Day 4, Pagosa Springs, The Truth

All week, Gemini has amazed me. He learns so fast, he's being obedient (hard for his horseanality) and he's offering tons of try. We working towards L3 online and liberty at this point. Today, I got 5 circles on the circle game for the first time. A big progression for us! His sideways is coming along very nicely. I'm sending more provocatively and it's amazing how much better his allow is when I "secretly" send him. His mind is engaged when I make more of a game out of it. I'm just having a blast with him.

We also practiced a new trick, lifting his front leg and holding it up. I'm just amazed by how fast he learns. We've gotten two solid tricks put in place this week. I can't imagine what I'd get after 6 months focusing on his development.

One of the themes for today was Savvy Spotlight. The program is trying to promote the spotlights and help people perform better for Pat at the Celebrations. They decided to allow us to do spotlights for each other and provide coaching. I'm not much of a showman and having people watch me is so nerve-wracking that I immediately went introverted when they talked about it. However, I pushed through and got in the round pen and did one with Gemini. We aren't that developed yet, so we didn't have any great things to show off. However, we played all 7 games (20% of your score), he had ears on my the whole time (40% of the score - relationship), and we used the entire pen (20% of score - use of time and space). I'd doubt we'd have done well in the Imagination area (20%), but it was good for me to go in and try. I was proud of myself. I really don't like showing off that much. I have to get better at that. Gemini was right there with me, which was huge.

Today, Pat showed up and talked to us for an hour. Honestly, he doesn't look too good. His skin looks unhealthy. I'm sure he's tired from life on the road and having to be in so many places at once. I wonder if the stardom gets old, too. It was a good talk, though. He allowed us to ask questions. Then, Linda showed up and did another hour or so with us. There is a new product coming out that explores horseanalities and personalities and will provide insight into how you can interact with your horse and get the best results with your personality taken into account. Pretty cool stuff! Linda is an amazing woman and she's done a lot for the horse world. I look forward to this release.

Tonight, Mark Weiler was scheduled to talk to us at 7pm. So a new friend and I decided to go eat some dinner and have some cocktails prior to that. We got back pretty late, but we heard the end of Mark's mini QandA session. I'm not a huge fan of Mark's, but I know he's a lot of the reason that Parelli has reached so far and wide. He's a marketing guy. He ensures that they make money... lots of money. It's a triad - Mark, Pat and Linda. Not sure how happy everyone is, but they've built it and they are pushing it forward. It's an interesting thing.

The weather was beautiful, my horse is giving me positive feedback, got to hear Pat, Linda and Mark all talk to us as a group... a pretty great day in Parelli-land.

Arrival Day, Pagosa Springs "The Truth"

Taking 3/4 Liberty course

Great drive, no issues. Gemini was great. Less than 6 hours.

Arrival and orientation. Name game. Me and my shadow. Played with Gem. He wanted to cruise the whole place and meet every horse we passed. Likes the tall grass - the tips. A good lawnmower. Met a woman who finished L3 on her gaited morgan. She also has a good friend who studies horse coloring. Very interested in her friends opinion of Gems color.

Gem and I are going to have a good week. I'm excited.

Savvy string hanging out of the door and scraping on the highway for hours.

Gem very motivated by treats. Have to remember that and use it. I'm forcing him too much. Loved walking around with him. I could completely imagine being on his back.

Nice to see familiar faces. Small class - 40 or so students. Moving in Harmony has 20 or so.

No hay cubes, alf/grass hay mix thrown to horses - 2 flakes. I'd feed more if I had my choice. We'll see how that goes. Horses need to have more to munch on.

Tons of horrid looking feet. WTF? Julia's horse has egg-bar shoes and pads. WTF?? To ride on the sandy arena? Now I just know too much about hooves.

Lots of compliments on Gem - he's a very attractive horse. Very different reaction from people than Z elicits. Interesting.

