The Pat Factor

Sunday rolled by in a sleepy haze, I didn’t even practice roping. It was a real R&R day for everybody and just what the doctor ordered.

Monday morning and we all arrived at the ranch bright eyed and bushy tailed. After cleaning Boaz’s pen I did a quick poop sweep of the play ground because I had had him out for several hours over the weekend and needed to do my share of the clean up! We all gathered for our usual 8.30 meeting and I looked at the weekly schedule and almost fell over. Under the word “Tuesday” it said: 8.30 Q&A, 9.00 – Lodge meeting with Pat, 10.30 Session with Linda 2.30 review of morning, 3.00 Breed presentations...

We were going to meet Pat and have a lesson with Linda! Maurice arrived and talked us through how things could still change as Pat and Linda had very hectic schedules. He said that he and Susan were hoping to have us prepared for Linda to start teaching us some Game of Contact concepts (despite it being level 5+ as it is about horse training more than people training) and so we would again be focusing on soft touch in our morning riding session. Soft touch is a friendly game with our hands and the bit, like fluid rein, we use it to learn how to get in time with the horse and create harmony which builds confidence with us using the bit. Maurice discussed how stirrup length can affect fluidity and that the correct neutral position for the feet is actually flat (heel and toe level) and parallel to the horse. Since I have been wearing spurs I have become very conscious of having my feet more parallel to the horse (although this is not always easy especially, oddly enough, at the walk). However, I have been trying to get my heels down almost all the time because this is something I have constantly been told to do, even recently, and because I have quite a short inflexible Achilles tendon so I have been trying to stretch it. Maurice explained that if our heels are already down they have nowhere to go when we want to make an engaged manoeuvre. I guess if we think of it from a fluidity point of view, that we want to do in our bodies what we want the horse to do in theirs, therefore our heel would relate to their hocks. A horse needs to flex his hocks to bring his hind legs underneath himself in order to perform engaged transitions. The horse’s hocks will continually flex and un-flex as a normal part of his stride, even if he is engaged. I remember in level one Linda using the concept of pedalling in order to “exaggerate to teach” people to move in their bodies in harmony with the horse’s walk, and to take brace and tension out of the rider. At level four you want to have refined this and not look like a lost cyclist on a horse, but having soft ankles that have a little motion in rhythm with the horse’s gait make sense. Heels that are forced down create brace and I have noticed that, with our longer riding sessions, I am experiencing some pain in my knees. I definitely need to focus on this. It’s funny how aware of my riding I am now; I am constantly changing what I do and finding room for improvement. Sometimes it’s disheartening because it feels like as soon as one thing starts to go right another pops out of place. It’s like playing super hard “whack-a-mole”. My brain only has room for one new thing at a time; it’s already multi-tasking with the hundreds of slightly less new things I’m doing in my body.

We then discussed the Four Agreements and what they mean:

1)      Be impeccable with your word

2)      Don’t take things personally

3)      Don’t make assumptions

4)      Always do your best

These four agreements are important guidelines to remember when you are any kind of professional and at Parelli it is taken very seriously. Being impeccable with your word means having integrity; that you will walk what you talk and can be relied upon. Not taking things personally means that you will be able to keep your cool while all around you lose theirs, that you will be able to step out and stand for what you believe in despite the inevitable negativity you will face from others (it is not a risk, people WILL be hostile when you move against the current). Not making assumptions means that, whilst you may make decisions based on experience, or make educated guesses, you remain open to the possibility of an unexpected outcome. This flexibility is essential because assumptions often lead us to be surprised when the unexpected happens and then we are less likely to respond appropriately. And finally, always doing your best may seem a tall order, but how does it feel when you know you did a bad job? Personally I feel like I’ve let myself down when I underachieve, like in my law degree. I did not do my best at university and now I have plenty of time to regret it. When you always do your best people can see that, they know your heart is in what you do and that goes a long, long way, and you know it, you can be proud of your achievements.

