April 2012 Newsletter by Dressage Naturally

April 2012

“Creating stronger partnerships and healthy biomechanics by combining the principles of natural horsemanship with the art of dressage.”

Karen Rohlf Upcoming Clinics: For full schedule, click here June 2-4 Gilroy, CA Sweet Spot taught by: Shelby Hume Shelleycandelario@yahoo.com

June 2-12 UK 2 clinics taught by: Karen Rohlf stefgaunt@yahoo.com

June 15-18 Poland taught by: Karen Rohlf Contact: beata@400.pl July 20-22 Ebro, Ontario, Canada Upward Spiral with Karen Rohlf

Welcome to the March 2012 Newsletter! In this issue: • News • Curriculum for Sweet Spot Clinics • 6 Day clinic photos • Interview Q & A • Do some saddles ‘help’ too much?

What is a ‘Temenos’?

June 29-July1 Bridgewater, NH Sweet Spot taught by: Shelby Hume Contact:

Temenos is an ancient Greek word. It refers to a sacred space that has no limits, where special rules apply and extra-ordinary events are free to occur.

laddfarmllc@me.com

June 2-4 clinic in CA

Shelleycandelario@yahoo.com

Dressagenaturally.net

clinics@dressagenaturally.net

One Spot open in Shelby’s

Quote of the Month: “The art of teaching is the art of assisting discovery.”

~Mark Van Doren

This & That Karen is coming to Ontario!

HURRY! Only a couple spots left in Shelby’s June 2-4 clinic in CA

July 20-22: The Upward Spiral of Success. Taught by Karen Rohlf Contact: breannepeters@hotmail.com It’s been a little while since I have been to Canada and I am so excited to be returning!

Some of you may have noticed that I have been wearing a helmet lately.

Contact: Shelleycandelario@yahoo.com Don’t miss this opportunity; Shelby is quickly becoming in high demand around the USA. Go to clinic page for more clinics

Contact: clinics@dressagenaturally.net to create a clinic in YOUR area!

Cooler Heads Prevail!

I always wear a helmet when I am starting a horse, and recently it started feeling a little funny taking it off for other horses. I mountain bike with a helmet, and I feel funny not wearing a seatbelt... I advice others to wear a helmet, so why wasn’t I wearing one? Here is a little video I made about it.

Student, Sally Thompson wore this nifty visor made for helmets and recently gave me one. I was amazed at how much cooler I stayed. It is like having a personal mobile shade tree! It is called the Equivisor. I found it in a local tack shop. It’s size is a little shocking at first, but once you wear it and feel the difference it won’t matter a bit. I call it my ‘cone of concentration’

Do you like the Sonnenreiter riding Pants I usually wear? D,N followers get discounts at Proryders.com Simply mention my name!

Proryders

If you don’t live in Europe, (They are a German company), then is the place to get them. Just mention my name by leaving a message during check out, (you will be refunded in a separate transaction), or place your order by phone!

The Classroom is going strong! There has been so much great feedback - it is so satisfying for me to hear all the results you are getting from this!

Join the Classroom!

FREE SHIPPING in the Webshop for Video Classroom Members only from now until the end of April 2012! Log in to the classroom and look on the ‘Welcome’ Page for the Discount code copyright 2012 Temenos Fields, inc. April

Wondering what is covered in a Finding The Sweet Spot Clinic? Day One Morning: D,N instructor: Shelby Hume

D,N Big Picture Discussion (What is our “picture” of the sweet spot?) Simulations for Relaxation, Energy and Balance Demos of Relaxation, Energy and Balance

Day One Afternoon: On Line working with Relaxation, Energy, Balance and Moving Massage

Day Two Morning: Under Saddle work with Relaxation, Energy and Balance

Breanne Peters, Karen Rohlf, Shelby Hume

Day Two Afternoon: Discussion of Active Neutral and the “Number Game” exercise for sustaining energy Under Saddle the Number Game Exercise

Day Three Morning: Discussion on Human Balance & Basic Alignment exercise for the rider Work under saddle on Basic Alignment exercise for the rider

Day Three Afternoon: Discussion and Simulations on Riding in Connection with the Reins Under Saddle bringing all three days together for review, work on Freestyle inside of Finesse and searching for the Sweet Spot!

D,N instructor: Breanne Peters

This clinic will help anyone of any discipline to find more harmony within themselves, within their horse and between them and their horse! Seem like a big claim? I have seen it happen again and again! Here is what a participant in Shelby Hume’s last clinic wrote me: Karen, Greetings. I could go on for pages but suffice it to say that you have an excellent representative in Shelby Hume. Her enthusiasm, focus, patience,knowledge and experience are perfectly suited to her role as a leader. I really enjoyed the clinic this past weekend and came away with lots of inspiration as well as practical information. My thanks to Shelby for helping me and my gelding, Patrick, on our journey! Best Regards, Rosemary

If you can gather 6 people who want to learn how to achieve healthy biomechanics in an effective and fun way... We’ll make it an official Finding The Sweet Spot Clinic with Endorsed Instructors Breanne Peters or Shelby Hume! Contact Sally at: clinics@dressagenaturally.net for more info

6 Days in The Temenos

Both Epp and i are still happily "licking and chewing" on all the great ideas you helped us play with over these magical 6 days.