Savvy Conference 2008

So glad I went. I was thinking about skipping it because I was pretty stressed out. Here was my deal; I had traveled all week (left Sunday and arrived home Friday night), then it was labor day weekend. I spent Saturday with Kendall at Indian Creek on horses which was not a great ride (Kendall was feeling ill and crabby), then Sunday at Elitches where our bag got stolen and then left for us to find it sans our camera, then Monday doing farm chores (fencing, etc...). Then, Steve went out of town for 4 days. I had the kids all week to myself, second week on the new job, Delaney in football, Kendall had bad allergies lots of the time and Kyle needs shuffling for his job. Friday, I had to be gone for 6 hours handling the closing of an investment property. I was stressed and done.

And I committed to leave by 6pm to Marcy. I got home from closing at 6pm and I had no bag packed. ARRGGHHH!! I took 30 mins to spend with Steve (he got home at 5pm from his trip), then packed my bag and picked up Marcy at 7pm. I was cooked. As we drove and got closer to the ranch I could feel the stress start to evaporate. We got in about 12:45am and I was beat.

We got up early Saturday morning, about 6am, and headed out. I needed more sleep, but the conference wasn't going to wait for me. I don't think Marcy wanted to either...

It turned out to be a great day and I was so glad I sacrificed the drive time and the time away from my family. Some of the knowledge from my great 4 weeks in courses was solidified and I was able to understand higher level concepts than ever before. We got to watch Linda get a lesson from Walter Zettle and I understood all of it! I know how challenging it is to ride as well as she does because I'm starting to try that myself. She's so advanced, but I could finally appreciate how advanced Linda is. It was like I stepped up to a higher plane and saw things a whole different way.

OK, now to the facts. Saturday started off with Savvy team demoing together. That's always nice to watch while you chat with friends you haven't seen in a while. I'm becoming part of a growing faction of national Parelli students mainly because of the courses and I love to see faces from the past. I get a kick out of people and interacting with them. One woman I know took me to meet Helen Topp, her favorite Parelli instructor. Helen is quite an accomplished horsewoman who got her first horse through L3 at age 15. Then, while waiting to join the Parelli organization at age 18, she got 5 more horses through L3. Wow. I'll try to host her next Spring.

We watched Linda get the lesson from Walter which was absolutely inspiring. Walter made a clucking, hard kind of noise when she wanted Linda to get Remmer to pick up his life a little. By the end of the lesson, Remmer was energetic, lively and engaged. Unbelievable. His movement was light, responsive, the front end was high, the back end was engaged, simply gorgeous. It made me want to get my English saddle out and back on it. I loved watching this lesson. I learned so much. I can barely remember what else we saw that day because Linda's lesson was such a highlight. I know Pat came out and showed Caton off some.

On Day 2, Linda gave a lesson to Kathy on a LBE OTTB who was pretty emotional in the arena with the audience. It was cool watching the way Linda had Kathy managed the energy of the horse. The way she demonstrated putting the relationship first was spot on for me. She used the question box, lots of circles, approach and retreat. Then Linda gave a lesson to Avery on AHug, showing how to motivate a LBI.

They closed it off with a Q&A session with Mark and Pat. It started off ok, but quickly turned into a whiney, emotional love fest that I wanted to escape. We left as soon as it was over and missed Pat's finale session. We had a long drive home and I had a morning flight, so it was nice to get going.

A great weekend and so glad I went.

Dennis Clinic, Saturday August 23rd

I hosted Dennis Paschal for a 1-day clinic. He's been a great new mentor for me the past few months and I want to share new knowledge with my people every chance I get. I think I'm a share-aholic. I digress...

So, we started out on the ground (duh!). We took turns trying different games on the ground in the playground area. Everyone got a turn on the hot seat with the others watching. Dennis had the watchers helping the lucky bastard in the middle by giving hints or saying where the human could better help the horse. I've done a similar format with the mini-clinics I've given. He had an audience of varying skills so I think it helped keep things interesting. He had us sit in a chair and play circle game with our horses. If that wasn't too challenging, he had us doing change of direction. At one of my turns, he took Gemini from me and kept him for a while. That's not my favorite thing at all. I want to work with my own horse. It doesn't help me if the instructor takes my horse. He kept him for quite a while, too. Grrr...

