Sept '08 Newsletter by Dressage Naturally

Dressage, Naturally

with Karen Rohlf

Creating healthy biomechanics and stronger partnerships through combining natural horsemanship principles with the art of dressage... leading to Results in Harmony! photo: fotosiwek.com

never underestimate the potential for harmony & lightness to improve in ways you cannot yet imagine

ing a similar route with their horse and has room on their trailer for him please contact Bre at 352 425 3291 or miss_starfire5@hotmail.com

Welcome back to the Temenos... Temenos is an ancient Greek word. It refers to a sacred space that has no limits, where special rules apply and extraordinary events are free to occur.

This month... I spent most of August away from home, but had a wonderful time in Switzerland and the U.K. teaching clinics hosted by Carmen Zulauf and Lyla Cansfield, respectively. My working student from Ontario, Breanne Peters did a wonderful job of taking care of all my beauties and my place. There is a lot of educational information in this issue! Read a question and answer from the natural dressage forum about contact and suspension. Read an email dialogue between myself and an advanced level dressage judge regarding her “horse with a fried brain”.

My upcoming clinics are: I stopped by Stonehenge on my way to the airport in England!

Don’t forget there is one more week to take advantage of the 10%

Sept. 12-14 Heber, Utah Contact: Ellie Gallagher Oct. 3-7 Stone Mills, ONT Canada Contact: Fawn Anderson

discount on my web Oct 9-12 Algoma, WI discount

shop. Just enter the special

code: DNSS43 when you are completing your order and the discount will be taken off the entire order. (the discount won’t show up unless you enter it!

Horse needs a ride from Ontario to Florida My working student, Breanne Peter’s horse needs a ride from Woodstock, ONT to Ocala FL. If anyone is travel-

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Pressure in the Reins and Suspension... How do they relate?

Hi Karen, This month we'd like to ask about contact (again). :) We have heard different numerical values of how much 'pressure' you should feel in the rein. If a horse is free of brace, will there be any pressure? Parelli gives us a 4oz mark, Walter Zettl says 8. We hear that contact is good and that heaviness is 'bad', but where's the line? It seems like more pressure in the rein, for better or for worse, creates more suspension. In specific, we are thinking of higher level competitive dressage where there seems to be more tension, but more suspension too. Is it possible to get the same degree of suspension without the heaviness in the reins? Thanks! -Members of the

Natural Dressage Forum

successful and there can be a wonderful harmonious connection between horse and rider. Also within a system, there are different horses, and an excellent horseman will be open to adjusting to each horse. Also you must consider that within a range, it is less about the amount of pressure and it is more about the quality of the pressure. Just know that we are definitely not talking about pounds of pressure... It shouldn’t hurt your arms or your hands. It takes experience and feel to be able to assess the quality of the pressure and if it is not a positive type of pressure, to be able to diagnose the real root of the problem. Lets start by reviewing what the contact is for in the ideal, finished product (according to what I would like): • Positioning: • Subtle, precise positioning of the head • Limiting the length of the neck • Connection: • Receiving information energy from the body

and

• Another point of connection between horse and human, a complete circuit of energy. These are communications that the reins do exclusively. The reins are the most precise tool to use for these jobs. Anything else that you do with reins likely can be done with something else (your body) instead. If you take an honest evaluation of what you are often actually using the reins for, you will start to see why there is such a high potential for brace, heaviness or escape/ avoidance in the contact...

hh the mystery of the contact!

Lets talk about the first part of your question first… ‘How much contact is OK?’ Different schools and systems will answer this differently, and it really depends on what you want in the end, what is the picture you are going for… As long as the system is consistent and fair, a horse has a chance to learn it and being the amazing animals they are, can be 2

But even with shaping the neck, if you think of the neck as a reflection of the rest of the spine of the horse, many of the ‘correct’ positions of the head and neck will happen naturally if you are riding the middle of the horse (including his heart) in optimal, healthy balance. But still, if you want to make a suggestion of a subtle position of the head, then the reins are a great tool for this!

