Wednesday Fluidity II Finesse Day Eight

I am completing the rest of my blog entries nearly two weeks later, having said goodbye to the Parelli ISC in Pagosa Springs, Colorado and returned home to my hamlet in South West Wales. It may seem unnecessary now as I am with my loved ones, but I have had some requests from those interested in attending future Parelli courses and it will serve as a fantastic memoir for myself in years to come. So here we go.....

Wednesday I recall started cold and again I was lucky to attend Remuda group 1 and we were able to stay warm inside the lodge for our one hour session! We had a general chat about yesterday's topics and I thought one comment was especially worth detailing here:
Effort + Time = Outcome
So for myself: 1 + 9 = 10
But for Pat Parelli, the equation may look more like this: 9 + 1 = 10

Classroom topic for today was Power (Building Engagement). Kathy started by simply giving us the four steps to attaining engagement (sounds easy. eh?), they are

1. Confidence (Mental, Emotional, Physical and Go=Whoa)
2. Longitudinal Flexion
3. Shaping and Balance (Transitions between and within gaits)
4. Power - Suspension, Engagement (Lateral Maneuvers)

So there it is - class over! Only joking! It is worth noting at this stage that lateral maneuvers are simply the Sideways Game (Game 6) and that we begin doing them in level 1 (sideways along a fence - great for mounting, gates and trail riding) and that by level 3 these have advanced considerably (sideways without a fence with a longer line or at liberty and for longer distances, the half pass and flying lead changes - great for cow work and dressage or with purpose).

Linda Parelli quote: "Whatever you want your horse to do, you need to do in your own body. The horse holds the time line, if you try to rush him it will take longer. Your horse will tell you what's going on."

We then watched clips from the first lessons that Pat and Linda had with Walter Zettl. Wow! Walter Zettl showed how important transitions are - he was asking for them every one, two or three strides - it helped to engage the horse mentally and then physically. It was very interesting to see how Pat, already a master, was really appreciated by Walter. Whereas Linda was very unprepared for how fast she needed to use her mind and how when under pressure her fluidity left her - she also got some amazing feedback from Remmer (tongue out and foot biting)!

The demonstration was given by Kathy and Tina in the Big Top. They showed us where they are at in the four steps. We also performed a number of simulations to enable us to feel the difference between forwards and sideways motion and what helps or hinders; how simple half pass, shoulders in and haunches out can be; and then we had a conga Walter Zettl lesson!

Always remember when performing lateral maneuvers that "Simplicity is the key to brilliance" so why make things more complicated than they need to be? Also Walter Zettl suggests "The less aids you give, the less there's for the horse to fight against".