Introducing Vanilla Dream

It is so important for me to share my appreciation for the love and support of those closest to me as I work towards my goals of becoming a Parelli Professional. My friends and family were incredibly supportive throughout my academic career, and have continued to cheer me on as I chase my lifelong dream to train horses. In addition to my amazing support system, I must take a moment to recognize my equine partner through this journey...Her name is Vanilla Dream!

Vanilla is my current levels horse that pretty much fell into my lap at the perfect time. Her story started in Venus, FL where she lived on over 20 acres of land with a few other horses and was rarely bothered by people. When she was three, she was sent to Miami, FL as a gift for a 13 year old girl. Vanilla had very little experience being handled, had never been started under saddle, and was then placed in the hands of novice horse owners. The family had the best of intentions to treat their new horse with love and care, but as Pat Parelli says, "green on green makes black and blue", and Vanilla proved to be too much for her new family. In fact, she proved to be too much for her first trainers too. She managed to buck the trainers off multiple times, even breaking one trainer's ribs! She was then donated to Horse Tamer Ministry so that Sal (my dad) could give her the proper attention she needed to find the right home. Can you see where this is going? Needless to say, I began playing with Vanilla and soon fell in love with this little horse.

Thanks to Pat and Linda Parelli's Horsenality breakthrough, I was able to connect to this previously misunderstood horse. Vanilla is a right brain introvert (RBI) which, in a nutshell, means that she is not the most confident horse and when she gets overwhelmed she freezes. If she is pushed too far, she explodes in fear. So, knowing this, I took things really slow and was extra friendly, building her confidence in me and in herself. This technique has paid dividends! Vanilla has become a willing partner with her ears forward and positive expression. She also demonstrates an obedient, inquisitive, intelligent and confident nature. I am so proud to say that she allowed me to start her and in less than 8 months, not even 100 rides, we are practicing online at level 3, riding freestyle with a carrot stick (walk, trot, canter, and basic patterns), and becoming more connected at liberty.

Principle #7 of Pat's 8 principles is that "Horses teach riders and riders teach horses" and this is exactly the case for Vanilla and I. In the past I've played with many horses and each of them has been the perfect teacher in that part of my journey. Now, Vanilla is my newest teacher and is pushing me to learn more about developing horses than ever before. I never suspected to be working with a little paint mystery horse. I'm more of the big warmblood, dressage, sport horse type, or so I thought. Vanilla Dream has melted my heart and I know that she is the perfect horse for me on this wonderful adventure.

If you would like to follow Vanilla's progress, check out Parelliconnect.com and search for Vanilla Dream!

Keep it Natural,

Lianne Joy