Frosty Florida Morning

So, my father actually called me yesterday, those of you who know him are aware of how big a deal that is, and during our conversation he requested that I continue with this blog. Mainly so he can continue to be updated on what I am doing without having to go to the effort (not to mention the expense) of ringing me! Just joking father, I know you love me really.

So, this cold Christmas Eve morning there is frost on the ground and fog in the air, everyone told us it was warm in Florida in the wintertime, everyone lied!!

We have been having some really cold mornings, getting down to -9 degrees C one morning. Florida is not really designed for such temperatures; as a result the water pipes that are buried at a tropical heat rated depth of just three or four feet, simply freeze and break. So the view from my window has mainly been trucks of various shapes and sizes containing various different individuals, all having one common factor, long lengths of white PVC pipe trailing from the back as the maintenance crews went about their business.

We had our Christmas party here at the ranch on Wednesday night, there are about 40 people left here right now, so things are relatively quiet when you consider we had 70 short term students, and about 60 long term students here about a month ago.

The party started kind of slow, but we had a white elephant gift exchange where everyone brings a gift and is then given a number. You choose a gift in order of number, but you have the choice of opening a new gift or of stealing any one of those which has previously been opened. Each item could only be stolen a total of three times, after which it was frozen and unavailable. So obviously the higher number you get, the greater number of choices you have. Out of about 37, Sam and I were 34 and 35. The high ticket items were of course the usual; coffee, chocolate and alcohol, all of which were stolen the maximum number of times. An item you might not predict as popular was a gong, yes, a gong. Both barn leaders were very keen on having it for their areas to call in students, I think the students weren't as keen and made sure their leaders were unsuccessful in it's acquisition. Hilary picked a gift early on in the proceedings which was some pretty sexy lingerie, Ryan immediately grabbed her hand, pretended to head for the door saying "well, good night everyone" unfortunately for them, and perhaps a little cruelly on my part, when it came to my turn I stole the items; well you know, you gotta do what you gotta do, the only person I have to answer to anyway is Sam, and he was totally ok with my decision. ;)

After the excitement of the white elephant exchange people started a steady drift towards the door, not Sam and I though, it being one of very few social outings for us, (plus it was free) we were in no hurry to leave. We were standing near the pool table when Pat Parelli came over and retrieved a "Reflex Bag" from the corner; a free standing punch bag on a spring loaded pole which moves any which direction when you hit it. He started punching it and explaining he used it everyday for a workout and then had Sam try it, couching him through it. Then it was my turn, and he said "she should be good at this because she's a shooter" that was kind of like, the "just don't miss" comment he gave me before my demo at the Performance Summit, the pressure was on, but I'm glad to say I showed the guys up with my accuracy, it was fun. So, I got a lesson from Pat Parelli, master horseman, it was a boxing lesson not a horsemanship lesson, but still!

We have a set of Core Values here at Parelli, they are:

1. Put the Relationship First
2. Be the Best Me I Can Be
3. Get it Done With A Little Fun
4. Exceed Expectations
5. Embrace Never-Ending Self Improvement
6. Do More With Less
7. Be Humble
8. Truth, Transparency and Trust
9. Keep It Natural

We have been using one core value a week as the theme of the week, last week was "get it done with a little fun" which of course incorporated the Christmas Party, but there was also participation in sweatpants Wednesday, as well as the auditions manager bringing in candy to motivate her team who were assessing horsemanship auditions. The office took on a festive appearance with team members wearing Christmas hats and the posted Admin Schedule even incorporated a little Christmas clipart. Next week is "exceed expectations" week, so we'll see what people come up with!

We also have an award passed on every week among our peers, it is called the "holding the tail" award and has questionable origins, some of us are not convinced it is a compliment! Since I usually refer people to Pete to tell the story but he is not currently available I guess I have to tell it myself!!....

The holding the tail award is kind of the equivalent of the best supporting actor award. ie. "Listen, I'm f***ing this goat, your just holding the tail" you may be able to see why some of us do not see this award as being that prestigious. Regardless, the week before last I was given the award by my good friend Hanna Walton, who was here from England for a 12 week externship and leased my horses, Scoot, for 5 weeks. I then passed it on to an extern named Richard who was on the admin rotation here in the office with me. Despite his having said, and I quote "this office sucks the life and soul out of a man" he actually did a very good job here. This week he was on the facility rotation and worked mainly with Sam, so Sam got to take home the "holding the tail award". Stay tuned for who will get it next week!!.....

I hope you all have a fabulous Christmas, I am feeling very homesick this Christmas season and miss you all very much!

Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night. xxxx