Spaghetti Happens

June 04, 2017

"OK" I said to my self... "Here we go!"

It was ten o’clock in the morning and I hadn't had my ice cream yet. I should have known it wasn't going to work out well!

"Go ahead! Push record! I'm ready!" I told my wife who was standing behind the camera. She is a tall slender beautiful woman with legs that just don't quit.

"Would you quit with those legs!" I demanded.

Ever since I asked her to film my audition I noticed a steady sewing machine like twitch in her legs. Probably because she knew I was about to undertake the most challenging task on the face of the planet and she was worried for me. Either that or she really needed to go to the bathroom.

Anyway. There we were, me, my horse, and my audience. Of course my audience was just a camcorder and a couple of giggling ponies on the other side of the fence. Maybe they knew what I was just about to get into and thought they should stick around to watch the action.

I was about to film my Parelli levels audition to see if I would qualify to join the elite group of people who actually passed the entirety of the Parelli program. (The Parelli program is a wonderful measuring tool for success and progress with horses in the Natural horse training discipline).

I knew I could do it. I knew my horse could do it. What I didn't know is that under the pressure of my audience I would crumble like a really crumbly cookie. You know the kind you get from the free sample tray at the local super market when they put them out on display because there is no way they would be able to sell them without someone complaining and filing law suits about how they couldn't eat the cookie because it crumbled to fast.

It's a funny thing how we crumble under pressure! In my mind I could see it all going so well.

"All I have to do is be perfect!" I thought to myself. “I can do this!”

It didn’t take long before my plans for perfection were thwarted. My long ropes got tangled under my horses legs and began wrapping around my legs. Luckily my horse was calm, but my film was ruined. How could I send in a professional looking audition when I can’t even contain the spaghetti like equipment?

At first I was frustrated, but then I laughed out loud. I looked up at my wife and said. “Spaghetti happens!”

“This is how all my students must feel, every time they have an audience or try out some new equipment.” I recalled.

As a professional, I support many students in many different disciplines but those who are reaching for goals with in Natural Horsemanship ultimately end up advancing to longer ropes and inviting more spaghetti like experiences, as ropes wrap needlessly around legs, hands, sticks, fence posts, etc.

The bottom line is. Don’t get frustrated when you look silly or fumble. It’s part of the learning curve!