For positioning, how much pressure should there be? Well, not very much if your horse is responsive. Why not? All your communicating with horses should be done in order to achieve clarity and response to very light pressure. Most horses prefer and will offer this unless... there is some other factor preventing it (lack of balance, impulsiveness, rider off balance, etc) For connection, how much pressure should there be? This is where it is variable, because it is not about the amount of pressure, as much as the quality of the pressure. Think about it like holding hands with someone. If you are holding hands with your grandmother, it may be very light (depending on the grandmother!) but will feel very good. But if you are holding hands with your best friend as you run down to the beach it may feel a little creepy if the pressure is that light (depending on the friend) ;-) Here is another analogy: Have you ever tried to windsurf, or watched someone trying to learn to windsurf? Until you figure some things out, even a little wind can rip the sail out of your hands and you fall on your face. But once you are going along, the wind can be powerful and strong, but it can feel totally harmonious. The difference is in the balance. Is the energy disconnecting in quality (brace, impulsiveness, lack of balance, lack of communication/response) or is it connecting in quality (power, throughness, confidence)? Everyone should take ballroom dance lessons.... just to experience this same kind of connection dynamic. I use this example in my book when i describe riding in connection with the reins. When I did ballroom dancing, even with the professional, the connection sometimes was so soft and smooth (like in the fox-trot) and sometimes was so strong and powerful (like in the mambo), but it was positive. When I danced with my partner who was also a student, sometimes the connection was light but felt icky because we were leaning on, pushing or pulling each other. So how do you tell the difference? Experience, awareness, listening to your instincts rather than simply measuring the weight will help. copyright 2008 temenos fields, inc september

Does it feel good or does it feel icky? Don’t keep doing something that is the ‘proper 4 ounces’ if it feels like an icky, and don’t shake your horse off of more than 4 ounces if it feels positive. If you have taken a clinic with me you likely have done a simulation with a partner where you can feel the difference between a positive connection and a bracey connection with the reins. (It is also on the DVD that comes with the book).

hands with someone you love.

Have hands that receive what your horse offers, then use these check points:

Suspension happens when there is a certain combination of carrying power, thrust from behind and lightness of the front end. If you have icky pressure in the reins, it could actively work against suspension... too heavy and it locks up the shoulders instead of allowing them to be free...The horse could have icky pressure by being ‘too light’ because he has been taught to avoid or escape from pressure in front, he may be ‘sucking back’ and will not feel able to power up to a more suspended gait. Bits that have any kind of leverage that are introduced too early, can easily teach horses to flex at the poll before they have learned to accept positive hand-holding contact and so anytime they feel anything in their mouth they curl up and hide. These horses may feel light, but you have to be careful it is not ‘false lightness’. False lightness is when your horse is light because he avoids the connection, not because you have lightness within the connection.

• Can you put a loop in the rein by moving your hands forward and inch or two, all else staying the same, and have nothing major (speed, balance, posture, etc) fall apart? • Can you also cause/allow your horse to stretch and take his neck longer? • Can you feel ready to do either of these in the same moment? • Is the horse’s mouth steady, yet moving (licking), not gaping open, clenched shut or chomping? • Can you still feel the freestyle inside the finesse? • Can you ride without gloves and not have it hurt? When watching an excellent dressage rider, the reins will not necessarily have slack in them, but we cannot assume that means they are heavy.... the same way if you watch two ballroom dancers fox-trotting, they likely will not be bouncing in and out of connection with each other, but they may have a very positive, light connection. We also must not assume that just because we do see a loop in the reins, it doesn’t mean the horse is in true lightness.... I have ridden horses that are used to being ridden with a loop in the reins always.... so they may look light, but if I do take up a feel it is like meeting a wall. This, to me, is not lightness. Lightness in the connection means the horse can follow the feel anywhere without giving up self carriage. “Freedom is when you are comfortable in your harness”. An excellent connection should feel like holding copyright 2008 temenos fields, inc september

Now, for the suspension question. Suspension is not created by pressure in the reins. Different horses feel different in the reins when they are offering suspension. Some feel like holding the wind-surfer in a strong wind, some feel like holding hands with a bouncy 6 year old girl.

