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Over the past year I have been asked many questions regarding the Partner Up Program. This blog represents Question #1.
Question 1 #: Who am I and why would you want to learn from me?
Sometimes in life a person is interjected into the mix and it really creates a reaction.
I was on the ferry a couple of weeks ago. My friend and I were having a conversation about my Partner Up Program – Online. We were both into the conversation as she had taken my Partner Up Program when it was in its infancy and I was trying to cram everything I wanted to teach into a 3 day workshop. (18 hours total)
Now, I had made the jump to totally online, and now the Partner Up Program is 60 + hours of teaching time, taught for 2 hours per week. Students enrolled in the Partner Up Program are expected to put in an additional 3-4 hours of homework time per week.
Our conversation was interrupted as this fellow in the seat ahead of us, turned and said,” Glad to overhear you are excited about this Partner Up Program… but more to the point, who are you and why should I or would I want to learn from you?”
We locked eyes and time stood still. It seemed like eternity but in reality it was over in a flash.
During this time however, my mind was going at high speed, and my body’s cellular energy was tuned right in. Thank god for that, as it told me that the guy was serious, it was a genuine question, from a genuine place. This information made me smile. I love congruency!
He said, “You don’t have an answer do you?”
Still smiling, I said, “You are absolutely correct, I do not have an answer right at this moment. I could say anything or give any reason, but I do not want to do that. I want to honour the genuine purity of the energy behind the question and respond in kind, and that will take me a bit to ponder on my response.”
“I will start off by saying that I do not often talk about my accomplishments, not because I do not give them value, but because often I do not see the value in touting my horn. I know what I know and that is what matters to me. I have often been described by many as still water.”
“Still water????” he asked as his brow furrowed up.
“Metaphorically, it means there is so much more than what you initially see. You know still waters run deep.”
“I don’t see that as a compliment,” he said with a small smile.
“Well…..and you may not……however to me that statement means that judgment was placed..… rather than just accepting another person’s choice of description. You see my worth is intact to me….and you are asking me to prove my worth to you. I have nothing to prove. I have everything to share.”
There was complete silence. He shifted around, his eyes averted mine, and he began fiddling with his sleeve. “I’m getting the feeling, I am already being taught and learning……,”as his voice trailed off.
There was a long silence.
“Okay… I have pondered… and here is my response to your original question. Everything I teach comes from within me, it is an intimate part of me. My knowledge comes from personal learnings and experience, I did not train under so and so. I ride on my own shirttails and not off the work of others. I am however, extremely open to all the wisdom the universe has to offer in whatever form it may arrive.
My entire life has been devoted to making a difference, whether that be in a human’s life, an animal’s life, the environment’s or to my own life.
My integrity is my honour and the guiding principles of my life.
I do things because they are the right thing to do, not because I may make a buck or two or win votes/respect/fame etc.”
He sat there staring intently.
“So my creds…. I have a teaching degree, I have taught elementary school grades 5-7. My best work is and was done with the kids that society had/has labeled “problems.” To me they are pure gifts as they are the most congruent human beings I have ever met.
By congruent, I mean that that I can feel from their resonant energy; which is the energy emitted from the cells residing inside their body, the complete alignment between their conscious mind, subconscious mind and their soul. Horses, by the way, are always congruent. Partner Up Program provides the tools and learning for humans to achieve congruency.”
“I have taught and designed course modules for both BCIT and Malaspina University. I was ranked exceptionally high on student feedback forms.
Some of those course modules I designed/created/compiled were:
The Campground Attendant Program
Dealing with Difficult People
Supervisory Skills
Communication Skills
Small Hand Tools
Chainsaw Safety
Fire Suppression
“I spent many years contracting with the MOF (Ministry of Forests, now called RSTBC – Recreation, Sites & Trails BC) and during that tenure I provided security/ maintenance and redesign to campgrounds, installed and replaced bridge decks, signs, gypsy moth traps, and planted trees.”