We started to gear up for riding around 11:30am. Since I'd chosen Gemini, I had to go through our bucking routine. I put the saddle on, cinch it up with the rear cinch a little tight, then send him on the circle. Invariably thus far, Gemini will offer some good bucks. When he does, I immediately let him rest when he's done bucking. It's an interesting game and Gemini hasn't tired of it yet. After 10 mins or so, he's ready to be ridden! Seems crazy, but... well, it's a little crazy. That horse has somehow wiggled his way into my heart and I'm determined to get to a great place with him over time. By "time", I mean probably 3 more years. HA!

Dennis left Nancy out a few times and I don't know why. Maybe it was because he didn't know her (or Amy). At least twice, we had to remind him that Nancy was still waiting for her turn when he was moving on to something else. I think that made her feel bad and rightfully so.

So, the riding was ok. We worked on Dennis' way of backing the horse, doing things around each other, circling the arena and eventually canter departs. I blew it with the canter departs. Gemini had been great the whole day but with the canter departs, something we've never done together, I asked with too much force and he went to buckin'. A couple humps later and I was on the ground. Darn it all! I got back on and got a little extra attention from Dennis. He had us do some canter transitions and lead changes. I know I just asked Gemini too hard and I learned a great lesson. I really got up asking myself what I could have done better. I patted myself on the back for that.

Pat and Marcy audited most of the day and afterwards, several of us drank wine in my barn. That was the highlight of the day, for sure! We gabbed about the clinic and about my experiences at the ISC. Girls talking about horses - the perfect way to end it.

Day Ten, Fluidity 2

I walked away a much better horseman. I'm so grateful to the have the opportunity and ability to experience the Parelli ranch and the courses. It's changed me in profound ways both with horses and with the people in my life. I really looking forward to practicing all I've learned and submitting my partnership on video for evaluation and feedback. Level 3 completion by the end of this year feels possible.

Z had a hard time getting back into the trailer and I took her away from the trailer to work on our communication and her confidence. We had really developed her jumping from a walk over the 2 weeks so I wanted to practice that with her. We also played at liberty some and practiced the teeter totter. When we went back to the trailer, she got right in. I also had plenty of carrots (her favorite) and used them to reward her efforts. I know being in the trailer alone for 6 hours is hard for her, but she was willing after we played and we got it done.


A great way to end the course with me putting the relationship first! Sad to leave, but excited to use my new knowledge. We are soaring!

Day Nine, Fluidity 2

FLYING LEAD CHANGES!

The moment we've all been waiting for...

So, in preparation, check ribs with Snakey Bends. Make sure you ALWAYS have relaxation! I have to demand this in my lessons with Dennis. Also, if there's a behavior during Finesse riding that you want to lesson, exhaust it!

FYI: Left-brained horses typically DON'T like their faces petted. Right-brained horses typically DO like it.

We worked a lot on getting shoulders in and haunches in. A tip given was to get straight on a circle going really well. Once it is, move together in a straight line and you'll have your shoulders or haunches in. Played with that quite a bit and will continue to do so.

Flying Change Ladder:
1. Transitions -
- Cha-ching with suspension rein until the head drops
- canter/walk transitions (Best when cantering 5-7 strides)
if your horse gets emotional, walk longer between canter departs. Work on impulsion!!

2. Swinging the shoulders
- build to swinging shoulders at the canter, but start at a walk.
- focus on your weight shift to help the shoulder get soft and fluid
- use your stick for support when building this (as with moving the hind)

3. Serpentines
- practice walk/canter transitions with a walk in straight of the serpentine
- use cones to mark your straight and your canter depart
- Practice: transition down with suspension rein, shift weight, swing shoulders, canter depart

4. Flying change!
- simply eliminate the walk in the serpentine

Practice the ladder using finesse and concentrated rein until you no longer need the reins.

A "slip change" is a lead change over a few strides. These are good - means the horse is putting it all together and trying to manage the flc.

