Category Archives: Liberty training

The robot horse

January 26, 2016animal communication, bitless riding, endurance, energy work, healing, herd behavior, herd dynamics, horse training, horsemanship, horses, Horses at Liberty Foundation Training, liberty rein, Liberty training, performance horses, rescue horses, riding, therapy horses, trail riding, Uncategorizedanimal communication, equine, Equine Body Balance, equine liberty training, equine training, equines, healing, 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

Have you ever met a robot horse?

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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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Horses and Christmas Eve: the night the animals talk

January 20, 2016animal communication, bodywork, 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, riding, UncategorizedAlternative therapies, animal communication, equine bodywork, equine healing, 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

There is a Norwegian story about the birth of Jesus in the stable in Bethlehem, that claims that the animals in the stable watched the birth and then they began to praise God for what they had just seen. Apparently this went on before the shepherds came on the scene. When the shepherds appeared the animals fell silent. The only ones purported to hear the animals were Mary, Joseph and the Christ child. (Originally published December 24, 2015)

Painting by Persis Clayton Weirs

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Creating sacred spaces with horses

January 20, 2016animal communication, 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, rescue horses, riding, sacred geometry, sacred spaces, telepathy, therapy horses, trail riding, Uncategorizedanimal communication, energetic connection, energy work, equine, Equine Body Balance, equine bodywork, equine healing, equine liberty training, equine training, equines, healing, herd behavior, herd dynamics, horseback riding, horsemanship, horses, Horses at LIberty Foundation Training, leadership, liberty training, riding, sacred spaces, telepathyhorsesatliberty

I moved my horses recently, and I took the gravestone I’d had made for my departed gelding Khami with us. I was concerned that we would have to create a new sacred space at the new location, because the horses would no longer have Khami’s grave to roll on. A few days before the move I went out to the grave and it had rained hard so the center was squishy, smooth mud that took on the appearance of the surface of peanut butter upon opening a new jar. One of the horses had walked around the mud center, hoofprints marking the perimeter of the grave. (originally published November 20, 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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Spirit horses, rituals and sacred ground

September 18, 2015animal communication, energy work, fear, geriatric horses, healing, herd behavior, herd dynamics, horse training, horsemanship, horses, Horses at Liberty Foundation Training, liberty rein, Liberty training, OrthoHorse, performance horses, rescue horses, riding, trail ridinganimal communication, bodywork, endurance riding, energetic connection, energy work, equine, Equine Body Balance, equine bodywork, equine healing, equine training, grief, healing, herd behavior, herd dynamicshorsesatliberty

I stood there at the side of the grave, then knelt there and heard hoof falls behind me. Zuzka, my dear black mare and lifelong companion of our departed Khami, came up behind me. She left a respectful distance and looked at me as though to say, if you want some time alone that’s okay. I said and motioned to her, let’s be here together.

Khami_before_death1

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