Suspension is sometimes inherent in horse’s movement, and some horses need to develop it. The key here is to develop it. This can take time. First we must develop a positive connection through reins. Or rather, we must develop a positive connection with the whole horse that can be shared and not destroyed by having the reins there. This will allow as much natural suspension as the horse can offer. To build more suspension it is a combination of establishing communication about the qualities of suspension mentioned above: carrying power and thrust of the hind end, lightness of the forehand. The reins can either compliment and feed into this or can get in the way, but they can’t create it. So is pressure in the reins necessary for suspension? No. Horses in nature can have suspension when there

is not a human in the vicinity. Is pressure in the reins necessary for suspension when we are riding them? It is absolutely possible for horses to have suspension even if a human is on his back, (ever seen a horse get excited and start getting really suspended even if the human is trying to stop it?) You don’t need reins to create it, but if you want to regulate it, make flawless transitions in and out of it and sustain it with regularity, it will serve you to have the most excellent connection with your horse... in all areas of contact: your seat, your leg, your mind, and yes, your reins. Knowing the end sure makes it easier to know what to do in the beginning, but also make sure you are not trying to ask your horse for passage before you have just a nice pleasant ‘working gait’. It is possible to teach a horse to get higher in his stride by teaching it like a trick, but it is not entirely fair to the horse to ask him to sustain this if he is not physically conditioned for it. When I see excellent communicators get their horses to offer to try this without putting in the physical development as a base, the horse learn to ‘climb’ or ‘hover’. This often causes horses to use muscles in their neck to lift themselves up and it makes it more difficult to get real power later. If you have good alignment, connection, throughness and communication with your horse, and you have an athletic seat, you are now ready to put the gymnastic investments in the bank that will lead to your horse developing more carrying power, more thrust from behind and more lightness. If you also ride paying attention to doing excellent transitions and finding the optimal tempo, rhythm for your horse, your horse will naturally, slowly, surely have more suspended gaits over time. Even if you teach a horse to jump up and lighten the strides, if there is not the gymnastic strength, balance, coordination behind it, it will only be random isolated moments, not a way of going. I do teach my horses to jump up and lift their front legs as an ingredient in suspension, but I also develop the ingredients of strong, supple backs and high willingness to energize.

Heavy pressure in reins is not necessary for suspension. The contact could be lighter or heavier and be negative, the contact could be lighter or heavier and be positive to the system. The difficulty comes in diagnosing what we are feeling in our hand, as all things in the body and mind can be felt in the hands. What we see in upper level competition are the super-athlete horses, so when things aren’t perfect, they often tend to end up looking like wind-surfers in the strong wind... things get a bit out of balance and riders just hold it together as best they can. After all, those are moments of competition, not training. What does need to be happening in order to ask for our horses to have more suspended gaits while riding, is: • Energy that is flowing forward through the horse... a willingness and readiness to activate (this doesn’t mean a horse going fast) and a supple back. • Influence over regulation of speed and rhythm.

Photos above and below: Terri Miller

• Sufficient strength and posture to sustain. • Athletic, independent seat of the rider and all other qualities of excellent riding! I hope this helps. I realize this was a long answer, but based on your questions, I can tell you have put a lot of thought into this and I love to give you an equally thoughtful answer! ~Karen

Photo: Coco

Letter from a student: “Karen, I thought you might enjoy these pictures from our first trip to the beach (Long Beach, Washington). Again, I just wanted to thank you for teaching me how to get my horse to relax! The online stretching pictures are from Aiko's FIRST day on the beach (taken after only 15 minutes or so of warm up). There were children running everywhere, big kites in the sky, etc. He is normally a very uptight horse, especially when taken into new environments, but the let loose posture is becoming muscle memory for him (he LOVES it!). If his body can find that yummy place to be, his mind just automatically follows. It reminds me a little bit of the coping mechanisms that David Lichman teaches. Also, for the first time in three years, my horse is starting to relax over fences. In the past, I have had success with many different horses over fences, but I have never had a horse that was wound as tightly as Aiko. I was at my wits end. Without the techniques you have taught me, I think I could have plugged away at this for a long time without making any progress. Thank you for helping me through this very challenging time with my horse. Hope all is well with you in Florida...” Shelley McGhie Snohomish, Washington

