HAPPY BIRTHDAY MARIBELLE!!!!

It's been just over a year since Calif and I ( and Rachel and Amy ) were in Kentucky at the World Equestrian Games. Looking back, it was a busy and exciting time. ( I was on the road for over 20 days in Sept. and Oct., between the Paso Nationals and the WEG ) So much work went into preparing for both events, and it was certainly worth it. Calif hasn't been overly busy this past year, though the last couple of months he's had a bit more to do. He's been being used for some Mounted Shooting, and now he'll be helping me with two different driving projects. Project 1.- Forrest wants to learn to drive, and wants to teach Jess to drive. We pulled the harness out of storage and cleaned it up, and one day last week threw it onto Calif for what was going to be a harnessing and ground driving lesson for Forrest. ( Calif hasn't been driven since the WEG, so I figured it would be best to ground drive him a few times before hooking him up to the cart.) Well, Calif was so good I figured what the heck, and with Julie and Forrests help we hooked Calif to the cart. And....he was perfect. :) I drove him around for a bit, showing Forrest and Julie how to manage the lines, then Forrest hopped in next to me and I drove him around for a bit, then handed over the lines. He did great, and so did Julie when she took a turn. I do love Calif, he was his usual tolerant self and just worked for us.

Project 2., Catherine King, the editor of the Paso Fino Horse World magazine, has asked me to write an article on training Paso Fino's to drive, so Calif ( and hopefully Jess ) will be photo subjects for the article. ( the article will be in the February PFHW )

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