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
Friday, December 24, 2010
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
Florida Morning
So as I sit in my new office in Florida, quite a few things have changed from Colorado. For one, my view has dramatically lessened, going from a nice 90 degree mountain view to a disappointing 38 degree, give or take, of a slight incline. Of that 38, at least 18 degrees are taken up by rather ugly buildings and a concrete wall, leaving me with only 20 degrees of potential people and horse watching, two things which are essential in order to survive day upon day of 8 hour office days.
Another change is my new found fear of bugs, but I'm not talking about your average piddly little spider. I am talking about palm sized black and beige hairy spiders who actually visibly blink at you, and the red, heavily armoured creatures, resembling giant ants, who create giant webs in wooded areas and make you squeal like a baby as you flick them off your shoulder in terror, while trying to free yourself from their sticky web. Not that this has happened to me of course, I have just heard stories.
Another new thing here is my change in personal appearance, I have gone from an average looking women in here late twenties, to a hideous red, pink, white and lumpy individual who can be found in the corner rocking back and forth mumbling, "make it stop, make it stop" I am of course referring to the unbearable swelling, itchiness that is numerous mosquito bites on my arms, shoulders, face and neck. The mosquito's seem to be aware of where I am at all times. I made a joke yesterday about being inside the lodge for dinner and a swarm of mosquito's gathering outside quietly chanting "she can't stay in there forever" to each other, my audience laughed, I am convinced it is truth.
The Florida campus is an interesting piece of property which apparently once used to be a zoo, in fact the "giraffe house" is still in place, along with a number of other ugly breeze (cinder) block buildings with grey metal roofs, for some reason the buildings make me think of concentration camps!!
There are tall trees dripping with Spanish moss and a lot of student think the place looks like Jurassic park (with the mosquito's being my version of the carnivorous dinosaurs).
The whole state of Florida is just basically washed up from the ocean, so there is sand everywhere, sand with a weak grass covering, the sand gets everywhere and is almost black in colour, so you get really dirty really quick around here and all your belongings soon turn black.
The campus is very spread out, it takes us 15 to 20 minutes to walk from our trailer to the lodge and office, since we got here we have been using our truck to get back and forth, but that's bad for the truck and also expensive, so I am not looking forward to the twice daily mosquito run as we leave in the dark and return in the dark, prime mosquito time. We are looking into getting some bikes, so perhaps I will be able to outrun them?!
I am not enjoying the humidity at all, and it isn't even bad this time of year, I am predicting that it will not be much fun to be here at the end of spring next year.
Well, that was all very negative wasn't it, Sam and I are trying to keep open minds, but so far we both much prefer Colorado and wish we were still there.
Another change is my new found fear of bugs, but I'm not talking about your average piddly little spider. I am talking about palm sized black and beige hairy spiders who actually visibly blink at you, and the red, heavily armoured creatures, resembling giant ants, who create giant webs in wooded areas and make you squeal like a baby as you flick them off your shoulder in terror, while trying to free yourself from their sticky web. Not that this has happened to me of course, I have just heard stories.
Another new thing here is my change in personal appearance, I have gone from an average looking women in here late twenties, to a hideous red, pink, white and lumpy individual who can be found in the corner rocking back and forth mumbling, "make it stop, make it stop" I am of course referring to the unbearable swelling, itchiness that is numerous mosquito bites on my arms, shoulders, face and neck. The mosquito's seem to be aware of where I am at all times. I made a joke yesterday about being inside the lodge for dinner and a swarm of mosquito's gathering outside quietly chanting "she can't stay in there forever" to each other, my audience laughed, I am convinced it is truth.
The Florida campus is an interesting piece of property which apparently once used to be a zoo, in fact the "giraffe house" is still in place, along with a number of other ugly breeze (cinder) block buildings with grey metal roofs, for some reason the buildings make me think of concentration camps!!
There are tall trees dripping with Spanish moss and a lot of student think the place looks like Jurassic park (with the mosquito's being my version of the carnivorous dinosaurs).
The whole state of Florida is just basically washed up from the ocean, so there is sand everywhere, sand with a weak grass covering, the sand gets everywhere and is almost black in colour, so you get really dirty really quick around here and all your belongings soon turn black.
The campus is very spread out, it takes us 15 to 20 minutes to walk from our trailer to the lodge and office, since we got here we have been using our truck to get back and forth, but that's bad for the truck and also expensive, so I am not looking forward to the twice daily mosquito run as we leave in the dark and return in the dark, prime mosquito time. We are looking into getting some bikes, so perhaps I will be able to outrun them?!
I am not enjoying the humidity at all, and it isn't even bad this time of year, I am predicting that it will not be much fun to be here at the end of spring next year.
Well, that was all very negative wasn't it, Sam and I are trying to keep open minds, but so far we both much prefer Colorado and wish we were still there.