WOW, Beautiful Shelley! Thanks for sharing the wonderful story & photos! ~Karen

An emotional horse, a dressage rider/judge and a search for partnership... Following are emails between myself and an advanced level dressage judge. I think many of you will appreciate these heartfelt emails from an obviously educated rider. I thought she has such a beautiful way of describing what she is feeling and what the horse is doing, I asked if I could share these letters with you, my readers. As she explains at the end, she was happy to allow me to do so, but has requested to be anonymous. I can easily relate to the difficulties there are in being a professional in a particular discipline of riding and ‘straying’ from the norm, I could understand. What is encouraging is to know that this woman IS sitting at ‘C’ and as I told her, I think any rider would be lucky to have a judge with such a concern for the horse’s experience. Read on... enjoy. ---- Original Message -----

From: M To: karen rohlf

Subject: A fried and damaged brain

Hi Karen I have been working alone for 3 years with a thoroughbred warm blood cross who came to me with a fried brain. He is hot, sensitive and used to tremble at the sight of a saddle .It became counter productive to attend lessons with dressage instructors as most of the lesson was spent in achieving some sort of control of mind and body. So I have worked at home with him and although we have come a long way his muscles rarely ever let go and breathe so although his body performs the tasks I always have the feeling his brain is in a constant state of alert and his body is never fully let loose. It seems one ear is on me and one is always in flight mode As an advanced level dressage judge I am a passionate advocate of classical dressage but have also had to search for others ways to understand this horse and achieve relaxation. Your book and DVD is a masterpiece of insight and classical knowledge, and has given me the courage to keep going with him ,.As I read it again and again it continues to provide me with ever more subtle links between dressage and the psychology of the horse and reconfirms the pathway that with study and knowledge I have

come to choose -relaxation of the horse and a constant awareness of my position. As the O level judge Stephen Clarke said at a judges clinic here in Australia - "Impulsion is the horse doing it , Submission is the horse wanting to do it", which to me means not being forced to do it - the picture I most often see in the competition arena. Against all advice and with time running out ( I am now over 50!!!) I continue with this horse but I seem always to be having to deal with the same issues of the mind every day. If you could just help me very specifically with one problemEVERY SINGLE DAY he shies, stiffens and counter bends at the same two corners of the arena, and only on the left rein....which constantly interrupts any flow of training exercises . So advancement in gymnastic training is minimal and progress or not seems to be all about damage control. I won't list all the strategies I have tried but if you could just tell me how you would address this I would be so grateful. Briefly will do - I have enough knowledge, I hope, to understand . . It is such an issue now that I am unable to decipher whether it is a genuine association of fear (There are logs remaining from a huge broken tree that last year made a shocking crashing noise as it fell in the wind) or has now become a learned response I know you are busy and must receive many questions . I'll understand if your schedule prohibits personal replies but this is a cry for help because in dealing with this I know I will tap into a deeper level of his mind . Thank you again for sharing your amazing knowledge , I look forward so much to your next DVD! ~M

From: karen rohlf To: M.

hi M, I have a soft spot for ‘fried’ horses trained in dressage, so I am happy to help you if I can! I think you are right on track with your concerns... it is so important that the horses can let go and release mentally and physically.... so we can then

allow tone and power to flow, rather than tension and fearful energy. Of course, once you make the decision not to simply wrestle with their bodies, the road to their minds can be a narrow, hard to find path. here are some things to think about and do that I hope will help:

1. Separate the issues: One thing that can help right away is to separate out the confidence issues from your dressage training. If there are emotional issues that are disrupting the training (the constant spooking in that one area of the arena especially on the left rein...) then that is the fact and it will continue to disrupt your training... you will not be able to fully address the spooking if you are trying to get some gymnastic exercise done, and you will not be able to train properly if he is spooking. that is the current reality, and not facing it as such will only decrease his trust in you and make a negative association with the gymnastic dressage training. The good news, is that the arena is not the only place you can do dressage. I have a very emotional horse who is very wary of certain areas (and I just put in my arena with 'H' in what turns out to be the scariest corner of my property (according to him)) so for the past few months as much as i wanted to school him in there i just couldn't do dressage.... we used other fence lines for straight lines, other areas of my property where he is relaxed and confident to do dressage, and when ever we took a rest, we would go over to the scary spot to do our resting. 2. Build his confidence in general, by specific exercises... increase your trustability according to him. These will be long term strategies that over time will show him you are a trustworthy leader of your 'herd of two'. There are many styles of leadership.. If I am scared to do something and someone takes me by the hand and says: 'come on we're going' copyright 2008 temenos fields, inc september

