Category Archives: alternative therapies

The great unknown of rescue horses

March 4, 2016abused horses, alternative therapies, animal communication, barefoot hooves, bitless riding, bodywork, chakras, endurance, energy work, equines, exercise, fear, geriatric horses, healing, herd behavior, herd dynamics, horse training, horsemanship, horses, Horses at Liberty Foundation Training, liberty rein, Liberty training, mustangs, performance horses, rescue horses, riding, therapy horses, trail riding, UncategorizedAlternative therapies, energetic connection, energy work, equine, Equine Body Balance, equine bodywork, equine healing, equine liberty training, equine training, equines, healing, health, herd behavior, herd dynamics, horse trainers, horse training, horseback riding, horsemanship, horses, liberty horse training, liberty training, ridinghorsesatliberty

Everyone who has taken on a rescue horse, or a horse from families who have passed them on, or a horse they have purchased, but then found the horse really is a rescue – experience the great unknown.

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Liberty Foundation Training: What’s the Point?

February 12, 2016abused horses, alternative therapies, animal communication, energy work, equines, exercise, fear, geriatric horses, healing, herd behavior, herd dynamics, horse training, horsemanship, horses, Horses at Liberty Foundation Training, liberty rein, Liberty training, rescue horses, riding, trail riding, Uncategorizedanimal communication, equine bodywork, equine healing, equine liberty training, equine training, equines, healing, health, herd behavior, herd dynamics, horse trainers, horseback riding, horsemanship, horses, Horses at LIberty Foundation Training, leadership, liberty horse training, liberty traininghorsesatliberty

Liberty Foundation Training for horses is the most subtle kind of work you could be doing with a horse. Because it is so subtle, sometimes its purpose can be missed.

Anne with Cherokee, photo courtesy of Rene Trebling

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Wrapping up 2015: horse and human musings

January 20, 2016alternative therapies, animal communication, endurance, energy work, equines, exercise, fear, geriatric horses, healing, herd behavior, herd dynamics, horse training, horsemanship, horses, Horses at Liberty Foundation Training, liberty rein, Liberty training, Ortho-Bionomy, OrthoHorse, performance horses, rescue horses, riding, trail riding, Uncategorizedanimal communication, bodywork, energetic connection, energy work, Equine Body Balance, equine bodywork, equine healing, equine training, equines, healing, health, herd behavior, herd dynamics, horse trainers, horse training, horseback riding, horses, Horses at LIberty Foundation Training, leadership, liberty horse training, liberty training, Ortho-Bionomy, OrthoHorse, ridinghorsesatliberty

This year was one full of change for me, my human family and horses. What is most significant to me about a year is that it encapsulates everything you’ve done, everything that’s happened to you, and all what you cannot control and that which you have put into action.

(originally published January 1, 2016)

Zuzka and Khami — Khami and Zuzka

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Remembering your horse is a horse

January 20, 2016abused horses, alternative therapies, animal communication, bareback riding, barefoot hooves, bitless bridles, bodywork, chakras, energy work, equines, exercise, fear, geriatric horses, healing, herd behavior, herd dynamics, horse training, horsemanship, horses, Horses at Liberty Foundation Training, liberty rein, Liberty training, performance horses, riding, trail riding, Uncategorizedanimal communication, energetic connection, energy work, equine, Equine Body Balance, equine bodywork, equine healing, equine liberty training, equine training, equines, herd behavior, horse trainers, horse training, horseback riding, leadership, liberty horse traininghorsesatliberty

One of the interesting things that comes up for me in practice is how people will feel that their horse can do no wrong. That he won’t suddenly get excited by a herd of wild horses in the distance, he will absolutely never step on their toes, and he most certainly will never suddenly jerk his head up and rear if something startles him. (originally published Dec. 1, 2015)

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Reading your horse’s mind and thoughts

January 20, 2016alternative therapies, animal communication, bodywork, chakras, energy work, equines, exercise, fear, geriatric horses, healing, herd behavior, herd dynamics, horse training, horsemanship, horses, Horses at Liberty Foundation Training, liberty rein, Liberty training, OrthoHorse, performance horses, riding, trail riding, Uncategorizedanimal communication, energetic connection, energy work, equine, Equine Body Balance, equine bodywork, equine healing, equine liberty training, equine training, equines, healing, health, herd behavior, herd dynamics, horse trainers, horse training, horseback riding, horsemanship, horses, Horses at LIberty Foundation Training, liberty horse training, liberty training, Ortho-Bionomy, OrthoHorsehorsesatliberty

