Heart and Desire

In Under Two Minutes...

Check out this video from the Savvy Club Website for a great reminder of that Most Important Lesson:  It's the Release That Teaches.



To find it, just log onto the Savvy Club Website, click on VIDEOS. 

Then click on FREESTYLE and then Level 2.  You'll see it on the list.

I watched this video three or four times actually... and then I tried to visualize myself with my own horse doing the same thing - sitting bareback with just a Savvy string on his neck and asking for a backup.

I included all the details I could think of - the feel of my horse, the smells, a breeze in the air to make up for it being a little hot that day, birds, dogs barking, and then the feel of the Savvy string in my hand, the weight of my horse as he leaned against my hand at first and then the instant that he thought to shift his weight. 

Pat recommends these imagination sessions in his book "Natural Horse.Man.Ship," but he's not alone in believing that active visualization will improve physical skills.  Check out the classic book (in Pat's Book Club) "The Inner Game of Tennis." 

Me Too!

Cause his idea to become your idea, but understand his idea first."

I wrote the other day about the Introvert portion of Linda's Introvert versus Extrovert demonstration at the Harrisburg Celebration.  Today I'd like to share the Extrovert strategy that Linda taught.  The Extrovert has to move his feet - HAS TO move his feet - has to MOVE his feet.  Are you getting how important that moving thing is?  Allure was being a textbook Extrovert and very busy moving.  To which Linda responded, "Great!  And while you're at it, move some more!"  Not only was she "understanding his idea first," she was cheerfully encouraging and supporting his idea.  "You want to canter?  Great!  Canter some more!" 

Allure was delighted, ran around a bit and quickly proved the brilliance of the strategy, when, after several minutes he looked to Linda and said, "Um, can I STOP running around now?"  He basically said, "Okay, I'm out of good ideas, what've you got?"  She was able to come up with loads of good ideas of her own - stick-with-me, touch this and more - to keep him interested and with her - so much so that she was able to get a lovely back up from Zone 5 at Liberty for the first time!

Savvy Club Members can visit the website for some great video if you want to learn more about strategies with Extroverts.




blog post by norma  

FUNdamentals

Pat Parelli taught a lot about the necessity of constantly improving your skill and understanding of FUNDAMENTALS at the Harrisburg Celebration - whether it was rope-handling, rein skills, the elements of the games (Pop Quiz:  which games have THREE elements to them?), saddling safety and a lot more.  (You'll have to get yourself to one of the remaining Celebrations for more on this!) 

Remember Pat's hierarchy of skill:  Unconsciously Incompetent, Consciously Incompetent, Consciously Competent and finally, the goal, Unconsciously Competent.  So how do we cause these fundamentals to move from the Unconsciously Incompetent to the Unconsciously Competent in our bodies?  Do we try changing everything we do and hope for the best?  Probably that method would go the way of the New Year's Resolution:  10 days of enthusiasm followed by failure. 

The answer is:  We develop good habits.  One habit at a time.  Or two, if you're good at developing habits. 

Here's a great guest blog post from Leo Babauta, author of the fabulous blog, ZenHabits.  Leo gives a step-by-step habit-forming process.  Your success will depend on your Heart & Desire, of course, but I really believe in his process.  It's what has enabled me to write a blog post every day for the last 121 days AND keep my halters, leadlines, hackamores and brides always perfectly hung and ready to use.

Pick a couple of things - let's say 1) Absolutely Consistently Applying All Three Elements of the Squeeze Game every single solitary time you play it and 2) Absolutely Always Using your Left Hand to reach for your girth when you saddle.  Of course, if these are already your habits, you get to pick different ones - actually, you get to pick whatever habits you want... I was just suggesting a couple...

Next - follow Leo's advice... And get ready to change your life.

 

The pessimist sees difficulty in every opportunity. The optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.   ~Winston Churchill

blog post by norma

Anything You Can Do, I Can Do Slower!

Linda gave a fabulous demonstration of the differences between the Introvert and the Extrovert at the Harrisburg Celebration this last weekend.   Playing with Remmer, she explained a really cool concept that she promised would blow my horse's mind.  It did.  I tried it today.  Here's the technique.

