The Florida PaRally

I'm finally getting around to writing a post about the Florida PaRally and I've got lots to share! December, Tink, and Marjie put a lot of effort into putting this thing together and did all the heavy lifting. My role was coach, cheerleader, and networking...a very easy tasks for me being a LBE!

The girls were there on Wednesday and Thursday setting up all the wonderful obstacles and getting things organized. I couldn't be there as I had to work although I did stop by on Thursday evening to say hello and drop off some cavalettis. The girls were hard at work setting things up. I can't imagine how tired they all must have been after the conclusion of the rally!

I attended on Friday without my horse. I figured I could man the registration table and that would free up December and Tink to play with their equines; I imagine they didn't get much time to play on Wednesday or Thursday. Registrations went in spurts so I had time to join in some of the simulations. The "brick and feather" or "ice cream cone and tick tock" simulations with Pete Rodda were enlightening and lots of fun. I also enjoyed the riding simulations and how to find your balance point with Karen Woodbury and Annie Shank. After the simulations, it was time for me to get back to the registration table and let others get in on some of the fun. I also wanted to chat with Bonnie Williams about the Young Living Essential Oils and her table happened to be right next to the registration table...how very convenient!! I ended up having to leave earlier than I'd wanted to; I had gone to my truck to put something in it and noticed I had a tire going flat. Luckily the ranch had a compressor so I was able to inflate my tire but then the hunt was on to get it fixed...not an easy thing on Friday after 5:00 p.m. I absolutely needed to get it fixed as I was hauling my horse to the PaRally on Saturday morning. Lucky for me I was able to get it fixed but I didn't make it home until almost 9:00 p.m.

Saturday I was up bright and early since I wanted to get to the ranch by 8:00 a.m. I loaded America at 6:30 in the morning and even though we'd not practiced loading in the dark, she loaded with no problems and we hit the road. I had to stop at the store to pick up a few things as I was planning on staying overnight if America was handling everything well. We arrived at the ranch just before 8:00 a.m. and did our check in. A previous post tells all about our adventures on Saturday and Sunday.

The facilities at Goethe Trail Head Ranch were very nice. There were plenty of stalls and lots of room for hook-ups. The ranch even has a pool, although the weather wasn't quite warm enough for a dip and I didn't have a swim suit anyway. There were 2 round pens and either 8 or 10 turn out areas for horses. The main arena was very nice and lighted all night long for night time use! Also, the restrooms and showers were very nice with plenty of hot water for showers. I didn't get in there until late and thought I'd have to take a cold shower but was pleasantly suprised to have hot water...and boy did it feel good after a long day of horse play!!

The Parelli Professionals, Karen Woodbury, Annie Shank, Dancin' Pete Rodda, Whitney Van Zyl, and Jerry S. Williams, were outstanding and represented Parelli Natural Horsemanship very well. Their demos, similations, and lessons were informative and fun and several people signed up for lessons with each instructor. Jerry's "laser coaching" sessions were amazing, free of charge, and very popular. Each participant had 10" and explained their particular issue in one or two sentences. Jerry then gave them some strategies to use to make a change. Transformations were amazing and people went away with new information, happy to have new tools to problem solve. Whitney Van Zyl had just received her 2* rating from Parelli and needed to give away 10 hours of freestyle lessons as part of her new 2* status. I'm happy to say, participants at the rally helped her meet that requirement and were very happy for the opportunity!!

The presentations by Dr. Fred, the equine dentist, and Beth Ramsay were outstanding. Dr. Fred's presentation was very interesting and informative...I wish more people understood the importance of having regular dental visits for their equine partners. Beth's presentation on personalities and working well with others was a hoot. There was a lot of information and Beth presented it in a very entertaining way. We all had fun deciding who was D, C, S or I and the best approach to working with them. There was a lot of laughing as we all recognized ourselves in the information Beth shared. I highly recommend participating in this presentation if you get the opportunity.

I don't know the final tally on numbers of horses, riders, and people that visited without horses but we had a lot of people at the PaRally and there was plenty to do. In fact, I missed a couple of things I'd wanted to do because I was busy doing something else.

I also want to acknowledge all the volunteers, especially December's husband Brian, and Whitney's dad, Dan. They were invaluable all weekend with their willingness to jump in and do what ever needed to be done...we couldn't have done it without them!! Another huge thank you goes out to Lorel, AmberRay, and Jeff at Gothe Trail Head Ranch. All three of them worked very hard all weekend to provide the PaRally participants with a wonderful experience and take care of all our needs. Well done to all of you!!

I am very happy to say, we didn't completely wear out December, Tink, and Marjie and the best news is, there is already plans for the 2nd Annual PaRally, February 15-17, 2013!! I can't wait until 2013!!