We rode for a couple of hours and added some lateral movements at the end of a session, which was focused mainly on soft touch. I was feeling pretty good because finally my hands were starting to have a better feel at the trot but when I saw Maurice he said I looked like I was posting too high because the horse was not forward and that I should use the spurs to get him forward. This confused me because I had always heard Pat say that the spurs were not for speed, but for adding height to a stride or going sideways. Apparently I was not alone in thinking this because Maurice addressed the issue to the whole class. He explained that when you are riding with contact or soft touch you cannot use your hand to use a rope or stick as a phase four to motivate a horse to go forward as you would freestyle. If you do you have to interrupt whatever you are doing with the reins. He said that if you go through your phases and squeeze with no more than four ounces with your legs, you then just put “energy” into your legs which causes the spurs to touch the horse. You are not digging or poking or kicking with the spurs, you are sending a rhythmic energy (I struggle here because I always think of rhythmic motion, but energy does not require your whole leg to wiggle) through your leg which will lead to the spur. When I tried this with Boaz he got annoyed and bucked out at the spurs. This made me more concerned that I had missed something or had the wrong idea. So I asked Maurice. He said that there was a difference between a horse expressing himself when learning something and a horse that is continually tail swishing because the rider jabs him with every stride. He reiterated the point that the process does not look like the product and in fact sometimes looks quite ugly. This reminds me of Pat’s analogy in the new level 4 DVD about baking a cake. He said when you spread out the ingredients it doesn’t look anything like a cake, and when you mix the ingredients it still doesn’t look like a cake. It only looks like a cake at the end of the baking process. This reassured me a little, because I quite agreed that if someone poked me in the ribs I would react but if they always did something first I would soon pay attention as soon as they gave the preparatory signal, rather than wait for the poke in the ribs. And so I found myself putting my trust again into the programme, Boaz will soon show if I am performing the technique correctly or not. If he does not improve then I know I need to change something.

Lunch time flew by as usual and soon we were back in class discussing mental, emotional and physical fitness. These sessions are so interesting because we all share our ideas and stories, experiences and understandings and you get new perspectives. It’s not like being in a school where the teacher says “this is the answer”, rather we are encouraged to become thinkers and to search for answers for ourselves. Being in a group of people with such a high level understanding of these concepts is always fun and we often run over our allotted time as we get into deep discussions. As our talk came to an end (Maurice brought it to an end, we’d probably still be there now otherwise!) we were taken outside to think about physical fitness. “I want to show you something pretty” Maurice said. “Uh oh!” we all replied. And we all headed out and were steered towards a very steep hill. At the bottom of the hill Maurice told us that we would be riding down this hill at the trot. He said you are safer on these steep hills because the horse is also thinking “uh oh” and will look after himself, whereas on softer slopes they may run on and get carried away with momentum and start bucking and frolicking. He spoke about how it is ok to ask a horse for effort but we need to look after them, keep a balance between mollycoddling and abuse. He then asked us to walk halfway up the hill and at the second tree, where the gradient increased, we had to turn around and finish the ascent backwards. Whilst doing this we had to focus on what muscles we needed to use to find our balance point. I found it very difficult to keep my footing, let alone make good progress on the hill, I definitely could do with more practice. When we got to the top we could see right over Pat and Linda’s house and the arena where lots of the Savvy Club DVDs were filmed. Maurice pointed out landmarks on the landscape and was disappointed that the clouds were hiding Mount Capitan which is a particularly spectacular and peculiar mountain peak. We then began our descent down the hill, this time going backwards on the lower half. I found this much easier.

