elizabethchase1@xxxxxxxxx wrote:
The most difficult aspect of Parelli study is the mental and emotional fitness,
and I'd estimate that about 75% would be more successful with their horse and
their human relationships if they recognized their own issues and dealt with
them. >>>>>
Omigosh, this is SO true. At the Level One
I went to with Dave Ellis, a couple was there together. The wife had a mare, and
the husband had the mare's filly - old enough to ride. Dave moved them
across from eachother instead of side by side. As things progressed, the filly
became more manageable, and the mare became worse. The last morning when they
were to mount, the husband got on the filly who stood quietly. The wife,
visibly upset, tied the edgy mare to the rail and went high up into the arena
stands and would not come down. Dave never missed a beat, did not let it
ruin everyone else's learning, while still asking her to join them
occasionally as if everything was just fine in the arena - which it was.... just
not for her. I will never forget it, and it brought home to me how important
emotional fitness is to getting anywhere with a horse....and to learning in
general. It is why a no nonsense but compassionate riding instructor can
do wonders in the lives of riders of all ages - with or without
the seven games.
While I have ridden since I was seven years old
and loved it, I have learned just as much on the ground and wandering into my
herd feeding them. People want to DO when there is so much to learn if they
would just BE with horses, watching them with eachother, watching them react to
stimuli, etc. Pam
