Tuesday Fluidity II Finesse Day Seven

This morning we woke to a definite film of ice over everything including the car, for which we had no scraper! So we improvised with a dustpan and then we were off. It was mighty cold though and there was frost everywhere - I hope it doesn't snow for our journey home (starting to worry a little bit!).

I was in Remuda group 1 this morning with Kathy. Group 1 is usually at the fire pit, but we managed to encourage Kathy into the warmth of the lodge and therefore had a comfortable overview of yesterday's work and then some conga horse simulations of the suspension rein during gait and the quack-cha-ching techniques.

Next into the classroom with Tina covering today's topic of Latitudinal Flexion or bend. Once the shaping and balance suspension rein sequence of downward transitions, during gait and upward transitions are well underway in yours and your horse's education, then you can start Snakey Bends - the latitudinal flexion technique.

Snakey Bends is where your horse is 'straight' on a circle, where his body is bent to the same degree as the circle, i.e. inside hooves inside the circle and outside hooves, outside the circle. It is important to note that this is bending or flexing the inside of the horse, not pushing zone 1 from the outside (driving). And the aim of the game is equality. Equal flexion to left and right and the ability to swing between the two. The suspension rein talks to the inside of the horse's bend.

Snakey Bends will develop rhythm, relaxation, bend and fluidity with the goals being to shape the horse, set up lateral maneuvers and to raise the withers (off the forehand). Once Snakey Bends are established you can move onto Serpentines both deep and shallow. Online maneuvers would be falling leaf or zone 3 (ribs), while freestyle could be the bulls eye pattern (level 2 impulsion).

The next thing to cover was that if we went the horse to bend then so do we. How is this achieved? The Drag Queen walk sets this up! Basically move your opposite shoulder/arm over towards your leading hip whilst walking slowly. Very amusing! Other simulation to help the human achieve the necessary muscle memory included being the horse and human on a circle and conga horse simulations.

Today's demonstration was taken by Tina with student volunteer's Karme and US Stephanie. It helped to see these demonstrations to visualise what the Drag Queen walk looked like whilst riding! Both riders did a great job and I think we got to see some positive changes in both the horses and the humans. The most important piece of information I think came out of this demo was that Snakey Bends is a principle and therefore you should start by asking for only one step, then two and slowly building to full circles.

Lastly we all made our way back to the seat builders for a 'putting lots of things together' simulation. So whilst staying on your balance point and maintaining fluidity you had to follow the feel of two independent hands! Sound easy? Try it - this is difficult even whilst the rest of the body is stationary!

Monday Fluidity II Finesse Day Six

Well the weekend seemed to fly by and it was back to up at 6am to feed the horses! Remuda with Kristi was quite amusing this morning, everyone seemed to have a funny weekend story to tell so we spent most of the time laughing!y

Today's topic for the classroom with Kathy was Shaping and Balance aka Collection. First question: what does collection mean? Answers varied from balance, a light front end and not scattered. My favourite was 'like a hovercraft' ready to go forwards, backwards, left or right.

Now for the BIG question: how is collection achieved? The answer is to encourage the horse to change it's shape for you - cryptic eh? No really, if you cause the horse to make the desired changes to it's body shape as a response to your requests, then a psychological rather than a mechanical method of achieving collection is possible! Now you can ask it - how do cause the horse to give collection in this way? 1,000,000 transitions in a short space of time (every few strides) - this is basically the yo-yo game.

Now there are 2 key phases to your transitions:

1. Transition: Duck Landings (retarding seat) and
2. Shaping: the Suspension Rein (1 rein lift)
   

It is important that the suspension rein is introduced in the following order of type of transitions:

1. downward transitions (get haunches underneath - power)
   
2. during gait (to shorten a horse that has become long)
3. upward transitions (to create elevation and power)
   

After simulations, both with a partner and then on the seat builders, we had a demonstration in the Big Top with Kathy teaching fellow students Susanna and US Kim, who both did a cracking job of showing their horse's at different stages of collecting. It is always helpful to actually see the technique and the results when applied correctly.

This afternoon I decided that my back was feeling good enough to ride Roget, so I spent time on the ground (1.5 hours), firstly getting him to accept being groomed, then to accept the saddle and lastly to accept me - these left brain extroverts take a lot of energy! As you can imagine, I am shattered and I've only just got on! So we went for an amble, played some fluid rein and some downward transition suspension rein - after all the effort I had put in on the ground to have only 'yes' answers and no brace, it was frustrating that all he offered for about half an hour was brace. Eventually, after trying everything I could think of to avoid giving him something to brace against, we made a lovely soft fluid downward transition, so I got off and called it a day on that good note - hard work or what! Still love him to bits though!

Weekend Five

Saturday was lazy day again - batteries to recharge and back to heal! I spent most of the morning on the webcam to Gareth catching up with things back home; how family are, what the animals are up to and how he is coping with everything to do on his own! The afternoon was spent with Roget grazing in one of the honeycombs and dreaming of passing my level 3, bareback and bridless riding and liberty with Dillon - apparently visualisation is very helpful! Instead of eating at the ranch, 17 of us went to the local Chinese restaurant and then to the Buffalo Inn bar where we all had a blast. Beth and I booked a taxi so we could both have a drink and left the car at the house - it was great fun - you can see the pictures, which I think show it all!

Sunday was my lie in day - bliss not to wake at 6am and have to rouse myself to the ranch! Another lazy day ensued with very little being achieved bar resting my back and catching up on sleep. Roget and I shared our honeycomb grazing session with Ann and Beth today which was nice I think for both of us. Then a thunder storm rolled in off the mountains and we made a mad dash out of the rain and back to relaxing and chilling out ready for our last week of class!

Goodbye Pat and Linda! On our way down the ranch track Beth and I met Pat and Linda coming the other way in their rock-star style coach and horse trailer. Well we started waving like looneys again and Pat and Linda started waving back, which only encouraged us even more! Then Pat honked his horn, which was exactly what you expect an American truck horn to sound like! So we got our final farewell from them and that was a lovely unexpected extra to our trip!