We all had free horse time so I decided to play online because we have been riding a lot recently and Boaz could do with more online development and I need to get the practice if I am ever to get that 3++ to turn into a level 4. I order to be a one star Parelli Professional you need to complete level 4 online, you need level 4 freestyle and liberty too in order to get your second star. Three star professionals need their level 4 in all four savvys. So currently my priority would be online, then freestyle. I made a plan of checking out how Boaz felt about the trailer (he loaded in all the way when I opened the partition so the entrance was a bit bigger), circling game (his trot was great and we had a couple of nice changes of direction but the canter was not happening!) and finally the pedestal . I was expecting him to be pretty good with the pedestal but once he had two feet on it he really could not believe me that it was possible for the other two feet to join them. We had a lengthy discussion about it and in the end he stood with all four feet on the pedestal. Unfortunately he is not making the connection between pedestal and place of comfort. He is not confident standing so base narrow. I have decided to make a little program of the pedestal in order to build his confidence, help us toward a possible audition and also I figure it is a good conversation point for us. He flits between RBI “I can’t” and LBI “I won’t” so I have to keep adjusting and the difference is so subtle that I’m often running just on the feeling he is giving me.

I spent the evening preparing my breed presentation on Missouri Fox Trotters, which entailed spending hours trying to find a good horse joke and memorising the entire history, qualities uses and movement of the Fox Trotter.

Everyone was at the barn early cleaning their horses and shining their boots. We got together at 8.30 and Maurice explained how we would make our way up to the lodge and wait for Pat there and then when we returned we were to saddle up as quickly as possible because we needed to be ready to begin our lesson with Linda at 10.30 sharp.

When we got to the lodge we sat around the hearth of the campfire and chatted. Pat came riding into sight and some of the chatter died down. Pat welcomed us to his eagle’s nest and explained the original dream for the ranch to be a school, a university for students. He explained the philanthropy side of making a large organisation sustainable and explained the many expenses of the ranch. It became clear that to keep the Colorado ranch is an incredible expense, particularly to run it as an educational facility. Pat said if he wanted to be rich he could have done things very differently but he wanted to help future eagles reach their potential (Pat often talks in terms of eagles and turkeys). As he was talking about what he expected from people that worked in his barn and his dedication to his goal to reach level 10, I couldn’t help but wonder if I was really eagle material. For sure I’m not a turkey, but perhaps I was some over flighty bird? The thing is that when I see Pat and his ambition (which exudes from every pore) it is both inspirational and intimidating; he is a very intense man. He shows his generosity through the facility he runs, the scholarship program, the “share the profits scheme”, the “million dollar merchandise give away”. The company is literally surviving hand to mouth and needs a constant, large stream of revenue to survive. Pat explained how in 2008 they had to make 30 people redundant as they face bankruptcy. It was news to me.  However, despite his generosity and other great qualities, I felt like I was being confronted with a large mirror. The mirror showed what I needed to be to be really successful with horses but someone had taken a bright red lip stick and written on the mirror “how much do you want it?”. Was I willing to put in what it would take? It may seem odd to people that I feel like this when I have made it this far, but the fact is I know what is waiting for me when I get home. I have debts to pay off, then I need to earn money to buy a place to live, I want to marry Will and have a family. These things won’t bring my horsemanship journey to an end, not by a long shot, but in order to earn the money I will need I have to work, and at my current level I will not be earning that kind of money by riding horses for 10 hours a day, which Pat describes as necessary for success. And I can see his point. I wonder if this is one of the many reasons why men so often excel in their chosen sphere, even if the lower ranks are dominated by women. It takes a single minded focus and a lifetime’s dedication to truly reach the top. I have other dreams and goals, my focus cannot be so single minded and my timeline is already going against me. Add to that the fact that I still have never had that “bite” from a particular discipline, and it seems like my horsemanship goals are pretty fuzzy. Be as good with horses as I can possibly be whilst being true to myself. I have always loved horses, but when I was a kid I did not really pretend to ride, I pretended to BE a horse. I would day dream on the way to school of having a horse walking beside me, I would even stop and allow my imaginary horse friend to nibble the hedges and flower beds of the houses we passed. I would sit in the back of my mum’s car imagining horses galloping along the grassy verge at the side of the motorway. I would dream of a horse coming when I called. It was the relationship I always dreamt of, not a sport. When I bought Paris I was happy to do whatever it was that he enjoyed and had talent for, and I find myself still feeling the same way. I dream of having a foal and starting that relationship as early as possible, because I want my childhood dreams to come true, I don’t worry that the horse might not be a good jumper or not excel at dressage or cutting. None of that matters to me. Perhaps that is why I love paying at liberty so much, and riding freestyle. And so I guess that is my goal, to be so good with horses that I can build deep, meaningful relationships with them based on trust, understanding and willingness and to help other people who want to do the same. When I first realised it was actually possible to learn these skills I was so excited, and I want to share that with people who, like me, dreamt about it but were fooled by meritocracy into believing it was nothing more than fantasy.

