of event dining as everything was fresh prepared at a table. It was funny & yummy! The Teriyaki beef was just perfekt.

Let's see what tomorrow brings here in Dallas before we are heading out to the Ranch in Truscott on Sunday.

Off we go....

oopsie....Not yet. Can't believe it yet und maybe I need lots of pinches before I realize (latest on the flight to Texas): I am lucky to spend time with some great teachers at the Colt Start course 2014 with Pat Parelli (May-26, 2014 - June-13, 2014). I am looking forward to this unique experience of colt starting in general and also to have Pat as a teacher for this course beside John Baar, Ryan Rose and Maurice Thibault.

Pat Parelli

John Baar

Maurice Thibault

Ryan Rose

Arrangements, necessary like booking a flight, accomodation and car rental is done. There is so much to keep in mind. A bigger challange will be to carry my Parelli Fusion saddle, saddle pat and bareback pad with the flight beside the luggage, but of course this is just a matter of organziation. Which is really cool, is to join this course with friends already when traveling as Barbara Heinen and me, we will join the flight from Frankfurt to Dallas and Dallas to Frankfurt. Time will fly easily as sitting there for so many hours in a small chair is really hard for me. I am also looking forward to see friends back on the course, I met several times before like Erin and Bryna, both from the U.S.  which is really cool!

I am  happy you join our Blog so stay tuned for more updates to come! Looking forward to your comments.

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