Wednesday, August 31, 2011

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Concave Convex Simulation

Concave Convex Simulation

2 Star Parelli Course at Parelli Colorado - Day 7

Today was saddle fitting day, our presenters for the day were Tina Giordano and Letitia Glenn. The morning was spent in the classroom going over the basics and learning all of the shimming styles for each type of horse body shape. Then we went into another room in did simulations comparing a rounded back and a hollow back. What a neat comparison, really opened up my eyes. We had lunch and then met under the small coverall where some of the externs brought their horses, whether with parelli saddles or another type, and Tina and Letitia did a whole makeover. The changes were dramatic in these horses, and the riders could feel the difference... the crowd was awed. We were also informed that we will be up at Linda's house watching her take a lesson with Walter Zettl, the dressage master. What a privilege!

I received a comment asking if I would be doing internship, since I said I would start in October. I will not be starting this October since the Florida Parelli Center has closed, but I will be doing 6 week shifts of internships possibly in 2012-3. I will be attending the 1 month 3 star course next summer here in Colorado, but my ain focus is to come home and develop more horses into Level 4, teach, and assist under a lot of 3* plus instructors. I have a big event in my life coming up within the next month up into next summer, which I will tell more about later but it is all fantastic! I have also had the honor of being able to purchase a fluidity GP Parelli saddle for the purpose of serving my students better. As for the information on the Elements of Man, I do not think there is any material on this but if there is Parelli will be able to tell you at pnhusa@parelli.com. Thanks for the comments!

Tuesday, August 30, 2011

2 Star Parelli Course at Parelli Colorado Campus - Day 6

Today was a very exciting action packed day, full of lots of fun. We met in the lodge at 8:30 am to recap on the happenings of the week before, everyone shared their learning stories and so did Carol Coppinger. We all had a test, but once again it was FUN! Afterwards Carol, Tina, and Lee took us outside to do simulations on the seven games. Wow, I am now in LOVE with simulations and the value of them. I will be doing a lot more simulations with my students. You should have seen all of us out there playing and learning with each other, it was the funnest sight to see... I apologise for not having taken pictures but could not get any. We did separate presentations with a personal instructor, taking turns in between simulations. After we all had a go, we wrapped up with a savvy clap and had a very enjoyable lunch.

We joined up afterwards at the Corporate Office where we all had a talk again and then did a fun and different Q & A session where Carol had us ask questions and wrote them down on the board, then we all got in our tribes of 3 and had a question assigned to us. After 15 minutes of discussion, the tribes took their turns at coming up and presenting their solution... learning to be self-sufficient professionals, everyone had a great solution. We talked a bit more and then did one final savvy clap. What a great day! Day 7 is going to all be on saddle fit, which I am super excited about. We are to meet at the corporate office auditorium at 8:00 am. I will talk with you all soon, can't wait to talk! Please feel free to ask a question, I would love to answer... leaving a comment to would be great. Thanks!

Saturday, August 27, 2011

2 Star Course at Parelli Colorado - Day 5

Yesterday morning we started off with Carol and Ann going over tour stop and horse opportunities, then Brett Lovins came in and went over Social Media and Internet Outreach. He gave all of us great points for promoting ourselves online and reaching out to our Parelli community! I never knew that Parelli Connect could do so many things that he had shown us, it's a great tool. Carol Coppinger took the 2 stars upstairs to show us how to log our hours and how to keep track of our students, how to be savvy in every area as a Parelli Professional and if any one knows how to do that it would be Carol.

We broke for lunch then the 2 stars went to the lower barn where the externs stayed and we did some fun testing! It was a blast! Afterwards while were waiting, we all played simulations with 4 students at a time. One as the new student, one as the instructor and the other two as the students horse. WHAT a learning experience! Every instructor should do this. We came ran in the rain to the truck and drove to get some food at a local restaurant where I got some great pecan crusted mahi mahi and blue velvet cake. WOW! :) I've got today, and Sunday to catch up on office work and sleep. Looking forward to seeing you Monday!

Friday, August 26, 2011

2 Star Instructor Course at Parelli Colorado - Day 4

Today consisted of classroom sessions! We hid from the outside and enjoyed time with our wonderful instructors learning away. The first of the morning was spent with our enthusiastic Carol Coppinger going over more Parelli Professional logistics and expectations. Then we were joined by Tina looking over the horsenalities, the elements of man, and how to handle different personalities as and instructor. Then we were joined by Ann Kiser, Carol Coppinger, Lee Palmer, and Tina Giordanio, where they all answered questions and revealed their own elements after we guessed at them a while! That was a blast.

We broke for lunch and then came back over to the office and joined Lee Palmer upstairs for more instructor success tips, talking about setting up a session, going through the 7 Keys to Success (Attitude, Knowledge, Tool, Techniques, Time, Imagination, and Support) to assess where the student needs first, along with the 'Fix What First' game, and the 'Lemon Game'... advancing communication when it comes to explaining the program itself and not over analyzing the student.