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
Colorado Morning
Well, it is a gorgeous fall morning in Colorado, the geese are noisily migrating, the horses are "hairing up" for the coming winter, and I see the emergence of a few winter-type jackets on peoples backs.
Sam is on his way to Kentucky, or as our Swiss facilities manager pronounces it Ken-too-key, to drop horses off at the World Equestrian Games and then the Florida campus, which will soon be our new home. I am excited to hear reports as we have not been there yet.
I have been assigned as the customer care co-ordinator here at the Colorado campus and will also be fulfilling the role in Florida too, so although the idea of sitting in an office all day long is not the greatest, there are benefits.
1. A fantastic 90 degree view of the Rocky Mountain Range
2. Fabulous people and horse watching to be seen all day long
3. I can spy on my ponies to make sure they are behaving themselves
4. I have regular hours of 8am to 5pm and weekends off, so I get to spend time with my horses
Sam on the other hand is working in horse development, which involves very long hours and very few days off, subsequently he is finding it difficult to find time to develop his horse.
You do get to see a lot of wildlife here, there are squirrels and chipmunks in grain buckets that'll let you pet them, there are bears in trees that won't. There are little mice that share the supply cupboard in the office with the pens and label maker.
Things are really winding down here in Colorado, we have a four week "Fast Track" course going on right now with 49 students atending, they will leave on Friday. We have faculty and long term students leaving for Kentucky and Florida in a steady stream; by the time we leave on the 7th of October this place will pretty much be a ghost town!
The "Fast Track" course which Sam and I are signed up for here next year looks a little tough, and has inspired us to work on certain things with our horses. Mainly, not using the reins, a very foreign concept for anyone who has ever been riding traditionally. We are trying to teach our horses to go exactly where we want them to, at the speed and in the direction we want them to just using our body language and focus, this will ultimately lead to bridleless riding, a little ways off just yet, but we'll get there.
We had a "Performance Summit" here a week ago, an event designed to show how Parelli training methods can be applied across the board from competition to demonstrations and circus type shows. I was lucky enough to be chosen to do a mounted shooting demonstration in front of about 700 people, so my first introduction to Pat was, "I want you to do a shooting demonstration, and whatever you do, don't miss" so a nice little no pressure intro! Anyway, it went well, I did not miss and I got lots of "wow" type comments from both attendees and staff/students, as well as a couple of requests for lessons! So I am now known as the girl with the guns, so no-one will mess with me, a good reputation to have picked up in the first week we were here I think.
That's about all I'll bore you with for now,
Love to you all,
Jess
Sam is on his way to Kentucky, or as our Swiss facilities manager pronounces it Ken-too-key, to drop horses off at the World Equestrian Games and then the Florida campus, which will soon be our new home. I am excited to hear reports as we have not been there yet.
I have been assigned as the customer care co-ordinator here at the Colorado campus and will also be fulfilling the role in Florida too, so although the idea of sitting in an office all day long is not the greatest, there are benefits.
1. A fantastic 90 degree view of the Rocky Mountain Range
2. Fabulous people and horse watching to be seen all day long
3. I can spy on my ponies to make sure they are behaving themselves
4. I have regular hours of 8am to 5pm and weekends off, so I get to spend time with my horses
Sam on the other hand is working in horse development, which involves very long hours and very few days off, subsequently he is finding it difficult to find time to develop his horse.
You do get to see a lot of wildlife here, there are squirrels and chipmunks in grain buckets that'll let you pet them, there are bears in trees that won't. There are little mice that share the supply cupboard in the office with the pens and label maker.
Things are really winding down here in Colorado, we have a four week "Fast Track" course going on right now with 49 students atending, they will leave on Friday. We have faculty and long term students leaving for Kentucky and Florida in a steady stream; by the time we leave on the 7th of October this place will pretty much be a ghost town!
The "Fast Track" course which Sam and I are signed up for here next year looks a little tough, and has inspired us to work on certain things with our horses. Mainly, not using the reins, a very foreign concept for anyone who has ever been riding traditionally. We are trying to teach our horses to go exactly where we want them to, at the speed and in the direction we want them to just using our body language and focus, this will ultimately lead to bridleless riding, a little ways off just yet, but we'll get there.
We had a "Performance Summit" here a week ago, an event designed to show how Parelli training methods can be applied across the board from competition to demonstrations and circus type shows. I was lucky enough to be chosen to do a mounted shooting demonstration in front of about 700 people, so my first introduction to Pat was, "I want you to do a shooting demonstration, and whatever you do, don't miss" so a nice little no pressure intro! Anyway, it went well, I did not miss and I got lots of "wow" type comments from both attendees and staff/students, as well as a couple of requests for lessons! So I am now known as the girl with the guns, so no-one will mess with me, a good reputation to have picked up in the first week we were here I think.
That's about all I'll bore you with for now,
Love to you all,
Jess