*recovering from a major jet lag. *celebrating christmas here at home with my family. *getting my application forms ready to send. *celebrating new years eve eating gourmet and stone grill, and afterwards we went dancing a little bit. It was fun! Today I have an online test French, later they will call me for which vacancies I'm suitable. Interesting!
My dog is ill... she probably won't make it much longer. We've been to the vet 3 times already, and she's still very sick. Monday we'll go to take pictures of her intestins.
By this time tomorrow I'll be on the Orlando airport... snif snif. So now I am packing like a maniac... all the space in my luggage needs to be superefficiently organised... Because else I'll have to leave things here... I still have lots of stuff to pack..
Yesterday we had a party over at Karens place.. It was very nice! We ate BBQchicken, fresh oisters and clamps, and Julie made some chili. It was delicious! A lot of people from the ranch were there. Brian and Jay played old country western songs on their guitars, and I had a real nice chat with Lauren. Suddenly she was talking about the rich history of Belgium, while I was standing behind her She visited Ieper and Waterloo (if you don't know these places you should google them immediately!), and also said that the Belgian food is the best food in the world..; I like that girl!
I am ready to go now... I experienced the 6 weeks all the way now, I still had a taste of the country and the people.. And I also know why I go home: there's no place like Antwerp. Friday I showed some pictures of my city to Julie: the cathedral, the museum of arts, the Carolus Boromeus church, the Meir, ... Now that I experienced what it's like to be in a country with a very limited history I'm for sure going to look at ours with different eyes.
I had a fantastic time here... and I am confident that things will go better at home as well.
If you wonder why I am suddenly so quiet: I am applying for jobs. I sent 21 mails to 11 different agencies... If I come home tuesday there's going to be at least 1 positive reaction for me... Fingers crossed!
If you speak German this is THE site you HAVE to visit! If you don't, just find out where the pictures are.... http://www.lancretio.de/
It is the homepage of Iris, who shared the 6 weeks with me. She is a student of the Parelli program and she competes in S-dressage in Germany. I experienced her as a very centered person, and therefore nice to hang out with. One of the good things about following this program is that you learn how to be positive, progressive and natural, and I think you can find this qualities in her, and as well in what she writes on her website. Therefore I think it's very interesting to see the mass amount of pictures she took and her comments with it.
The course is over, so now it is time to let everything soak in, and enjoy my last week here in Florida.
In opposit to what I experienced during the weekends of my previous stay in Florida I didn't see so much of the country. That's mainly because this time I didn't have my party loving friends Sergio and Kyanna, and I also didn't have a rental car to go places. What I did have was... California girl with a comfortable Suburban.... who was so friendly to drive us 'everywhere' for 50 bucks a week. I soon found out that the word 'everything' covers the following places: Western World, Walmart, Mac Donalds, the Smoothie place, Wendy's, the Petro truck stop, Publix, Target, Best Buy, and of course the mall (both the Paddock Mall in Ocala as the Oaks Mall in Gainesville). The only exciting things I've seen during the weekends is the bowling alley and the movie theatre... Of course I am very grateful that I had a ride to get the supplies we needed to stay alive, and afer all I had a lot of fun with my 2nd roommate Gerlinde (I'll spare you guys the story about my roommates, but I returned the crappy one and got I nice one in return). At this point now I see that the gap between the cultures is more than Country Western Music and the type of car you drive in. In Belgium I never ever go shopping full days... 3 or 4 hours at max. Let alone that you do that every week, six weeks in a row.... I had a creepy feeling crawling down to my spine that this can be indeed ALL, and than I mean literally ALL life is about over here...
BUT Sunday morning Julie, Angelica, Gerlinde and me went to the cane grind. That's a harvest party of sugar canes. It was at a big old Southern house, which this family bought from the Spanish over a hundred years ago... real pioneers! The lady of the house was a real artist. She made jelly, bread and sirrup from the fruits of her garden, and she also decorated her Christmas tree with all natural things. We saw the cane being stripped into a machine that sqeezed the moisture out of the canes, and that was cooked above a special fire... It smelled delicious! Then we were invited to eat saucages, biscuits with sugar cane sirrup, and a big cup of coffee. We chatted with the grandma, the children and the grandchildren. In the afternoon we came back to buy more of their goodies, and everybody was there: 4 generations playing and chatting and having fun, ... of course a couple of dogs, some bikers... Black people and white people.. I loved it! A garden party in december... It felt like I was dropped in the middle of a movie scene
In the end the lady said to me that she was happy that a foreigner got to meet the real Florida... I have a lot of pictures which I'll soon put on Webshots... I had a fabulous time over there! I feel very lucky to find out that Florida is more than a nature park disturbed by huge commercial areas. Florida has the real southern soul....