We made our way back to the main campus where I grabbed some dinner and did some office work and marketing here on the computer, and had the chance to catch up with my beautiful family and friends back in North Carolina. They were having an Essential Oils presentation in the lodge after dinner, which was interesting to listen to while I did my work... Zoe is really good at herbs. Pretty amazing stuff!

I look forward to updating you on Day 5's events! That will be the end of week one, one week left after that! Talk to you soon!

Thursday, August 25, 2011

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2 Star Instructor Course at Parelli Colorado - Day 3

Day 3 was another great day full of learning and fun, we weren't on the usual schedule as we had simulations towards the morning and classroom in the afternoon. We started off the morning in the classroom with both the 1 and 2 star instructors, Jim Kiser, facility design and manager, taught a class on facility management and design! The concepts of keeping it simple, and keeping everything Safe, Functional, Clean, Green, and Handsome. Jim is very savvy with his job, I know to be in his position that Pat couldn't expect anything less.

After that educational class, we drove back down to the extern barn to watch a freestyle drill team demonstration, I was caught up in the music and the fun... I really missed my horse after watching all of the fun they were having! Great job Extern team! After that was complete and horses put up we made our way to the red seat builders, where saddles were rigged and Berin did a demonstration on correct weight and rein positions, along with keeping a good feel on the reins and always considering the horse first before you went on with any task. It was a lot of fun and gave you a new and great perspective on your feel. It felt very good to be in the saddle again, even though it wasn't on a real horse, I still didn't want to get off! Humphrey, a sweet friend of mine that was an intern while I was externing in Florida, was holding the reins on the simulator and coaching us, he ALWAYS makes everything fun. Thank you Humphrey, it is great seeing you again.

We made our way to lunch, and then drove back up to the Parelli Central offices where we joined Sue Shoemark, Neil Pye's wife, in the upper auditorium for a talk on the book and concepts of Tribal Leadership and Zappo's concepts of Core Values. I really enjoyed the exercises she had us do, and didn't want the session to end. Sue has a very relaxing way to present material, her teaching style is very calming and low key, and really causes the point to get across that gets the topic to sink in and simmer for a while... some presenters have a high energy, that invigorates the atmosphere but the point can be lost and forgotten easily, Sue causes you to really think about the task at hand. I am looking forward to another session with her, I hope we will have another before these 2 weeks are up.

Every Wednesday night is campfire night I do believe, so we all enjoyed fellowship and a great cookout! Pat and the whole clan was there, including Tim Sullivan, singing and serenading us all as we enjoyed our meals. After everyone ate, we all gathered around the warm fire while Tim and Pat told stories and picked away at their guitars. What a great atmosphere, fellowship and the smell of burning wood... I took a shower out back while it was still going on, and through the little window above my head I could hear the songs, the stories, and the laughter. A moment I won't forget, we are very blessed for all we have in this life. I ended my day talking with my beautiful family, the biggest blessing that I have in my life.

Today? I have no clue as to what we are doing, but I know it will be good... talk to you again soon, my friend.

Until then!... Mariah Helms

Wednesday, August 24, 2011

Heading out...

Riding out to the classroom...

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Saddling Simulations

Day 2 Saddling Simulations with Berin Macfarlane

2 Star Parelli Instructor Course - Day 2


Hey guys, great to see you again!
 
Day two was another incredible action packed day, it went by very fast. The morning was kicked off by Carol Coppinger warming up the big group with her contageous smile! Followede by Hillary Rose, wife of Protege, Ryan Rose, talking about all of the important details of the Parelli Audition process for instructors and thier students. Ann Kiser and the whole group hunkered down to review the legal side of Parelli Professionalism and also the exciting pathways we can take in order to become the be "We" we can be. Parelli isn't about the individuals, it's about the team. We are not only being the best "Me" I can be, but also the best 'We' we can be. The Parelli Team.
 
After that session was over, the two stars went upstairs to another class room while the one stars stayed downstairs where we both could have our own Q & A sessions. The 2 stars were blessed enought to have Lee Palmer, Carol Coppinger, Neil Pye, and Mark Weiler present in the room. After that electifying session we all broke out to a well prepared lunch here on the main Parelli campus in the Lodge, then hiked our way up the hill(s!) to the Extern Barn where the 1 stars did simulations with 22 ft lines and carrot sticks with Carol and Lee in the large arena and the 2 stars spent the rest of the afternoon focusing on saddling savvy with 4 star Parelli Professional, Berin Mcfarlane, he was the head of our externship in Florida this spring and is a head of the courses, the extern program, and the intern program.
 
It was great to see him and enjoyed his teaching once again, thank you Berin! I woke up today early this morning so I could spend some time with you all, the lodge is very peaceful in the "wee" hours of the morning but it doesn't take long for it to start hustling and bustling once again. Today is going to be a great day, I am looking forward to learning even more... see you soon!
 
