Love, Language and Learning

Teaching began on Thursday in earnest! We recapped horsenalities, addressed common issues with sideways game and change of direction, had a finesse lesson in soft touch and ended the week with an enjoyable group trail ride!

I have been typing up my notes so that they sink in and are more readable for future reference. As you can imagine, we are getting snippets of information and advice on all sorts of things so I would find things relating to one subject in several places (even after just two days). I have set about the task of putting my notes not into chronological order but into subjects. By the end of the Externship I imagine I will have compiled something resembling Pat Parelli’s next book!

During our sideways game online session, I realised that I was being too firm with Boaz and not being fair enough. It was a horrible feeling but the other externs comforted me that I was allowed to make mistakes. Boaz was certainly just as happy to be with me as ever, so he wasn’t holding it against me. I found it difficult because most of the time he is so confident and left brained. He is the master of manipulating me so I am in a position where he can push me with his shoulder. I asked Susan, the instructor, about this and she confirmed that just correcting him gently every time would eventually have him respecting my space more. It’s all about polite and passive persistence in the proper position, or, as Lynette would say, patience.  

The afternoon session went better. We had a demonstration and simulations in soft touch. This is a finesse concept and a prelude to contact. Basically it is a friendly game with your horse’s mouth. You take a light feel on the bit and then do your absolute best to maintain that feel in both reins no matter what the horse does. The only rule was that the horse was not allowed to pull its head lower than its knees.  If it did I had to just engage my core and close my hands making a clear barrier. IT was a challenging task but very interesting. Gabi had made me do a similar task, and it is great training for the hands, which, at least well into level three, are not required to operate at this degree.

We focused on change of direction and I found that my circling game with Boaz was starting to improve. He seems to be realising that I am persistent and he is making more effort to maintain gait. Maurice showed me a more refined way of using my stick and rope so that I could be clearer and it made all the difference for Boaz. I can see that Boaz will do pretty much anything for me if I can be 100% correct in how I ask him. Maurice called a break during class and was demonstrating th same technique he had shown me when Boaz decided to roll. I was happy to see him so relaxed in the arena. He got up and rolled on his other side and whilst he was down I saw him wonder whether to stay down for a nap or not. I got down with him and gave him a carrot, letting him know that staying down was fine by me. We stayed like that for a while as Maurice covered the finer points of position and timing. 

We had all agreed that a trail ride was a good way to end the week. It was nice to learn the trails and get to know the area, as well as take some pressure off of our horses. For some horses it was not so relaxing but Boaz found his energy again and was marching out in front ears forward ready to see what was over every hill and around every turn. He is such a lovely fun horse! On our way home the horses near the front, including Boaz, were caught in a mass spook as two cows tried to camouflage themselves in the bushes. Before I knew what had happened I found myself cantering sideways down a hill (toward more cows) and I automatically used the emergency one rein stop. We regained our calmness when the cows moved again and the horses spooked again. This time I had Boaz bent and stopped before he had taken two strides. It had been exhilarating and I was so happy to find out that the cheap treeless saddle I had bought, which is held together by Velcro, had coped well with the test and Boaz was as quick to calm down from his adrenaline as he had gone up. I certainly don’t think Boaz was afraid of the cows, he just spooked because so many other horses did. I must take my hat off to Jeannie at this point; she was riding in a bareback pad and sat both spooks beautifully.

A few people suggested going to the Hot Springs for the evening and, even though I am concerned about making my money last as much as possible, I did not want to miss out on such an opportunity. I don’t know when I will ever be able to return to Colorado and I want to make the most of my time here. The springs are wonderful. They are naturally occurring hot water springs, full of minerals, which have been channelled into numerous pools. The temperatures are measured in each pool daily and you can choose from various temperatures. Whilst we all enjoyed being curiously warm in outdoor pools, we chatted about Parelli and then more pressing matters... boys! Waiters came around serving drinks and we stayed there, relaxing as the beautiful blue sky darkened and stars came out to add their company. When we headed home I knew I would sleep well.

This weekend I have been watching Parelli DVDs, particularly the old level 2 DVD box set. Lynette lent it to me and I would like to give it back to her before I return to the UK. So far I have covered disk one and know I can do what is on there, I don’t expect to find too much I can’t do on the set, but I want to have a thorough knowledge of the Parelli materials that have existed, different teaching techniques and ensure there are no holes in my knowledge as much as possible. It is important to me that I can be the best Parelli Professional I am capable of being.