Remember that Left Brained Introverts have to Think Before they Move.  And mostly they think, "Hmmm, I don't really WANT to move.  What's in it for me?"  So when you ask your LBI to put out a little effort, they mostly stare at you - or stare off into the horizon, pretending to ignore you.  So instead of asking your horse to do MORE, trying asking your horse to do LESS!  Sounds crazy, right?  Or maybe it's not crazy, but Lateral Thinking?

 Linda started by asking Remmer to back up.  Very very very slowly.  And if he exerted even the tiniest bit of energy, she would soften more.  She was practically blowing on him to get him to back up, rather than shaking anything beyond her one finger!  When he actually DID move, she said, "Slow down!  Not so FAST!"  You could see his little brain clicking, "What is up with this blonde of mine today?!" 

Here's what's cool:  The slower and softer Linda got, the more Remmer was DYING to move.  By the end of her demonstration with Remmer, he was motivated, trotting, floating, gorgeous and completely engaged in playing with her.  Because Linda had taken the time to be provocative, rather than direct-line and used reverse psychology to motivate.

Now here's my version - because I had to take this concept for a test drive.  My darling Gordon - a fascinating  LBI - loves to lag behind me when we go for a mosey.  I had been working very hard (!) at motivating him to keep up with my fairly quick walk and thought I had 'tried everything.' 

Today, I started walking as usual and then remembered what I'd learned from Linda at the Celebration.  So I slowed WAY down.  I walked even more slowly than Gordon.  It quickly became a game - who could walk slower?  He finally just stopped and stood there.  So did I!  And I waited.  After about five minutes of standing - which was in itself interesting because he didn't eat grass or do anything else but stand there, daring me to move first - he finally took ONE SINGLE STEP forward.  So did I.  And then I waited again.  At last, he walked off again.  I went with him and started changing it up a bit- I would walk at his pace, then slower than his pace, then back to his pace again and suddenly he started matching me.  So I tried three steps of my normal stride - and he was right there with me, walking with energy.  So I instantly went back to slow slow slow.  So slow that we BOTH were dying to speed up.  The result of my game:  Gordon got interested in me, started matching my pace, I made sure I was worthy of his interest, and we had a great time together instead of me simply dragging him across the field. 

Dang, that little blonde is smart!!

photo by coco     blog post by norma

Preparation

We've heard Pat say it a few hundred times: "Prior and proper preparation prevents p-poor performance."  Most of us probably think that just applies to getting ready to do some THING.  But Walter Zettl mentioned this same idea at the Harrisburg Celebration this weekend - that every exercise in dressage is preparation for the next exercise.  And that exercise is preparation for the one that after that.  An exercise builds the muscle, flexion and athleticism that's required for the horse to be able to perform a more challenging exercise. 

We wouldn't expect to hop out of bed one day and perform high-level Yoga positions ourselves if we've never done it before.   But some people seem to think that their horse can DO anything, they just don't want to - without thinking that maybe they don't have the muscle or flexibility.

Pat has another aspect of Preparation when he suggests that we don't just ride, but that we ride to something, with the intent that once we get to whatever that something is - a cone, a corner, a fence, whatever - once we get there, we already have an idea of what we're going to do next.  So that the process of getting there is preparation for whatever follows.

We need to be at least one move ahead of our horse - preferably more.  For some horses, we "need more moves than a pound of Ex-Lax."  That is another form of preparation:  have we thought ahead, prepared ourselves for what our horse might 'offer' us so that we're ready to respond.

So next time you play with your horse, see if every move can be done with the next move PLANNED - so you're not just turning left, you're turning left in order to ride to the cone, stop, pick up a trot - you get it, right?

Can't wait to play with MY horses tomorrow!


blog post by norma

Parelli Principles - Riddle Me This

I was going to give another Pop Quiz today and ask:


What's Parelli Principle Number 2? 




But then I thought, "Nah, everybody knows that one for sure."  I mean, you do, don't you? 

...So... yeah... Since I figure everyone already knows it... no need for a quiz.  Day off... 

