Life Lessons From Horses

over the summer I had so many incredible oppertunities to work with some different horses! every horse I ever come in contact with has taught me something. I just want to share what iv learned from each of these fantastic horses!

Coors -   was enjoyable, and easy to train, but still had so many quirks! 

while training him I often thought about the fact that not all lessons in life have come the hard way,

 if we apply our heart to learning, we can have a clean slate to learn, and apply what we've learned!  

Harley - having a difficult past describes the background of many people, and horses;

such is the case with harley. the thing is, pain is hard to be forgotten. The past flashes before us and keeps us from progressing. we may all have scars like harley does, some physically, some deeper than the flesh - But God see's pain he sees our tears, and he is gently proding us foward, teaching us to trust him, and find security in His arms. I could never push harley foward like most horses, taking this slow was essential to building her confidince, and trust - and God is the same with us! He doesnt push us, or make us go through something that is to hard for us to bear!  

Noble - Ever heard the phrase "dont judge a book by a cover"?

well in horse lingo it would be "dont judge a breed from a select few" after working with a few morgans I had stamped my dislike of the breed upon all! but Noble was different! foundation can be everything because what you build on makes all the difference! taking the time to establish trust, respect, and willingness is key for the rest of life. (for a human or equine!)

Skittles - I thought maybe I had already learned patience from the training of a horse.

But I guess somehow skittles found a few splotches in my character that was seirously lacking patience! not only have I been re-learning patience, but also the importance of being consistant, and making the most out of any situation - just never give up!

 

Bonnie - I saved bonnie till last, because Iv learned the most from her! I dont think I have ever had a more difficult time with a horse, and learned so many different lessons in life. 

** I learned that "Courage is being scared to death, but saddling up anyway" and that is tough. It was hard to go out and work with an unperdictable "bomb" and iv never wanted to quite on a horse as badly has I felt like quitting on bonnie. but does God ever quite on us?

 

** I also learned a lot about God. I wish I could paint the picture of my self standing in the middle of the round pen,with a little brown mustang running endless circles around me. there was 1 thing that I wanted from bonnie, and that was her love. But love is something that cant be forced, or straped on. its a choice to make. as Bonnie chose to flee from me I stood in the middle of the round pen and cried. I was hurt, I was frustrated, in that instant I could see my self as the one running... running away from God who simply wanted me to love him.  --- most people think Christianity is a religion of do's and dont's, but its not. Christianity is about a relationship with God built on love.

 When we love God we will want to obey him, and serve him,

 not because we are forced to, but because we WANT to.

 

Matthew 22:36-38 Master, which is the great commandment in the law?  Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.
  This is the first and great commandment.

 

 I really think Bonnie did more human training, than I did horse training!

New Horse!!!

YES! you read the title of the post correctly! There is a new horse on our farm!!! long story about his name, but right now its Noble. And no he's not mine for keeps. Im goign to be training him over the next 2 months, then he will go back to his home!

Snow Days

I know! It has been forever since I have posted anything! (except for the video) so im sorry about that! iv actually been kinda outta blog ideas! lol but heres some pictures that we took with us and the horses in the snow! It was fun so enjoy! I'll try to post again soon!

This ^^ is one of my FAVORITES! I totally love it!

and this ^ is like my all time fav picture of sapphire!! ♥

my awesome bro and his georgous amazing horse! :D

♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥

and of course cowgirl and I!!! :D she is such a sweety!

NEW HORSE!

yeah I know right? totally crazy! yall are probably thinkin "dont the Pehrson's have enough?" lol but yes we have added one more to the herd! as of yet.... he doesn't have a name. but here is the scoop. Over last fall I would drive by the neighbors house everyday and see this guy in a pen. (of course I would always slow down so I could get good close looks) and whenever Brandon and I seen the neighbor gal at quiz bowl, and 4-H stuff we asked and asked if they wanted to get ride of him. but she kept telling us that he was this horrible monster, and they couldn't work with him, and on and on. then I guess he got shifted to another neighbor who worked with him for a while, but he's also training a couple other horses so he didn't have enough time to train this bubba too.... so a hop, skip, and a few days later he's at our place. :D He was still a stud... but that changed this morning. and he's settling in quite well. (btw He is in no case a monster like the gal was telling us... he is really very sweet!!! we all adore him already!!) so now im done rambling... take a look at some picts! also if you have any ideas for a name!! let us know!!

