Wednesday, May 26, 2010

Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding!


Yaaaaaaaaaaahoooooooooooo! My lesson with Linda and Lil was priceless. I'll have to mill out what I learned as I process and absorb it.


Yesterday I was playing with Lil and a very large bell went off in my head.


In our lesson at the Parelli Across America event in Redmond, OR Lil came into the arena acting like a Right Brained Extrovert*. Linda helped me understand the strategy of asking her to go faster than she wanted. If she couldn't keep her feet still then "lets move them!". Now, I've heard this for years, but to see it utilized for a horse that I know really well, helped me big time.


Not too much...just enough. Add just enough energy to take over leadership. Its not a punishment. Which, although I didn't think that I was using it that way. . . . clearly I've been doing too much. Linda told me to be very careful not to add motion to the commotion. (I moved my feet a lot. arg!) Understand Lil's idea... "eeeeek! I've gotta move" then ask her to do more of her idea. All of a sudden, without even knowing it, she's following me. I get it! And boy did it work like a charm.


In pretty short order Lil could stand still. Even in front of all those people! But as soon as I asked her to do something too loudly she went introverted. To entertain the crowd Linda told tons of stories in her spellbinding Linda way and shared lots of Horsenality* info while we waited. . . . . . .And waited and waited and waited. Finally, in her own time, Lil came off of the adrenaline. In the end she yawned for like 5 minutes, rolled, rubbed and nuzzled Linda. She had made it to a confident Right Brained Introvert*. I could feel the grin on the crowd.


One of the stories Linda told was from the Australian Parelli Event. (you can read about it at Linda's Blog the may 17th post) Her lesson there was with a Right Brained Extrovert. She talked about riding the horse and allowing her look around but not letting her get fixated.


So here was the big bell yesterday: All of a sudden I could recognize the difference between a Right Brained Extrovert frozen in place and a Right Brained Introvert gone introverted.


There have been times (looking back now I can see) where Lil was fixated. She would run around like a loon, freeze, then run around some more. This is why I kept saying that it wasn't "sticking". In this case I need to help her to focus. Ask her to do something. Making sure that I match her energy. Sometimes that means being pretty gentle. Sometimes that means I've gotta get pretty big. But the thing I realized is that just waiting for the next explosion is not the right strategy.


However, when Lil goes introverted I do need to wait for her to become confident enough to ask me a question and request further instructions. Linda has said that and written it a hundred times. Wait Wait Wait Wait Wait! Its just I was doing the right thing at the wrong times. Ah yes. What is that Patism about where to be, when to be, why to be, what to do when you get there and when to stop doing what you're doing? . . . something about that being true savvy...??


When she's in an RBE freeze its almost as if she's still vibrating. when she's in an RBI introversion, its so quiet! And now after the stark difference she showed in Redmond I CAN SEE IT!!!! Hallelujah! I was literally yelling with excitement into the phone when I called my husband yesterday to share my breakthrough. lol.


This will change everything for me and my horses. Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding! Jackpot baby!

11 comments:

  1. thanks for sharing! that was super intressting! and how lucky you are to have a lesson with The One And Only Linda :))))

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  2. Wow, I would love to see the footage of that. I have mostly RB horses, dealing with rescues, and sometimes it is hard to pick the difference between an RBI in the explosion phase from an RBE. Or be able to tell the the difference between RBE going introverted or becoming confident. I love AHA BFO breakthroughs! congrats! I'm sure your journey is going to sky rocket!

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  3. Boy, I wish that I could see footage too. Perhaps they will release it on a future Savvy Club DVD?

    I think that I can picture the "vibrating" RBE vs. the super quiet RBI..

    Thanks, Emma!

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  4. I was there and saw the whole thing. It was totally amazing. I learned so much that weekend. I didn't realize how much I was learning. Slowly things are sinking in more and more. It is such a gift from the Parelli's that they allow us witness these "lessons"....

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  5. Hey Emma, you and Lil have been featured in Linda's blog!

    http://parellihorsemanship.wordpress.com/2010/05/29/relaxation-strikes-again/

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  6. Lovely to read and I am going to follow your blog now too... I love blogging my Parelli stuff and following others that do too - nice blog - thanks - looking forward to seeing the Savvy Club DVD!! Vicki

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  7. Wow. I saw the post on Linda's blog and followed the link. I'm looking forward to the day when the lightbulb goes off in my own head, and I can make distinctions like the one you can see now (between RBE frozen and RBI Introverted). It must have been amazing to study with Linda. You're being added to my blogroll. (Wyldehorse63 on Savvy Club Forum)

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  8. Love your account! I deal w/the same thing every day. Now if I can just see it...humm. Found your blog through Linda's Blog. Thanks!

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  9. yeah guys! i'm so excited! each piece of the puzzle is so important. i'd love to hear more about how you guys might have used this info to help your own horses. :)

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  10. Just found this blog after looking for ideas on the game of contact for my RBE Thoroughbred gelding. Am looking forward to reading more about your progress! Thanks for sharing :-)

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