March 2012 Newsletter by Dressage Naturally

March 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 March 23-25 Georgetown, KY Sweet Spot taught by: Shelby Hume robertelliott1@bellsouth.net

April 20-22 North Carolina Sweet Spot taught by: Shelby Hume NCParelliclinics@eaglebearfarm.com

June 2-4 Gilroy, CA Sweet Spot taught by: Shelby Hume

Welcome to the March 2012 Newsletter! Spots open in Shelby’s April

In this issue: • News • Q & A: Breathing • Keeping the Energy • Going with the Flow

20-22 clinic in NC ncparelliclinics@eaglebearfarm.com

One Spot open in Shelby’s June 2-4 clinic in CA

Shelleycandelario@yahoo.com

Dressagenaturally.net

Shelleycandelario@yahoo.com

What is a ‘Temenos’?

June 2-12 UK 2 clinics taught by: Karen Rohlf

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.

stefgaunt@yahoo.com

July 20-22 Ebro, Ontario, Canada Upward Spiral with Karen Rohlf clinics@dressagenaturally.net

Quote of the Month: “Learn how to exhale,

the inhale will take care of itself.” ~Carla Melucci Ardito

News D,N is coming to Ontario! July 20-22: The Upward Spiral of Success. Taught by Karen Rohlf Contact: clinics@dressagenaturally.net It’s been a little while since I have been to Canada and I am so excited to be returning! If you have taken a clinic with me before you will be given priority, but hurry and reserve your spot!

“Thank you!” To everyone who answered my call for someone to help me take care of my horses this summer. I was overwhelmed by the number of responses. It was a tough decision, but I believe I made a good one.. So again, thanks to all who responded.

HURRY! Only a couple spots left in the April 20-22 Sweet Spot Clinic with Shelby Hume in NC, and the June 2-4 clinic in CA Don’t miss this opportunity; Shelby is quickly becoming in high demand around the USA. Go to clinic page for contact info

Did you know D,N followers get discounts at

Proryders.com simply by mentioning my name? It’s true!

Attention: German D,N fans: Cadmos publishing is doing the German translation of the Dressage,Naturally book/DVD. It should be out this summer! Stay tuned!

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!

If you like the Sonnenreiter riding pants that Karen wears and you don’t live in Europe, (They are a German company), then

Proryders 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!

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. March

Congratulations, Luca!

I met Luca Moneta in the very first course I took with Linda Parelli. We were the only 2 people there who were already professional trainers and competitors. It didn’t matter that he knew very little English, and I didn’t know any Italian... It didn’t matter that he was a jumper and I was a dressage-er... We were both there to learn something new and foreign to us. I visited Luca in Italy several times over the years and I was so excited to get a call from him that he was here in Florida competing in the Winter Equestrian Festival in Wellington with 3 Grand Prix horses. After a short visit with him in the Temenos, Dana and I drove down to watch him compete in a 4* $150,000 International GP class. He went double clean and placed 5th among some of the world’s top riders. It was so wonderful to see him in this setting - his calm, warm attitude and his quiet focus with his horses are a welcome sight in the middle of all the gag bits, leverage bits, hackamores, spurs, and about every contraption you can imagine. Luca rides Grand Prix in a simple snaffle and loose cavesson. The day before the class he rode his top horse, Neptune, on the flat and I just observed. I didn’t dare teach him something new right before a big class! But I watched and gave him my ideas of how to improve from there... Stuff to play with when he got home... The next day I watched him in the warm up and... uh oh, there he was doing the exercise I described... “Oh NO” I thought, don’t do this NOW! It is such a delicate balance to ride up to those huge fences, and I was already nervous enough for him without him completely changing his warm up... I started preparing myself to take all the credit if it worked, and none of the blame if it didn’t! ;-) ... (just kidding)... But that is Luca, always ready to try something he feels will help his horse. Luckily it all worked out well. It was a big win and will hopefully open more doors for him.