L-5 Youth Ranch

hey everybody! sorry for my disappearance from blog land here! i just got way to overwhelmed and buried in life to get on, and some setting was messed up on our internet that wasnt letting me post. so... here i am finally! anyway not much (and yet at the same time.... TONS of things) have been going on! its crazy. but even though it was a couple weeks ago i still wanted to do this blog post. it was such an amazing week! and i love looking back through all the pictures, pulling out the memories, and recalling how Awesome God is.

a couple weeks ago I had the opportunity to help at a ranch for the week. many of you probably know about it. but I'll lightly recap, and then let you experience it through some pictures! the week i was there, they were having day camps for kids. it was absolutely incredible how the Holy Spirit moved, worked and directed the whole week! from the activities each day, to the partnerships, conversations, and relationships between the volunteers and the kids. Praise the Lord for his faithfulness!!

so no enjoy some pictures!! i have a big album made that you can check out when you click this >> (}-~-{) << (yeah the snaffle bit - click it and it will take you to the pictures!!) and heres a couple for the bottom of the post! enjoy! (btw i think you can leave comments on the pictures in the album so please do so!!)

RODEO!!!!

Rodeo day!!!! it was such an AMAZING day! praise the Lord for no rain so we could do it in the out door arena!!! the horses did fantastic!! im so thankful that Kelsi, Mel, Timo, Abby and theyre cousin Alexis came to watch! also, Cowgirl, Sapphire, and Gizmo were very grateful to kelsi, for picking us up some fly spray!!!!! what in the world would i do with out the martins???????? i have no clue lol! :D

also..... i am EXTREMELY thankful to Melanie Martin for taking some wonderfully AMAZING pictures for me!!! she did a fantastic job!!! thank you melmo!!!!! (yall can check out her blog -- Mels Imagine Nation-- )

im so thankful for the Lords healing hand on Gizmo, and that we had NO problems with his ringbone today!

SOOOOOOO thankful for that big huge ice cream cone!!!! it was G.O.O.D!!!!

my ponys

theres cowgirl!!! not the best picture! but she is doing sooo much better! she's gained some weight... got her coat shined up, and shes doing really well under saddle!!! :D im so happy!

**now... just a few pictures of my baby!!**

so this is kinda where i guess it got intresting. we were working on turning tight, in prep for barrels on Sat... and sapphire turned a little TOO tight, and the dirt was a little to deep, and loose. and sapphires front end ended up going into the dirt. i couldnt believe brandon actually got this pict. her head and chest ended up in the dirt... (which you dont see here) but thankfully, and totally PRAISE THE LORD... sapphire and I are ok!!

Star Blazin Cowgirl

okey!!! so i want to introduce yall to the newest addition to Kodas horse collection, and the Pehrson Family Farm! yep thats right! (if ya dont know already) i bought a new horse last week! she is a registered 4 yr old Quarter Horse, and her name is Star Blazin Cowgirl. (cowgirl for short) She was completely un-broke. but in a week already she is coming along GREAT in her training! its really fun and refreshing to be training another horse!

