penn valley | Horsegirl on a Journey

Posts Tagged With: penn valley

The first necessity of progress

Posted on September 2, 2013 by horsegirlonajourney

One of the refrains that used to confuse me in lessons, before Parelli, was being told “That was perfect! Let’s go do something else.”

There I would be, panting but ecstatic, having finally achieved a good 20-meter circle or a small jump or a walk-canter transition, and instead of celebrating this masterpiece by doing it one or five or twenty-seven more times, my instructor would cheerfully come up with some other impossible task. And five minutes later, there I would be, fumbling and incompetent all over again, unable to bask in the glory of the previous accomplishment.

Now I understand that we were letting the horse know that he had performed his task beautifully. Once he put his will and effort and grace into the pattern, there was no need to ask him (or worse, to make him) do it again and again and again and again until it was no fun at all.

I understand even more now why not to ask your horse to repeat his performance. While your motivation is likely something like Wow! That was amazing! I loved that! Let’s do it again!, for your horse, asking again is like saying the first time wasn’t good enough. That he put his best hoof forward and you weren’t satisfied.

On Friday, riding Rocky around the arena in the bareback pad, everything felt right, and I asked for a canter. I’ve never cantered bareback and have only cantered once — on a lesson horse, not on Rocky — in the past four years. Yet I’ve been feeling caged and discontent recently and needed to try something new, something unexpected. I didn’t even ask my witnesses to get out a camera to document the occasion. I just shifted my weight a little, asked for Rocky’s attention with my outside rein, and kissed.

He was soft and smooth and willing and engaged his hindquarters and we cantered the short side of the arena and then came down to a trot with me laughing and saying gooooood booooy in that low voice Rocky responds so well to. We stopped and received much congratulations and petting and love.

And I knew that the one thing I could do that would ruin everything for Rocky (and thus for me) was to ask for it again right away. I let him feel my delight and love, and made no further demands for the rest of our ride.

I spent the rest of the afternoon euphoric and telling everyone within earshot, but it wasn’t until bedtime that I remembered what I wrote on my About page when I first launched this blog.

This blog is my personal journal of a lifelong love of horses and my commitment to pursuing excellence in horsemanship every day. My goal is to have the best relationship it’s possible to have with my horse — and then improve that into the realm of impossibility. I also want to be able to canter bareback. ~ Horsegirl

Categories: Freestyle | Tags: horseback riding, parelli natural horsemanship, penn valley | 3 Comments

Helmet head is one of my favorite hair styles

Posted on August 26, 2013 by horsegirlonajourney

The Bay Area Equestrian Network highlighted one of their most popular articles today, The Top 10 Reasons Why It’s Cool to Wear a Helmet. The reasons listed in the article are sound, but it puzzles me that anyone would ever have to defend their helmet, or that anyone would feel too embarrassed to wear a helmet due to others not — or that one would reluctantly wear a helmet because others do.

I can’t remember anyone ever ribbing me about wearing a helmet, even on a dude string trail ride in the mountains. Maybe this is because I didn’t grow up in the world of rodeos or ranching? I can absolutely see that a wide-brimmed hat is necessary for ranch work, for all kinds of reasons: prevent sun headaches and migraines, shield one’s eyes, protect one’s skin, fan one’s face, support one’s body language for driving cattle and horses, cool one’s entire body by wetting and wearing, provide a makeshift water bucket, and so on. So maybe the kids growing up in that world make fun of the kids taking English lessons and helmets are one of the visible differences to tease about. (I’m sure it works both ways, with English riders scoffing at Western riders just as much, simply because some people who fear differences lash out at the Other in order to quell their own internal fear temporarily.)

I’ve seen criticism directed at Pat and Linda Parelli for not wearing helmets, or for not pushing helmets on their students, as if their choice not to wear helmets somehow forces other people not to wear helmets. When asked, Pat and Linda have both said that helmets are personal choice. I like that Pat and Linda do not attempt to become regulatory agencies or fashion consultants or safety inspectors or preachers. They trust us to figure out how to wear a helmet, or not, without running to a Parelli for direction or approval.

In Linda’s studies with biomechanics expert Colleen Kelley, Linda has been wearing a beautiful helmet. I suspect — but have no evidence to prove one way or the other — that this is one of those “If you’re going to be in my class, you’re going to wear a helmet” choices on Colleen’s part, and “I want to learn from this instructor so I shall wear a helmet” choices on Linda’s. And then both women promptly stopped thinking about the helmet and focused on the important thing: horsemanship.

I’m surprised that helmets are not mandatory at equestrian competitions, not so much because I want helmets to be compulsory for everyone just because I choose to wear one (most of the time), but because of the event insurance business. I certainly don’t want insurance underwriters in charge of equestrian businesses! I’m just surprised that they aren’t, yet. Remember Heinlein’s wisdom? The answer to any question starting, “Why don’t they-” is almost always, “Money.”

I rode a motorcycle for 15 years before selling it to buy a horse, so maybe I’m just more accustomed to the feel and necessity of helmets. California made helmets mandatory only a year or two before I bought my first bike, but I’d have worn one anyway. (Bare-headed bikers in Hawai’i and Colorado always look naked to me even when they are in full leathers!)

I wear a helmet about 97% of the time when I’m riding horses, in private and in public. The other 3% of times are when I spontaneously slither onto a bare back when I wasn’t intending to ride but the energy just feels right and the invitation is there, and it is easy enough to slither off again if the energy changes.

If you get teased about your helmet, I suggest grinning back and saluting and saying “thanks for noticing!” And then return your focus to your horse and get on with your day.