My mare Zuzka comes to stand beside me at the gate, ready to have her halter slipped on. She is one who often will want to play games about being haltered, suggesting, no, I’m too busy today to go ride. Or maybe it’s just the game she likes. But this day she really wants to go out. I can often tell if she wants to go out on the trail, by how she stands looking off in the distance, when there is no activity on the horizon that can be seen with the naked eye. A sort of longing to be out there. (originally published December 14, 2016)

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Teeth and hooves: working with the aggressive horse

October 21, 2015abused horses, alternative therapies, animal communication, energy work, equines, exercise, fear, healing, herd behavior, herd dynamics, horse training, horsemanship, horses, Horses at Liberty Foundation Training, liberty rein, Liberty training, performance horses, riding, UncategorizedAlternative therapies, animal communication, bodywork, energetic connection, equines, healing, health, herd behavior, herd dynamics, horse trainers, horse training, horseback riding, horsemanship, horses, Horses at LIberty Foundation Training, leadership, liberty horse training, liberty training, OrthoHorse, ridinghorsesatliberty

One of the hardest things for people to grapple with is the fact that their horse is not always nice. I talk about good behavior and model that for the horse, but sometimes the horse does not exhibit good behavior in spite of all the modeling. Sometimes we get a dose of teeth and hooves.

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It takes a horse and human village

October 9, 2015abused horses, alternative therapies, animal communication, bitless bridles, bodywork, equines, exercise, fear, geriatric horses, herd behavior, herd dynamics, horse training, horsemanship, horses, Horses at Liberty Foundation Training, Liberty training, Uncategorizedanimal communication, energetic connection, equine, Equine Body Balance, equine healing, herd behavior, herd dynamics, horse trainers, horse training, horseback riding, horsemanship, Horses at LIberty Foundation Training, leadership, liberty horse training, liberty training, OrthoHorsehorsesatliberty

The phrase, “it takes a village,” refers to the raising of a child and the “village” involved in raising him or her.

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Support groups for people and their horses

October 2, 2015abused horses, alternative therapies, animal communication, equines, exercise, herd dynamics, horse training, horsemanship, horses, Liberty training, OrthoHorse, UncategorizedAlternative therapies, animal communication, bodywork, energetic connection, energy work, equine, equine bodywork, equine healing, equine liberty training, herd behavior, herd dynamics, horse trainers, horseback riding, Horses at LIberty Foundation Training, leadership, liberty horse training, liberty training, OrthoHorsehorsesatliberty

Sometimes we find ourselves in communities of horse people that are not supportive of our goals and dreams with our horses. These communities can take the shape of boarding barns, performance horse groups focused on a particular equine discipline, equine riding clubs, and just people who are wedded to the notion that “this is the way we’ve always done it.”

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Conversation between horse and rider

September 12, 2015alternative therapies, bodywork, equines, exercise, fear, geriatric horses, healing, herd behavior, horses, Ortho-Bionomy, performance horses, riding, trail riding, Uncategorizedbareback riding, bodywork, energetic connection, energy work, equine, equine healing, equine liberty training, horse training, horseback riding, horsemanship, horses, Horses at LIberty Foundation Training, leadership, liberty horse training, Ortho-Bionomy, OrthoHorse, ridinghorsesatliberty

What is the conversation between horse and rider?

Recently I’ve been working with a horse and rider team who are deeply bonded. After an accident the owner is building up her riding time. Her concern was that he would not sustain a trot for a length of time and that her body was not seated in the saddle evenly. Each side of her felt different, and one side felt unwieldy and unable to really connect.

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Working with horse-to-horse bonds

August 31, 2015alternative therapies, animal communication, bareback riding, bitless riding, chakras, energy work, equines, exercise, fear, geriatric horses, healing, herd behavior, herd dynamics, horse training, horsemanship, horses, Horses at Liberty Foundation Training, liberty rein, Liberty training, OrthoHorse, Robin Gates, therapy horses, trail riding, Uncategorizedanimals, bareback riding, energetic connection, equine liberty training, equine training, herd behavior, herd dynamics, horse trainers, horse training, horseback riding, horsemanship, horses, Horses at LIberty Foundation Training, leadership, liberty horse training, liberty training, rescue horses, ridinghorsesatliberty

Years ago, when I got my mare Zuzka, the trainer I was working with at the time was so happy when we were able to put her in the same corral space with my gelding Khami. The trainer said it helped her training because the mare would be moved around all day by him.

Zuzka and Khami — Khami and Zuzka

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