“During this time, I was also asked by the local police detachment and the Conservation Officer Program to train their people in how to handle/defuse/gain compliance in group settings and to deal with difficult people and situations because of my success at managing the clientele at many of the campgrounds. This of course, also, spread to many other areas in BC and the US hiring me to redesign their campsites as well as provide security.”
In 1998 I found myself a recipient of the Entrepreneur of the year award from International Who’s Who of Entrepreneurs.”
“And horses?” he asked as he rubbed his chin, deep in thought.
“The love of my life…..Horses have been a significant part of my life since a toddler….My parents bought a horse to keep me in the yard… they got tired of searching all over for this 3-4 year old.”
“In case the correlation has not registered, all of my work, and the success of my work was/is directly related to my sensitivity to energy from everything around me including the universe. Partner Up Program came from the same”
“I was born very aware and very sensitive to the language of energy. I was drawn to horses because they are congruent and it was the only place I truly felt safe. And in turn, to give back, I made sure they felt safe. I never gave any of this credence as it was just the way it was.
I was connected to them on many levels, and them to me. What I thought, they understood just as what they thought I understood and together we made each other strong. In Partner Up Program I refer to this as my 2 way street philosophy.”
“So it is not rocket science to figure out that the horses that came into my life, came often, at a last resort to their continued survival.”
“I will share the horses that did the big teachings that shaped me. However, I honour all of the horses that have crossed my path, I am so grateful for each and every one of them and all their lessons and the powerful insight and wisdom they gave that went into the creation of Partner Up Program.”
Partner Up Program – Rosebud
“Rosebud…. she taught me what it felt like to have a connection and instilled in me the absolute need for connection. “
“She was always wherever I was and vice versa. I slept in the barn with her until -20 weather chased me indoors, and she followed me around like a dog. If I fell off while riding, she stood over top of me and refused to let anyone near me.”
“Rosebud loved chocolate cake and often on a Friday night we would get take out, ride to the beach and sit and eat pizza together followed by chocolate cake.”
“When we went camping, we said our goodnight as I zipped up the tent door. She never ventured far, and at earliest light she would unzip the tent, whinny and if I did not respond quick enough she would grab hold of my sleeping bag and drag me outside, and shake the bag till I fell out.”
“Her life was cut short due to serious navicular, but every horse that followed I put in whatever was necessary so I could have a connection. Partner Up Program teaches humans how to have connection.”
Partner Up Program – Cohete
“Cohete taught me how to ride. The importance of a light hand, loose legs, and the importance of listening. She taught me how to catch a horse. Cohete gave me a deep meaning of responsibility.”
“Cohete arrived as a 2 year old Standardbred from the track when I was 14. She only knew full steam ahead. I am not sure what happened in her 2 years prior to her coming into my life but she had some serious demons.”
“So how did she teach you to ride?” he asked with his chin resting on the back of the seat.
“Well maybe I should have said she taught me how to stay on. If you fell off, she did not run away, she came right at you to finish the job.”
“For several years it was a miracle to make the end of the driveway without biting the dust and scrambling about to save your life. Just seeing the wildness in her eyes and her teeth hanging out as you flew by her head was enough to let you know you were in deep shit.”
“One day, I was not quite fast enough and she did some serious damage to my pelvis. That ride home was pretty painful.”
“The universe stepped in the next time. That time before I could get the reins and get behind a tree she had broken both my legs. That day walking home was not an option, and trying to jump on was excruciating.
A couple of days later, with casts on both my legs. (I had cut the cast away so my knee could bend so I could ride) I got on and 60 feet down the driveway she lit up. I kicked her hard, blew the back right out of both casts, however, that was her last buck as she struggled to her feet after having the wind knocked out of her. Not one of my finest moments, but it probably saved my life. However, just because she no longer bucked did not mean she also stopped trying to kill you if you fell off.”
“Cohete did not like humans and really never saw any value for them so trying to catch her was very difficult. On the bright side it really honed my ability to read a horse and to be able to predict what they are going to do well before they do it. This skill has served me well over the years.”