(and I get thru it safely) I might think :'wow, thanks for showing me I can do that." But, sometimes if i am scared to do something and I tell that someone and they push me into it, even if i survive, I am not only still scared but now I am untrusting of that person..."couldn't they see I was scared? I can't believe they knew I was scared and disregarded me!" With many horses in many situations, the "come on i'll show you this will be fine" style leadership works, but it seems it doesn't with your horse. It doesn't matter if it makes no sense to us... he is telling you he is scared and he doesn't seem to be improving. exercise for this are difficult to describe quickly, but you can think of finding other things that he may be sacred of a little bit, and play with building his confidence... taking the pressure off if he even thinks about maybe approaching it.. letting him follow something that is scary (have someone drag a tarp, for example and have him follow it (at what ever distance he can tolerate) curiosity usually will win in the end and as he approaches let the tarp stop (he will think he is able to push the scary thing away and then 'kill it'... ) I love this game, it works really well to change the reflex from 'turn away and leave' to 'approach with confidence and curiosity' Don't push him towards anything he is scared of, but you can encourage him to turn and face it and wait.... use comfort, lack of pressure as a reward and encourage him to put his nose on things.... they are not really confident until they are ok to touch it with their nose. don't push if you see him saying he is scared, have him turn face, wait.... but then you can move him away ("i see you are scared, you can go away") but immediately then reapproach and give him a chance to come close on his own. ('how about now?"). if he approaches really take all pressure off, turn away, sit down, copyright 2008 temenos fields, inc septemeber

what ever....so he doesn't feel that down there, and some days not. you won and got him to do it, we want When it was 'good enough' then I him to feel. "oh, that was no big deal' played with the releasing exercises with his body. and I really apprecithis is long term, depending on your ated if there was a time that he even personality type it may drive you nuts released a little bit in the scary area... and it will seem like you are 'letting careful not to get greedy... when he him get away with something by alsays "yes, i will open myself" then lowing him to face and relax and go don't just take it and use it... say investigate what he is afraid of... be"thank you' and then relax and give cause yes, it will totally interrupt your him his freedom. dressage training in that moment (but not really if you remember the words, I really hope this helps, please email 'confident' and 'keen' are part of the me and let me know how it is going, i object of dressage!) It takes letting go think this horse is a great opportunity of direct line thinking of trying to 'get to learn something! Sometimes these him to be confident'. this is the stuff patterns are so deep they can take a that the Parelli program is so powerful while to change... remember he is for. acting with a perfect horse behavior that could serve him well if he was a 3. Let the body bring his mind to wild horse.... so we must forgive him relaxation. for that, and for all the times that huPlay with all the 'letting loose' exermans have, in the past, proven to him cises from my book/DVD so you can that they will not acknowledge or build your ability to actively free his honor his fear.... body.... and help him realize he is able to get comfortable and release He is lucky to have you, I think! the feeling of pressure... during activity.. you want to do these exercises in Ok, they are passing out the sanda place where he is confident... it will wiches on the plane now, so I will end be more difficult to do in the scary this for now. I look forward to followplace and he will not appreciate it, ing up on how you and he are going! and will wonder why you can't also see the scary stuff! he will feel extra My Best, vulnerable if you 'make him' release Karen and put his head low.

my horse, Monty (the emotional one) is only now able to concentrate inside the arena at the scary end. but it took a lot of just being around that area and not working his body.... it was the play area and anytime he looked scared i would turn and let him face it and rest. if i was going down the long side and felt him get nervous I would tell him: 'oops, Monty, we better turn here, it's pretty scary down there" then at lease we had our harmony together and our partnership was improving instead of him trusting me less. somedays he would go all the way