I realize I need to ride with my carrot stick ALWAYS! I need it to get good, light responses and I need to become savvy enough to manage my horse with reins and the stick together. Linda is working on a Finesse stick that's lighter and easier to manage than the carrot stick, but the recommendation will be to get good with the carrot stick first.

Tips: If the suspension rein gets heavy, lift it higher!
Using the suspension rein, put weight on the outside cheek, lift inside suspension rein and push with inside thigh (asking the horse to bend at the ribs).
The Serpentine pattern is VERY important. Build it - it's a positive pattern

Z and I rode in front of the class in the demo and my focus was to keep her relaxed. She did amazingly well! She did get worried a couple times, but I was able to immediately respond and bring her back to me. I was proud of both of us and demoing was a good friendly game for me. I was nervous and wanted to retract my volunteer offer. She gave me her best and I made sure to take care of her emotionally. We got several compliments after the demo and one from an instructor! We've come a long way and we are going to make it.

I played some games with Kim and Molly (leapfrog around the big top) then with Chance (circle the other at a higher gate). All of this was great practice for us and Z's emotions were better every day.

Day Eight, Fluidity 2

Remuda with Kristi. She has great remudas.

Ronnie Willis said, "Ask the right question. Ask it at the right time. Ask with enough information that your partner can answer it."

Kristi talked about all the great horseman out there and the students that come through the ranch. Pat thinks horseman have some level of talent, skill and try. Pat would choose TRY over skill or talent. We also talked about attitude and playing with horses at liberty. If your horse leaves you at liberty, think of it more as your horse taking the leadership instead of your horse leaving you.

We did a simulation called the "Diamond Game". Four of us together made a diamond shape. The person in front would do things and the others would follow. The diamond could/would change direction and suddenly a different person would be in front and become the leader. It was kinda fun but it was good to see how quickly and easily someone else to take leadership. I also realized that I like to be the leader and would keep it for a long time until I'd feel guilty for "hogging" the leadership. :-)

There are more simulation games in The Equus Project (google this and get more ideas). Kristi also talked about playing "Hide and Seek" with your horse. You hide and when they find you, they get a treat. I wonder if Z would want a treat bad enough to seek me out. Maybe.

Steps to Power:
1. Confidence, MEP Go=Whoa
2. Longitudinal Flexion (longer strides)
3. Shaping and Balance (1 million transitions)
4. Lateral Maneuvers
Power - Suspension - Engagement

AND TIME!

Build equality and balance in our horses! Watch for inequality and rebalance constantly. Also, whatever we want to do with our horses, we need to do in our bodies first. I was fascinated to learn that Spanish schools spend up to 4 years developing their horses on the ground before asking them to carry a rider. Those horses are very mature before becoming mounts.

I think it was Walter Zettl that said every horse should have 10 trots developed. We talked about trots and threw out some:

Pissage
Piaffe
extended
collected
job
backwards
lateral
working

There were more... couldn't get them all down.

Pat came and talked to us and said something great... "If you don't stand for something, you'll fall for anything". I like it.

Day Seven, Fluidity 2

The focus today was latitudinal flexion. Remuda was good with Cameron. Lots of discussion on the longitudinal flexion lesson and how to ask for collection from the point of getting the nose down. Baron talked about asking for a bend by pushing your knee into the horse and causing your ribs to bend.

Cameron talked a lot of shaping the horse and watching them from the ground to see how they are moving and what they prefer. You can also tell how the ribs are moving and if they have an easier side. If you have the horse circle you and spin the hind to disengage, you can watch to see how much they horse gets under itself. Typically, one side will be harder than the other. Practice to get them to match. Also, disengage until the fore swings. See how long it takes for the fore to swing. One side will be slower than the other. There's a relationship between that and the ribs. I didn't quite understand that in the lecture. Another thing was that when you asked the horse to disengage, notice when they steps backwards instead of under. That will tell you which direction the ribs are stuck because it will be too hard to disengage and they will fall backwards instead.

