What time is it? What does it matter? If you’re dealing with a horse, trying to get her to load in the trailer, or perform some activity by the end of your lesson, the lack of interest in your agenda can be frustrating at times. Most of us who work with horses know there is such a thing as “horse time.”
Today my grandson Kaiden was riding our 24-year-old gelding, Khami. Kaiden slipped or stuck his leg out, I don’t know which, and Khami stopped. Kaiden said he felt like he was falling off.
Have you ever encountered a horse that seems dull, uninterested in his or her surroundings, steps on your feet, seems robotic in work, or just wanders off when you’re doing an exercise?
Continue reading The thinking horse – promoting healthy curiosity in your horse
How do we get in sync? How do we achieve an energetic connection?
While I was out in the pasture with Patches one day, it occurred to me that a really good way for people to get a better sense of their energetic connection with a horse is to feel the rhythm of the horse grazing. The horse nibbles a few bites of grass and moves along, sometimes never lifting his nose from the grass very much. He moves along in a loose-limbed way, almost like he’s going to roll. You can feel the relaxation in his whole being.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QKiKIHy1oyI&w=560&h=315]Reciprocal movement or “mirroring” – when horses mirror each other’s movement – helps horses help each other in healing and is supportive of the herd as a whole. I use this movement in horse bodywork and it is also used in liberty training – a prerequisite to dancing.
Ray Hunt used to say, is it getting better with your horse, is it the same, or is it getting worse? If it is getting worse or remaining the same without any improvement, it’s time for a change or maybe to do some things the same but add in a little something else.
Very often we hear about horses that need homes – desperately, right now! They can be horses that are rescues, or horses that have fallen on hard times, just moved from place to place after having had a long life with people who love them. Sometimes the people can’t take care of them any more. This has happened a lot since the economy crashed and more horses ended up without homes. A divorce, serious illness or job loss can be disastrous for much-loved family horses.
This past weekend I attended one day of an animal communication workshop with Leta Worthington, a well known animal communicator who lives in Cerrillos, New Mexico. We were each to bring photos of animals we wanted to work with. I of course, brought my horse pictures, and we worked Patches.
You might laugh and say, “oh, how can that be? What’s wrong with loving your horse too much?”
It actually isn’t the loving, it’s the tipping over to please the horse that is the problem. One you tip, you lose your center. You’re no longer able to hold your leadership and your horse may take advantage of that and stop listening to you.
Many times people ask me what to expect in an Ortho-Bionomy session, either for themselves or their animal. That’s a broad question, because it will depend largely on what is going on in the body at the time of treatment.
Continue reading What to expect in an Ortho-Bionomy session – for people or animals!
