Category Archives: trail riding

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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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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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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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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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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