She talked about watching which hind the horse lands on first after a jump. That first landing hind will be the strong hind - which may indicate that the horse pushes it's ribs to the opposite direction. To fix the ribs and balance the horse, ride on the high side. Try to perhaps make the stirrup shorter on one side to help you position yourself on the high side.

The suspension rein should always be in the inside rein. Also, watched Cameron play sideways and she did it from Z1/Z2. I tend to do it from there because it seems more effective but it seemed past instructors would stand more in Z3. Reassuring to see Cameron also do it from Z1.

Cameron talked about the side of the horse the mane falls on. She said that because of gravity, the mane will fall on the side of the horse which is lower, meaning the ribs are "stuck" on the opposite side of the mane. I'm trying to trust the program, but my horse had a mane that fell to both sides - almost split down the middle. I've been brushing it fall on the right for many months. I don't think that means my horse's ribs are stuck on the left. I'll think about that some more.

We talked about Snakey Bends (which I think are an amazingly effective pattern!) and how they can help your horse become straight on the circle. We have to focus on bending OUR ribs to the help the horse bend hers.

I was going on a trail ride with a few others and Z didn't want to go. It felt very left-brained. It was slow deliberate instead of fast and disheveled. My horse had a plan to avoid the trail ride. I was trying not to brace against her and taking her in a circle in the direction she was working on. Cameron walked up just in time and gave me some very effective info. If my horse is left-brained and pulling with her own direction in mind, go with her but also ask her to disengage in that direction. If the horse is right brained, take them back to where they are comfortable and work there! Cameron got behind me and played the rider holding my belt loops. I tried to be afraid and go back to the herd, she would not fight me and she would direct me back. It actually made me stop and look at her. When I tried being left-brained, I got deliberate in my action and she just kept causing me to turn from my hips. After a couple tries, I gave up. We both laughed and I realized that psychologically, it made perfect sense.

Julia did a demo with her horse "Monkey" showing how to watch the ribs from the ground and help the horse shape up. She drew a dot on the shoulder and a dot on the hip. She talked about watching for the dots to get slightly closer together and reward. She asked her horse to go over cavalettis and watched for even steps, bent ribs and responsibility with the feet. Monkey looked very nice over the cavalettis and never hit one with her hoof. Julia had the cavaletti's shaped in an arch, designed with 2' distance at the center and 5' distance on the outside.

Julia also had Monkey go over some jumps. If they jump with noises (grunting, heavy breathing) continue asking until they change. If they make noises in the jump, it's often because they are landing too heavy on the fore.

Molly and Wolfgang demo'ed for us, and Baron coached us on keeping the horse straight on the circle by using the inside knee/thigh. I practiced that with Z and realized I wasn't applying my weight that way. It helped my outside hip to lift off of Z's back and allow her to bend better.

Molly had problems with impulsion with her horse so she didn't get a chance to do much of the exercise. Wolfgang was able to do a little more, but his horse seemed pretty unhappy with the Cradle the entire course.

Great day for Z and I! Spent 6 hours with her. I spent between 5-7 hours with her everyday of the course. Amazing and allowed our transformation to really occur.

Things I want for my property: honeycomb, tires, taller bridge, ball.

Day Six, Fluidity

Showed Kristi the canter. She said we looked great! Hugged myself a bunch and then I hugged my horse a bunch more.

Suspension rein. Quack, quack, Cha-Ching!

1 Million transitions!! How many have I done? Maybe 300-400?

We did lots of Fluid Rein. I have to offer more drag and tension when Z's head gets higher. Then, relax as her head goes lower - comb slower and lighter and then not at all when her nose is low.

I asked about rein leathers weighing down the snaffle (like Dennis mentioned to Jen) and got a good answer. Avery said, "Trust the program". She explained that it's up to the horse to carry the snaffle. That it's the horse's responsibility and none of the very accomplished Parelli riders have had any trouble with the weight of the rein leathers. Well, of course. Trust the program. Do I fully trust it and is this the right path for me?

After spending the weekend riding the canter with my butt pushing back in the saddle instead of forward, I realize my horse has wanted me to know this for a long time. Sorry Z. I'm catching up to you, though. One day at a time. I'm also letting her push me up in the trot much more and that also feels a ton more fluid.