April started off with a 6 Day clinic in the Temenos. the horses were as beautiful as the weather, and it was a week of focus and progress. Two of the days were all private lessons, so we were able to address a wide range of topics; from starting to find the sweet spot, to first thoughts about connection to relaxed/energized transitions to starting half-steps to extended trots to lateral

As you may imagine, i have taken a zillion clinics over the past 30 or so years (yikes! does this mean i'm close to being an "adult" now?!) and I wanted to share with you that this has, *by far*, been the BEST clinic Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve ever participated in. Your teaching style is so wonderfully targeted, positive, expressive, and full of lovely results. I feel very blessed to have been able to be part of this week at your magical Temenos Fields. I'm excited to get home so Epp and i can play more with the ideas we learned during the week! And i'm *So Tickled* that there is a "real dressage" horse that's been hiding inside of Eppisode, just waiting to be coaxed out into the open :-)

work.... (Left to right) Row 1: Geri Dorosz, Martie Burkett, Shawna Saunier

Row 2: Sally Thompson, Carole Robinson, Sally Thompson It was wonderful to meet you, Dana, your lovely horses and too-cute dogs. Many Thanks for a Fabulous week! Row 3: Shelby Hume, Group, Soraya VanAsten *Soraya & Best Eppisode*

Equiday, NL Recently there was an event called Equiday held in The Netherlands. The motto of the event was: “Do it for the horse”. It highlighted natural horsemanship. Dressage, Naturally student and dressage judge Liesbeth Jorna did a presentation there and the organizer did an interview with me to put in the Equiday Magazine. I thought I would share those questions and answers with you here!

What is your background with horses (or in the horse 'sports')? Did you ride in competitions? How did it make you feel? Were you very goal-oriented? I started when I was very young, did Pony Club, then dressage. I was very lucky to have an excellent teacher in dressage and my second horse and I together went from no dressage experience to competing at FEI level, and representing the USA on the young rider team 4 years in a row. I continued with horses while going to university, and after that my trainer invited me to teach and train at her facility, which I did. I have trained students and horses through all the levels and have competed. I used to love to compete and I loved preparing students to compete. Riding the tests is a great way to measure progress, and I loved the personal challenge and emotional fitness involved in being your best at a certain time and place! I love the science and logic of the tests. I was fairly successful so I must admit I did like the feeling of accomplishment and pride I got from winning! But I also found it frustrating when a ride that felt bad got a good score, or a when horse that I know tried his heart out didn't score well… Over time the feeling from the horse out-weighed the judge's opinion… And also my life goals changed and I was not as interested in traveling to competitions all the time. Yes, I would say I am a goal oriented person... But over time my goals have changed! What was your reason to 'go natural' and spend time with Pat and Linda? In short, how was your journey with the Parelli's? I believe I was 'natural' to begin with. I was lucky to have had the opportunity to just be a kid with a horse... Not really supervised all the time, I had a lot of time alone with my horse and I guess I was lucky that I had a safe horse, and it all worked out well... So my experience started very natural with my priority being the relationship between us... My horse really was my only teacher! As I became a professional I seemed to drop some of the 'silly' things I did with horses... My techniques became more sophisticated, but I slowly lost some other qualities of relationship... Of course I didn't realize this at the time, I just thought I was not around such friendly horses as my first ones! At one point I acquired a grand prix horse who was close to retirement, and was very depressed and I wanted to find something fun for him, so I tried Parelli... Long story short, through that process he opened up and I finally found a relationship with him that felt like the ones I had with my horses when I was a kid... The change was remarkable and it reminded me why I started horses in the first place... Parelli gave me more conscious tools to create this partnership. I was lucky that Pat and Linda Parelli invited me to spend a lot of time with them over the next several years.