We visited a few stores in town and I bought a set of spurs. We have been told that we are expected ride with spurs at our level and, since I have the right people to guide me through the correct use of them, I have decided now is the time to learn about spurs. I was already surprised to learn that Spurs are not used as a porcupine game but as a driving game, which is why spurs with rowels are actually kinder when used this way than spurs without. They roll rhythmically along the horse’s side. I think that they will also help me to get more response in lateral manoeuvres from Boaz.

When we reached the barn yesterday the play ground was empty so I let Boaz loose to enjoy some grass and found myself a spot where I had access to wifi whilst I watched over him. Lena turned her horse, Sundance, out too and then Graham added Dixie. All three were content to graze different parts of the field. I was pleased when I saw Boaz keeping his distance from the others as I did not want him to get into any trouble, but it was so nice for him to have grass and freedom from his little pen. I cleaned out his pen and enjoyed the luxury of time to really be pedantic and groom it to perfection. I filled his water buckets, prepared his dinner and added his new salt block. I constantly kept an eye on him as I observe him make friends with Sundance and stay out of kick range from feisty little Dixxie. Graham and Lena returned from lunch and helped me to remove all the horse poop from the playground and then told me they would keep an eye on the horses whilst I went to the lodge to eat. I needed to use the microwave and it was getting late so I was grateful for the offer and headed off with Anne. When I returned I saw that many more externs had arrived and added their horses to the field. Many of these horses were much more extrovert and running around. I scanned the field and saw Boaz peacefully grazing with Jeannie’s mare in the shade. I smiled at having such a lovely smart horse. As I reached the barn I saw Lena wit Sundance and a man looking at his leg. I went over and discovered that Dixxie and Sundance had got into a kick fight and Sundance had come off worst with a couple of cuts to his leg. The vet gave a promising prognosis but said he would stitch it and dress it so that it would heal as fast as possible so that Lena could return to the course in 3 days. Jennifer had had lease horse issues and now had two horses so she offered one to Lena to use until Sundance was better. The externs are all so helpful, everyone will do what they can for anyone else and it makes it a very enjoyable community to be part of. 

I checked Boaz over whilst the vet was there in case he had managed to get hurt but he was fine. I put him away onto his beautiful pen and we headed to the supermarket for provisions. I was tired from the sun and in a quiet mood so I spent the evening in my room with my Parelli materials.

At 2.30 am my Skype woke me up as Will, seven hours ahead of me, messaged me. We had a nice little chat before I went back to sleep and I slept in quite late. We headed to the barn and, because we didn’t go shopping first, we were there earlier than yesterday. Unfortunately (and I mean that in the nicest possible way) so were all the other externs, and the playground was full of horses running around. After the reality check of Sundance’s injury the day before I decided to keep Boaz safe. An injury doesn’t have to be from a kick; just galloping around on that hard ground could be enough if he made a funny movement or found a hole in the ground. I wouldn’t risk Paris in such a scenario so I certainly would not risk one of Lynette’s horses. I put him in the back arena, which was rarely used and so had tufts of grass growing and the edges were lined with grass growing under the wooden criss-cross fencing. I cleaned out Boaz’s pen and set about walking around with my laptop near the extern barn to see if the wifi would reach the grass in front of the main arena. It did so I set up a chair with all my stuff and went and got Boaz so he could eat grass and spend undemanding time together whilst I checked Facebook and emails. When he saw me coming he came walking over and when I put energy into my body he broke into a trot and theen canter all the way to me. Eventually I decided Boaz deserved some better grass so I put my stuff away, got his grooming kit and gave him a good brush as he munched on the grass. It was a thankless task trying to brush the dust from his coat but with the help of some fly spray I soon had him looking like a show horse. My housemates were not ready to go home yet so I put Boaz back in his personal arena and sat in the office with Kim, messing around on our computers, both trying to contact our boyfriends. Samantha came in and asked to take me up on my offer to help her with her renegade boots. We soon had the cables adjusted and she came back a while later to announce happily that they now fitted her horse perfectly.

We returned home mid-afternoon and I caught Will on Skype. I am pleased that we are managing to get time to talk to each other, as I was rather concerned with the time difference that it would be extremely difficult.

I have spent the afternoon sorting out photographs on facebook and doing this blog. A couple of externs are visiting this evening and I will spend some time with them and maybe watch some more DVDs.  I’m looking forward to tomorrow, the start of a full week of learning and we will be told the schedule for the externship.