On Sunday, my barnmate and I drove up to Battleground, WA for a
Parelli lesson with
Michael Sparling. We met Michael at the Redmond Parelli tour stop. He is a young, enthusiastic trainer so we thought "why not?" I was a little anxious about things...I haven't had a Parelli lesson since
Ann Kiser left over two years ago. I still worry about trailering new places and how Maddy will respond. I need to get over my fears. Maddy walked off that trailer, took a casual look around and started eating grass.
So once I was over my worries about her, I worried about myself.
Running through Parelli procedures...trying to remember all the things they teach without my modifications. My lesson went really well. We focused on all online things...he called it a
"day of refinement." Polished up my weaves and worked on a better depart for the circling game. He pointed out I need to direct her zones better, which is why my circling game departs kind of started with a sideways and then depart. He was very observant and was clear with his directions. I was pretty pleased and excited to have some direction and homework.
Joni doesn't know a lot about Parelli, but was willing to try a lesson. Joni and Sky had a very similar lesson to my own, working on shoulder yields and hindquarter yields along with better departs. He comes down to our area about once a month. We are hoping we can convince Michael to hold lessons out at our barn in the Beavercreek area...wouldn't that be nice. Below are a few pictures of Joni, Sky, and Michael in their lesson. The last one is Maddy, content, not a care in the world, just make sure my haybag is full.
I have struggled with ground driving. I've tried it a few times and ended up with a horse that wanted to side pass all over the arena. She is "trying", but as her teacher, I fell short. I struggled with how I could help convey what I was asking. What was I doing wrong? Thanks goodness for Michael Sparling.
Michael is a Parelli clinician I met a couple years ago and have had quite a few lessons with him. He is an excellent teacher. I think he is the real deal, a wonderful "reader of the horse." Regardless of how you feel about Parelli methods, Michael goes beyond Parelli and is just an amazing student and teacher of the horse. A big "ah" moment was thinking of the horses nose as crossing the diagonal...when she did that to the inside..I left her alone. The side passing slowly went away.
I always walk away from the barn imagining I can't love this horse any more. Then she does new things that make me so proud of her and she finds ways to become even more special to me.
Can you tell I am 30 weeks pregnant in these photos? In ten weeks I will have a baby girl. One I hope loves horses as much as I do....looking forward to pony shopping.
