Lil and I in Four Collections.

What springs to mind when I look at this series of photos is Collection. The dreaded word. It is dreaded for me because the word itself is so over used and misused and flat out misunderstood.

I like how Pat points out that the opposite of collection is scattered. If we accept this to be true, we can say that the opposite of scattered is collection. Then, we have a reasonable starting point.

These photos embody Lil and I being together in "FOUR COLLECTIONS". I learned this from Pat Parelli.

RAPPORT (heart collection) Bonding and Trust. Especially me trusting her because I'm the one who is worried about jumping. She is the one giving me confidence. How cool is that?

RESPECT (mental collection) Communication and response. She is understanding what I'm asking and is willing to do it.

IMPULSION (emotional collection) Go equaling whoa. This is the ultimate exercise to test this and has miles of "dressage" implications.

FLEXION (physical collection) In the simple purpose of jumping halfway over the barrels we are gathering ourselves up, balancing for a moment in full engagement, moving forwards and then halting.

Of course all of this ads up to being in harmony with Lil mentally and emotionally as well as sharing her physical power. A brilliant combination. It really was a great day. Karen Rohlf is so right when she says: "Harmony feels good and Beauty is obvious."

Here's a short one minute clip of us playing around.