I hosted a PNH clinic with Farrah Green June 19-23, 2008, she has been holding monthly clinics for my friend Susan in Custer SD for at least a year. My friend thought that I would love her, which I did and asked me to host a clinic, which I did, but wow I learned more then I thought I would, and I gained more respect from my horses, then I ever thought possible...
Farrah, is a PNH 2 Star Instructor... she just blew me away with her positive, confident, calm coaching style... I took Charm into the level 1 clinic and Jewel in the Level 2 clinic, I have 2 completely different horses. Each clinic was for 2 full days... Charm, my 4 year old MFT/Morgan cross has been my difficult child, I was there for her birth and she bonded to me right away, I have played with her from birth but, we had a few holes... One of them is that she has a habit of wanting to be in control and dominate humans and dogs, especially my husband and his dog, when she has had enough, she makes sure you know it... Anyway she is a very Left Brain Confident horse... GEESH, she is the type who will stand and fight with you rather then run away. "NO, I DON'T want to play anymore... She had been doing just fine for the first 1.5 days. She was happy, and enjoyed learning new things, but at one point half way through the second day she charged me when I asked her to circle me, one to many times, in her opinion. Farrah was right there talking me through every second of this horrible temper tantrum. Farrah was able to walk me though her major, in the air, on her hind legs, front legs pawing the air over my head, explosion when all I really wanted to do was get out of there, LOL! Farrah had me send her out over and over again, she had me doing jumping jacks in the deep sand until she stayed out on the circle and was calmed down. When she circled me nicely one time, Farrah had me bring her in and rub her all over, wow I was so glad that Farrah could help me with her behavior, cause I had seen this same behavior at home and had had a very difficult time with it... Farrah then asked me if she could play with Charm, which was perfect, cause I could then watch her and see how she played with her safely, as I calmed down. I was shaking and nearly in tears, the emotions had run very deep as I had faced a HUGE fear and lived through it.... What a great experience... It was an emotional breakthrough for me... as I have had MANY Horses in my life, but have never been able to work through what to do with this type of horse... I am still not sure if I have the savvy to be successful with her, but I am trying to get the savvy and know now that I know where I can go and who I can ask to get the savvy I have been seeking... Oh, and this was Charm's first MOVING trailer experience, she had been in the trailer many times, it was also her first camping experience and her first time on a picket line for more then an hour... she spent the night in a round pen next to my rig... she did GREAT!!! I was so proud of her and grateful to Farrah for helping me to become a better leader for her... The other horse I took was Jewel, my 16 year old Multi-Gaited Morgan gelding. I have had him for 11 years. We have been through so much together, he was my engagement present from my husband just after seeing Pat and Linda at the MN horse Expo and he has been my soul horse for 11 years. He has always been an Alpha Herd Dominant, Right Brained Extrovert horse. He is HOT, fast, and very athletic!!! When there are other horses around us on the trail close to us he can be dangerous, he hates having horses close to us or ahead of us on the trail, interestingly he has been fine with my friends green horse when I pony him or when we are teaching him to trailride, I am sure he could sense the purpose for it and did his JOB... When we are alone he is my perfect partner... He is beautiful and I just adore him. He came into the ring with his head high at a trot the first day. I thought he was beautiful, Farrah said something that really touched me, she said he was afraid, but did not want to run around with his head high, he was doing that cause he was afraid.... wow, that really stuck with me the rest of the day and into the next... I had learned with Charm that I had not been addressing zone 1 like I had thought I had, and I soon learned that I had not been with Jewel either.. humm that was HUGE for me and for my horses. Farrah had me do lots of calm, loving, friendly games with Jewel, She had us do them with the fence in zone 5 which JEWEL HATED, then we did friendly games with the fence in zone 1, back to friendly with the fence in zone 5, Then friendly games with my hands in all the zones, but zone 1, 4, 5 were the most difficult for Jewel and I, humm how interesting was that? Jewel did great with the Porcupine game in all the zones, then we did the driving game, she had us do the driving game from zone 3 and zone 4. Farrah told me later that if I do lots of Driving games from zone 4 and then drive him from zone 5, I will help him even more with excepting horses in zone 5! So we will be doing lots of driving games here at home... I tell you, I learned SO MUCH from doing this clinic, I am still licking and chewing, I am sharing the highlights, but please know that there was so much more that I can not put into words yet, that happened to me, cause it changed me more then I ever could have thought