Friday Fluidity II Finesse Day Five

This morning started with a Remuda for all the class, where we got to play with fluid rein simulations. We experimented with soft, hard and effective feels to the 'drag' which proved very interesting since effective was firmer than any of us imagined! Next, three fellow students, Filiz, Molly and Stephanie, were brave enough to ride for us demonstrating the fluid rein on horses at different stages of the steps. It was great to see the horses' reactions.

"Knowing I need to listen, and knowing how to listen is not enough. Unless I want to listen, unless I have the desire, it won't be a habit in my life." Stephen R. Covey.

Well, Covey's quote could not be more appropriate to today's topic taken by Kristi, Bit of Savvy, where the emphasis is on whether a tool is a communication device or a mechanical way to hide one's inadequacies (otherwise known as torture devices)! It is worth noting that tool progression is for the horse and should be at the horse's pace - imagine trying to complete you Degree Finals with a crayon and blank piece of paper - the tools we were given to learn to write with as 2-3 year olds! It is the same for the horse as it is for the child learning to write - we need to move from the crayon to the pencil, then the pen with the paper becoming smaller and the lines closer together.

The horseman will use a bit for communication only. As the horse is a large emotional animal, it is unsurprising that man used a mechanical approach (bigger and harsher bits) to deal with horses, but as Pat Parelli says, "We don't want a bigger bit, we want a bigger brain (in the horse)".

Another of Pat's sayings is that "If you can't walk, trot, canter, stop and backup without using the reins, maybe you shouldn't be outside an arena". Harsh perhaps, but true none the less! So the progression for Parelli is:

• Halter + 12ft rein
• Hackamore
• Single jointed snaffle
• Double jointed snaffle (fluid rein)
• Cradle bridle - elastic nose band, big rings
• Cradle bridle - non-elastic nose band, small rings
• Western performance - bosalito and spade bit
• English performance - double bridle

The cradle bridle should be used with the appropriate bit for the horse's horsenality:

• C1 for right brain extrovert where 'hand-holding' is required
• C2 for right brain introvert where a little 'hand-holding' is required, but no zone 1 block also
• C3 for left brainers where the extrovert is looking for a reason to brace and introverts to stop

Later in the afternoon we had a demonstration with Linda Parelli riding her extreme left brain extrovert Allure. It was very interesting to watch how she prepared to ride such an extreme horsenality and how much variety and playfulness she exerted. The riding did get hair-raising for a moment, when all 4 of Allure's feet seemed to leave the ground and make a height of at least 4 feet! Linda stayed on of course and by matching and mirroring his ideas first of all managed to get Allure to match and mirror her! Very cool! Linda was also kind enough to do the groupie thing and signed my course notes - so now I have the matching pair!

Again, with my back still tender I spent more undemanding time with Roget. He doesn't seem to be getting bored and as grazing is his favourite pastime I think I am accumulating lots of emotional credits for later on! Not counting those chickens though!

Thursday Fluidity II Finesse Day Four

Thursday's topic for the classroom with Tina was Longitudinal Flexion, otherwise known as topline or flexing from the tail all the way to the nose. This is the first step towards vertical flexion and collection.

Longitudinal flexion is fluidity throughout the whole of the horse's body (with stiffness there can be no fluidity and with no fluidity there can be no collection). L.F. helps to improve the horse's posture and therefore their fluidity. Saddles, bits, emotional blockages and stiff riders may cause tension that inhibits fluidity. The horse may exhibit tension responses such as high head, short gait, inability to maintain gait, stiffness and poor foot traction. The question is whether this tension is mental, emotional or physical?

There are 3 steps to achieving L.F.:

1. Confidence in zone 1 (no blocks or opposition reflexes)
   
2. Topline stretch (lift back)
   
3. Lengthen stride (tracking up or over-tracking)
   

The fluid rein technique helps to achieve the 3 steps - it should be taught at the walk and then the trot (do not teach at the canter as this will encourage horse to go on the forehand). This is a principle technique, not purpose, so it should be used only in short bursts. The correct tools to use for fluid rein is the confidence snaffle (2 joints for 2 reins) with the finesse reins. The halter, hackamore and single jointed snaffle (1 rein) are not suitable. After teaching steps 1-3 and the horse gives positive responses to the fluid rein, then the cradle bridle can be used.

How do you do fluid rein? As if you are swimming front crawl, reach down with one hand and comb both reins back towards yourself, then the other hand and so on. The combing 'drag' should be consistent and steady. When the smallest positive change occurs you should release the pressure for step 1 and for step 2 and 3 lessen the pressure.

Unfortunately I was unable to practice this with Roget today as I have been suffering with a little backache (everyone say 'Ahhhh!') and thought it best to rest so I can fully participate next week ;-( It is important to remember that I am doing the course so I can come home with knowledge to further my horsemanship journey with Dillon and that riding Roget is secondary to that!

Wednesday Fluidity II Finesse Day Three

This morning was beautiful again - chilly and still. Remuda with Kristi was a low energy affair, with lots of discussion regarding our use of fluidity the day before. It was helpful to hear other's successes and issues - it reminds us that we are all learning and experimenting.

Next, to the classroom, where Kathy took the lecture on the Parelli Formula and Leadership - this I was looking forward to, especially since Roget and I are still working on this area! So what is the Parelli Formula? Simply put it is a people training programme initially until the human has the foundation, then the human can begin training the horse. So what is the human's foundation? At the most basic level it is the first three levels on top of the philosophy of rapport. Read on for more detail.....

The Parelli philosophy is rapport - this means trust, understanding and empathy (walk in your horse's shoes). This is the most important building block as it underlies anything that comes after it. The philosophy is what makes Parelli horseman different - horses are not sports equipment, but life long partners.

So the first level of the human's foundation is the mental or respect building block. This is where safety, partnership, leadership, a positive attitude and 'Yes' versus 'No' responses are addressed. Next comes impulsion or the emotional where 'Go' equals 'Whoa', the human and horse start obtaining skills and relaxation is the emphasis. The last level in the foundation is flexion or the physical, the whole body is now addressed, including posture, collection and the human also starts obtaining tool savvy (bridle, saddle, stick, etc).