Z nickered at me like an extrovert today! A huge, long nicker! Not her normal way of doing things. I was very far away, too. I was jazzed. Our relationship is in such a great place. We have more work to do.

I played with her at liberty and worked on getting her to find a relaxed canter with no strings attached. It took time. She had to do lots of laps before she could relax and realize she'd need to be more efficient if it was going to last. It was a nice change and I rewarded it every time. Her maintain gait was great, but it was a smaller round pen than mine at home. Maybe perfect for this type of practice. She comes in to me at the trot nearly every time now. On line and far away or at liberty. I've got to get my ground work for L3 in to the Faculty now.

SHAPING AND BALANCING (collection) M.E.P
Transitions!! One Million of them!! (Freestyle)
Suspension rein simulation with Ricksta was interesting. We practiced pulling straight back and then doing the Cha-Ching rein. We also worked on Quack, Quack, Quack... simulation the down transition of a duck landing and doing that in our bodies. I do that already, but it was great to practice it and I found myself saying it on my horse while I rode. Helped me be consistent and precise.

The suspension rein should be straight up and the tension should NOT increase! It's almost an arched movement since the pivot point is the bit. We want our horse uphill and this suspension rein builds that. Cha-ching - similar to pulling the slot machine handle.

So, Quack, quack, quack... Cha-Ching! I wasn't doing it right at first. You have to hold Cha-Ching until the horse finds the feel. I was looking for the stop, but I then learned to look for the head to drop. Ahhh- haaa.

Work on this method in the down transition. Then work on it during the gait. Then during up transitions. Play with this just a little each day - introduce this gently for the best affect.

I had another day of 5-6 straight hours with my horse. Brilliant. Also did a trail ride - a very micro-managed and slow trail ride, Parelli style. Ok for short rides. Not what I'd enjoy regularly. Lots of rules, but I understand the "why" so I tolerate it. Not that enjoyable. I want to go fast!! :-)

Day One, L&HB

I completely overslept. I woke up at 7:30. I told another student I'd meet her for breakfast at 8am. Doh! It's a 10 minute walk to the lodge and my horse is probably wondering where the heck I am and when she's getting fed. Not a great way to start the day.

I felt tired today. I felt a little brain-dead, too. I was rushing around all morning trying to catch up with the things I thought I'd get done before the morning session.

Anyway... It was another great day. We started off the day hearing about the nature of the horse and watching some videos showing the differences between prey and predator. This was good for me to watch and I definitely got something out of it. We also got a basic introduction into horseanalities. After the lecture, we went out to watch Kristi play with her partner - a great-looking Appy. Then, each faculty member brought their partners into the round pen, one by one, and played with their horses to music followed by an explanation of that horse's past, innate characteristics, spirit level, environment.

We also heard about driving our horses around from zone 3 and "moseying" with them. We simulated it with other students in pairs. We were told that our horse had to be willing to leave their pens that some may not be able to leave the pens because their horse won't be ready. When we ended the session and were set free to practice this lesson with them, my horse was wayyy happy to leave the pen and go eat grass! The soaked hay cube diet is strange for her and although she's eating, I think the need for her to chew and forage is strong and not met by the hay mash.

I had to get something from my trailer so I was one of the last to get my horse out for the free time. What I discovered was that later, when I took her out for more free time and lots of horses were still in their pens, she got worried. That was interesting. I'm sure there's a lot of comfort being surrounded by so many horses all day and night. Then, the third time I took her out, I actually played with her on the playground. They have some great stuff to play with!! She was worried but would settle, then get worried again. I believe tomorrow they will be giving us strategies to become more interesting. I had some ideas and we had some good moments, but I would love to hear them talk about this topic.

I'm really looking forward to discussions about the games. I have lots of notes to blog about, but I'm just too tired right now!!

Exercise - definitely off my running program however I'm getting some serious exercise walking from my trailer to the lodge to my horse. Wow! I think I'm getting shin splints!! This is like horsemanship/fat camp. No complaints.