Just a thought about last week: chaos is an essential stage of a learning process. It's the step where all the pieces of the puzzle are on a big pile on the table, the only thing you have to do is find the right construction. I think becoming a horseman is like a puzzle... Your horse, yourself, the principles and the purpose are the pieces, your learning curve defines the time line on which you add the pieces together. The more structure and consistency you build, the easier the puzzle will be. It's like finding the corner pieces first, that are the principles. Then the side pieces, that are the level 1 basics. Everything in between is attached to that. Level 10 is seeing the whole picture...
Yesterday I tried all the stuff, all at once: Longitudinal flexion using a fluid rein, latitudinal flexion using a direct rein, indirect rein, a suspension rein, and also transitions using a suspension rein... The fluid rein was ok, suspension rein was ok while on a latitudinal pattern (simply said: a cirlce), transitions was .. less. I was amazed on how particular you have to be in your body (The drag queen position, or contra-latitudinal position), especially your shoulder and hip position to get a nice response in your horses body and get him to soften his jaw. This stuff is really high level... Very interesting!
I also noticed he's not yet confident with the bit in his mouth, although he accepts it very well. Further I observed that he's not capable of shortening or lengthening his stride... he just speeds up or slows down without any difference in his body shape. Interesting!
The major things I have to work on are: RELAXATION!!!! Big time... Swinging the ribs so he's physically capable of moving his rib cage and swinging his shoulders more out and forward.
How can I let this horse move more like a tiger, and less like a turtle?
Yesterday my roommate told me I'm really pretty much the same as the Scrat, from the Ice Age movie I think it's a real good image to store in my head... whenever I go back to the extremes of my quadrant, I can think about that cartoon, and relax a little bit. After all, there's nothing wrong with being a Scrat, we're very friendly animals.... just a little completely crazy
I had a fabulous day Saturday. Very easy on line session, and I spent a long time in the arena. I played with a circle pattern, follow the rail, tit for tat, pushing passenger and figure 8. In the end my impulsion at the walk and the trot were perfect! I was really happy that day, because the results were more then I expected.
No further information today because my brain is cooked.
In the evening of Thanksgiving Julie invited me and my new roommate Gerlinde to share the turkey at her place... I ate way way way too much, the food was amazing! I also enjoyed the atmosphere around the house, it's so much different then what I am used to in Belgium... I never experienced such a warm and relaxed atmosphere during a family party.
The next day was about A Bit of savvy, and bridles. I learned a lot of new information, especially about the sweet iron snaffle and the confidence snaffle, and the difference in when to use it. Lunch was completely made out of all the leftovers from the previous day, and again.. I ate way too much!Averys cheese balls are the best! As I am typing this, I am getting hungry again
The afternoon I played a little bit on line, and went to look at the workshop about impulsion: straight lines and circles. Then I tacked up, which took me over an hour because I had to redo my shims about 3 times. When I let him trot one lap the saddle shifts forward for about 5 inches.. Very interesting... I asked Cathy some advice. She told me that the balance saddles are designed to show everything... crookedness, a downhill horse, an unbalanced rider.. everything makes the saddle shift. Shims don't help for a downhill horse, because the saddle slides forward and ends up at the limits of the scapula, however you shim it... So there's one thing I have to start playing with: getting him to move more efficiently, upward, with rhythm, in balance,...
Then Angelica came to see her horsey... and we talked for a long time. Afterwards I just put the bridle on and lead him to his pen to feed him... Scoring points!
Yesterday was leadership day, but also thanksgiving.
In the morning we had a very interesting class room session about the Parelli formula: rapport - respect - impulsion - flexion. I learned a lot! At noon we shared with all the faculty, students and ranch crew the thanksgiving lunch. The food was delicious! In the early afternoon I had an hour to play with Dancer. We went near the giraffe barn, because there is a nice 3step cavaletti. I brought his enthusiasm up with some transitions and changes of direction during a traveling circle, but then I started to feel that we were missing some respect in our communication. Not that he was really disobedient, but his zone 3 was a little bit to much towards me. I asked him on a smaller circle in a slower pace, and started to gently push zone 1-2-3 out. This worked really good, it's the first time that he trotted with more tact and latitudinal flexion. We are taking this up to a higher level! Than he offered me to go over the cavalettis.. Good thing! Nice work! It's so much more when they suggest themselves and seek their way in.
