My time in Colorado (part 1)

The class on horseback

So many people have asked me about my time at the Parelli Center in Colorado. Some people had really no idea what it was at all - while others dream to go there and just wanted to know all about it. I decided I would share my experiences in more detail via this blog. To help prevent this blog into becoming a book, I am going to put it into parts. I'll share the typical week for us students taking the four week long course. I'll share more personal experiences in the next blog.

        The Parelli Center is an educational equine facility tailored for students of the Parelli Natural Horsemanship program. So for any of you non-horsey people who may be reading, its an educational school for horse people :). They say Parelli is way more than riding and it is. They teach so much - from the history of the horse, their personalities (Horsenalities™), saddle fitting, leadership qualities, footfalls, psychology, and so much more.  Its not 'get on your horse and ride around' and they will show you something. They had classroom sessions, demonstrations using students horses or their own, simulations, and of course with your horse on the ground or horseback.

      My days started at least 6am to get ready for breakfast at 7am. From 8am-11am they had workshops with or without your horse. Workshops were group activities which were completely optional. They had several workshops going at once so you could pick and choose which workshop you decided you needed the most guidance with. They had workshops with your horse on the ground, in the saddle, liberty (playing with your horse without a connection of a halter/lead rope), or no horse at all. After the workshops we either had a demo or classroom session.

One of many demos

    Demos consisted of one of the instructors horses or the use of one of the students horses. Demos were great for problem solving and showing new concepts. I love the demos because I learn a lot from listening and watching. The instructors verbally teach while being able to show you. Classroom sessions had a lot of information to take in, but it was all very valuable information and they also had simulations. Simulations are amazing because they allow you to practice what you have been taught and feel how the exercise works before going to your horse. In the simulations you simulated exercises as the human and as the horse. Learning what to do and having practice before your trying it on your horse is useful, but when you do the same exercise from the horses point of view, it really makes so much sense on why we do something. It really puts you in the horses shoes and gave you another way to think about what you were doing. It showed me how minor movements with your body could influence your horse and not doing it correctly can cause so much confusion on your horses end. It blew my mind.

Just thought it was an amusing photo of a simulation

     After lunch we spent the rest of the afternoon, about three hours, taking sessions with our horses (typically on horseback) until dinner time. Also every Wednesday they had a BBQ which included fire, songs, and just an overall fun time!  My day ended around 6pm, finally going up to the camper at about 7pm. I had only a few relaxing hours to myself. I would sleep at about 9pm just to get up and start it all over again the next morning. Thats pretty much how a typical day went. My next blog I'll talk more about personal experiences and the atmosphere I got from there. But now you got a general idea of what it was and what I was doing for four weeks. Hope you enjoyed it!