It is interesting to observe that if the human is fit in all this, as the leader in the relationship, any horse will start to look as if they are too! Remember the first step towards change is awareness and that your 'learning cup' is never full - there is always room for more knowledge.

The 10 qualities to obtaining the foundation and being the successful student of horsemanship are in the following progressive order:

1. 1/2 Heart and desire (1/2 horse 1/2 human)
2. Repsect
3. Impulsion
4. Flexion
5. Attitude - positive, progressive and natural
6. Feel
7. Timing - both for the release and asking at the right time
8. Balance - mentally, emotionally and physically
9. Savvy
10. Experience

Bruce Lee quote (just for Gareth!): "In learning to master yourself, you don't need to train your muscles, you need to train your mind. There is as much mental and emotional development to be learned as there is the physical".

This afternoon Roget and I worked on the leadership and respect aspects of our relationship! My plan was to allow undemanding time and then without any brace play one of the 7 games with an obstacle. This worked a treat - he really enjoys this type of format, and so do I - he gets to have lots of rest and chill out time and I get to progress my leadership and our relationship in a positive, brace and tension free way - perfect! Tomorrow, weather permitting, I'm going to do some riding using this same format with an emphasis again on the leadership.

This evening was the last campfire of the season, so everyone turned up including Pat Parelli, Tim Sullivan and Katie Drake. Unfortunately it did rain, so we moved from the fire to the lodge porch where the sing song continued unabated. It was a great night and I took lots of photos to hopefully remind me at a later date.

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...........

Monday Fluidity II Finesse Day One

Course 3 began today after an awful night's sleep - the most enormous storm I have ever heard rolled down off the Rockies, with lightening lighting up the sky and thunder so loud the house shook! So as you can imagine, everyone was a little subdued and quiet for the first day!

We started off the day with Remuda taken by Cathy in the small coverall (hiding from the torrential down pours the storm left behind it). It proved to be great fun, with energetic exercises like Carrot Stick Dueling keeping us all warm. It was then back to the classroom for the day's lecture on Finesse and Brace, however this was delayed due to an impromptu visit from Pat Parelli.

After Pat left it was straight down to business, starting with the definition of brace - a devise that clamps; to press against to stay balanced; to fix, tense, tighten and steel. A brace in a horse is identified by a stiff, tight or tense look, tail swishing, pinned ears or bucking. The most important thing to remember about brace is that, although it has a physical manifestation, it started in the mind and emotions! There can be no finesse with brace; therefore to obtain finesse we must start with the horse's mind and emotions.

Finesse is not simply riding with concentrated reins. Think of achieving finesse as soon as you approach your horse; if you horse turns it's head away from the halter, then there is brace (or mental and emotional issues) to deal with that is stopping finesse in your relationship. Always task yourself with removing all brace and thus strive for finesse in everything you do.

Finesse is intimacy without brace. And intimacy is defined as familiarity, closeness, understanding, relationship and confidence. The question is "how do we remove brace?" The first steps are:

1. Go slow (slow and right beats fast and tight)
2. Use friendly game and retreat at first sign
3. Lots of undemanding time, pique their curiosity and then change the attitude once rapport is established

The dictionary defined finesse as; intricate and refined delicacy, artful subtlety, skillfulness, flare, panache, artistry, tact, sensitivity and perceptiveness.

Finesse can be viewed as a dance - like Fred Astair and Ginger Rogers - the leader is nearly invisible, the partnership works as one.

With the weather horrid all day I played some Me and My Shadow with Roget and then played a little at liberty under the coverall. We played 'beat you to the cone' which Roget thought was really exciting and 'I'll give you a carrot if you...' which is always a favourite of his! So I think we practiced step 3 of removing brace in our relationship - which can't be bad! Hopefully we'll have better weather tomorrow..........

Weekend Four

This weekend I had one thing and only one thing in mind - to recharge my batteries and rest. The last two weeks have been absolutely exhausting and the next two weeks are the Finesse course and therefore I will need all my mental, emotional and physical energy back to 100%.

With Roget I spent oodles of undemanding bonding time and we went for a little mosey around the ranch again, just soaking up the scenery and enjoying each others company. Perfect!

Have no fear - we will definitely be more active over the next couple of weeks!

Aaron - Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday to my brother Aaron!

I think you are 36 this year? Anyway, I couldn't find a cake with enough candles on it, so you will have to make do with 6!

Have a fabulous day and I'll catch up with you, to celebrate, when I return in a few weeks time.

Take care and love to Rosie and Gosia.

P.S. I tried calling and couldn't catch you - sorry.

Friday Fluidity I Day Ten

Last day of Fluidity I seems to have come around so quickly - with the Conference taking up the whole weekend, I think there has been no 'down' time and thus the last two weeks are a blur!

Remuda was with all those staying on for Fluidity II and Avery took us over the last two weeks and we discussed successes we have had, changes we have noticed in our horses and probably more importantly in ourselves.

Then it was to the classroom for the Finale. Again we got our predator 'praise' and 'recognition' in the shape of a certificate and t-shirt, then it was a review of the course and a visit by Linda and Pat Parelli, where we could quiz then on anything we liked.

With the release of the new Parelli-Myler bit (known as the cradle) I asked Linda what their bitting plan was for Lauren's trip to the Para-Olympics next year, which Parelli have been supporting for some time now. The cradle is definitely illegal in the eyes of the FEI and therefore she would not be able to use it. The exciting news is that Parelli are going to be making a presentation to the FEI very soon to try to change the 200 year old bitting rule - watch this space!

Pat was also asked about Parelli UK and he was very adamant that the new office at Stoneleigh Park was the next university site in the Parelli education expansion and that courses are definitely starting there next year. The courses will start off in a different format, being levels based initially, and then later become the same format as the USA university sites - exciting!

