If today were all. If it were over right now. If the entire Celebration consisted of a day of Savvy Club members in the spotlight and Pat introducing himself to the rescue horse, I would still feel the time, money, and travel were more than worth the investment.
A Savvy Spotlight (click to enlarge):
My cell phone makes it all look very tiny and far away, but it isn’t — the venue is intimate and even if you’re not in the VIP seats you have a great view. Seth brought his professional camera so I’ll be able to post some real photos in the future.
Atwood Ranch yearlings having a nap (click to enlarge):
Pat spent a good amount of time after each spotlight performance giving the person feedback on their strengths and what they can improve on and how. Seeing the different horsenalities, the various ways the people choreographed and adjusted for the horse that showed up, the different people playing in the different levels, and hearing all the feedback taught me so much.
Pat was able to accelerate learning for everyone: the performer with specific feedback, his instructors by showing them how he assesses students and what they can look for, and the audience by giving us an entire day of examples from Savvy Club members at every level and savvy followed by Pat’s analysis.
Volunteers set the stage for each spotlighter (click to enlarge):
Seth and I spent almost two hours at the Atlantis buffet (mmm) talking over what we experienced; I could craft one of those 3,000-word blog posts and still not cover it all. Instead, I will record some of the lessons I learned that have particular meaning for Rocky and me. These aren’t necessarily things that Pat said; some are insights I had while watching people do unrelated things with their horses.
Horsegirl on a Journey 