Like you know that little program I did with Moose a while back because he kept putting his head up when I haltered him? It didn't do anything. He still does it. It's just that now I've accepted that I'm not going to fix that right now. It was a complete moment of "can't see the forest for the trees." I'm glad it did it, since I usually don't stick to programs because every day I want to try out something new, and this one actually lasted for a few days, but I still see now that it was pointless.
So, my inability to stick to programs and my tendency to over-analyze has caused me to think some more. (God help me, more thinking!) I need to make a program and just stick to it, so I don't bore my horse, or get stuck on one little task. So, my solution to this is to come up with a program for each session, so I have a focus on what I want to do. Normally, I would
n't decide to do this, because I get direct-line, but I had a thought a minute ago. If you have 15 minute to play with your horse, that doesn't mean that you have "get 'er done" in that time. It just means you have 15 minutes. Good to know. I'll update again when I decide how exactly I want to proceed with this. . . we're able to do Liberty somewhat consistently now (YIPPEE!!!!!!!), so I might try for my Level 2 Audition and then start making programs, but we'll see. It's a balancing act: Relationship vs. Progress. Take too long in the relationship department, and you'll wind up not making any progress and dealing with a bored horse. Go too far down Progress lane, and your relationship goes out the window.A tad off topic, but I don't know if any of you have read the book Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell (it's on Parelli's recommended reading list, and is a very interesting book), but one of the things the author mentions is that in order to become an expert at anything, it takes approximately 10,000 hours. I copied the following excerpt from Catherine Nugent's "How to become an Outlier??"
This got me thinking- how many hours have I spend with my horses? No much when you consider that it takes 10,000 to master a skill, according to the book. I spend about three hours on average a week with my horse. Not nearly enough! I've spend about 470 hours since I started Parelli with my horses- give or take a bit. I've spent about 35 with Archie- not much when you look at it like that, hey? That's one weeks worth of working hours to me. One week! That's nothing! If I want to be really good with horses, then I need to get 10,000 hours. That's 3 hours a day, seven days a week for ten years; Or 8 hours a day for 3.5 years. Interesting hey? How good would I be if I spent THAT much time with my horses? How good would my horses think I am?
Very interesting. Especially since I have professional goals, I found that incredible how to become a master horsewoman, I'd need to spend 3 hours a day for 10 years. Lately, I'm getting around 3-5 hours a week, which makes my grand total hours with Moose somewhere near 370 hours. If you're curious how many hours you've played with your horse, there's 2 options for ya:
- If you play daily, multiply your average hours playing with your horse by 365 days in a year to equal your grand total.
- If you play a certain amount weekly - let's say 5 hours a week, then multiply that number by 52 weeks in a year to equal your hours per year. In this case, it would be 260 hours per year.