After saying goodbye to those leaving I then went and played with Roget. Things went really well, so I got the bareback pad out and we went for our own little trail ride around the ranch. Half way around we met up with some others; Tjasa and Boris from Slovenia, Feliz from Switzerland (living in the UK) and Denise from Austria; and we all sneaked into the Big Top (where the conference was) and played in there for a while. It was great fun, the views were spectacular and it was so enormous, it feels much bigger than it looks! Roget was perfect, we played with impulsion patterns and rib flexion - he really seems to like doing ridden play, however he still like his grazing breaks! Note for myself - Roget has an enormous trot and perhaps I should use my saddle in future ;-)

Thursday Fluidity I Day Nine

Today was Parelli Games Tournament day! This proved to be great fun and I realised Roget and I (left doing squeeze over a barrel whilst sitting in a chair) could do a lot more than I thought we could and under the time pressure too!

It wasn't a real tournament with winners and losers, but you could score yourself and there were different point scores depending upon the difficulty of the task performed, for example, I performed the tarp test at liberty and scored 40 points, but I completed the circling from a chair test at a trot on line and that scored 10 points. But always remember "It's not about the points - it's about the relationship"!

The whole point of the tournament was to provide the 7 games with a purpose, to have fun and to test the relationship and communication level you currently have. It will highlight any areas that you are doing well in, but more importantly show areas where more effort is required to plug the holes that may be there. Roget and I did most of the tasks well - sideways, squeeze, porcupine, driving and friendly but our circling game sucks! We definitely need to improve here........

Wednesday Fluidity I Day Eight

We started the day in the usual fashion with Remuda, taken this time by Kristi. It was a good session covering topics from the past couple of days and any issues anyone was having with fluidity or their relationship with their horse. Kristi did cite Roget as a 'difficult' horse in answer to someone's question - so it seems he has a reputation! Although I do find him challenging and he is testing me along the way, I think we're doing pretty good (famous last words!).

So then it was into the classroom for some theory on Trail Riding and Spooky Silhouettes. The lecture began by looking at thresholds, both horse and human, and how by ignoring and blasting through these, you are only damaging the relationship. Horse thresholds are identified by a stop, a turn, getting tense or spooking; the humans, by that inner voice that really indicates fear. Although it is necessary to expand the comfort zone 'bubble' to be in a learning frame of mind, blasting through is not good.

Trail Riding should always be set up for success; success is achieved by carefully selecting your fellow riders, choosing the route wisely and by putting your relationship ahead of anything else (goals, people or time lines). The following are the safe trail riding guidelines:

1. Safety - get off and fix a problem on the ground.
2. Protect your herd of 2 - always protect your horse from others, so he doesn't have to!
3. Rider responsibilities - point your horse's nose at the one in front's tail (use the power of focus) and maintain the space behind your horse with a carrot stick. Never allow your horse to turn sideways, this puts you in the horse behind's kicking zone!
4. 3 Musketeer Rule - success for everyone - all horses and riders.
5. Have a plan - confirm etiquette with other riders and agree the route.
6. Have fun with your horsemanship - if it feels like work to you. it feels like work to your horse - PLAY!

Spooky silhouettes are anything your horse deems fearful - squirrels, plastic bags, cattle, stumps, leaves rustling, lorries....... Never use the 'Black Stump Syndrome' where you make your horse approach the spooky silhouette and 'get over it'. This will ruin your relationship. Use approach and retreat, preferable practice at home by setting up a similar situation in your horse's safe environment and then try this out on the trail. Jon demonstrated, with the help of Carin and Boe and their horses, how this can be achieved by using the 'spooky cow' simulator (see picture). This was a great demo - using the approach and retreat method, the horses actually fixed onto the cow and wanted to follow it!

As an aside in the demo, Jon described the process for teaching horses to drag objects. Like all natural horsemanship it is purely common sense, but since us humans seem to lose our minds around horses, I thought it prudent to document! Firstly this must be achieved successfully on the ground first. When confidence is achieved on the ground and the human has good rope handling skills you can then mount up and begin by walking small circles around the object allowing it to spin on the spot. Then build up to larger circles, dragging the object on a smaller circle. Eventually this will result in the object being dragged in zone 5. Safety point - never tie the object to the horn until you are certain of the horse's confidence.

Today's activity with Roget was obviously trail riding, so we successfully passed all our pre-saddling and pr-mounting checks (yesterday obviously had a lasting effect!) and then mosied out to the playground where we played with the obstacles whilst trail riding around the playground. This was great fun and definitely built my confidence in Roget. I realised that I do not trust Roget yet and thus need to concentrate on a purpose to keep my mind from wondering what he might do next! Funny how when I stopped thinking about the bad possibilities, he stopped being tense and became more engaged.... lesson learned!

Tuesday Fluidity I Day Seven

This morning started with Remuda with Jesse where we visited horses in their pens and observed their mane switches and their rib tendencies. It still blows me away that a switch can be improved or even reversed by simply massaging the mirror point on the spine - fantastic!

It was then straight into a demonstration by Jon about Bridleless Riding and Perfect Practice Makes Perfect. In reality I believe these to be the same thing, i.e. you cannot perform bridleless riding having not first practiced perfect communication.

So the demonstration started with the overview of the prerequisites for saddling and then for mounting, with an emphasis on perfect practice - so there is no compromise in the horse's confidence, sensitivity and communication. It is important to ensure the saddle is a positive in your horse's mind and that you do not mount until a learning frame of mind (i.e. being a partner attitude) is achieved. Remember everything we do means something.

As soon as you mount the following should occur; hurry up and relax, then test the lateral flexion, indirect rein and direct rein responses. If all is working as it should you can start to move around and practice these at gaits - trying not to use the reins of the hackamore as you are practicing perfect for bridleless! Remember before the rein comes into play there are 3 phases to go through first; eyes, belly button and leg.

When this is going well, you can go to one rein and one carrot stick and use the carrot stick to drive/porcupine as your phase 4, but still have the rein in case of emergency. When this is going well, you can go to two carrot sticks, but keep a rein attached in case of an emergency. If you are at the stage where you rarely go to phase 4 (a carrot stick) for your moves then you can try just a string around the neck and finally nothing!

Remember if you are having to use the carrot sticks too much or the backup rein you need to retreat a step or two and fix things.

