As all of you know, I finished watching Level 3 Liberty today and On Line yesterday. Both of them were very good and I have learned a lot. I also looked at the Levels Assessment Checklist. It is interesting that the checklist seems more complicated than the material in the videos.

On my checklists, I am playing in Level 3 for On Line. My Level 2 is mostly very strong, but there are a few things where I have holes- Circling Game especially. Before I couldn't seem to get her into higher gates or keep her maintaining gaits for a longer period of time. I am also having some problems getting her to squeeze over the barrels because she is intimidated by their size compared to the size of her legs. I think that I will start out with something smaller and build her up until she is confident enough to jump the barrels. Within the past week I have learned how to fix all of these holes, so I will be doing this very soon. With the Level 3, there are some things that I just haven't tried yet. The rest of it is just that I need to continue refining everything- Level 3 is about refining and getting excellence. For the Freestyle I realized that I am Level 2, mainly because I haven't ridden with two Carrot sticks at all and then that I haven't ridden with one Carrot stick a lot. I just need to play with her- riding in Freestyle with the Carrot sticks- and I should be able to do a lot of the Level 3 Freestyle tasks. At Liberty, I am Level 2/3, mainly because I have just recently started this (and boo to the rain, it has decreased my ability to do Liberty because I can only do Liberty in the arena but it gets SO wet when it rains...) and haven't gotten past the Driving game. I hope to start excelling in Liberty now that I understand it better after watching some DVDs on it. In Finesse, I'm only Level 1 because I haven't started riding with a shortened or contact rein yet.

Cherish and I are at a point, even with On Line and Liberty, where we can learn things faster than we have been able to before. Now she is starting to be confident with me quicker and quicker each time I play with her and being more trusting faster in each play session too. It doesn't take much to remind her that she's okay and I'm okay (fine, a little insane, but insanity is good for our brains) and we're just going to have fun. I'm really, really starting to get all of the little saying that Parelli has and all of it is completely sinking into my brain. The psychology of the horse before only made sense to me when you were on the horse's back, but now it's really starting to make sense on the ground too. Cherish and I are going to start doing some more advanced Level 3 On Line this week, and continue playing in Liberty.

All of this technical writing is beginning to bore me. I'm writing this so that you know what I'm doing, but then I forget to go back later and write specific moments in details. This is what I enjoy the most- writing about small, specific details. I know, I know... It's also good to track my progress by writing the general stuff. Sigh.

I also watched the Live Celebration DVD again. I was brought to tears when they showed the RBIs on the video... The horse at the Wild Horse Chase especially. I actually let out a small whimper too. Anyone who knows me know that I do not cry save for things that really trigger just the right spot- I can watch movies where mothers lose their children all day long, but show me a horse that has given up on trying to fight for its life and the salt brims in my eyes. Ugh. Just terrible. The Thoroughbred was also especially bad- the one who flipped all the way over. I don't know if anyone's noticed this before, but afterward a man who looks like the owner gets on his cell phone. He looks really disappointed and angry.

These are the kinds of horses that I will probably end up having. I dream about purebred sport horses, which I am sure will trickle in every so often... But I'm not really truly interested in paying  a lot of money for those, I'm only interested in competing in the sport with a horse that I love and that is my partner. These horses though, the ones with pasts and no futures, the ones given up on, the ones sold because they are too "dangerous".... These will be the horses I end up getting a collection of. My "collection" will not be like the porcelain dolls that sit on shelves for twenty five years. My "collection" will be that of a small collection of stuffed animals owned by a young child. They are named, dotted on, taken everywhere, played with all the time, the kid shares their lunch with the stuffed animal (much to their mother's dismay), they nurture it, take care of it, want to give it band aids for rips and tears... I don't know if every child is like this, but I was like this for my very small selection of favorite stuffed animals. One of them is so dear to me that he is the last left- the rest have all been given to children who had no toys to cuddle. This old guy though... I just couldn't part with him. He's a puppet actually, but my dad gave him to me when I was probably one or two years old. He's a creamy colored (now grayed) English Bulldog. His nose his worn to wear the leather has rubbed off because I kissed him there too many times. One eye has a sag over it that comes halfway down over his eye. One ear is almost all the way off, sewn back on numerous times. His once white belly is gray and his once sleek fur is slightly matted.... But he is mine, and I love him. Yes, I still love my stuffed animal. (I'm sorry that I went off on stuffed animals when I was speaking about horses. It relates. Sort of.)

I've been waiting and waiting for this to happen though. I don't think you guys know how excited I am, and how amazed I am at everything that's happening with me and Cherish. I think about her all the time, as I'm sure many other people with horses do too. It's like this... we're sitting in Biology class, people are talking, the teacher is giving a lecture, we're finishing worksheets.... And BAM! I'm not there anymore, I'm with Cherish. We're standing in some creek, me laughing at her as she paws the water as if it were a solid surface and she's bridle less.... Or we're sitting in under that tree that I love so much, just sitting, without a care. There are dried yellow leaves above us with the little tulip poplar flowers. One floats down to just in front of my feet, and I nudge it ever so lightly with the end of my shoe. Cherish lowers her head and lets her whiskers brush against my arm. I turn my head over my shoulder to look at her eye, with the long black eyelashes. Her ears hold fuzz with a water droplet on the end of each hair. There is a slight drizzle out and a breeze, the temperature is chilly. The sky above is cloudy, the pine trees are accented by the gray. I love these kind of days, with the scents from all around blowing right into your personal space. It's just lovely..... Oh wait, that moment was fictional. [: It seems so real, I swear it was a memory for a minute there.

I better get to bed, I have tests tomorrow. Joy, tests.
"Test" is a word every teenager just LOVES to hear. I hope you know I've been sarcastic. Except for with the going to bed part. I really am going to sleep, because I am absolutely exhausted.