An Educational Experience at a Parelli Natural Horsemanship Camp Part 1 of 3

When I started writing this, it was so long that I decided to break it up into three parts....

On June 20 (Friday), David hooked up my stock trailer to the pickup, we loaded Porthos, our Percheron cross, and we headed for The Horse First Farm south of Madison, WI for a five day Parelli Natural Horsemanship camp presented by John and Kathy Baar, 5 star and 4 star Parelli instructors.

We dropped Porthos off and headed to Madison for a good night's sleep.

On Saturday, June 21st, we showed up at the farm to meet the other participants.  I had been to a couple of two-three day workshops before, but the participants were all beginners and about where I was -- some were better at some things and worse at others, but we were pretty similar in ability.  Not so at this camp.  I was definitely out of my comfort zone.  Several of the people had shown horses and a few had attended workshops at the Parelli Ranch in Pagosa Springs, CO.  I'm still a beginner -- I like horses, but I have 35 other animals to take care of so I'm afraid that they aren't my life.  Up to now, the things I've learned at the workshops I had used to make Porthos safer to be around.  He is a pushy fellow and at 1800 pounds, he is a lot of horse!!  Parelli techniques has made him more enjoyable to be around at feeding time or when I'm working in the paddock or pastures in his presence.

 

A couple of different views of our
classroom where we started each day.

This camp was totally different.  I felt lost and confused after the first day and I didn't ride the first two days since Porthos did not pass the tests to be sure he was safe -- and I'm pretty apprehensive since my knee surgeries.  I'm not just cautious around Porthos, but around the sheep and goats who might bump me (they have never butted me, but they butt one another into me -- YIKES).  So, John gave me the goal of having Porthos stand at the mounting block without moving.  The first day while others rode, I played 'the friendly game' with Porthos (rubbing him) when he stood with any of his body near the mounting block - the goal was to have him walk, when I directed him to, little by little past the block where I was standing without moving his hindquarters away from me while everyone else rode their horses -- umm, embarrassing, yes.  Challenging, yes.  I felt like staying home (or the hotel) the next day.

Working with Porthos from the mounting block.



The second day (Sunday), while everyone rode, I started with the same goal--getting Porthos to stay still at the mounting block.  Then John told me to put my foot into the stirrup and take it out, bumping Porthos as I did it.  While some the games we played teaches the horse to move away from pressure, he wanted Porthos to NOT move from pressure if my foot bumped him when I mounted.  Then, I was to pull myself into the saddle and then get down.  So, picture two hours of almost mounting and then dismounting.  I thought I'd be lucky to walk the next day -- but training at the YMCA apparently paid off since I didn't get sore.

John giving me the next step --
putting my foot into the stirrup,
starting to mount, and getting down.

I didn't want to go back.  Two days and I didn't even get to ride.  What a bummer! 

Tune in tomorrow to see what happened next....