Attitude, knowledge, tools, techniques, time, imagination and support. All the ingredients necessary to have success with your horsemanship journey. So how can we bring it all together and actually put the seven keys to success in to practice? Turn it in to a club unlike any available in our area? Sure! What a way to amalgamate all the Parelli Seven Keys to Success, bringing together positive attitudes with the knowledge of Parelli Professionals, shared equipment and tools, sharing techniques, in a dedicated amount of horse only time, with the imagination of a group and the support of everyone involved.... Phew! What a weekend! My horse Leo and I both had a little sleep in on Sunday morning – we haven’t spent that much time playing out in the sun since last summer. We were so lucky with the weather too – it looks like the rain held out just for us.
At our last Hills Natural Horsemanship Club committee meeting we were all feeling a combination of excitement and nerves in anticipation of the unknown. We had no idea how the day was going to play out, we were just sure that we were dedicated to making it a beautiful day for everyone. What eventuated far surpassed anyone’s expectations! By 8.30 am our eyes were wide as we realised how many people were turning up, with trailer after trailer pulling up in the paddock. By 9am every yard was taken, with horses of all shapes and sizes settling in and making new friends and doing a little bit of weeding (and getting acquainted with some noisy chickens!) whilst just as many owners made their way over to an introduction meeting in the main hall.
We were grateful to have both Marilyn Southern and Nat Warnes join us for our first rally. They did an amazing job of introducing the club and the Parelli principles to the members and spectators! We kicked off right on time and made our way to the GIGANTIC play area, set up with loads of obstacles and patterns and equipment to play with, and both instructors teaching simultaneously. Everyone who had a lesson came away smiling, ready to practice some new skills!
Lunch time saw an amazing display of aerial dressage from some horses and ponies as they were turned out loose in the play area. They roared around for ages and it was beautiful to see some real ‘natural horsemanship’ in action as they established the herd. It is amazing how quickly they can establish leadership amongst themselves – something that takes us much longer! I spent my lunch time in the middle of the arena watching them – it was truly fascinating. Horses have some pretty nifty tricks when it comes to playing dominance games with each other! Some of them had some pretty extreme phase fours too!
The afternoon saw some more inspiring lessons and horses in a beautiful frame of mind for riding, having spent the morning being prepared! The Goal Boxes were introduced also – if anyone missed it, the aim of the Goal Boxes is to encourage us all to be progressive by setting goals for one, six and twelve months’ time. There were forms available which included a section to fill out to explain what you were going to do to achieve your goals. This was really interesting as it helped me actually plan to achieve my goals (rather than just cross my fingers and hope!).
As the day drew to a close we were so excited to discover that our new club had gained a grand total of 25 members! Thank you to every horse and human who came along to enjoy our club – you all had amazing, positive attitudes and were so supportive as we all tried to navigate our way through our first day! I would also like to thank Dee for doing a wonderful job in our canteen, Marilyn and Nat for being so flexible and inspiring, and our president, Rachel, for bringing it all together and working so hard to ensure that everyone was having a great day. We are all very grateful and excited for our next rally!
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