The horses had a day off yesterday as Ritchie and I went to visit James Roberts Foundation Station for a clinic called Plan to Plan. As the title suggests this was not the normal clinic demonstrating cool things to do with your horse, but it was a very detailed look at his general training plan and how it can be used to put a good foundation on any horse of any ability. This is much more to my likeing, rather than saying "lift your carrot stick at this moment and do this" it was a more conceptual session which could be applied by anyone according to their circumstances.
There was a session of simulating one particular manouver, the "indirect/direct rein online" exercise which I have spoken of before. Good reinforcement of the pattern which really is a foundation pattern in any training regime. I watched the Pat Parelli colt starting video when I got home (from the pub !!) and saw the exact same pattern used there, but not explained very well. James' exercise made it much clearer.
He did describe the areas of the plan where the seven games should be used, but compared to other instructors he really emphasises the seven games as a tool to be used rather than an end in themselves. I certainly got hooked on the seven games when I started Natural Horsemanship and it served me well to learn some basic motor skills and horse reading, but I am glad that someone has interupted my pattern before I made them an end in themselves.
Interstingly he also placed huge store on knowing the 10 qualities of a Horseman and the 8 Principles of Natural Horsemanship. We split into groups to really explore what they actually mean. It is easy to just learn them, be able to chant them even and then almost forget them. James clearly has them at the forefront of his mind as he works, and not just as a benal chant but as an active working philosophy.
He emphasises that the plan is not his, but Pats', however I have watched hours and hours of DVDs and never seen it explained as clearly as James managed yesterday. This is probably because I have never been on a lesson with Pat himself and to clearly explain the plan does require an interaction with the audience that DVDs do not allow.
I'll go into more detail about the plan in the future after I have licked and chewed about it myself for a while, and with James' permission of course !! However if you are really serious about using the Parelli (or any other NH method for that matter) to improve any horse then get yourself on this one day course and be prepared to have your image of NH shifted. He really emphasisis that getting to Level 4 is not a final destination, it should be achievable in a realtively short period of time (a year or less), and not to make the levels ends in themselves but as markers in development towards giving the horse a purpose (job) in life.
This is the second time that I have been to see James and the real conceptual change it has made for me is that NH is a tool to be used to enable you to achieve a desired result with horses. For James starting colts and sorting out problem horses in not a hobby, but a business. He does not fall in love with every horse he trains, he can't, there have been thousands of them. He does respect them however and uses NH to repectfully bring about a change in the horses behaviour and lives. That is the difference I have seen from others in the Parelli program and it has enabled me to see the program in a much broader context. Of all the things I have learned from James this is probably the most important and for this I sincerely thank him.
I have to mention the 2 riders who did demonstrations of the plan with two horses at different stages in their development. First up was Josh who showed us in detail how to prepare a horse to be ridden and what Follow the Rail really means. Second was Vicky who demonstrated how to use the plan to demonstrate more advanced training, in this case flying lead change. I wonder who they were more nervous of, the crowd of 60 on the course, or the man with a crutch, James !!
Just as a last thought. James emphasises having a long view plan. What are you actually going to be teaching your horse in 8 months time (James knows for his !), next month, next week, or even this afternoon ? Talking of which I had better get on with my own plan..... !
3 comments:
Sounds like an interesting clinic and actually has me a bit disheartened on one of the things I have been licking and chewing on lately. I'm not sure there is a place for the hobby horseman in the Parelli program anymore. Relationships can always be improved and I agree with "never ending self improvement" but what if all you ever want to do is trail ride or hack around the back yard. What is the plan? What else do you teach? This clinic and your thoughts on it completely reinforce this for me. Level 4 in a year or two...I've been in the program for 4 and still play in level 2/3 and may never go beyond. I am capping myself by how far I want to go with my horse, but it's a bit sad to feel that I used have a place if level 2 was my highest aspiration, but now it feels like if you not going to level 4 your not really a student. And according to this post oh by the way you don't really understand what we have been teaching you all along anyway. Thanks for the insight.
Hi fiesta831. That is not the meaning of my post at all. What is meant is that with perseverance Level 4 is not the distant goal that many think it to be. I fly gliders at a very high level (world championship level) and in that capacity have spent a huge amount of time studying sports psychology for humans and applying it. One of the central tenants is goal setting. One of the goals one MUST set is the Ultimate Goal. This is the goal that one believes one could achieve if opportunity and luck meet. In my sport it is to be World Champion.
What James has done for me is show that my Ultimate Goal should be level 4 and beyond and that it is achievable in the foreseeable future. Without that believe it would be difficult to stay motivated and even harder to decide what I should concentrate on to improve myself.
I should also add that most of the 60 participants wanted exactly what you desire, to go on a fun safe trail ride. James went into a fair bit of detail on how to use his plan to achieve just that. For me, with ambitions to become good at starting young horses, I took away from the clinic what I needed to progress towards that goal.
In fact I would say that one of the strengths of the clinic was that rather than being specific it could be applied to all manner of ambition.
I'm excited to hear more :-)
Petra Christensen
Parelli 2Star Junior Instructor
Parelli Central
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