It’s not like I haven’t been exposed to level 3. I’ve in fact completed, reliably but perhaps not with excellence, almost all of the tasks on the level 3 on-line savvy self-assessment checklist — we spent a few lessons doing that and identifying where the holes are. I’ve seen a lot of Parelli events and demos and the monthly Savvy Club DVDs.
But I realized that I’ve never actually watched the level 3 home study course. I have the 2009 version, which is not structured like a course but rather like a video of a demo or seminar with Pat.
At least, the first DVD so far is Pat playing with Aspen and describing what he’s doing. No pocket guides, no lists of exercises that build on previous exercises, no troubleshooting tips. Just Pat and a horse, with Pat talking fast and interrupting himself and not finishing his sentences, as he tends to do.
But. By the time you’re watching level 3 you’ve got the vocabulary and the experience to understand what he’s doing, so it doesn’t need to be so structured like a course. In fact, as you enter level 3, you are expected to be a puzzle-solver, in charge of your own learning.
So if I want a checklist of all of the exercises he shows with Aspen, then I can make one myself. If I think I didn’t catch something, I can rewind and watch again; they aren’t going to do a slow-motion replay. The program makes all kinds of resources available to us for level 3, but it doesn’t hold our hands. It’s like they’ve taken off the halter and what’s left is the truth.
Horsegirl on a Journey 