For bareback riding it is useful to use the bareback pad before going all the way - this give you a safer seat until your balance is really good. It is also worth using the hackamore at first in case you need the reins for balance, so you do not hang on your horse's mouth.

I did not try either bridleless nor bareback today as I do not think Roget and I are quite up to that yet (with only one short ride under our belts!). So we went back to our saddling issue and tried again. We started off using the same tactics as yesterday, quite why I thought tactics that didn't work yesterday would work today I have no idea! This led me to formulate a new strategy - reverse psychology - you see Roget was saying he didn't like the saddle so I needed to convince him that the saddle was the best thing for him. How did I do this? Easy - we played the circling game at canter and gallop and the only place I would let him rest was by the saddle. He very quickly recognised the rest spot and offered to stop there. After a couple more offered stops, he put his nose on the saddle and that gave me the permission I needed to put the saddle on with Roget standing perfectly still. That's 1:0 to me!

After the saddling everything went well, we practiced all our rein communications, that the whoa and go all worked and then had our own little hack around the Savvy Park, various obstacles and the Playground, with lots of grazing and rests in between. We had an absolute ball! I believe tomorrow is Trail Riding, so hopefully we will be able to join in and leave the ranch for a little countryside experience.........

Monday Fluidity I Day Six

So after the excitement of the conference, this morning everyone seemed tired and a little subdued, so straight after Remuda with Jesse, we were into a seat builder and yoga ball simulation to wake us all up! We explored our lower back limits, movement with a change of speed, how it feels when the knees are clenched and how to use seat retardant to stop. It was s goos way to start the day and everyone seemed perkier after this.

Today's lecture was the topic of Ribs. This topic seemed a little narrow to me for a whole day, but proved to be very interesting and insightful. We started by discussing the reasons that a saddle may move, these included:

• downhill horse
• on the forehand
• pushing seat or poor fluidity
• inequality in the body
• bracing in the stirrups
• and of course ribs!

For ease of discussion, the outside curve of a bent horse is named the 'high' side and the inside, the 'low' side. The high side is where sideways and canter leads are easier and circles and lateral flexion harder. The low side is where sideways and canter leads are harder and circles and lateral flexion easier. Backwards movement will also be in the direction of the low side.

If the horse is bent towards the left and the rider is pushed onto the low side (left) then the rider needs to sit on the high side of the saddle (right) to enable the horse to straighten his ribs and thus his direction. Staying on the low side will actually inhibit this straightening.

As an interesting aside we discussed the way the mane lays and what that can tell us. I always thought the mane was a purely aesthetic topic, but boy was I wrong. This was the big new piece of information for me today - my brain is still thinking this through, nearly 12 hours later! So the way the mane lays can tell you where there is brace or pain in your horse's back. How? Well, where ever there is a switch in the mane, by measuring the distance to the highest point of the wither and then from there towards the tail, you will find the area of spine in brace. I know it sounds fantastic, but you can actually see the mane change sides by massaging the braced area - blow your mind or what! Also, the top 2-3" by the poll and bottom 2-3" by the wither should lay flat and not the one side or the other.

I shall leave you with that amazing revelation to absorb - why is this not known in the normal horse world?

Roget and I had a stale mate situation today where I was not given permission to saddle him (he would not stand still) yet he was more than cooperative at getting in position for mounting and did not move at all when I lent on him and flapped my arms against his sides. Confusing - mixed signals! So I did not saddle, nor ride today. I think he is testing my leadership and I was unable to formulate a plan to win this game he was playing. Thinking cap on for tomorrow - I need to outsmart this nag!

Meeting Pat Parelli..........

Yep, I did the queuing to meet Pat. It only took an hour and I had my course notes signed which will be a great memory in the future whenever I refer back to them. Unfortunately I do not believe I was very coherent when answering his questions - a little nervous and in awe I think!

I had hoped to get Linda's autograph also, but will have to try to catch her if she does another demonstration during our course, as her queue always seemed too enormous to join!

Weekend Three - Parelli Conference

Long weekend (Friday - Sunday) with the Parelli Savvy Conference an added bonus in the middle of the course. As you can image, everyone was very excited and there was alot of interesting and spectacular stuff to see. There was far too much going on for me to comment on everything, so I'll mention some of the highlights and then you will have to wait to see the rest on the Savvy Club DVDs! Oh yes, there was also great shopping - so I have saved loads of money by buying lots of bargains!

Friday's highlight without a doubt was Cally. Cally has been introducing an equine "pre-school" at the Atwood Ranch for the past 6 months, having previously studied with Pat and Linda. Well she blew my socks off with what she could achieve with the two year old she brought in - they could do level 4 ground skills - amazing! She then backed the horse for the first time in front of the 2000 strong crowd - the confidence the horse had in her and the communication and consequently the control she exhibited where phenomenal. Pat has always said "Colt starting is level 1 with excellence" - Cally showed me what that really meant.

Saturday's highlight was Cally again, but before I briefly describe that session, it is worth mentioning that Jon from the Savvy Team, who open the day's events by playing with their own horse's, was spectacular - he showed me how little and subtle communication between human and horse can be with fantastic results (someone to try to emulate me thinks). Anyway, back to Cally, who again stole the show with her "pre-school" programme. Today, she came in riding with a yearling on either side. They made turns, transitions and jumped in this threesome format. Then..... she added another yearling to each side, so they were now a fivesome - WOW! The finale was to load the four yearlings into a trailer (whilst Cally stayed mounted) and then to ride away. I still cannot fully articulate what this display did to me - words like awestruck and amazed do not seem sufficient!

Saturday evening proved to be a culture shock with the Dinner and Dance. I think American's are all born with line dancing patterns already imprinted, because just as I was getting to learn the routine the song changed and they were automatically doing a new one! It proved highly amusing though! It was a great evening with an opportunity to get to know fellow students and faculty/instructors outside of the classroom.

Sunday's highlight is one of two. I enjoyed Linda's demonstration entitiled 'Ride In' where she showed how to be playful and provocative for your horse whilst riding in an arena. She was riding Remmer so it was also a great example of motivating a left brain introvert. The other highlight was Trevor riding western finesse - like Jon he displayed a level of subtley and poise that I aim to try to emulate.

