Horse human relationship

True

I have tried to write this update multiple times and seem to make a tangled mess out of it every time. Apparently it takes endurance to write about endurance! If you don’t follow the Hope Horsemanship [HH] blog, I encourage you to read my experience of spending a week with Harry Whitney in The MotionsContinue reading “True”

Respect or fear? Does it matter?

I have become addicted to the Inspector Gamache mystery novels by Louise Penny. I love the characters, the little town much of it takes place in, but even more I love the philosophical layers Penny unearths through the characters in each novel. In the most recent book I finished (A Great Reckoning) there is aContinue reading “Respect or fear? Does it matter?”

Blessed are the flexible…

… for they shall not be bent out of shape. Khaleesi has been on some down time after Big South Fork and I have been flung headlong into fall season of music program administration, teaching and rehearsals. I have done some hiking with her and then snuck in one unimpressive ride before the hurricane rainsContinue reading “Blessed are the flexible…”

And then there was one…

On Sunday afternoon, hours after the Big South Fork event was wrapped up I found myself (along with Khaleesi and Samwise) completely alone in the big field that had been pretty packed with people and horses for the past couple days. As I pondered feeling quite alone at the moment the thought came to meContinue reading “And then there was one…”

Training or Testing?

I was listening to a podcast recently where Stacey Westfall discussed the differences between testing and training (she uses the word teaching interchangably for training). Stacey was talking about the process of learning vs the process of showing what has been learned. Anyone who rides a horse has to do some amount of at leastContinue reading “Training or Testing?”

The truth will set you free.

For being a relatively confident person who doesn’t deal with many fears and anxieties, endurance events this year have been a unusual source of great unknowing and nerves. I think the main reason for this is I have some hypothesis in play that are a bit untested and trying out some things that could goContinue reading “The truth will set you free.”

Equine Shabbat?

This season I am committed to offering Khaleesi as much choice as she can possibly have, as is my habit: to the very edge and sometimes probably over the edge depending on where you’re looking at it from. I am also committed to approaching this season differently than I have in the past such as:Continue reading “Equine Shabbat?”

Begin again… again… again…

March 11, 2022 I haven’t had much to write since the end of January when I mused about the predatory nature of humans and how it can affect our horse herds. We have had winter, and it’s busy season for me in the music world. The November-January rabbit hole of liberty experimentation fell away toContinue reading “Begin again… again… again…”

Predator?

There is a saying that goes something like students who beginners are always trying to work on advanced things, but the truly advanced are always circling back to the beginning, the fundamentals. If this is true I feel like I might be light years ahead because I feel like I’m constantly going back, and thenContinue reading “Predator?”

Clay Pots and Loud Singing

Last week I was hurtling toward ride weekend doing my best to get through each day and knowing if I looked too closely at all that was and wasn’t in place in my own strength I might panic and end up in a total crash. As I took care of exactly what was in frontContinue reading “Clay Pots and Loud Singing”