Taking a break
On Tuesday Ian and Nick joined Mike as Mavericks. To mark the occasion, we took our first overnighter with horses. Other than the cold, it was a fun experience. Thanks to Ian for staying up all night to keep the fire burning.
And thanks to Luke for cooking the steaks. Yum!
Ian after night of Camp Fire Monitoring
It was great to have five sets of parents join us at the ranch. We started Friday evening with just the parents. A little prep for what to expect the next day. We had a great evening, dinner, socializing, and some good advice from Hyrum Wright (Clinical Director) and Glenn Banks (Therapist).
Saturday was a wonderful day. Parents and boys re-united after 5 months. Parents were pleased to see bright eyed young men who were anxious to show off their horse skills and accomplishments. We had a great video that Glenn put together that review the activities of the previous 5 months.
Group Shots
The McLellans
Miss Virginia, are you in or not?
Nick & Miss Virginia
Nick has been working with a 4 year old Arabian mare that has turned out to be incredibly calm and lovable. Nick has spent a lot of time with her. She responds very positively towards him, calmly following him–wanting to be with him. One characteristic of Miss Virginia, however, is that she is very sensitive to Nick’s emotions. When Nick has a bad day, Miss Virginia has a bad day. In the round pen, as Nick works with this mare, she tunes in to his emotions and her response is magnified many fold. On one particularly frustrating day, as Nick was lunging the mare, he threw down his rope and “stormed” out of the round pen. Miss Virginia just kept running, around and around, as if Nick was still pushing her. His energy was still pushing her even after he was physically gone. She is that attached to him.
