“So here I am at the end of the fourth and final week of the Fast Track course at the Parelli campus in Florida. It’s been yet another intense and exhilarating week, packed with teaching and our final tests.
Last week I mentioned that I’d watched Linda Parelli teach the Game of Contact to some of the instructors. Imagine our surprise and delight then when it was our turn on Monday morning. This was a horseless session, with Linda using a simulator to help us practise our seat, rein position and movement. She spent three hours with us giving demonstrations and then helping us individually to experiment and feel. Linda loves teaching, and this was a great opportunity for her to get some feedback from us as learners as how best to teach it. It was a privilege to be part of that process and to start learning in a whole new area. After that it was back in the classroom to learn about the steps needed to set up flying lead changes, followed later by simulations – a lot of fun!
As you may have read in my previous posts, riding with confidence is one of my biggest challenges, and I’ll readily admit that, even with last week’s successes, I struggled during this course to find the energy and determination to really push myself out of my comfort zone and up to the next level. But on Tuesday morning I finally reached the point where I simply wasn’t satisfied to keep staying where I am – who wants to be mediocre forever? I don’t! Okay, so it had taken me quite a while to reach this point, but better late than never, eh?! Thanks to some individual coaching from US-based Three-Star Instructor Farrah Green I had the most productive and pleasurable afternoon’s riding, finishing up with a relaxing ride around the campus with one of my fellow students. One of the best days on the course!
On Wednesday the final testing began, starting with the theory test. I was excited and ready to take it – who knew I’d ever get excited about taking a test?! That evening a spectacular storm arrived and brought hours of heavy rain. With flooding all around, we all wondered what would happen regarding our practical tasks. The rain stopped just as we began the practical tool testing (knot tying, rope handling and tool management), and the sandy ground drained the water away amazingly fast – although some serious machinery was needed to drag the trailer we’d be using for the On Line testing out of the pool it was sitting in!
Before lunch we completed the ground skills tasks, which included On Line (with ropes) and Liberty (no ropes). Although the pressure was undoubtedly on, the process was a fun one, with plenty of support within the team. After lunch it was time for the ridden tasks. Horses now dried out, we saddled up and prepared for riding. After mounting I spent quite a bit of time preparing myself and my horse for the tests before lining up for the first one – I was excited to put to the test everything we’d learned and very happy that I was feeling so confident about it. Then the most annoying and disappointing thing happened. I was halfway through the first task when another horse lunged at mine, ears back and teeth bared. My horse defended herself by leaping sideways. It all happened in a split second, and unfortunately I lost my seat and ended up on the ground, landing shoulder first. Ouch! I was taken for X-rays but fortunately nothing was broken – just muscle damage that required nothing more than rest, ice packs, and ibuprofen. Phew!
On Friday morning we had our final group session and then split up to meet with our coaches individually to get our results. Although I’d been unable to register a score for the ridden tasks due my fall I was delighted with my final result, especially with a Level 4+ score for Liberty! I achieved the score needed with regard to ‘professional aptitude’, theory test, and tool skills to go on to pursue the instructor course, and once I have improved my horsemanship scores (which I am able to do back home with my own horse) this is something that I would definitely like to do.
On our last day we were also able to share the news that Parelli had won an Equestrian Social Media Award for best use of social media from a riding centre (as well as best YouTube channel and best Facebook page!). Check out the short acceptance speech video we made during week two that we had to keep secret until the results had been announced – you’ll see the whole Fast Track group!
In my last blog next week I will share some of my overall reflections about the course. For now though, thanks for sharing my weekly journey with me. It’s been a pleasure to share with you and I hope that you have a good insight into what the Fast Track course looks like. If you’d like to find out more about Parelli or the courses available in the UK, US or Australia, visit the Parelli website and come and meet Pat and Linda Parelli themselves at the UK Celebration at the LG Arena in Birmingham on 9-10 April 2011. See you there!”
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