Karen, Luca and Neptune

Awareness of Your Horse’s Breathing: Hi Karen, I'm so inspired and happy to be a part of the Dressage, Naturally classroom! I love everything you’re doing and your talents in bringing two wonderful methods of horsemanship together! In your videos you speak a lot about how the horse is breathing and when they are holding their breath. I'm curious to know how you’re seeing this, not only on the ground but also under-saddle? Do you have any tips on how/when you are "feeling" and "seeing" this in such a detailed manner? I have been working on my own breath-work in the past 6 months and that has helped me be more aware of myself and therefore I am more aware of the horse. It's so impressive that you know the moment they hold their breath and the minute they release it. I think the benefits of knowing/feeling that opens up another level of understanding. Thanks for doing what you do and sharing your wonderful knowledge! Lisa Hi Lisa, Thanks for your question. It really is interesting to pay attention to your horse's breathing, and anyone who has done yoga, or running, or swimming knows how important breathing is! The breath effects the body, and the body effects the breath... And it works best when one is helping the other! Tension in the body can restrict the breathing, and shallow or tense breathing will hold the body back. Different horses have different individual ways of breathing. Some give a little snorty noise with each exhale in rhythm with the stride. Some horses do this when they are relaxed, and others do this when they are tense! So it is important to know your horse and whenever you see a change in the pattern, to take in the whole picture.

“When you own your breath,

Sometimes you won't notice how a horse breathes until it changes!

nobody can steal

In general the breath will be in time with the stride. When the body weight lands, it helps the exhalation. Horses taking extra breaths or panting are giving a sign that they are being aerobically taxed.

your peace.”

Blowing out is a great sign of release and I love it if they can get that to happen in the beginning of the ride. Although sometimes when a horse is fit, but not really applying themselves, they don't do it until they really are caused to apply themselves! By apply themselves I mean that they use their core muscles (engagement, etc).

~Author Unknown

Breathing (continued) Some may not blow out until they are mentally/emotionally relaxed. Introverted horses often blow out and add a head shake. But as far as more subtle differences, it is possible to feel an expansion under the area of your thighs. This happens when a horse really releases and swings through his back... They literally start accessing deeper parts of their lungs. It is a little joke that if I take a horse who has not ever really used his core, and I release him so he does, I say "he is allergic to dressage" because it is not unusual for a horse with years of held tension to cough and even have 'gunk' come out from all the stagnant areas of their lungs. I have a horse in training right now that will literally sing when he is using his core. He does all the normal blowing, but adds a deep hum before it that may last for many strides! Hummmmm Hummmmmm Hummmmm Hummmm BLOW! Hummm Hummmm Hummm Hummmm BLOW.... BLOW ..... Blow... then normal breathing. I know I am on track when he starts to sing! My horse Atomic used to really hold his breath. I didn't realize it until he started to breath more normally. It fits his character. There were many things he was holding in tension and it wasn't until he let go of that extra 1% of leadership that he also started to breathe. With him, at first he would only blow during a dwell from something good. I had to really wait wait wait, then he would blow, head shake, and lick. It took a while before he blew while riding. He is much more relaxed now and often blows out during our first walk around! That is also from emotion, as he hasn't felt anything physical yet, but it is almost like he knows how to prepare himself... He blows and it helps him relax. He also does something that my horse Monty would do... and I have not personally seen any other horse do this (Monty and Atomic are similar in many ways). The do what I call 'Buddha Breathing'. If they are very focused and I dwell during good moments they will drop their heads and breath very deeply and slowly. Just like in a yoga class! Imagine breathing in for a count of 4 and out for a count of 5, filling your lower lungs and then moving up to fill your whole lungs, and just as completely emptying them.... And if you do try this, you will notice an extreme sensation of relaxation.

“A healthy mind has an easy breath.” ~Author Unknown

So the best thing to do is to start noticing your horse's pattern - see if you can bring your awareness there and then notice if and when and how it changes in different circumstances. You can notice the frequency and the quality of it. Notice the difference between different horses... And of course, since you have been doing breath-work yourself, you are aware of it's power. Breath is the only automatic system in the body that is also under conscious control... It is the connection between conscious and subconscious... Powerful stuff! I hope this helps! Let us know what you discover!