(10 points if you laughed/smiled because you know the answer, you got the joke and you're going to notice if you're doing it)

(5 points if you looked up Principle #2 and THEN you got the joke)

(2 points if you looked up Principle #2 but still don't know why this post would be  funny... hint: irony)

(1 point if you read the entire post anyway - thanks for your attention)

Extra credit:  What's Principle #7?....

blog post by norma

Pop Quiz, Hot Shot! Part Deux

Before we get to Today's Pop Quiz, I've got a question for you. 

What have you done with the Previous Tests? 
Did you already know the answers, easy, breezy, no problemo?  Good job!  Maybe I'll have to up the level of difficulty. 
OR  did you not know the answer but went to the Savvy Club website, ran a quick Google search, found it and thought, "hmm, there's something I can use" perhaps? 
Or did you wait... for me... or someone else... to tell you the answer...

I hope hope (double hope) that you had the first or second response.  If you had the third response, maybe you can tell me (and yourself) that you're really busy.  And you probably are.  But isn't it way more cool when you can be a Puzzle-Solver?  Don't you remember a lesson more when you figured out a big part of it yourself?  Sometimes those lessons are BFO's (Blinding Flash of the Obvious for those who haven't made it to one of the Parelli Study Centers) and we slap ourselves on the forehead and think, "Dang, I knew that!"  Which, to me, is PROOF that we remember things better when we arrive at the answer through our own effort rather than being handed the answer on a silver tray with a cupcake.

So here's your chance to be a Puzzle-Solver - don't just answer these questions, see if you can USE the answers this week with your horse. 

POP QUIZ Question:  What are the three principle games and why are they called that? 

Tougher POP QUIZ Question:  Working Online Builds _______________; Working at Liberty Builds _____________________

photo and cupcakes by bernadette        blog post by norma

Which Fred?

"Ginger Rogers had Fred Astaire for a dance partner. 

What if she had had Fred Flintstone?

Which one are you?  Fred Astaire or Fred Flintstone?

Mental, emotional, and physical unfitness are the major ingredients that keep people from achieving excellence with horses."  ~~ Pat Parelli from his book "Natural Horse.Man.Ship"

    

So, Dear Reader, what can you do to be the PARTNER your horse needs you to be?

 Are you flexible, fit and focused?  Or are you tense, tight or tired?  Are you taking steps every day to assess and improve your balance?

When you ride or play on the ground, do you Respond in the MOMENT to reward the slightest try so that your horse becomes LIGHTER with every effort? 

Are you using enough variety to keep things interesting, but enough consistency to allow both you and your horse to figure out how to improve? 

Remember that excellence comes with Simple Things Done Well.


post by norma

Parelli-ism...

No horse is taller than the tips of his ears when his nose is touching the ground.

It's not just a cute 'ism' from Pat Parelli - it's a powerful statement about the relationship you should have with your horse.  When you see someone struggling to get a halter or bridle on their horse's head, while their horse suddenly becomes eight feet tall, what does that tell you about the relationship?  Who's in charge?  Who's got absolutely no respect for the other party in that game?  A horse that will willingly drop his head to accept a halter or bridle is a confident partner that is following good leadership. 

 

Pop Quiz - Can you FINISH THIS Parelli-ism? " Put your horse away like he is____ ____ _______ ___"

Respect in the Saddle

There are three ways to gain your horse's respect while riding: 

1.  Ride with a strong focus
2.  Ride with one rein
3.  Ride with an independent seat"

~ Pat Parelli from his book "Natural Horse.Man.Ship

Seems fairly simple, but as Pat usually says, "Simple things aren't necessarily easy."  Especially when simple things are done beautifully - then 'simple' becomes 'remarkable.'

To keep this post simple, let's just focus on FOCUS.

Focus on where you want to go and ride to it, then re-focus and ride to the next place OR re-focus and go 'touch it,' stand on it, stop beside it, back over it, and so on. 

Having some place to go gives your horse a sense of purpose - having something to do once you get there makes things even more interesting. 

It also requires that YOU use your imagination, think a few steps ahead, have a plan and execute that plan effectively.  You'll begin to know what happens before what happens happens because you'll have a stronger focus.  Focus develops Feel, and Feel develops Timing.  Focus, Feel and Timing develop Balance.

...Hey, isn't Pat Parelli's BIRTHDAY about now?  HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

photo by coco   blog post by norma