Arrival Day, Pagosa Springs L&HB

Wow. I'm here! I'm amazed, excited, exhausted, overloaded, concerned, etc... I woke up at 2:45am to get my suitcases and horse loaded. To add insult to injury, I didn't get to bed until midnight. I just felt that I had so much to get done before disappearing for 2 wks. So, after 2.5 hours of sleep, 7.5 hours of driving, 5 long walks up and down the Parelli ranch incline, and 2 pretty darn good Parelli ranch meals, I'm finally tucked into my little trailer space for some rest.

I promised myself I'd blog it all. I'm too tired to type, but I know if I wait I'll lose some of the details worth remembering. I agreed about a month ago to drive a friends horse down to the ranch along with the woman from Norway who was leasing the horse for 6 wks at the ISC (damn, I'm jealous!). I was hoping she would speak English and wouldn't be an annoying dweeb to ride with for 7 hours. Her name is Anne and we got along very well. We actually had lots in common and plenty to talk about. It was a nice drive down.

Anne and I have kind of stuck together for the first day. She isn't quite sure about taking care of her lease horse since she's always boarded. I'm giving her tips and helping her along. We have a good time together so it's easy. But everyone is sooo incredibly nice here that I wouldn't doubt it if Anne and I ended up buddying with multiple different people over the 2 wks I'm here. People are very smiley, very friendly and it was a fun day of hearing about other's journeys to this Parelli-land.

The woman next to me is from Hawaii. I ate dinner with a woman from Sweden. I met 3 of the funniest women from England. It appears that maybe 25% of the students are from overseas. I'm sure the weak dollar makes it a great time for them to travel to the states. It's like trips to America are on sale! I've only met 1 other person from Colorado so far - kind of surprising. I've met 3 from California. They drive some 20 hours to get here. I'm amazed! This place is truly special.

All of the horses are in pens, about 30x30 with dirt footing. Horse feed is supplied and consists of timothy/alfalfa hay cubes that must be soaked and the Parelli grain mixture. They also supply molasses water to help make sure the horses drink plenty. They recommend that you don't leave water in your horse's pen. Instead, they suggest you bring water to your house 2-3 times/day. The horse quickly learns to depend on you and look to you for comfort. We're in this 100% so Z has no water until the morning.

Funny, with the hay cube mash all the horses are eating, you can walk around and see 65 horses with mash all over the muzzles. Pretty cute. People are walking by with buckets for their horses all the time so the horses have quickly learned that any one of the buckets might be for them. It will be interesting to see if after a few days only MY horse looks for me.

So, about 65 horses. You've got nearly every color, size, shape and age. Some look not so loved, some look like they can enter a show immediately. There are many young horses surprisingly. You are not allowed to ride your horse, so maybe I shouldn't be surprised. I repeat, you are not allowed to ride your horse! The premise is that you honor your horse by submerging yourself in understanding them and letting your bad habits atrophy during the class. So, I'm not riding my horse. Geesh! :-)

The reception is very warm. They help you unload, put your horse in it's pen, get your stuff to your designated cubby, tack area. There are multiple places designated to each individual to put their belongings. There are port-o-potties everywhere and a shower available to those of us staying on the ranch. One shower. It'll be fine...

After getting settled in, checked in, fed and feeding our horses, it was time to meet for orientation. It was pretty cool. They started by having us do this silly dance around the room. I was tired and hesitant, but they don't let you skip it. Then, we went over the guidelines for the ranch and what to expect. That's when I started to get super motivated. There are not many level 3 students. There seem to be many L1 and L2 students. There is at least 1 instructor in the class.

The 2 faculty members presenting the orientation told us their stories and how they started in the Parelli program. That was very interesting. We played a little game and I was the lucky winner of 1 coupon entitling me to have a faculty clean my horse's pen one time. Only 4 winners, so luck was on my side. It was a good orientation and I already learned some things. I'm truly hoping for some hugely eye-opening experiences that help me understand how I can be better for my horses.