Hey everyone,

Well, the flu bug has gotten me and laid me low, but my weekend was brightened by a reminder of my time at Parelli with the arrival of the Parelli E-news with mine and Dreamer's picture on it (see photo). Ain't he handsome? Several of you have asked me about these courses in Florida and Colorado. Here's the skinny.

The first course of the 6 week series is called Liberty & Horse Behavior, which I took in 2006. In my opinion it should be attended by anyone serious about being an Equine Specialist in our field, even if you have years of experience with horses. The focus is on the ground and on the relationship, which tends to short-circuit many folks. In EAGALA, it's not about the activity or the goal, it's about the process. Translated into Parelli, it's not about the task or the object, it's about the relationship between the horse and the human. Hence Dreamer's long-standing hesitation to put his back feet up or in something was not about the object itself, but about our relationship and his confidence in me. The fact that he did this willingly and hung out there really speaks volumes about our relationship now. But it wasn't always this way!

The second course (the one I took this year, and also took in 2006) is called Fluidity 1, and can be summed up in the phrase "Freestyle Riding." In Freestyle, the main indicator is loose reins (no contact). The course content focuses on things like saddle-fit, shimming, being fluid in your body and helping your horse to be fluid in his/her body. But the main challenge for many people (myself included) is the concept of 49%/51% or 51%/49%. These percentages refer to which of the two of you (you and your horse) is leading, and how to flow between the two. When do you have 51% and your horse 49%? Do you ever take more than 51%? When does this reverse? The course is full of great material to think about at night, and to feel during the day.

The third course (which I've not yet taken) is Fluidity 2, about Finesse Riding, or riding with contact. When you have Control and Confidence all sewn up between you and your horse (most of the time), then you can start to play with Competence, or Finesse riding. Dreamer and I have spent quite a bit of time in the Control and Confidence stages (both for him and for me), and are just now really feeling like we can address some higher concepts. I look forward to taking the second and the third course next year. Join me in Florida in 2009 if you can!

But, if you can only take one course, take the first one. It will serve you in your EAP/EAL practice and in your horsemanship for a lifetime.

To learn more about these courses, visit www.Parelli.com.

Happy Trails!

Shannon

Hey everyone!

Just got back from Florida, and had a great and wonderful time! My horse, Dreamer, has come such a long way since we were last there, in February 2006. He was rather unconfident in new surroundings and in his leader then, and he was a changed horse this time! (I look forward to sharing my pictures of the two weeks with you in future blogs!)

One of the reasons I love going to the Parelli ranch in winter in Florida is that it gives me an opportunity to reflect and assess, and to mark progress. It’s hard for me to believe that when I was last there I was writing the text for our new website, checking keywords and trying to distill what we do into meaningful language. What a great experience that was, and I learned mounds about writing website copy, message development and the website development process by doing it.

Another major shift since I was last able to visit the Parelli ranch: I wasn’t even considering writing a book back then. Mark Lytle had encouraged me to give a presentation about the business side of EAP/EAL organizations at the EAGALA conference, and I was slated to do so, but had no idea how that one presentation would change so much. The overwhelmingly positive response led me to seriously consider writing the book you all now know as Horse Sense, Business Sense, Volume 1.

But the most significant change has been internal. Back in 2006 I was still very much learning how to be a leader, for my business and for my horse. In both areas, I wanted to be a friend and a buddy, not a boss or a leader. But what I learned was that although that may be the leadership style I wanted to embody, that was not what was being asked of me, by my staff or my horse. As I learned again at a new level, good horsemanship is being flexible enough to play with the horse that shows up, not the one I wanted to show up, or the one I expected to show up based on my play session yesterday. Being fluid and flexible, in my body, in my mind and in my leadership, is the solution.

Happy Trails, folks. And enjoy the journey!

Shannon

Hey everyone . . .

