Close Ups PNH Foundation Piece: Finesse

Pat Parelli riding on a beach. The ultimate dream we all have when we are children dreaming about horses.
Flying lead changes, piaffe. Two maneuvers of finesse.
Pictured is a horse being ridden with contact in the natural hackamore. Contours of various Parelli bits pictured in the back ground show what is to come.
This is an explanation of fluid rein with an image of someone performing the fluid rein.
Then, you have your first ride with contact. You ask for it for only a moment, and it is not the best form, but you know you are going down a new branch of PNH.
It all begins with a tentative dream. You see Linda and Remmer and imagine being like that someday. Below the ghostly charcoal of Linda and Remmer is a page of stick horses in various processes of finesse. It represents the way that we think in the beginning about Finesse: not really sure how all of the awkwardness of us is going to turn into a horse-man.

Close Ups PNH Foundation Piece: Liberty

Ok, the colors on this one are way better in real life. I will post new pictures when I get the piece home and out in the sun...This is a girl balancing a ball on her horse's back. There is a reference to one of the ways that anti-PNH horsemen tear down Parelli--they say they don't need their horses to know how to do tricks. Well, here is a Parelli circus pony!
At the bottom, it reads "Flying lead change." Then there is a horse in the upper right hand corner, cantering on the left lead. On the left is the side of a horse's face. As you might see, this was originally a study of a pottery piece. I decided its round shape would make a great round pen!
A diagram, with instructions, of a flying lead change at liberty.
In level one, another form of Liberty is "down time." Not asking you horse to do anything, but being with him or her. This PNH student is reading her level one red pocket guide...and it looked like her horse was, too.
Heroine!
Contour of my heroine doing her signature cuddle!
I have never seen the "Beyond the Round Pen" DVD, but I hear it is great. Also, it is one of the most important principles of PNH liberty. Liberty is not the same as "round penning." Not by a long shot.
Haltering your horse is a liberty task you do in level one!
Zoneology! Labeled are all five zones, plus the drive line.

Close Ups for PNH Foundation piece: Freestyle

This is what my horses are!!!
This is Hannah and Blaze inspired! Originally a boring arrangement of fruit--you can see the pear at the top of the trailer--now an inspirational bareback and bridless moment!



Camera not cooperating, will get a better photo. Example of the bad color in the photos. This is a contour of a girl one-rein riding and a diagram for follow the rail. Also, an instructional on bending to a stop.
This one is like an "Impulsion Board Game." The words talk about impulsion programs for "Long" and "Short" horses, and attached are the four horsenalities.

Close ups for PNH Foundation piece: On Line

Blu's first game of "touch it"
Catching Misty--then giving her a snuggle
A young girl has driven her horse with two lines from zone 5 to a tire pedestal
Horse playing on line in a pond
After a long day playing, the two buddies are out standing together. Even surrounded by grass, the horse is just appreciating the presence of his human. Journaling is all over the background.
A diddy about the principles behind trailerloading PNH style. It's not about the trailer. We don't force, bribe, or trick the horse in, we communicate him in. Pictured is a trailerloaded horse who played with the cones and the trailer, first.
Here is a comic about a new student teaching her horse the porcupine game. She has gotten to phase four and is holding it, knowing that it can't take more than two days for her horse to make the correct response...tee hee.
You may not be able to see this one well. I did a filled in contour of two horses playing the driving game with one another and overlaid a human playing the driving part of the yoyo game iwth her horse. The text reads "Look at the horses in the pasture. They play these same games with each other." and then "When the smoke clears, does the horse still have his dignity?"

Parelli Natural Horsemanship Foundation

Here are the 4 sides of my pyramid. There is no cap on the Parelli Foundation Pyramid because the cap is whatever you want it to be in levels 5-10. The four sides correspond to the 4 savvies. Red is the savvy that you learn in the latest level one (On Line); blue is the savvy you learn in the latest level two (Freestyle); Green is the savvy you learn in the latest level three (Liberty). Black, which is felted mat board, is the savvy you learn in the newest level 4 (Finesse). If you begin at the base of each side and go up, the savvy gets more advanced. There is also significance to the size of each panel: Level 1 has the most graduate, Level 2 has the next most, and so on. This pyramid is meant to be an educational presentation. Someone would stand next to it and explain the pyramid to the viewer, and the viewer would walk away with a new way of looking at horses, and hopefully with an interest in the Parelli program.

I presented the pyramid to my class, and it just so happens that one of the girls has horses, and she asked me for information!

I will post individual pictures, as well!

P.S. You can enlarge the images by clicking on them!

Commision Project #1!

I am living out my idea from the previous post. My first painting will be a classic gray Arabian with bay foal runny through the grass. The photo I am working from is old-looking because it is a little fuzzy, and the client wants the painting for her mom. I am thinking of using complimentary colors red and green with a vintage feel with a twist of newness. I like the idea of the fuzziness, but I think I will seclude that to the background only, as well as using neutral tones there. In the horses, I am going to pull the most exciting reds and greens. The mother will be a grayed green, but not to crazy, because I don't want to shock them, and the baby will be red. Even though green represents new life, I feel that red is also symbolic of this: blood flowing, heat, vibrancy, excitement.
I was originally very concerned about tweaking the colors, but I am sure this is what will be the best, and if they have a problem with it, I will keep it and make a new one!
I will upload pix as I get my ideas together.

Commision Idea

I have been sitting on the idea of using my art to raise money for either my 4H club or my county's Equine Committee (the 4H body that puts on horse shows). Well, today I sent out an email to have people send me pictures so I can at least have something to do outside of the college art classes I am taking--which are kind of and kind of not ok. Wish me luck!