Equiday interview, (cont’d) What is the most important change you made, when you went from 'normal' to 'natural'? Again, it was more of a return to natural. It was a realization that the seemingly 'silly' stuff I did with my horse when I was a kid, (the relationship building), as actually the most important piece... It gave me more tools to use to connect and find harmony with the horse, to recognize what is an emotional, mental, or physical issue... To me, 'natural' is the attitude I have towards the horse and the context that everything else lies within. It reminds me to see things from the horse's perspective... Can you describe your feelings about (when) riding dressage and tell us why this is your favorite subject (or can I say 'addiction' ;-) )? Dressage to me is so amazing in it's power.... Any kind of riding has the potential to give a feeling of energy and connection, but the balance and precision of dressage feels like I really have a horse for a body and I can put my feet exactly anywhere I want, as I can with my own feet... Except I have the power of the horse. It is such an amazing feeling when they trust you enough to give you their bodies so completely. Could you tell us, in short, how you combine natural horsemanship and dressage? In short... NH is the context and attitude, dressage is the description of how we move.... NH gives me the ability to see the mental and emotional parts, and dressage gives me the ability to see the physical. The basics of dressage are supposed to be FOR the horse. Dressage gives me the information, and NH gives the horse the opportunity to express himself so he can tell me when he feels the benefit. Do you also practice other disciplines? (yes, I saw you jump the sprinklers) I have my horses jump sometimes either at liberty or with me... Just for fun, variety, confidence, and/or gymnastics. I also play at liberty to check and build partnership and for them to have more freedom of movement. Do you have plans to ride in competitions again? And why, or why not? I do not have a big desire to compete... It is not my goal. I always train with the idea in mind... If a judge were to critique me at any moment, what level could my horse do and with what quality... It is such a good measure... And I do think it is good to get feedback from knowledgeable people, but that doesn’t have to be in a competition. As a person I don't have the desire to spend my weekends at competitions! If i have a good or bad ride, it doesn’t really matter to me how it compares to anyone else's ride that day! If I have a horse that would really enjoy going to shows and was of a good quality I could see going in some competitions some day... I am not anti-competition, it is just not interesting to me right now in my life.

Equiday interview, (cont’d) If your body controls your horse’s body, what do you need your reins for? Reins have 3 purposes in my mind: 1. Another point of connection… in our search for becoming one body with our horse, it deepens the physical connection… much the way the 'smooth dances' do with people… (fox-trot, waltz) 2. To receive information… The reins give us an opportunity to feel more things. When riding bridle-less you can feel a lot, for sure… but you get even more fine-tuned information about balance especially. If the rider or the horse is off balance and the reins are there, it will likely show up in the reins! Of course this can be an opportunity to solve it! 3. To speak to the head/jaw/neck… From riding bridle-less I realized that this is the most challenging thing to try to do without reins… talk to the jaw (to relax) and to speak about subtle positions of the head. You can actually influence the neck (and head to a degree) greatly even bridle-less if you think about the neck being an extension of the whole spine… In fact this is a benefit of riding bridle-less: You can't force the neck to go in a position that doesn't make sense with the rest of the spine And if riding without reins is possible, why would you want to ride with reins? In a general sense the answer is: 'You don't have to if you don't want to!' If you think about the purposes of the reins listed above, they can be very positive! They are tools to help you achieve your picture of what you want for your horse. All things going well, I still find riding with the reins in a positive way a very powerful experience… To use the dance analogy again: I did ballroom dancing for a few years, and although I preferred the latin style music and energy, I really loved the feeling of dancing with an excellent parter for the waltz, fox-trot, etc. For me it was as close to moving as one as I could imagine… The leader could lead me in a way that my feet did steps that my brain hadn't even learned yet and there were no gaps in the connection between our bodies...I remember thinking that this is what it must feel to a dressage horse to be ridden by an excellent rider. When I first started doing NH and learning how to ride bridle-less I went through a phase where I thought I would do everything in dressage bridle-less all the time… but then you meet certain horses and in teaching students I realize that reins are a wonderful tool… and in situations for dressage it gives the most gentle and clear direction to the horse of what I want… So bridle-less and riding with reins are all in my tool box and I can know the benefits for each and use them accordingly based on what will help the horse understand and develop in that moment. With reins, and especially with bits attached to the reins, we have to be very careful as riders that we don't place the head and neck in a position that we think is 'right'. I think of the head/neck as a reflection of the rest of the body (and mind). If I see a problem in the neck I first think about the body and what I can do with the balance or movement dynamic. When I make that change, the neck will reflect it. Of course sometimes the head and neck are the part we need to talk to but we have to be very careful not to always go there first. Humans are visual and hand oriented so it makes sense we will focus more on this neck and head that are in our sight and in our hands. I learned so much about necks by riding bridle-less. Remember reins should help make a good thing better! They shouldn’t be used to make a 'not good thing' look as if it is better.