Anyway, I digress, after the brief but powerful meeting with Pat we headed back to the barn and tacked up our horses. The arena had been scraped so I didn’t want to go in before we were told to so I took Boaz into a round pen to warm up. I didn’t want to ride in front of Linda without having a couple of things going in my direction first. So I did a little stick to me and porcupine game and when Boaz disconnected I would send him out on a circle at speed. He was soon far more connected and I found him more tractable when I mounted. He was a little fidgety and so, instead of disengaging him every time he walked off without my permission, I would give him a penalty back up. Soon he had the idea and was waiting patiently as everyone mounted and gathered near the arena for Linda’s arrival. When Linda arrived she sat on the edge of the arena and told us all to just ride around as we normally would and she would see where we were at and get an idea on what we needed coaching with. I set off on a follow the rail and was adding circles and some lateral movements to keep Boaz’s mind rather than just going brain dead on the rail. Linda called us all in and said she was happy to see the level of riding and that we were all showing good skills. She said she wanted us to focus on soft touch and also to ask our horses for a better, more forward trot. She then backed up what Maurice had said the day before about the spurs adding that when the horse found his forward trot he would start to move better and stretch his head toward (but not below) his knees. I was managing to get Boaz more forward but a few times he would just speed up the trot until he rolled into canter and so I put him on a small circle until he regained the trot. Again Linda called us in and she said she wanted to do simulations with all of us on soft touch. She came to each of us and took a hold on the reins and pretended to be the horse. She told us to use our elbows to follow the feel of her hands. By thinking about my elbows my focus shifted up from my hands and so I began riding in a more uphill manner. And thinking forward and maintain the touch was very important. At one point I rode near Linda and she said “Good!! Good elbows!” and I looked behind me to check if she meant someone else. Kristi Smith, PP and campus manager saw and said to me “she meant you Cheryl”. We, as a class, all progressed massively in one day. As Linda was about to leave I rode past her again. Boaz was making a little more effort with his hind legs and for a couple of strides he pushed his head forward and down in a small but correct stretch and Linda said “nice”. It may seem daft to quote these things but I was very happy to hear Linda say positive things about my riding. We had another hour of riding after she left and, in the end, Boaz was really using his hind quarters and I got a bit more stretch. It was also the best soft touch I have ever done so far.

We discussed the morning after lunch, then played ball in order to develop our hand eye skills, and to wake everyone up.  I was starting to get better at throwing the American football and I had a moment of thinking it felt like when I was throwing the rope when I was lassoing. By the way, my practice on Monday gave me a higher rate of successful casts with the lasso on our poor unsuspecting wooden cow. We took turns to give our presentations on different horse breeds. After chores I had a short session with the pedestal with Boaz. He needs consistency repetition.

Many of us capped the eventful day with a nice relaxing trip to the hot springs. It was fun; I got to know some of the girls better, and to play with Shirley under the waterfall. Lena and I took a couple of dips in the river but we had to be careful to stay at the edge where it was shallow because the current is very strong out in the deep water and you would quickly be swept away.

It’s only been two classroom days since my last blog post but so much happens I just have to share it before it disappears into the messy fog that is my brain!