Pennsylvania Adventure

This past weekend a friend I headed south of the North Land to a small town called Altoona, in PA, to attend a series of workshops being put on by Jake Biernbaum [3*] and Dancin Pete Rodda[2*]!!

It was only about seven hours away, so really not that far in the grand scheme of life. To be fair, I drove that WITH Mo in June for the tour stop. So going without her [sad:( ] and getting to take Kara's bigger-on-the-inside teeny car [seriously, $35 to fill up.... are you kidding me??]  up into the mountains of PA for some Parelli fun.

I went with the intention of supporting Kara in her first long distance driving foray, and also to socialize and catch up with my friends. Turns out I got a whole lot more out of the weekend than I planned for!  I really am not even sure I am finished digesting everything yet, and about 70% of it isnt even horsemanship. Kara and I had some amazing conversations that have really caused me to think a lot, plus what we talked about with Jake and Pete and the others at the clinic.

We arrived Friday afternoon to our B&B - which was GORGEOUS! Full on HOLY WOW when you drove up gorgeous. This is it - http://www.bedandbreakfast.com/pa-tyrone-stonypointbedbreakfast.html?gclid=COaf6qGzi7sCFa9aMgod7i4Atg in case you are headed to Harmony Horsemanship Center and need a great place to stay! It was beyond beautiful, with so much character and a story! Apparently it was built in the 20's from timbers off of old rail road cars, when they were converting all the cars to steel! There was a connection to the Free Masons as well. Very cool history.

The house itself was just so welcoming. The carpets were plush, all the doorways were arched and inviting. Our rooms were luxurious and used RADIATORS for heat!! The radiators were inset into the window frames, so there was shelving on top of the one in my room - I laid my pjs and clothes there each day, and was rewarded with warm clothes to put on each morning and night! What a treat, because it was COLD!

After settling in on Friday, we headed over to the facility where there was going to be a demo and dance night. Getting to see Pete again was so nice! He was just here in September, but re-connecting with friends is always great. Its been much longer since I saw Jake [ 2011?] so it was great to catch up in person again too. Thank goodness for social media - really, it doesnt feel so long between visits with all my worldy friends thanks to things like facebook.

The demo was great. River - Pete's mare - is looking AMAZING - and she was pretty before! Lil Grey was adorable, and it was fun to see him 'live' after seeing pictures and video of him before this weekend. I always love watching parelli people - especially instructors - with their personal horses. Its one thing to get international instructors to come teach locally, but to see them interact with their own horses, where the relationship is the foundation, its just awe inspiring to me.

After the demo, we learned the 7 games dance. Ive learned it before, but it was tweaked a little since then, so I wasnt quite as comfortable as I thought I would be. Consider the silly bridge crossed. Surprisingly, it was quite 'warm' the first day - 13 degrees or so. We mistakenly thought that would set the tone for the whole weekend.... *sigh*

Saturday morning was COLD!!! The wind was picking up and snow was threatening! How rude. The arena at HHC is gorgeous - The whole east wall is open to view the mountains! It just isnt all that warm unfortunately. Though honestly, I am not sure anything could have kept us warm.

The first workshop of the weekend was about personal space. Jake and Pete presented their ideas surrounding 'Brick Wall and Feather' - are you the wall, or are you the feather? After the theory discussion they headed out to play with some of the ideas for the morning.

The afternoon was all about rein positions and leg positions - theory and then practical. I will admit to being so cold I bailed to the heated viewing room/class room, so I didnt hear everything, but saw most of it. The evening was finished off with an amazing lasagna and meatballs meal presented up at the house. The amazing and gorgeous house that had RADIANT HEAT FLOORING in the dining room. I was not the only one who laid out on the floor to de-thaw that evening!

The meal was delicious, the company was fantastic, and the time seemed to go to fast. It felt like no time at all before we were headed back to the B&B to gear up for the next day.

Liberty was up the next morning, after a theory session about the lines in a round pen. With all the snow the day before, the outdoor round pens were 'out of order' [aka - none of us wanted to stand out in the snow and wind] so we concocted one in the indoor arena made from barrels, jump standards and ropes laid on the ground to mark the boundaries. Then all the people stood around the outside to reinforce said lines. It worked out pretty well! It was a really interesting morning, if VERY cold!

At lunch time, there were leftovers so we all got treated to more hot food and warm floors!! Best invention ever! I thought for a minute there might be a schedule change to keep the afternoon session horseless, but the riders were brave and headed out after the theory discussion, ready to ride patterns!

Jake did a great demo about getting/building neutral on the figure eight that really dropped the last pieces in place from what I had learned from Pete on his last two Canada visits. It allowed me to come home and get to where Mo trotted two laps pf the pattern all on her own while I stood in neutral, in just one 15 minute session!

Right at the end of the clinic, one of the horses coliced - seemed very mild though. We quickly treated her with the red lights and essential oils, and she was up on her feet in about 45 mins - and I heard she was doing great the next day too. After that scary interlude, we all went up to finish off the last of the lasagna and meatballs and enjoy some more time on the heated floors.

We had more good times after dinner, playing Pete's board game called the Seven Games [all Parelli trivia] and then trying to learn how to juggle with lemons - I learned that if you drop a lemon enough times, you get lemonade! We had some pretty squooshy lemons by the end! Finally, late into the night we said our final goodbyes and headed back for one last night at the B&B. One more night of warm jammies and then we packed up to head home Monday morning.

It was sunny again, no more snow falling. The temperature rose steadily as we got closer to home - ironic, no? We got lucky and had great, easy travels in both directions. Great discussion and music, great friends and tons of learning.

The funny thing is, that if you were to ask me what I learned this weekend, I am not sure I could pin point it. I learned that I am on the right track with a lot of my thoughts. Everything that I have been playing with this summer seemed to get touched on, even briefly, at some point during the weekend. So thats good. I learned a lot about feel. I learned that I knew a lot about feel - which was kind of surprising.

I still have more to soak on, but it was a really great weekend that left me plotting ways to get to Florida so I can continue my education this winter....

:-)
S