possible, just being around Farrah effected my soul in a positive way. She really is an amazing young women... Anyway, one of the things Farrah asked me to do with Jewel, that I thought was impossible to do when she mentioned it, was to see if I could ask him to trot for only 2 steps from a walk, then return to a walk as he circled me. At the time he was flying around me at a fast trot, I think I rolled my eyes, but I took on the challenge and what it did was give me something to play with, it gave me an opportunity to practice my savvy with him and my leadership skills in a way that let me focus on Jewel and not on what everyone else was doing, cause we were not doing the same tasks at the same speed as the rest of the class. I was in my on little world with Jewel much of the time it seemed, which was perfect for me, for us... Together Jewel went from trotting 3 circles around me, with his head in the air, and eyes wide, to traveling around me with his head and neck lower, as he did a calm trot or walk around me.. Then I could ask for a change of direction at both the walk or a calm trot. By the end of the session I was able to ask him to walk, then trot for about 1/4 of the circle and return to a calm, confident walk. This was huge for me cause we were doing this together as a team, while there were all kinds of horses and what Jewel thought were phase 4's going on all around us... wow, wow, wow and it just kept getting better. Honestly, this was an amazing experience for Jewel and I because Jewel and I are great alone and have been for a long time. I can ride him out on trails, go fast, slow, cut tree limbs while I ask him to take one step at a time with the reins on his neck... I can ride him at night in the dark alone and walk up quietly upon a deer and know he will not bolt or freak out, but put us with a herd of horses and he believed that it was his responsibility to take care of Zone's 1 and 5 by moving quickly away form them, because I was focusing on zones 2-4. Once I started to focus on all of him, he relaxed, it really was amazing to see and realize that I could have a calm, quiet, responsive horse while other horses were moving all around us. Trail rides can be the same with the right savvy. I think, I hope, I have it now. The biggest highlight for me was when Farrah had 2 of us stand with our backs together, and circle our horses around us. OMG, this was so exciting. I had always wanted to play this game, but never, ever thought I would be able to do it. What a thrill, Jewel was amazing, my human partner and I worked so well together, his horse was quiet and calm, but needed high energy phases, Jewel on the other hand needed LIGHT, LIGHT, LIGHT, low energy phases, for Rob and I to be able to keep the horses opposite each other and walking calmly around us, was so much fun, we had to bring our energy up for his horse and way down for my horse, what a great experience that was... Farrah then had us switch partners, and do it again... this was just as exciting, when she saw that we were all successful, she had us bring in yet another horse, so we had 3 horses circling us as we handed our 12 foot lines from hand to hand with our shoulders touching each other... WOW, WOW, WOW... that was simply such an exciting experience for me to be able to do with my horse and new savvy friends as Jewel stayed calm with a horse in front of him and behind him... I felt as though this task was for Jewel and I as tears of Joy streamed down my cheeks. Ask my Savvy friends about the many happy tears I shed over the 5 days! When I learned that I had been addressing zones 2-4 and not addressing zones 1 or 5 as much as I needed too... with both of my horses... it was a huge WOW insight for me.. and what a change in my horses behavior when I started to address these zones... Jewel Relaxed and Charm become more respectful... Before the PNH clinic, I had trouble with letting the horses out into the pasture 2 x's a day, Jewel would push, race by and sometimes kick Charm on his way through the gate... Now, he waits, calmly at liberty, for me to open the gate, then he walks calmly through it... honestly, something in me changed with the help of Farrah and my horses know it, respect it and have been better partners since the clinic... and the funny thing, I thought that I was doing everything right before the clinic, even though I was having trouble in some areas, I thought I was addressing the zones correctly, I thought my phases were good and my timing was right etc. I learned that I was indeed doing somethings right, but I really needed to do a few more things right. I added some very important arrows to my quiver at this clinic that will stay with me the rest of my life. The best thing was Farrah never made me feel wrong, ever... she always made me feel right and helped me to find more savvy as she presented each game and task for us to do... Interestingly, I really am not one to go to a Clinic, nor did I ever think I would host one. I am so glad my friend Susan encouraged me to do it and I know I will be hosting another clinic with Farrah next year, maybe, if everything falls into place, another one yet this fall... Savvy on, Debbie Kirchner -- My horses love their track system~ http://picasaweb.google.com/dakota.charm/TrackSystem The Soul of a Horse ~ has touched my soul, may it touch yours too! ~ thesoulofahorse.com ~