• at the beginning of the two week class, we were instructed that change occurs outside your comfort zone, and that they would be asking us to play at the edges of our comfort zone. Hmmmm....sound like anything you've heard before? 
• a popular phrase here is "It's not about the..."(fill in the blank with whatever obstacle your horse may be facing, such as "It's not about the trailer" or "It's not about the jump"). It is, however, about the relationship, first and foremost. This reminds me of it not being about the task in EAP/EAL, but about the relationship between the horse and the client. 
• we were told that although faculty are there to assist us, they aren't here to do it for us. Sometimes, they said, they may see that dark storm cloud over our head and may deliberately pass us by, without stopping to help. It's about letting us find our own answers, or at least putting ourselves out there to try some new things before rushing for answers outside ourselves. It's also about setting us up for when we go home, and there isn't a faculty member in our back pocket to help. It's about empowerment!

Hey guys!

Well, day one of my Fluidity 1 course at the Parelli Center in Ocala Florida is behind me, and I'm just as excited as I can be!

I arrived here on Sunday morning and, for those of you on the "Where's Shannon?" hunt, that was more than 24 hours after landing from the Prescott workshop in Arizona! All my travels in the past few months have been leading up to this big getaway in February, just me and my horse for two solid weeks!

I've met folks from previous visits who came to know EAP/EAL through interaction with me, and have put a face to a name from a woman in Australia who had emailed me a while back for information on getting an EAP/EAL biz started!

I've also had time to play with Dreamer, my 12-year old Palomino, who loves water and the great big pond here, as evidenced by the mud on him in the photo. We've been playing a lot of "Me and My Shadow," and the difference in his "Horsenality" from 2006 (when I took my first course with the new Parelli format) to now is striking! He's grown a lot more confident and curious in the past two years, and I'm delighted to see him grow and flourish.

Being able to mark progression in me, in my horse and in my business during my Parelli visits is one of the things I cherish most about this time away from the farm and the business. Dreamer has come a long way, but so has Horse Sense and the field of EAP as a whole. I can't imagine where we'll all be this time next year, when I plan to be doing exactly what I'm doing tonight: sitting in my horse trailer, typing another blog to all of you! There's so much I've planned for this year to help support other EAP/EAL businesses, and for Horse Sense's growth and development. It's mind-boggling sometimes to think about the growth of Horse Sense in a few short years.

But it all begins here, whether you are at a 2-week Parelli course, or at a one-day horse expo, or in your backyard offering EAP to at-risk youth. Day by day, hour by hour, minute by minute, we're all building stronger relationships between people and horses. In the process, we get to work incredibly hard and long hours, we get stretched out of our comfort zones (just like we ask of our clients), and we get to witness the amazing growth that horses foster in our and our clients' lives.

I can't imagine being anywhere else.

All the best,

Shannon

Hey everyone!

Just got in from the Parelli Savvy Conference^TM in Pagosa Springs, Colorado. It's an annual event my husband and I've been attending in some form or another for over 5 years, and each year I'm inspired, rejuvenated and amazed by what Pat & Linda are up to. The focus was on the Horsenality^TM chart that Linda recently developed, and how to apply it to all our horses to become better leaders for them.

The Horsenality^TM concept reminds me of the Myers Briggs Type Indicator. Later this month Elizabeth Barbour, my life and business coach, is administering and facilitating the Horse Sense staff in an in-house Myers Briggs session. I think activities like this help us understand one another better, and communicate more effectively. It's always fun to get the full staff together and address issues like this. There's a lot of laughter, along with self-awareness.

I did a Horsenality^TM for my palomino, Dreamer (lower left quadrant), and for several of our other horses, and it gave me insight into how to better help various horses in our herd with challenges they face. Then I decided to do a Horsenality^TM on myself and my husband, just for fun! (I'm in the lower right quadrant, Richard upper left, if you're curious!)

I also ran into several people who are practicing EAP/EAL, in Alabama, Tennessee, and Utah, among other states, and talked to quite a few who were interested in learning more. It was great to catch up on the other programs out there who love EAP and Parelli^TM!

Anyhow, I ramble. If you haven't yet visited the Parelli^TM website to play with this new tool, do so! I hope it is as enlightening for you as it already has been for me!