It may seem strange that Pat and Linda hardly get a mention in the highlights, but isn't it encouraging that their student's are now doing so well and achieving so much. Their success proves that the system works and that achieving excellence is possible. Now all we have to do is emulate Pat, Linda, Cally, Jon and Trevor!!!!!

Thursday Fluidity I Days Four and Five

Due to the conference taking up day 5 of the Fluidity I course, we had a very busy day covering two days worth of topics, Riding the Gaits and Impulsion.

Riding the Gaits (or Fluidity) simply means to ride without rigidity mentally, emotionally and physically. We watched Linda on the Success Series DVD and then discussed the different gaits' requirements for fluidity:

Walking requires the rider to be on their balance point, to pedal for the hind legs, to mirror the front legs and to match the energy.

Sitting Trot requires the rider to be on their balance point, to be able to place the palm of their hand on the horse's flanks and to pedal.

Rising Trot requires the rider to be on their balance point in the pushing position, not to brace in the stirrups, to squish with their butt, to push out and flex the lower back and to allow the horse to push the rider up out of the saddle.

Canter requires the rider to be on their balance point, to be able to place the palm of their hand on the horse's flanks, to have a following seat, to mirror the front legs with the leading hand, to sit on your thumb and to flex and push out with the lower back.

Note: Our horse can only be as fluid as we are! Anywhere the rider feels pain, the horse does too and it indicates a place of brace!

The signs of harmony (or fluidity) in the horse are a low head, a round top line, willing/asking, smoother gaits and rhythm, blow out cobwebs.

Impulsion was the next topic. Simply put, impulsion means whoa equals go...... A 'long' horse tends find the go easy and the whoa harder, whereas a 'short' horse is the reverse. To help long horses shorten we use circles and to help short horses lengthen we use straight lines.

A short horse will give feedback such as bucking and tail swishing (back end) whereas a long horse will rear, head toss or chomp the bit (front end).

Tactics to help a long horse could be to match them then add 4 ounces - for example if your long horse wants to trot fast, ask for a faster trot so they offer to slow down and then you take their offering (reverse psychology). For the short horse, you need incentive, so play point to point between clumps of clover!

Remember straight lines are not straight - they are simply a route with a start and finish, so a trail ride could be a straight line. A circle is not simply a circle - it could be a spiral or a route between obstacles where you circle before moving on. Be imaginative with your straight lines and circles!

Play with Roget went very well today with the pre-requisites to riding going smoothly again! So today I rode! I played pushing passenger inside the round corral and then follow the rail outside (after practicing the one rein stop and disengagement lots!). I didn't have a saddle on him (as I didn't really believe we would get that far!) so only the bareback pad for our first ride! Unfortunately, I now have to wait until Monday to ride as we can't ride during conference for safety reasons ;-(

Wednesday Fluidity I Day Three

Wednesday started differently with no Remuda (I think they are trying to keep us on our toes!). So it was straight into class for Saddling.

The first thing we did was to get everyone's saddles from the tack rooms onto the Savvy Park logs and try them all out for our balance point, leg and pedaling mobility. It was very interesting to sit in so many western style saddles - some were comfortable and some were rock hard! Some I could do all three of the tests, in others I struggled to do one!

We then discussed saddles, their design and how that best suits them to certain activities. For example, an english saddle is best used for dressage, jumping and racing; while a western saddle is good for trail riding and ranch work. We also discussed how to recognise an ill fitting saddle and to make positive changes to improve this. This involved 'shimming' spaces where the horse and saddle do not meet and raising the saddle's front end sufficiently to enable the full scapula movement. The result should be free moving scapula, the saddle's balance point centrally located on the horse and no 'dead space' under the saddle. It seems important to experiment with the shimming to find the best solution for a particular horse, but also to constantly monitor the situation and adapt as necessary.

Next was seat builder training, where we need to learn to sit on our balance point, have supple back, relaxed shoulders and legs in extreme positions - thank you Tracey for displaying the effect so well! This was great fun, but the anticipation of my turn caused my hands to get clammy!

Then before lunch was the Fear Makeover, where a horse and rider combination discuss their fear and then we learn how to move towards resolving the pattern so that we take control. Cici and Magic, who have the pen next to me, were the demonstration combination, which surprised a lot of people as they have a great relationship, can do loads of cool stuff and always seem so confident. Looks can be deceiving!

Anyway, the technique for overcoming the fear was simply closing your eyes and visualising the journey towards the fear and at the first sign opening your eyes. Then when your adrenaline had subsided trying again and perhaps taking two more imaginary steps then opening your eyes. Obviously the pattern continues until you can visualise the activity without fear. This is not necessarily achieved in one session!

Another powerful fear overcoming tool is visualisation of the best possible outcome (of success) - it is always far easier to follow your mind down the worst possible outcome avenue. Take control of your thoughts!

Pat Parelli says (regarding his fear): I get butterflies, but I make them fly in formation!

Today's task was to do the pre-saddle tests, saddle (using shims if necessary), to complete the pre-mounting tests and then, if you were confident, to go for a mosey on your horse's back. Well, since Roget and I had not managed to complete the pre-saddle tests yet (due to high levels of exuberance and play!), I was not in high hopes of achieving the mounting and riding today, so I set realistic expectations that we would work on the pre-saddle tests.

I do not know what happened, but we breezed through the pre-saddle tests and I found myself unprepared for the saddling! So we took a trip to the tack room and saddled on up! We then breezed through the pre-mounting tests and I was left with the option of do I leave it there or do I get on? I chose to leave it on a high note and simply spent undemanding time with him, chilling out, with no pressure or stress - it was great. Wow! Something really seems to have clicked with our relationship. I am hoping to repeat this success tomorrow, give him a break over the Conference weekend (Fri - Sun) and then mount on Monday (all going well). Keep your fingers crossed for me!

Tuesday Fluidity I Day Two

This morning we limped the car over to the ranch having arranged to swap cars at lunch time. So, regardless of the screeching, squealing wheel we were on time for Remuda with Avery. Remuda was very short, just a quick overview of yesterday then straight into class for today's topic The Horses' Posture vs Conformation taken by Kathy.

