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A Report on Parelli Tour Stop in Sioux City, IA
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Even though this is long, I hope you will read it and let it touch your heart as the Parelli tour touched mine!
I saw many of you who are on my mailing list at the Parelli tour in Sioux City this past weekend. For those I didn't get a chance to speak with, wasn't it breathtaking?
I was reinspired and remotivated to move toward more excellence, peace, safety and fun with my own horses. I also rededicated myself to reach out even more to help other people achieve their dreams with their horses, if they so choose.
I am truly sorry for all of you who had to miss it. If you weren't there, It is hard for me to describe what we saw and experienced. All I can say is, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE try to attend a tour stop at least once in your life. You won't be sorry that you went, even if you think you don't agree fully with them.
Anyone who was at the Parelli event this weekend could see the peace and contentment on the horses and people . Unfortunately we often see the extreme opposite of that at many events. And it is quite unnecessary if we know what to do and will take the time it takes to prevent it.
An once of prevention is worth a pound of cure. There is no need to have storm after storm with your horse. There is more to a relationship with a horse than merely surviving each ride. There is a way to have an equal partnership with your horse that is safe and fun.
Keith and I were moved to tears several times. My favorite part was on Sunday morning when Pat came in with the Savvy team and they played a prayer song that was sung acapella.(sp?)
While the beautiful song was playing the horses and their handlers were so at peace and one with each other even though they weren't doing any fancy stuff at that time. It made me realize how important it is to get peaceful oneness with my horses.
I couldn't have felt more empowered at that moment to learn more, understand my horse better, communicate more effectively, be more excellent, live my dreams and keep sharing it with others.
I couldn't wait to get home and see my horses, breathe in their smells and rub all of their favorite spots while they were eating hay. I didn't feel the need to ride. It was enough for me to be with them, thinking about that peace and oneness and how I believe that it will get stronger each day as I set my goals aside reaching out to meet my horse's needs, by thinking, acting, feeling and playing more like a horse.
It used to bother me when other people didn't find this as exciting and wonderful as I do. I used to wonder why people weren't more open minded to natural horsemanship. I used to get frustrated when people weren't interested in learning more. I used to get angry when people downgraded natural horsemanship. But I think I finally understand it all after this weekend.
The main thing I discovered was the reason people avoid
or resist new things or change, is fear and unbelief.I have done some demos, where I felt Cisco and I were so tuned with each other. Then afterwards I would ask people if they would like to try it, and to my astonishment they would say "NO"!
I would go away discouraged, disappointed, and confused. How could they possibly not want to have an even better relationship with their horse be safer and have more fun?
I used to say it was just not for everyone because I didn't
understand. But now, I think some of them really wanted it, but just didn't believe that they could possibly attain it. As I think back I remember comments like, "My horse could never do
that, or this horse isn't bred for that kind of activity."
But the truth is their horse could do it.The people didn't believe they could do it or, maybe they were afraid of failure.
I know that if we follow a natural horsemanship principles, we will not fail!If we believe we can have more fun, be safer, and achieve excellence with a peaceful oneness then it will happen!
All we have to do is follow a road map to get us there. Once we have a map we must be willing to follow it with dedication and persistance. Plus we should not get in a hurry to reach the destination, if we do, we may not enjoy the journey.
We might have to give up some of our goals in order to meet the needs of our horse. We may have to stop putting our feet in other ponds and stick to one pond until we learn to swim in it. That way we won't get confused or loose track of where we are going.
So many of us have tried to incorporated theories from many different people into our own program. When we do this, what often happens is certain important pieces are missed. Some of the pieces may even be conflicting and the results will not be what we expect. You can't argue with the successful result one witnesses at a Parelli event. You can't say it doesn't work, or it only works with certain horses, or certain people. NOT TRUE!
Another concept that really hit me this weekend was how horses won't play when they are not safe and comfortable. I always preach horses are motivated by safety, comfort, and play. I
used to think of these as three separate things, now I see how they are integrated together. All three work together or against each other depending upon human responses.
It always made sense to me that some horses are more playful than others. Now I understand fully; the most playful horses are the confident ones, because they feel safe and comfortable around their predators. It is probably because their predators aren't acting like predators anymore and they are developing a partnership.
As I carefully observed great horsemen and women playing with horses I saw once again the importance of timing and attitude.
* I saw ways to improve refinement, focus, feel, timing and balance.
* I saw how connected a horse and human can actually be without any dust, resistance, frustration, anger, or fear.
* I saw love language and leadership applied with equal doses.
* I saw happy horses and people.
* I saw effective two way communication without the need of mechanical gadgets.
* I saw ordinary people getting extraordinary results.
* I saw people caring more about the mental and emotional state of their horse than a fancy, perfect performance.
* I saw horses teaching people and people teaching horses.
* I saw healing taking place.
* I saw people opening their minds.
* I saw enthusiasm and amazement.
* I saw both belief and unbelief.
* I saw people mirroring horses and horses mirroring people.
* I saw people who had taken the time it takes and their great reward.
* I saw horses that were far from machines who were allowed to have their own thoughts and opinions.
* I saw why we love horses so much.
* I saw people living their dream.
* I saw others dreaming a dream.
* I saw hope.
* I saw why God created horses!
Yes, Pat Parelli makes a lot of money. But he is also very generous and he gave a ton of stuff away. He especially likes to bless little kids. One little 7 year old boy even got to ride on Magic with him, which brought more tears for Keith and I. If you love horses it is always an emotional weekend because of the beauty and harmony of the partnerships Pat and Linda have with both horses and people.
For those of you who were there, you are probably wondering why I haven't mentioned that Pat nearly fell off from Magic. It really wasn't a highlight for me, other than I gained more respect for him by his response. It did show us he is still human and makes mistakes. An "oh boy" can even happen to the best of the best. The thing that impressed me was that Pat could laugh at himself and not blame the horse like many people in the same situation would have to do in order to protect their ego. He handled the moment with grace, dignity and harmony.
I also loved how Linda handled Remmer's right-brained issue when the crowd began clapping loudly in harmony. She put her plans with him on hold until he was comfortable and left-brained. She inspired me, and made me realize it's ok to not have everything go as we plan. She let him stop relax and come back in connection with her several times during her performance. Something that unfortunately you can't do when the blue ribbon is up for grabs. Which is one reason I can't seem to compete these days. I think a horseman should be rewarded for taking into consideration the mental and emotional state of the horse before asking for a difficult physical manuever. Setting a horse up for success is so considerate of the partner we love. Maybe our judging system needs a little tune up.
I came away from the weekend empowered once again at how dynamic the program is and how well it works when one dedicates themselves to it. My only regret is that I am not a part of their team. I have bought into the program 110% but I can't afford to become an endorsed instructor, even though I wish I could. If I did, then people around here couldn't afford me, because I would have to pass on the added expense to students. So I will be content where I am and keep moving on with a positive attitude touching one person at a time, if I can.
Horses and horse lovers are so special in everyway.
I cannot put it into words tonight.
I Just know that I love them all.
Happy Trails,
sherry jarvis
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