“My value was at the greatest for her when it was cold out. She could never keep warm in the coldest parts of winter, no amount of food or shelter helped. When she would see me coming with the blanket, she would whinny and run towards me and squiggle and twist to get her head through the opening and shimmy and shake to get the blanket on. I never had to do anything but hold the opening up.”
“When Cohete was 12, I decided to find her another home. I guess you could say I gave up on her.”
This fellow came from a dude ranch and he asked me about her.
“I told him no dude will ever ride this horse, you can’t put her in with any other horses or she will kill them, she kills dogs, and her only gear is forward at about 30 miles per hour at a trot. I have never experienced a walk yet no matter how long or hard I ride.”
He looked at me, rolled his eyes, and said in a condescending tone that implied I did not know my ass from a whole in the ground, “ all these horses need is exercise.”
“I regret that day, even still, as I led with my ego when I handed the lead over to him. A few days later, Cohete was shot because she busted him up pretty bad, and killed 2 of his horses. From that day forward, I have owned the responsibility I should have shown Cohete. Any horse that comes to me, stays with me till the end.”
Partner Up Program – Lady Bar Saleen
“Lady taught me how to ask. She fine-tuned my ability to read cellular energy. She taught me patience. She taught me to be humble. She taught me that she was the smart one and I was just along for the ride.”
“Lady was a 7 year old unbroken brood mare. Her lineage was of the king line. Lady had no patience for anyone or anything making decisions for her. Even an ask with a pretty please in it would be enough to evoke a lesson for me. It was quite the learning curve for me to figure out how to set things up so she felt it was her choice and her decision. She was the horse I picked up from a neighbor, who had just picked her up from an auction. I hauled us to New Westminster the next day as I was hired as an outrider in the reenactment of the gold rush trail ride.”
“I was told I had to ride in a saddle, when I was hired, so I had bought an Australian stock saddle. That first morning was interesting to say the least as she bucked, jumped, spiraled, came down on stiff legs, and then came down folding her legs underneath her. I now had a pretty good idea why she was dirt cheap at an auction with her lineage.”
“By the second morning my legs were raw from the stirrup leathers pinching and grabbing at the flesh around my calf muscles. I tossed the saddle in the back of the wagon and continued on bareback”.
“I was privileged to share 30 more years with Lady and to have quite a few ragged bond forming adventures together. We had a strong connection and had each other’s backs. Lady liked to be the center of my world, and she made it known because she would bite anyone that got between me and her. Pissed a few boyfriends off… and that always made me smile.”
Partner Up Program – Gemini
“Gemini made me work hard for a connection. Pushed at every weakness I had. Really made me learn how to re-find and engage my cellular energy to bring about whatever synchronicity I needed to have in him to help him with his self-preservation issues. Taught me how adept he was at reading energy. My journey with Gemini is what pushed me to create Partner Up Workshop”
“Gemini is a quarter horse that grew to be a big huge powerful horse. He arrived as a 2 year old. I was 7 years into my recovery from a moderate traumatic brain injury. He was aloof and he was a bully. That bully-ness really put it in my face front and center how much I was still impacted from the brain injury. In many ways he is responsible for much of my recovery. I had given up on myself but I could not let myself give up on him. Every day I gave him everything I had, and eventually he let me in.”
“In 2015, Gemini disowned me when I got PTSD or PTSS from a second brain injury. He did not want to have a thing to do with me. I would open the house door and he would run to the far end of the pasture. That forced me to find a way to get rid of PTSD.”
“In a long winded nutshell that is a wee bit of my story. Everything I teach in my Partner Up Workshop comes from my experiences. Partner Up Program gives others the opportunity to unlock their potential and have connection. Partner Up Program gives humans a strong foundation”
“I am envious, what a life,” he said as he sat back. “I don’t know what I expected, hell I can’t even remember what I asked,” he laughed. “I want to hear about your adventures…….”
The ships loudspeaker cut him off as it said, “Foot Passengers may now leave the ship.”
AS I was gathering our things and getting my friend into the wheelchair and out in the aisle, I looked over and said, “Partner Up Program…….To be continued…….”
He laughed and said, “I always miss the sequel.”
We all exited the ferry laughing.