Barrel Racing Through Life

A couple weeks ago I was down at an arena practicing barrel racing with my pony sapphire. we went through our normal warm up, then set up the pattern and started to walk the pattern. we walked it a few times, and then trotted the pattern several times. finally i felt like sapphire was ready to bump up to a good lope which turned into a hand gallop because she just wanted to go faster, and faster. she started our pretty good. correct lead for the left barrel, slid into the turn, switched into the left lead for the second barrel she was a little ahead of my cues but not to much. we headed for the last barrel and as we got closer and closer I felt like I had last sapphires mind. she seemed to say "i'll take over from here" and with that she turned into the barrel WAY to soon... smashing my leg into the hard cornered rim of the barrel. OUCH i had coveralls on and it STILL totally skinned my leg. what in the world? why did my baby girl do that? after i recovered from my throbingly painful leg.. i turned her around to try it again. 2 more times sapphire did the same thing. stop listening to my cues around the last barrel because she was so excited to run home. she kept smashing my right leg into the barrel. .. beyond painful! let me tell ya! finally after a LOTS of correction we were able to make a nice little run with OUT smashing my leg. but let me tell ya. i was quite frustrated. as i loaded the horses up into the trailer i was fuming. what had been wrong with sapphire? why did she do that? (the pain in my leg was a constant reminder!) but as i drove home God shifted my thinking into a spiritual sense.

we as humans do exactly what sapphire did. we start out going through life fine and dandy. but as we near home we say "I'll take over from here". we can get so excited about making that last turn that we stop listining to the Lord and his direction. Which only causes pain for the Lord. It hurts Him when we stop listining to his guidence. Just like it hurt me when sapphire stoped listening.

Just like running around barrels is a race... Paul tells us that running through Life is a race. and we must run for the prize. but we cant do it with out the Lord. no matter where we are in our race, we need to be listening to his voice... the guidence that he gives us. it will save us a lot of chastisment.. and the Lord a lot of pain.

so there you have it... thoughts from a cowgirl! (this post was especially to please Bekah ;) but i hope you all enjoyed it... and i pray you let the Lord guide and direct you through the race of life.

Piano and Barrel Racing

would you believe me if i told you that learning a really hard/fast song on the piano... is exactly like training a horse for barrel racing? yeah i know... crazy hu?? but REALLY!!! this makes so much sence to me!

so im learning this really difficult song on the piano... a TON of notes, supposed to be really fast... very challenging. but this is where its so neat! before you can play a difficult speedy song like that you have to learn the notes first. (the fundementals) you have to teach your fingers where to go.. and most importantly before you play really fast.... it has to be smooth.

well teaching my horse (or any horse) to barrel race. you have to work on fundamentals first. teach them the ground work. show them where their feet should go! and most importantly... get it smooth before speed. you practice slow... slow.. and slow some more... just like learning a song on the piano... once you finally get it down slow, speed comes!! its so cool...

so thats just what i was thinkin about :D

Adorableness

just love these pictures so much... i wanted to post them on my blog to. my wonderful puppy and my beautiful Sapphire. i had so much fun taking these pictures and editing them on face book! i look at them every day! :D lol well i hope you like them as much as I do! :D

In Memory of Fooler

this post is in memory of Fooler. some of you may have had the privledge of knowing him, and others maybe not. but he was an incredible horse. let me tell you about him...

he was the horse that taught me how to ride

he was the horse that made me laugh and cry

he was a horse that put his heart into whatever he did

he was the horse that gave me courage to try the impossible

he was the horse that needed a little hug every day

he was the horse that made me into a cowgirl

he was one in a million

he was fooler

I wish everyone in the world could have had the chance to meet him. he was gaurenteed to change your life in some way. somepeople said "oh he's a thourbred he cant barrel race," or "he'll never be able to do a slidding stop" but he did it all. on the trails he enjoyed every minute. at county fair he would change from the perfect pleasure horse to the excited tence muscled gamer. and then into a reining horse. no jump was to high for him, no challenge to big. he truly was amazing.

on January 18th fooler passed on due to colic (displacement i believe) i guess i never believed that he would someday go...so it hit really hard. i thought of all the times i had with him. riding along side Cleo and Gizmo in prades or on trails. learning to jump bareback on him. winning western pleasure, galloping through the feilds, my first expierences barrel racing, it was all Fooler. his little pet peeve was bikers. during the summer tons of bikers go past our house. one morning i didnt get him in from the pasture soon enough and he hoped the fence with sapphire right behind him. somedays he would be the most reliable old gentleman in the world. but he threw in a few silly days every now and then. he was georgous, a true lady lover! i miss him a ton.

good bye ol man you were amazing