Naturally Yours,

Mariah Helms
1 Star Junior Parelli Instructor
http://www.mariahpnhelms.blogspot.com/
704.499.1106
 
Servicing the Southeast, Naturally!
parellilessons@hotmail.com
 
Join me and the worldwide Parelli Community for FREE at http://www.parelliconnect.com/!

Monday, August 22, 2011

2 Star Instructor Course at Parelli Central in Pagosa Springs, Colorado - Day 1

Hello my faithful Parelli friends,
 
I have to apologize for not having updated much lately in words, this summer has been the most life changing I have had yet... and it is all for the better. Parelli has been the air I have breathed since I was fourteen years old, it has been the most important thing in my life. Lots has happened in my family and myself, including my mother and her back injury, it has all been very good with my mother's back as an exception. She still needs a lot of prayers, and I want to send a thank you to all of you that have been keeping her in your prayers. The biggest change in myself this summer is the learning of confidence in myself and switching my priorities around, my life is about God, my Family and then Parelli. My family has needed me, so I haven't had much time to do anything but teach and help the family. I haven't had a ton of progression with Sundance, and I do miss being with him but I do not regret any part of the past couple of months... the rewards of a happy family and the love we share could not replace any achievement I could get with a horse.
 
But thank goodness I have had the surprising opportunity of being able to come to Colorado for 3 weeks, I only found out on Friday and my plane left early Sunday morning. I flew into Dallas, Texas and then to Durango, Colorado then made my way to the Parelli Center. I had a great warm welcome, I am staying in a cabin here on campus. The place here is beautiful, I know the pictures do not do it justice but I hope you can get a little glimpse of what it looks like... I have never been to Colorado but I have to say this is the most beautiful place I have been to and I know I will enjoy being with my Parelli family. I have missed them, it's great to see everyone again. I will be staying for the Instructor Conference which is September 7-8, 2011 and the big Parelli Summit, September 9-11, 2011. I will be flying back home on the 12th and then Jesse Peters is coming back to Whitts End Farm in York, South Carolina in October and Sundance and I will be staying a couple of weeks there learning which will be very nice since I have had NO instructor time being that there seems to be NO 3 stars + available within learning distance for me. I am okay with that, because I know God has set this time apart for me to support my family, I wasn't supposed to be doing anything else, and now the doors are opening back up which I am VERY thankful for... I have really missed Parelli.
 
Sadly I do not have my notes from today, I left them a grueling hike back up to the cabin and it's getting bedtime... I need to get to sleep so I will be perky and savvy tomorrow. I will do my best though to share the notes with you tomorrow and more pictures I captured this afternoon. I will inform you of the happenings today though! We started class at 8:00 am where they did their normal good ol' Parelli greeting to the new clan and then had a special speaker come and update us on the newest future of Parelli, Tina Giordanio did a presentation on Speaking and Presenting, which I got 4 pages of notes on and absolutely adored. Carol Coppinger is heading all of these events of and talking through and adding her wonderful commentary when she can, she has a wonderful brilliant mind. We broke for lunch and got to catch up with old friends, then headed to the extern barn to do simulations with rein positions and 45 foot lines with Carol Coppinger and Lee Palmer... it was a blast to say the least, thank you for the joyful afternoon Ladies. We had dinner, Sarah Berg is here too, we didn't plan it that way but it happened and we are here together and ironic of all things in a cabin, just the two of us together. Thank YOU! It is great to see her again! Our other bunk mate from the Florida Externship will be here the last week for the conference and summit, Zoe Thorrez, I am very excited to see you also.
 
I hope I am back in the game at least a little bit now, who knows what life will every throw at you? Keep sticking with me please, I would love to hear your comments here on my blog to know your still watching! Sounds like I will see you guys tomorrow, goodnight my friends.
 
Sincerely and Naturally Yours.... Mariah Helms

More Pictures

Volleyball in the student arena and the corporate office...

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Lodge View

Lodge and view from lodge...

Scenery in Colorado

Scenery in Colorado

Flying to Colorado

Flying to Pagosa Springs Colorado Parelli Campus

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Thursday, August 18, 2011

Flying to Pagosa Springs Colorado

Flying to Pagosa Springs Colorado Parelli campus this Sunday to take 2 week 2 star Instructor course! :)

Tuesday, August 16, 2011

Lessons of the Day

Finishing a lesson with a student from South Carolina and being watched by our silly pooches... Taught a lesson in Marshville this morning also, beautiful weather!

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Saturday, August 13, 2011

Audition Filming

Filming a Level 2 audition in Monroe, North Carolina with a human partner of a Left Brained Introvert and a horse partner of a Right Brained Extrovert...

Wednesday, August 10, 2011

On way back to Charlotte picking up plane ticket.

On way back to Charlotte, picking up plane ticket.

Visiting Washington D.C.

Visiting Washington D.C.

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Teaching in Virginia

Teaching in Virginia

Tuesday, August 2, 2011

Online Lesson in the Morning

Level 2 Online lesson with a quarter horse gelding in Marshville, North Carolina. Maurice, napping in the barn.