OCALA! at the Parelli Ocala Campus!
I am in Ocala, FL at the Parelli Ranch spending time with Pat & Linda. Mette Larsen, her 3 horses, and I were invited for some cherished personal time with these special horsemen. The experience is proving to be as powerful as expected. First of all, every person here is great…great attitude, motivated by purpose, and actions just seem to flow from everyone with ease. I have not heard one complaint, period. There is a lot of work to do but because it is so attached to purpose, it fails to occur like work, it is just what is next to do…really making it more like play. Making everything a game creates a learning (growth) mindset and the results, no matter how significant, all contribute. It is truly an “unnatural experience” that comes from all the natural here and is completely addicting. This subtle power needs to be available to everyone.
Pat challenges me daily (hourly actually) to use my brain in ways I don’t always spend the energy to do. Everything is an opportunity to learn and grow from and his vast depth of education (he is really brilliant and has read more books than a cowboy ought to have), experience, and passion combines to create an ability
to use everything in his path. The foundation of his philosophy is evident in everything here. There is a roping clinic going on this week and the clinician, Martin Black, has this foundation of feel and relationship in his teaching, too. I sat on a horse for 4 hours (which was its own experience) and watched him teach cowboys to feel their horse and cow. When it happened, it was extraordinary and wonderfully surprising to experience. I think Pat is the most patient and generous teacher I have ever encountered. Nothing is ever “wrong” there is just discovery and what else is possible. Pat’s relationship to focus is so complete that mine feels like that of a toddler. The layers of learning are endless here and I go to bed each night with a very full mind and soul. Linda is a perpetual student, looking at every situation with the inquiry, “what can I learn from this, what can the horse learn from this?” It is the most refreshing attitude I have ever encountered and it keeps possibility alive constantly. Where I would get frustrated, she gets curious. I want to be like this more of the time everyday! This is my new life’s endeavor…and they have let me ride a horse that is a mini-Coriall (even looks like him) and she provides me with this challenge constantly! I love/hate this mental, emotional, physical, and spiritual challenge! I am definitely a caterpillar in a cocoon, wrestling with the boundaries I have set for myself and gaining strength to break free.
