I decided to come back to this blog. I left it last May when I started posting all my progress with Kjarda to the Parelli Connect website. That has been a great way to log my hours and progress in the Parelli journey. But it doesn't really allow for the full meal deal of thought and process. I'll do both this year.
As I was reading back on my previous posts, I saw a consistent thread and it is still a consistent thread, because I haven't completely learned it yet. How to WAIT! I am still dealing with WAITing for Kjarda to think, to relax, to move without pushing her. So . . . this year, I will continue on that journey and hope I can get off the plateau and climb the mountain of progress!
We did make some progress last summer in spite of myself. Kjarda is so patient with me and so willing to please. We are riding bridleless now, and working in Level 4 of Finesse. However, though I have gone through all the patterns and almost all the tasks for Level 4 On-line and Liberty, we are not consistent. And there is where the problem with waiting (or not waiting) shows up the most. First, I need to be willing to go back on-line when Kjarda leaves; second I need to wait for her to absorb on-line before I go back to liberty.
Last summer I had the pleasure of attending a Norwegian Fjord breed show. Kjarda and I won the Senior High Point Award! We did good. And we were only two points away from winning the versatility award. Why did we not get those two points? Because I was unwilling to wait for Kjarda during the natural horsemanship trail course, and I pushed her through several moments that if I had waited, or slowed down, we would have earned those needed points. I learned a huge lesson there. I also performed two demonstrations . . . one was a bridleless riding demonstration which went really well. Kjarda did almost everything I asked her and when she didn't I tried to make it look like she did! We also did a liberty demo. It was the first time we had ever performed at liberty and had never been in such a large arena. Needless to say, it was an interesting experience and did not go really well. We had some good moments and she never completely ran off and left me . . I always got her attention back and she stuck with me. But we have a long way to go before I will try that again. And if I do, it will begin in a round pen where there are definite boundaries. My goal is to be able to eventually play at liberty in a large arena with complete connection and relationship. Again . . . I have a long way to go.
What now? I have been doing more studying this winter . . . watching the Success Series, the Walter Zettl "A Matter of Trust" DVD series, reading. It is only February. I have a couple more months before Kjarda is home. Lots of prayer, contemplation, study, learning to wait . . .
My goal this summer? Officially pass Level 4 in all four savvys. Lots of prayer . . .