Posture has the following attributes: learned, developed, body language, good or bad, emotions/attitude, energy and soft tissue positioning.

Conformation has the following attributes: innate, bones, angles, growth, physical structure and difficult to change.

So posture is pliable, whereas conformation is not. This leads into the physical aspects of level 3, but by taking care of the mental and emotional needs (levels 1 and 2) a start to posture correction will have taken place.

It is also important to consider external pressure which could have an effect upon posture, for example, an ill fitting saddle restricting the shoulder blades full rotation or strong hands on the reins. It is also worth considering where the rider's balance point is on the horse - it should be central to the trailing and leading feet.

The first thing to observe in posture is whether you have a good banana or bad banana. A good banana had smooth relaxed curves with equally developed muscles; while a bad banana has atrophied and over developed muscles with angular points. The horse should also have an equal length in front of the highest wither point to the poll and behind to the point of the rump.

Ways to improve posture include:

• correctly fitting saddle, soft hands on reins and riding fluidly
• ground work using hills, jumps, ditches, obstacles, etc
• confidence - mental and emotional fitness, without this nothing else will change

We then went outside to practice flexion in our backs, so that we could promote flexion in our horse's backs. This involved sitting in the tradition style (see Boris' lovely example) and then rolling back onto our balance points (much much more comfortable). Other exercises were walking like a chicken up a hill feeling the way the lower spin moves and using a log to stretch our lower backs. It was important to stop when the physical feeling was good, so that we could imprint muscle memory.

Today's demonstration by Kathy was to observe horses' postures and to make "-" marks for areas of atrophy and "+" marks for areas of over development with a cattle marker. We were then turned loose to do this with our own horses - yes, Roget does look silly with lots of "-" and "+" in yellow all over him! No, I'm not going to publish an embarrassing picture of the lad - I am trying to form a strong partnership!

So lunch time arrived and I go to swap cars and Avis has supplied me with the most enormous pickup truck I have ever seen! Although the size did come as a shock, it actually drives very lightly. The only problem now is that we have no boot for all our luggage when we return to the airport for our return home! So we may need to do another swap before then!

Play with Roget went very well today. We achieved very sensible, relaxed and rhythmical walk, trot and canter - I even thought he might be ridable for once!!!!!! Then the cheeky left brain extrovert came out and we had some "fun and games" of Roget's making! I did manage to regain the leadership though and finished on a good note. He is such a great character and so much fun, but at times I definitely feel my play drive no where near matches his! He's a challenge!

Monday Fluidity I Day One

Course 2, otherwise known as Fluidity I, started today with Kathy and Kristy leading our Remuda. We played 'Name Volleyball' so everyone learned everyone else's name and then had an overview of knots. Kristy told a very scary story of how she tied a claustrophobic horse using a hard knot and that the horse panicked and nearly strangled itself. Luckily she was carrying a knife and could cut it free, but it was a close one! Moral of this story, well two actually - always tie an unknown horse with soft loops and always carry a knife (need to go buy one asap).

Class was led by Jon and began by discussing individual's course goals. Mine included releasing old habits and replacing them with new reflexes, understanding what the horse is feeling and therefore what it needs from the rider, and the obligatory bareback and bridless riding experience!

Riding With Success was the theme for today's class finding out how to set ourselves up for success. Attributes such as attitude, perseverance, visualisation, effort and taking one small step at a time are key to achieving your goals. Things that might hold us back included time, fear, lack of knowledge, money and mental attitude. Bearing these positive and negative attributes in mind, one should be capable of staying on track to Riding With Success.....

The 3Cs - Control, Competance and Confidence (both horse and rider) are essentials for setting yourself up for riding with success. It is also worth remembering that dreams and excuses can be very powerful also (one positively, the other negatively).

Once the 3Cs are achieved you are ready for Freestyle riding, which could include, trail riding, pushing passenger, carrot stick riding and savvy string around the neck. Freestyle is all about unwinding the spring - relaxation and turning loose.

We then experienced our first Seat Builder or Bucking Bronc ride! This was great fun, although getting on was a little daunting, but went fine! We simply needed to feel the motion and move with it to see if we had any stiff areas in our body. I felt my shoulders tighten and needed to move and rotate them to release the tension.

After lunch we had a very interesting demonstration of the 3Cs and Saddling by Jon with a right brain introvert. Although the horse was not safe to ride or should I say ready to be ridden by the end of the session, Jon had made huge leaps with the 3Cs. The horse had begun literally fearing for it's life, but by the time it was saddled, it was jumping fences, getting up on the pedestal and driving through a slalom. It was interesting to notice that the horse tolerated the friendly game and the saddling and did not accept either. Until the acceptance comes, then it is not ready to be ridden.

When playing on the ground Jon simulated riding by trying to do things from zone 3 and treating the rope as it were the rein; for example, asking for lateral flexion then a disengage (one rein stop) or leading using a direct rein. He also detailed the requirements that should be achieved before mounting:

1. Play games going up and down the gaits in a relaxed fashion.
2. Saddling should occur without movement of the feet and with acceptance.
3. Number 1 should be repeated with the saddle on.
4. Pop a log or jump in a relaxed fashion.

Now you may consider mounting......

I played Me and My Shadow with Roget this afternoon - this went very well, he took me for a grand tour of every feed bucket on the ranch! If you don't learn lots about your horse's horsenality playing this, you will learn a lot of patience! He-he! We then tried playing in a round pen again - Roget's least favourite place and consequently I avoid like the plague! It went surprisingly well, we had some barrel rolling around the circumference, a reasonable circling game in all 3 gaits and good yo-yo and driving games. So I left it on a good note and gave him an early dinner!

Interesting aside - Beth has a friend who leased Roget and apparently for the first 3 weeks she thought he was trying to kill her! This gives me lots of hope that we are on the right track and that his immense capacity for playfulness, which could be very dominant, is under some level of control!