Equiday interview, (cont’d) Is there a different feel when you ride with the bit or with a halter? (a lot of early-stage naturals become really averted against the use of a bit, can you tell people your vision on 'why the bit is not bad'?) Every horse is so different… I do start all my horses in the halter. I now realize how much the bit can change things and make many horses emotional, so I just take that out of the picture in the beginning of their training. Then when I add the bit I can see what is an issue with the bit and what is a general issue. Some horses feel better in the halter and I am so glad i am able to spare them the uncomfortable thing in their mouth. Some feel better in a bit and some feel great in each. Remember most of their bodies are body… their head and neck are only a small part of that body, so for some horses there is not much to say to their head and necks anyway! Again, I feel like the halter and bit are just tools and I have learned not to have so many rules that I cannot be flexible for each horse. In dancing, a partner who is off balance in the fox-trot with that close connection feels worse than an off balance dancer in the more free dances… So when horses are in a very off balance stage, or if I have to rehabilitate their bodies, or if they have become desensitized or fearful of the bit, or if a student does not have good control of their hands, or of their balance, I will use a halter to protect the mouth. When things are going well in the halter then we are ready for the bit. The bit should ideally make a good thing better. There can be more refinement of the 3 purposes listed above… like sharpening the pencil. A good connection with the mouth can be the ultimate demonstration of trust (the horse trusting us in his mouth), balance of horse and rider, and excellent hands of the rider. Using a bit so you can gain more control over things that the horse is not at all willing or able to do is a mis-use of the bit. Never using a bit 'on principle' may be a missed opportunity for a deeper communication. The key, as always, is to be aware of the cause and effect of each tool available and to choose well for each horse and rider. Finally: what is your advice for our visitors on their journey with their horse?

In general: Trust your instincts… And remember that precision arises from the possibilities that playing freely creates.

When too much help is not helpful A while ago my friend and fellow dressage trainer Sharon and I were discussing saddles and sitting various horses. We were lamenting over how tricky it is to find a saddle that both meets the horse’s needs and the rider’s needs. She has a horse that is particularly difficult to sit and difficult to fit. She generally prefers an old style Passier saddle, with a very flat, open seat, minimal knee rolls, and plenty of room in the seat. But she had tried a different saddle that was deeper seated, had knee blocks and she admitted it was so much ‘easier’ to sit in, and she could sit this horse much earlier in the ride. She said it almost guiltily...

Something I was pondering...

We both chuckled and wondered if it was just our pride that made doing this feel like cheating? We discussed it and both agreed that on principle, we think it would be better to not sit until the horses are ready to be sat, than to be in a saddle that is so engineered that you can sit the horse even when their backs and bodies are not ready! (Of course a saddle that actively throws off your balance is never a good idea.) I often have students wanting help on their sitting trot, but I don’t even worry about it until their horses are better connected. Some horses are comfortable no matter how they move. Quarter horses, for example are made to be relatively smooth over long periods of time. What cowboy wants to go bumping down the trail all day?! But horses that are bred for more springy movement can be very difficult to sit, and if you try to sit too soon in the ride, they just hollow or tighten their backs even more... Or the rider has to ‘dumb down’ their trot too much to be able to deal with it. Some modern dressage saddles literally feel like they wedge you into place.... Saddles that all but come with seat belts and airbags. Students can be attracted to these saddles with big knee blocks, high cantles, and deep seats because they ‘help’ you sit better in that moment, but is that necessarily a good thing? I just finished reading a book called ‘Born To Run’ by Christopher McDougall. Even if you are not a runner, it is a really entertaining read. It has a great story line about ultra marathoners (people who run upwards of 50-100 miles just for fun), and it tells about a tribe called the Tarahumara (‘The Running People’). These people all run great distances with little or no injury. The author explains that before the 1970’s running was not associated with injury. But since the 70’s running has become directly associated with pain and injury. Talk to a runner and they will tell you of knee, back, and muscle pain. He directly links this trend with the trend of more high tech running shoes. As popularity of running increased, so did the products. The more the shoes were padded, spring loaded, arch-supported... the more injuries there were. The more expensive your shoes, the more injured you were. The shoes enabled poor running technique and caused the feet to become weaker. Take the shoes off and your running style automatically changes to a more healthy style. His assertion is that man was evolutionarily Born To Run. It made me think about the saddle conversation and why I love the Ansur treeless so much. I can feel the horse so closely. It does not ‘help’ me sit at all.... Or perhaps it gives be the best help there is. It allows me to feel what is really going on... When it is OK to sit and when it is not. This is not meant to be an advertisement for Ansur saddles. Of course we must always balance protecting the horse with our desire for closeness. You must always choose what is best for you and your horse. But maybe some saddles out there offer protection that enables poor riding. I guess what I am saying is that its OK if you don’t try to sit an un-sittable trot. But through finding the sweet spot of a let loose, relaxed top-line and balance with engagement you will find your real sitting trot, even more than through an over- engineered saddle.

DRESSAGENATURALLY April 2012

The Art & Science of Dressage, Naturally... Learn to find The Sweet Spot, then bring it with you! Prints, tote bags, and mugs are available in the web shop! Artwork by Karen. Are you a member of The Classroom? Log in to the Classroom and look for a coupon that gives you FREE SHIPPING through April 2012!

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