Day #12 - “Horsenality Tuesday,” September 9

8. September 2009 by Edie.

“Your horse doesn’t care how much you know until he knows how much you care.”  ~ Pat Parelli 

I think my head is going to explode!  It was a GREAT DAY!  We started in the lodge with John talking about how “what you focus on - EXPANDS.”  So true.  He also talked a little more about how our horsemanship is a never-ending journey - and that if we’re not happy with NOW, we’ll never be happy, because it will never be “perfect enough.”

He reminded us that we need to be “shining lights” in the outside world of “normals,” or as Pat says ” a well finger on a sore hand.”

Then, Kathy took over to talk a bit about horsenality, posture, saddle fit, and shimming (Kim L., wish you could have been here - I got you a handout!).  She showed us several “model” horse drawings and we placed them in the horsenality quadrants they appeared to belong in - how interesting!  So much of how a horse carries himself starts in his mind!  Same with us, of course.  She talked about how we probably can’t change basic bone-structure issues, but we can certainly change the rest!  She suggested the usual “helpers:” hill therapy, cavaletti, circle game (focusing on ribs), and transitions.  She also talked about how if there is friction/rubbed hair underneath our saddle after riding that we may have a driving seat or be bracing in our stirrups.

Then, we went out to Arena Grande with our horses and worked again on the cloverleaf pattern and circles - giving our horses MORE responsibility (loose reins) and working on our phases (eyes, belly-button, legs, reins) with regard to turning.  John said that if we only use our reins to turn, we are lying to our horse (being unjust) - because we probably are being lazy and not turning in our own bodies FIRST!  He described constant nagging on the reins as “being a back-seat driver.”  Good analogy. We practiced for an hour or two at walk, trot, and canter. It was interesting with almost 50 riders in there, but there were no crashes OR calamities.

Alicia and I switched saddles and I got to ride in her VERY expensive english Parelli Fluidity saddle.  HotShot seemed to like it and it felt nice, but I don’t see having the kind of $$ to buy a saddle like that any time soon (roughly $3500 with fittings).  She liked my Freeform treeless, though, so I’ll be happy with that for as long as I can. HotShot was GREAT about everything, but he was pretty pooped after this!  I can’t believe how fit he is becoming here - he’ll be MORE than exuberant for trail rides in Wisconsin when I get back!

Then, I cleaned that MUCKY pen (work!) and ran a couple of errands.  When I got back, I checked in at the Big Top.  Sam Caporn was in the middle of a lesson with Walter Zettl on his Selle’ Francois “Quick Car.”  I decided to stay and watch - most others were doing more riding this afternoon, but there were about 20 or so of us who opted to learn from Walter today and I didn’t want to drill my LBI to death anyway. What a cool horse Sam was riding!  He reminded me so much of my second police horse McAllister - so talented and springy.  It was only Sam’s second dressage lesson and he did pretty well.  Of course, he’s a natural rider and tall and skinny!  Some of the comments Walter made during Sam’s ride:

“98% (of mistakes) is NOT the horse - it’s the rider.”

“It’s like watching grass grow (classical dressage).  You see so little (aids), then suddenly, it’s there.”

“Don’t make him look like an elk!”  (this comment was accompanied by some interesting visual illustration - Walter pawing his arms like he was rearing and striking out - funny!)

“All mistakes (in the horse) come from crookedness.”

“If the horse has a problem - it is WAY BACK  (example: if a horse can’t do a canter pirouette, it’s because he can’t do a perfectly balanced, collected canter.  You should canter/walk/canter (a million transitions!), bringing him slower and slower in each transition to prepare for this).

Then, Kathy came in (after rousing applause for Sam and his willingness to be so transparent - one of the  things I LOVE about Parelli from the top-down - even Pat and Linda are willing to expose their mistakes so others can learn!).  She was riding her LBE Thoroughbred “Macchiato.”  Some of Walter’s comments regarding Kathy’s lesson were:

“I don’t care what bit you use - it’s your hands - if they are iron, your bit is iron.”

“When I say more outside rein, always the driving leg picks up - pushing into the outside (holding) rein (driving leg goes diagonal to the bit).”

“Give the horse a 2 horse-length “heads up” before a turn or a transition.”

Leg yield: “Both legs are back - one leg active, the other controlling.”

“Drive the horse into your hands - keep your hands quiet. Power comes to the hands from the back to the front.”

The coolest thing was watching Kathy take this lesson in her cowboy hat and chaps - this is what it’s all about!  I thanked Walter and he is SUCH a gentleman, he took my hand and kissed it!  He was more than willing to answer questions from any of us who had them (of course, I had several). He is such a gracious man and a wonderful teacher and he kept saying over and over “this horse is a wonderful teacher.”  He is the real deal and truly LOVES horses - such an awesome man.

After dinner (which those of us who were watching the Walter lessons were late for, but we didn’t care), I got HotShot out and rode him around the ranch a bit, just to stretch his legs again.  He had a significant work-out this morning, so we only spent a little while riding, but it was good.  The sun was down and the tack room was getting dark by the time we got back to the pens - days are definitely getting shorter.  I kept thinking that I didn’t want to meet a bear!

So, tomorrow is “Leadership Wednesday.”  Walter is here for one more day and I hope to catch another lesson or two - such a wonderful, unexpected (and free!) opportunity for those of us who take advantage!

Edie

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