Life and Love

On our hike up the mountain... I didn't know what I was in for!

Wow what a week!!  Mike and I went hiking and fishing at Chicago Lakes near Mt. Evans in Colorado and Mike proposed while we were at the lake!  We are getting Married next summer and I could not be happier.  What a year this has been so far! First with our decision to participate in the Extreme Mustang Makeover (while I continued school full time), meeting and falling in love with Marley, training our first mustang, OWNING our first mustang, and now this...  I am so overwhelmed with love and gratitude for all Mike has done to make keeping Marley a reality.  He spends time (that he barely has) helping me with Marley because it is something that I love to do, and while I know he enjoys playing with him and all that being a horse owner entails, Mike would not be here in Colorado playing with wild horses if it weren't for me.  For that, I'm eternally grateful.  Now as I gaze down at the ring on my finger, I can't believe what a lucky woman I am.  My only hope that I will bring as much to Mike's life as he brings to mine. 

Overlooking Chicago Lakes

Back in the car after a long day

Now before I get too personal on my horse blog, I'll move on to Marley's training.  Once again, our arena is a lake and the entire barn is a muddy mess.  We didn't get too much riding in last week because of it, but what training I have done has been really progressive.  Without a timeline or strict training schedule, Marley has become even more interested in training, and we are making huge strides under saddle and on the ground.  I am able to ride Marley bareback without a bridle at the walk and trot (without a liberty wire and with only some minor steering problems) which is just unbelievably exciting for me.  I feel like I'm 9 years old again playing with my first pony, Amour, who was a saint of a mare we could literally do anything on... except go fast.  Marley's patience and affection for people continues to grow and it just gets more fun to work with him every day.  I am still working on shaping his body into collection (free without tack or ropes) which I have never done, so we will see.  So far, we aren't getting anywhere quickly, but I've seen it done, and it is beautiful. 

Driving to the barn... I didn't know I had to cross a lake to get there!

Lauren (not me) and Marley

 In other Marley news, Lauren Carpenter (my pseudo little cousin) came down to see Marley for the first time since she saw him on Day 2!  She was amazed at how much he has changed, and not only that, but she got to ride him!  Marley was.... well.... safe, to say the least.  He didn't know what to do, so he just refused to do anything but walk.  Eventually he realized that this new rider on his back wasn't any different than me (no one was going to hurt him), and he was much more responsive.  Lauren will be coming to spend more time with Marley and get some riding in, which I'm really excited for because one, I love Lauren and two, it's great for Marley to be exposed to different situations and riders. 

On June 17th we are planning on doing a little schooling show down the road, so I'll take lots of pictures and post them on Monday.  As the weather gets nicer we will be spending more time actually training with Marley, and I can't wait for everyone to see how far he has come.