How Do I Keep the Energy & Motivation while in Neutral? (This was a Q & A from the D,N Classroom Forum)

Hi again Karen. My horse has got very clever at giving me a quick try of what exercise I'm asking for, and then expecting me to stop and reward... so I'm not very good at the 'enjoying' part because I find I have to keep reminding him! So... going back to pure circle game where I'm completely neutral (which I don't do much with this horse because his tendency is extreme (Parelli horsenality) left brain introvert plus I seven jobbed him half to death before I knew better) was really interesting. He maintained for a circle and a half ( I was asking for 2) then when I kept politely sending him, he started to offer less and less until it was about 3 strides before he turned with ears forward asking to stop!!! Eventually, he offered the full two, reluctantly and slow, but maintaining trot!

So.. lesson learnt is that our foundation of him maintaining responsibilities is a bit broken. Hence, I guess, why he doesn't put any effort into maintaining the aligned sweet spot on a traveling circle game.......? I do find it a big challenge to keep my foundation with this horse, but with enough purpose that he offers. Thanks Karen!! Hi Clare, I think there are many people who can relate to what you wrote. Sometimes students will go through the process of learning the 'games' and unknowingly create negative patterns because they didn't yet figure out how to use the games in the best way for their particular horse! Here is some good news: I think it is (usually) very possible to change this, but it will take a lot of patience and a lot of excellent timing! It is a long answer (that I think may show up in the next newsletter, since you gave me the idea). In the meantime, here are some things to consider: *Have destinations. Check out the video on Creating Enthusiasm with Ovation. You want many many times in his experience with you that he absolutely feels successful (nose on tree, foot in bucket) *Pick easy things, but have a high standard. "Oh that's pretty good for you" is UN motivating... "You CAN do this" builds confidence and attention. *There is usually a bell-curve of effort. Most students reward when the horse has already gone past peak effort and is on the way to doing less. It is SO IMPORTANT that you release in the middle of the horse's best effort for that repetition (don't wait to see if it gets better, it usually won't!) *You tell the horse to RELAX at just the moment he was offering. Don't tell him to stop... just relax (he will likely stop anyway). You don't want him to think you want him to sustain... he will just go into 'efficiency mode'. Make sure there are more times when you say he can relax... BUT when you ask him to go, you have a high standard!!! *Choose something to ask for that is fair, reasonable, and possible. *Big big payoffs for him... treats, rubs, changes of scenery *Let them know its ok not to be perfect (I call it naughtiness training) ;-) no matter how the energy shows up, tell them yes (of course within boundaries of safety). Sometimes it is big, like a kick out when you touch them or it could be subtle. I had a very LB introverted horse who once just merely knocked a splint boot off a blanket bar. I saw him very privately flinch (maybe the old owner scolded him for this) and so instead I knocked the other one off too, then just sat with him... I saw his eye change, then he nuzzled a towel and I knocked that off.... next thing I knew he was going down the row of stalls knocking everything off the stall doors! It was the first time I really saw a glimmer in his eye and it was a BIG part of the beginning of his change. Hope this helps! Cheers, Karen P.S: one of my favorite things to do is play with these little introverts and watch them get bold!

Going With The Flow I had the wonderful experience of attending a course on Flowtrition (TM) for horses and people last weekend. Flowtrition is a gentle touch that allows for the integration of life experiences stored in the body as tension. It is a means of finding the touch, nutrition, and thoughts that encourage growth and evolution of the individual. It is taught by Dr Lance Wright and you can hear him describe it in a podcast interview that David Lichman recently recorded. I recommend giving it a listen, and while you are there you can check out David’s other wonderful podcasts! David had recommended I learn about Flow after he took the course and realized how well it meshes with the intention of this kind of horsemanship and he thought it would blend beautifully with the Moving Massage technique I use. I really enjoyed the course. I got to experience some treatments from Dr Lance and we got some hands-on time with horses. I was amazed at the HUGE release I got from the horse I had with such a small and LIGHT touch... the intention is all about connecting with them through rapport... Interesting stuff! Lance’s lovely wife, Jeannette has written a book on an unrelated subject that I thought was so much fun... It is called: Men Are Dogs: A Woman’s Guide to Choosing Her Breed Of Man. It is super cute and has great illustrations.

Dr. Lance & Jeannette Wright

The participants in the Level 1 & 2 course Moving Massage with Atomic

“What you breath with you agree with” ~Dr. Lance Wright

DRESSAGENATURALLY March 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!

Web Shop