Tuesday Fluidity II Finesse Day Two

Today the storm and all that rain had blown away and we were left with a beautiful cold morning. Remuda with Kathy where we played the 'Sticky Hands' simulation, where you had to follow your partner's light, heavy and ultra-light hand movements - really interesting that heavy and ultra-light were equally annoying!

Then it was straight into the classroom for Fluidity taken by Kristi. I was a little worried this was just to be an overview of course 2 Fluidity I, but it proved to be the best day so far!

Firstly we covered the 8 responsibilities (4 horse, 4 human) in a lot more depth, going into areas I had never even considered - this left me 'licking and chewing' for ages! In fact I think I still am! Next we discussed fluidity and how it only needs concentration (conscious competence) until the muscle memory is made (unconscious competence). An interesting quote by Henry David Thoreau was given to us to consider:

"I know of no more encouraging fact than the unquestionable ability of man to elevate his life through conscious behaviour."

This led to the challenge that we take responsibility for our outcomes - take all actions and reactions by the horse as feedback and choose what opinion to have for that feedback! This is emotional fitness.

Remember the stages of change......... Anger..... Blame....... Denial......... Chaos (known as the darkest hour before the dawn).

We played with simulations both using and not using our balance point in different situations to find that it enables the whole body to move as one and creates an internal power that is hard to move. This was after watching a Russian martial arts film which basically describes exactly what Parelli have termed 'balance point' - very interesting.

We had an overview of riding the gaits and then discussed how only perfect practice makes perfect and that muscle memory is created by stopping when the feeling is good. Pat Parelli says that ' you should do your thinking at night and your feeling during the day' so try not to concentrate too hard, use the power of feel and then analyze later.

Next was the best part of the day; it may sound a little crazy, but it was great fun and really helpful - this I will be doing every night when I get home! What am I talking about? Well, we all sat on our balance point on top of a yoga ball and watched clips of master horsemen riding whilst copying what they were doing with their bodies! I know, it's crazy, but in this case crazy works!

The demonstration today, again given by Kristi, was about fluidity in the horse. It covered how to use hill therapy, cavalettis and jumps to improve their fluidity and what is good/bad fluidity. As always it is fundamental that the 8 responsibilities and the mental and emotional fitness of the horse is your foundation before attempting physical changes in the horse.

I spent the afternoon with Roget working on leadership - it seems yesterday's Me and My Shadow may have given him the impression that he has more of the leadership than I do! Hopefully we resolved that misunderstanding and having then spent undemanding time together will start tomorrow on a good footing! He really is a character - testing me every opportunity he gets! The best kind of teacher a student could have...........