Tag Archives: energetic connection

Teeth and hooves: working with the aggressive horse

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.

 

Continue reading Teeth and hooves: working with the aggressive horse

It takes a horse and human village

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

Teaching what the "glue" feels like.

Continue reading It takes a horse and human village

Support groups for people and their horses

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.”

SHR_Anita_Cake2

Continue reading Support groups for people and their horses

Spirit horses, rituals and sacred ground

 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

Continue reading Spirit horses, rituals and sacred ground

Conversation between horse and rider

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.

Khami_with_Susie

Continue reading Conversation between horse and rider

Working with horse-to-horse bonds

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

Continue reading Working with horse-to-horse bonds

8 ways to catch a horse

In the book No Life for a Lady, the biography of Agnes Moreland Cleaveland, the children were put in charge of catching a horse and riding into town in order to get supplies. This was New Mexico in the early 1900s. The author said that they didn’t have corrals so catching a horse could take half a day. The horses would know you wanted to catch them and would hide behind trees.

Me_Tex

Continue reading 8 ways to catch a horse

In loving memory: A horse in a million

In Loving Memory – April 12. 1989-August 15. 2015 Khami, my bay Arabian gelding of 26 years, passed away quickly today of what appeared to be a heart attack. He was doing what he loved to do, running with his beloved herd, when he collapsed and died shortly after.

Khami, minutes before his death
Khami, minutes before his death

Continue reading In loving memory: A horse in a million

Be a herd extension

Like most things in life, when I learn about them, chances are somebody has already thought of it, researched, packaged and marketed it and knows way more about it than I do.

running horses

Continue reading Be a herd extension

The art of becoming horse-like

Liberty work takes on a life of its own. Even when I know the horses involved, they do not always do what I expect.

IMG_3315

Continue reading The art of becoming horse-like