From: M. To: karen rohlf Dear Karen I can't tell you how much I appreciate your considered and thoughtful reply. I had made the decision to not wrestle with his body and I am on that narrow hard path to his mind, so you have totally and very insightfully hit the nail right on the head! Your advice has confirmed for me what I have sort of felt is the direction ,after lots of trial and error, . This is something I have arrived at after reading your book over and over and extrapolating your philosophies. As I feel him stiffen I have started to absolutely not move a muscle ( stay completely neutral), then just at the

moment before I feel he is going to counter bend , I turn him away. But I have made mistakes. I have tried to do let loose exercises where the danger is- it didn't work! ( now you have explained why). I have tried riding him forward and changing my bend to match his, but the pressure of forward where he didn't want to go did nothing for his mind,( now you have explained why) I have tried turning his head away from the scary spot so he can't see it - this worked to a degree but I didn't like the destabilization at the wither and how much hand I needed in his mouth to do it. They all get the job done, but not how I wanted it to feel. . I have spent hours with him in the arena , on the ground. It took 3 months for him to start to follow me. He would stand stock still with one leg resting and not move a muscle. I could leave the arena for half and hour and there he would be , same place , same position. Frozen with fear. I have cried tears of frustration with this horse, but finally about 18 months ago when I let go of what I thought I wanted to achieve and started to focus on him wanting to do it for me , not me making him, that's when the whole new journey started and that change in mindset I think is what led me to find you! Now there is no frustration, no wanting to ride the next movement up the levels, just working every day on suppleness of body and mind, his AND mine! So Karen I can't thank you enough for your email- With your book and DVD I am more and more developing the "how" but it's the subtleties of where and when that you have filled in for me that I know now will start to really make a difference. It is not just feeling the body, but it's knowing and working with the mind as well. I know when I was in Portugal last year riding the lusitano stallions , Francisco de Branganca said that without a "character" that is with him, then talent means nothing. So yes , it is all about the temperament when you buy a horse, so I know I have a hard road , and I can't for the life of me tell you why I go on, but every day I do go on and I love it and I love him . Thank you so much Karen for your generosity Kindest Regards M PS I can't wait for your new DVD to arrive - I have it on order!

To: M From: Karen Rohlf Hi M, How are you and your horse?? I am putting together this month's newsletter and would love to include our emails in it, as I think many people could relate to your story and will appreciate your heart in trying to create a partnership with this horse. I would love to get your permission... let me know if you would like to be anonymous, or if i can include your contact info... also... if you have any photos of yourself, or you and this or another horse i would LOVE it!! thanks My Best, Karen

From: M To: karen rohlf Hi Karen Well I can't begin to tell you the change in â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Tâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;. Firstly we have stayed away from the scary end of the arena , so feeling exactly the place that he stiffens I then turn him away and busy his mind with a flexibility exercise - like could you soften your poll, or do you think you could put your head a little lower. One thing I must say is that the thought in my head asking if he "could" rather than telling him he "should" has made all the difference to the results I am getting. My body language and aids must be less pressurized so together with the fact that we are not in a scary zone he has been able to let loose and relax his body more. At first I had to ask him quite often , though always giving him a few strides in between to feel the new softness, then allowing him to stiffen back to his old way then asking again. Now, however I 'm feeling him stay softer and more relaxed for longer periods and for the last week we have been sailing round the corner down the scary end and his ears are listening , almost as if he is saying " do you want me to be soft here too" instead of being like pointed radars looking for the monster ready to get him!

his emotional state , and his physical capabilities as well. For example , I have become much more aware of how deep I can make the corner without him losing balance and falling on his inside shoulder - far better to make a shallower corner so he can hold his bend rather than having to correct the dropped shoulder and feel him lose confidence again and us both lose the rhythm and flow. And I am also far more tuned in to the subtle nuances of riding every step assessing everything as we go -It's hard to explain but it's as though I am doing more in my mind and body by making more subtle adjustments to keep HIS mind and body relaxed and flowing. but the overall picture must look smoother, because it certainly feels smoother. Anyway we went for our first lesson in 3 years , to my instructor and he said it was very good riding, that I would not find a horse with better movement and that we were well suited to each other. Feel free to use my emails in your newsletter, however I am a bit of a private person, do lots of dressage judging etc and would prefer to be anonymous , It has been such a hard road for me and I have felt very alone and to be honest quite hopeless at times. Hope you understand. With so many thanks ~M

So Karen what has happened I think is that I have become far more tuned into Karen & Monty Photo: Peggy Finnerty