Oh no! Driving home this evening there was a gritty noise coming from one of the front wheels of our hire car, well this got worse when we cornered and it became a screech when we breaked! So we limped home and are now waiting for a response from the rescue assistance team. Hopefully we can get it fixed tonight, or a replacement, as we need to leave at 6:30 tomorrow morning - it could be a long night.........................

Weekend Two

Saturday is the first lie in I have had in the past 2 weeks - bliss! Only my body thought 07:30 was enough and wanted to get up (I suppose that's at least 1.5hrs more than usual). So Beth very kindly got up and mucked out and fed Roget, leaving me to have a self indulgent morning - catching up on washing, emails, sleep and blogs.

We spent the afternoon shopping, so check out your mail boxes as there are postcards on the way...... We also visited a 1950s style ice cream parlour and indulged ourselves - it was amazing, the huge scoops we had were only £1.00 each!

The evening saw us take a trip to a saloon for a beer and some pool. This was much like going to a 'rough' pub and proved quite entertaining with a very loud band drowning out all chance of conversation! It was lovely to spend time away from horses with some of my fellow students.

Well Sunday came around all too quickly and it was Beth's turn for the lie in, so up I got at 06:00 to do the horses' morning feeds and muck outs. On the ranch driveway, I had the pleasure of waiting for a herd of deer to jump the fence, cross the driveway and then gather in the pasture opposite - very special sight (getting up early seemed worthwhile then!).

I spent a lovely morning with Roget playing in the Savvy Park and spending undemanding time (otherwise known as grazing!). Thankfully we avoided any right brain behaviour and had a thoroughly enjoyable time. It was interesting to find out that 2 other horses had behaved in exactly the same way as Roget on Friday Apparently there was a large buck (8 prongs) sighted up on that hill and this could be the reason for the fear. I then returned to the house and fell asleep for two wonderful hours of unconsciousness - more tired than I thought! I did finally get up again at midday.

Sunday afternoon was spent firstly doing Roget and then having lunch before the induction for course 2 - Fluidity I at 3pm. It was great to find out what to expect in the next course and to meet the new course instructors Jon and Kathy who will be leading this course. There were also some surprising onlookers, Sue Shoemark, Neil Pye and David Lichman were all in attendance, early arrivals for the conference next weekend (getting excited!).

So this evening I am finishing off my blog and now off to bed to catch up on some much needed sleep.....ZZzzzzzZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Friday L&HB Day Ten

Today was the last day of the Liberty & Horse Behaviour course, which gives me mixed emotions. I am sad to be saying goodbye to those who are leaving, like Lynn. Yet excited that next week we begin riding in the Fluidity I course.

The day started with Remuda taken by Jesse covering the necessary preparation for the next course. This involved getting your horse ready for saddling, saddling and then preparing for mounting (but not).

Since saddling is a squeeze and friendly games activity, Jesse began by playing all 7 games, with an emphasis on these two games. The desired outcome was a horse that was relaxed in their gaits, asking questions and sensitive to suggestions.

The demo horse was my house mate Christine's mare Sierra, who is usually very dominant and typically a left brain introvert, but the horse that showed up was right brain extrovert - how interesting! So Jesse interrupted the right brain behaviour and gained the respect necessary to start communicating. He then played the 7 games and Sierra even jumped her first ever barrels! Christine was a very proud Mum!

After establishing a rapport and achieving the required relaxation, attention and respect, Jesse moved on to the saddling. Did he just go and put the saddle on now? No, he played the friendly game with the pad in zone 3 first and then tried unexpected things like pulling it all the way over her head or butt (using rhythm, relaxation and retreat). When Sierra was happy with this he then put the saddle on. He emphasised the importance that the cinching (girthing for us English riders) was done quickly so that you don't end up in a situation where the horse goes right brain extrovert and is running around with the saddle under the belly BUT this does not mean you forget to be relaxed!

With the saddle now on, Jesse replayed the 7 games with Sierra, including jumping the barrels, until the relaxed gaits, the questions and the sensitivity was there. It was interesting that this took a fraction of the time, as the effort already put in had set this up to be successful! Now the positioning the horse for mounting practice. Simply sit on the fence and play friendly/squeeze with all the zones passing and stopping by you, without the feet needing to move or the back end swinging out. When this is really good, do not mount, simply walk away and play in the Playground or Savvy Park with the saddle on (as if it isn't there). This not mounting seemed to blow Sierra's mind - I think she had the assumption that the saddle on equal human rides. Remember the 8 Principles number 2 - Don't make or teach assumptions!

Apparently Pat Parelli has this saying for saddling: Always saddle a colt (young horse) as if it has been saddled a thousand times, and a riding horse, as if it is the first time!

Today's background card was very apt: Attitude. The 3 attitudes that make a good horseman are:

• Positive
• Progressive
• Natural
  

Day Ten of Liberty & Horse Behaviour (Finale)

The last day or Finale to Liberty & Horse Behaviour started with some predator 'praise, recognition and pork chops'! We all received our course certificate and t-shirt! I didn't know we got a certificate (oh what a predator I am)! Then we had an overview, looking at clips and footage we had watched on Day 1 and realised how our 'eyes' or perspective had changed in the past 2 weeks. We noticed different things, we understood more and we were less judgmental - very interesting. We also discussed the major principles in partners and what they meant to us today vs. last monday. We all have learned so much and become better horsemen as a result - not perfect, but better!

I decided to have a quality, undemanding time session with Roget this afternoon, so we went to the hill in the Playground and chilled - he grazed and I dozed. Things were all going great, then I saw Roget grow about 2 hands and fixate on something out towards the forest. So while I turned to look, thinking 'I wonder what Roget is looking at', he decided that perhaps his life was in danger and turned and galloped back to his pen, where I am reliably informed, he did a slide stop and calmed down immediately!

I lazily walked back to the pen thinking 'what a missed chance to show Roget what a good leader I am' but how I could use this as a lesson learned. I acted like a predator and became interested in what he was looking at, when I should have been a leader and removed Roget from the situation of fear, before he felt the need to leg it! I could always have a had a look afterwards! It seems that controlling my natural human instincts requires more effort!!!!!!

Well tomorrow is another day and we get another '1000 new starts' so hopefully I can be a better leader for him then.