The first play session I had at home with my horses after Fast Track I was a little apprehensive. Could I go out and play with the same quality as I could with Rain in the "perfect environment" of the Parelli Centre? So before I went out into the paddock I quickly brainstormed; What makes a successful play session? ( What do I need to put into place to make it great for my horse and I?)Here is a few things I learnt that I could put into dot points to apply to my future play sessions with all my horses.
-Make it a game...fun!
- Being particular keeps your horses mind, but don't micromanage or be critical.
- Put ten ounces into intention and one into phases
- Have a good neutral to balance consistently fair phases.
- Know your expectation of the task before you ask it,so you know when to release and quit!
- Understand when to apply pressure and when to release because pressure motivates a horse, it is the release that teaches.
- Be a genuine ambassador of yes, not a minister of no.
- Expect a lot, Accept a little, Reward often.
- Be an 'Oh Boy!' person, not an 'Oh no...'
- Truly understand your horses idea first (What game does your horse want to play?)
- Set it up for success (Isolate, Seperate and Re-combine)
- Make a plan but be flexible
- If it is going well, quit! Play for tomorrow.
- Don't be afraid of the reaction in order to find the response but be aware you are not causing a willing partner to be reactive by being impolite.
- Don't ask a trying horse to try.
- Maintain mental connection right from the moment your horse catches you until you slip the halter off.
- Ask your horses permission
-Honour your partnerships strengths, you owe it to your horse.
- Your horse and you hold each other accountable for your horses responsibilities.
Does anyone else have any things that make their play session with their horse fun and successful for the both of you? Feel free to add to the list in the comments section underneath!
Friday, 4 May 2012
Fast Track Reflection- March 2012
In March this year, I was privileged to spend four amazing weeks at the Australian Parelli Campus in Wilton NSW. I was one of twenty two students making the next step into advancing their horsemanship dreams or pursuing a career as a Parelli Professional. As I have Professional goals, I had to come away with a grade of 75% in my theory test and a level 3++ grade in all four savvy's, Online, Liberty, Freestyle, Finesse.
It is impossible to sum up how life changing Fast Track was for me, or just how much was learnt thanks to the amazing team of instructors and faculty. I would like to personally thank Rob and Megan McAuliffe, Carmen Smith, Shannon Davies, Kerryn Armstrong, Bonnie McIntyre, Shana Walters and Julianne Tetlow for there guidance and support.
The thing that struck me most was that there was nothing I had not already heard of in the program in the Fast Track curriculum but everything from the simple 7 games, patterns, horsenalities, and Pat's little sayings but yet there was so much depth yet to be fully understood. It really was about simple things done well. "Horsemanship is nothing more but a series of good habits and patterns" says Pat, but HOW good is up to our expectation and commitment to our partnership with our horse. Doing everything at a higher quality is something I came back to with a new filter to reflect my whole life through, and I raised the bar on everything I had been underestimating my capabilities, especially with my horses.
Fast Track began and ended with testing. Everyone was a bundle of nerves in the beginning despite the only goal was to "show us what you can do, not what you can't". Mainly it was just to set the benchmark of what we need to learn, and to see how far we have come in the end, and it did just that.
The curriculum covered advancing the 7 games, Horsenality Strategies, saddling and vet prep, Steady rein demo's, Advancing the Patterns, Impulsion games, and each day there was a series of workshops and demo's progressing from Online to Finesse. Each Friday, we met up with our instructor coach to set the weeks goals, and it was so helpful to have some ingredients from the instructors to play with, while keeping the overall goal in mind. This systematic technique really helped me see progress as something not to be afraid of, and how to isolate parts of a task to set it up for success for my horse and I, think laterally, problem solve and demonstrate my leadership to Rain.
There is so much I could say about Fast Track but I can only conclude with the statement that it is best to be experienced, by any one who is serious about improving their horsemanship to a performance level or has professional goals.
It is impossible to sum up how life changing Fast Track was for me, or just how much was learnt thanks to the amazing team of instructors and faculty. I would like to personally thank Rob and Megan McAuliffe, Carmen Smith, Shannon Davies, Kerryn Armstrong, Bonnie McIntyre, Shana Walters and Julianne Tetlow for there guidance and support.
The thing that struck me most was that there was nothing I had not already heard of in the program in the Fast Track curriculum but everything from the simple 7 games, patterns, horsenalities, and Pat's little sayings but yet there was so much depth yet to be fully understood. It really was about simple things done well. "Horsemanship is nothing more but a series of good habits and patterns" says Pat, but HOW good is up to our expectation and commitment to our partnership with our horse. Doing everything at a higher quality is something I came back to with a new filter to reflect my whole life through, and I raised the bar on everything I had been underestimating my capabilities, especially with my horses.
Fast Track began and ended with testing. Everyone was a bundle of nerves in the beginning despite the only goal was to "show us what you can do, not what you can't". Mainly it was just to set the benchmark of what we need to learn, and to see how far we have come in the end, and it did just that.
The curriculum covered advancing the 7 games, Horsenality Strategies, saddling and vet prep, Steady rein demo's, Advancing the Patterns, Impulsion games, and each day there was a series of workshops and demo's progressing from Online to Finesse. Each Friday, we met up with our instructor coach to set the weeks goals, and it was so helpful to have some ingredients from the instructors to play with, while keeping the overall goal in mind. This systematic technique really helped me see progress as something not to be afraid of, and how to isolate parts of a task to set it up for success for my horse and I, think laterally, problem solve and demonstrate my leadership to Rain.
There is so much I could say about Fast Track but I can only conclude with the statement that it is best to be experienced, by any one who is serious about improving their horsemanship to a performance level or has professional goals.
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