“You can stand tall without standing on someone. You can be a victor without having victims”

I saw this sad blue ribbon hanging in an indoor arena in Switzerland, and it made me wonder: What had to happen to win this ribbon? How much preparation was there, how much stress did the rider have? What did the horse go through? What was he thinking? Were there principles being violated for the sake of winning? Was it worth it? What did this winner do in order to be the one who received this ribbon? Was it the measure of excellence or just a way of saying that you were better than the others at that show that day? Did the horse know he won? Did he care? But this is not meant to be an anticompetition essay... I am not saying that if you let your ribbons get dusty you are not honoring your horse and if you keep them in a fancy display you are. In fact, perhaps that dusty ribbon is a symbol of how much that rider put the horse first, that the ribbon doesn’t matter. If you see your horse and your heart as the real judge, then the score doesn’t matter, and you only wish everyone in your class could be feeling this good... and the ribbon becomes unimportant. It made me think about the choices we have to make . How easy it would be to get sucked into the heat of the moment, and how important it is to keep everything in perspective... what are you really ready to sacrifice... time, money, your

~ Harriet

horse’s dignity and trust? For a ribbon that will soon be collecting dust. And as that ribbon fades, the only thing left is the feeling inside. That feeling can be of pride or shame, depending not on the color of the ribbon awarded, but instead it is depending on the actions you took, the thoughts you thunk. Over the last decades, I have moved a lot. I have carried bags of ribbons and boxes of trophies around with me. Now that I have a place that it seems like I will be staying at for a while, I have gone through the ribbons and trophies to decide how to display them. It was actually an interesting process for me. I had to decide what to put up and where. I hung ribbons in my tack room, and what I found, was I put up the ones I had good feelings associated with. The good feelings and the blue ribbons didn’t always go together. I wondered for a minute if I should just put up the blue ones, you know, to really impress my guests... but decided not to. In my office I have some special ribbons and medals on display, they are accomplishments that I am particularly proud of, the majority of them because they were won by horses that I had a very special connection with. Some of them I look at and think only “I am so sorry” as I remember how much I carried my horse that day, when he didn’t feel his best.

Woods

When I look at those I am reminded to be careful in my decisions in the heat of the moment. Some I look at and I feel such gratitude as I remember how much my horse carried me even when I was not at my best. Those remind me to be humble. Some I just feel so proud because we were both at our best at the right time, in the right place, and we felt like winners even before the scores were given. Those remind me it is always about a partnership... my horse & I as a team taking on the task. So I guess I am not really sure what point I am trying to make, Perhaps I am not making one.. I just think it is worth thinking about: What will you value, treasure as you go through life? What will be important to you, what will be left in the dust? Will you display what feels good in your heart, or simply what (you think) will impress others? Can both be done at the same time? Can you make choices that you can live with and be able to remember the outcome of those choices with gratitude, humbleness and a sense of connectedness... Just something to think about.....

~K1

(of course this could only have to do with horsemanship) ;-)

The IENA facility at Avenches, Switzerland -->

<-- Parelli UK

Parelli and Dressage... Naturally! I spent 5 days with Carmen Zulauf and her team in Avenches, Switzerland. All of the students in the clinic were ones I have taught before and so it was really nice to see all the progress and then take it even further. I had great fun at a new clinic for me in England, where there were 4 Licensed Parelli Instructors Participating in the clinic. (Pictured at right from top to bottom: Victoria CroftonWadham, James Roberts, Lyla Cansfield and Alison Jones.) It is always so fun to have instructors in my clinics. For one, they are at a level to really take in the information I teach, and also because I know that the students in the course will have even better chances of support when I leave. So much of what I teach is based on the foundation that is developed through the Parelli program and there is just no way around it... the better your foundation, the better everything will be. And... conversely, the more you know about what you would like the end product to be, the better you can do your foundation. This is why I am committed to sharing the knowledge with Parelli and their instructors, students.... it is the best recipe for success!! I also got a chance to catch up with Neil Pye, Sue Shoemark and some of the staff at Parelli UK office (pictured above). I was so impressed by what Parelli has set up in the UK in such a short time. What a great facility they have in Stoneleigh Park. 10