Yesterday was jumping day. I started with a strong warm up upon the hill. I really looked for him to maintain his responsabilities... still need to work a little bit more on 'don't change gait' and 'don't change direction'. When he circles up and down the hill he often breaks into a trot or cuts of the corners... which is actually also a little bit cute! My riding session started also on the hill. A lot of people where there for the workshop about jumping, and my horse got suddenly lots of energy. I started with follow the rail along the outside of the honeycomb, I didn't need much support with my stick. First both ways at a walk, then both ways at a trot. He moved freely, with a lot of intension, which felt good. Then I took a couple of very low jumps at the walk, I really focussed on pushing my back out, and for both mental and physical engagement for Dancer. He has some trouble going straight towards the jumps, and moving on in a straight line, therefor I played a while with a yoyo-game at just one pole on the ground. This was interesting. Then I walked down the hill and did a weaving pattern, at a walk. Being a RBE I probably didn't try long enough, and he still didn't fully understand the idea of the pattern. But I went on.. to be more particular about transitions and impulsion. I went to the middle big round pen near the lodge. First it was a big mess... again ears back, snaking... nose in the ground...I just continued, but that didn't really improve. Then I went back to the walk, stayed on the rail, and did very slowly but steady upward transitions towards the canter, and back down. In the canter I really feel his ribs get stuck on the left, and he is very much on the forehand. I wanted to do a little bit more to end on a good note, so I went to the arena for a clover leaf pattern. I was all alone there, and he was a little bit distracted, not motivated anymore, ... not really set up for success. But I just observed him while I managed him through the pattern just once. It was clear to me that I have to be more aware next time to keep his mind, before I start concerning about his body. Accidently Cathy came by, and after a long chat she gave me a couple of good arrows: -keep the riding session short, with a plan,... In between go back on line, to get his enthusiasm back. -Do more exercises to get him to move his body more upward instead of just forward. -Keep the Parelli formula in mind: first rapport, than respect, then impulsion and after that flexion.
Yesterday I didn't feel so fit, so I moseyed around. This was actually a very good idea, because my brain was too cooked with all the new information that was given the past 4 weeks. I just sat in the round pen, than on the hill, than in the honey comb upon the hill,... easy and relaxed. I am dreaming a lot about finding a new horse.. What breed, horsenality, age,... It is nice to have a dream for the future.... Today I feel a lot more energetic!
Finesse riding is only possible if there is zero brace from both rider and horse. So the challenge of this course is to prevent or solve any brace... Interesting! The afternoon was reserved to play 'Me and my shadow' again, this time you were also allowed to mount and do a passenger lesson. Dancer guided me along the fence to say hello to Old George, and then over the hill. His main business was eating... Then I mounted, and suddenly his life got more up. He walked with wide, flowing strides (Interesting!), in one straight line towards the pens, where there is food to find. He stuck his head in every bucket... and when I asked him to continue he clearly didn't think that was such a good plan. I tried to bring his head up... and he braced against me. How interesting... It is not so easy to keep the tension, and then add a little, because his back is very slippery and he also often makes very sharp turns. Anyway, patience and persistence is a strong arrow.. and we made it safely but steadily without ruining other peoples buckets.
Today I will look again for more obedience. It is fluidity day today, so I probably going to practice a lot of transitions again... see how I can impress this horsey...
Yesterday was Sunday, and the new students for the fluidity 2 course came in. During the morning I had a lot of fun with Dancer just playing on line.. I checked my leadership skills again with trailer loading and swimming. We have absolutely no issues anymore! So... where to go next?
In the afternoon I wanted to continue with some bareback riding, so I warmed up strong... and I got what I was looking for: a strong horse. He even bucked a couple of times, and went very exuberant during a falling leaf pattern... The cool thing was that when I disengaged him he trotted towards me, stopped before me, dropped his head and started licking and chewing... for a long time! Then I went to the honeycomb, this time I took my stick with me to ride. This is still very much 'wrong thumb on top' feeling for me. I did a follow the rail pattern at a walk, both directions. Then a clover leaf pattern at a walk, both directions. In the end I did a follow the rail pattern at the trot both directions, but I felt a little bit slidy... his trot was more go, and I brought him down every 10 strides.
Today we are asked to do 'Me & my shadow' again, and if we get there we can also do it while riding, which equals a pushing passenger lesson. I don't know if I'll make it today, because I am a little bit emotional... which is normal if you're following a course here. I am now at my 30st day here at the center, and I feel very tired, and my brain is cooked I am really encountering myself here, and that's interesting. I feel my limitations both emotional, mental and physical, but through that I am also discovering my potential, and I have a lot more to offer myself than I have been doing... In 3 weeks I am back on the plane to Belgium, and I have a lot of plans....
She visited Ieper and Waterloo (if you don't know these places you should google them immediately!), and also said that the Belgian food is the best food in the world..; I like that girl!
