Finding a 'Feel' with Horses

I decided to do a kick back to the days I had a radio show called 'open wide' on Kootenay Co-op Radio here in Nelson. The year I got Prowler I stopped doing it as the transition to a horse owner was really full on for me that I needed to trim down all other activities.

I do miss sharing on the radio. Ask any of my friends and they will tell you I'm often the 'queen of TMI (too much information)' ;-)

So here's a little snipped of my live life with Prowler.

I'd love to hear your thoughts and comments about learning to "feel of and for your horse and he will feel of and for you"' as Tom Dorrance put it. http://www.johnsaintryan.com/tom1.htm

Did I say it before? My horse is my guru!

I'll figure out how to embed this audio later but for now simply go here to listen:

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/1519001/feel%20with%20horses%2003-11_09.11.mp3

Prowler & His Slow Feeder Hay Bag

A little visit with me and Prow on the gorgeous property where I live.  Check my other post about the slow feeder for more info and links for this and other slow feeders. http://myhorseismyguru.blogspot.com/2011/04/slow-feeding-feeling-of-abundance.html

We ARE so blessed.

My horse IS my Guru.

SLOW FEEDING: a feeling of abundance… (originally posted Feb 25, 2011)

I recently purchased 2 slow feeding hay nets from Rivas Remedies last week. What’s a slow feeder you ask? It’s any (safe) device, net, box etc that allows your horse a constant supply of feed (aka trickle feeding) that they have to work at to get out. This is more natural for horses as they grazers or rather foragers in nature. Large unnatural feedings (often twice a day) is what horses are subjected to in our human controlled habitat. A slow feeder allows small slow amounts of food to constantly be keeping a horses digestive system working – hence the natural part. For now the unnatural part of this is that Prowler isn’t moving his feet to get from piles of loose hay as I was feeding him before. Ideally I’d love to have a hay net that could be loose that Prow could push around and thereby be moving his feet, but alas with electric fencing and a downhill paddock area this isn’t possible right now. To try and remedy this a little I’ve got them tied up to two posts, somewhat close to one another and they are ALWAYS full.

The theory is that it might take horses anywhere from a week to a month for their minds, and bodies to fully register that they don’t have to hurry or overeat because the supply is plentiful and endless. This physiological change can help horses that are prone to foundering, boredom, cribbing and other psychological or physical ailments. It is definitely a puzzle for Prow to get the hay out of the small 2″ triangles in the net and I can see the pleasure he is experiencing using his mouth and brain as they were intended. For proponents of slow feeders, they say it also has to do with the amount of acid in the stomach and what happens when large amounts of food are dumped into the hind gut causing ‘leaking gut syndrome’ and leading to sugar imbalances and finally to founder or colic.

Is he gaining weight with this method? Yes he definitely is but I feel that this will taper off soon. In fact for easy keepers it can help them even out and settle into a more natural weight and for hard keepers too. I really questioned whether this experiment was timely considering spring will soon be here and that’s a natural time for horses to gain weight due to new grass, warmer weather etc.. But then I decided to really do it properly and give it a real chance. I’m already glad I made that decision and it’s encouraging me to get back to his regular exercise again after a pause due to super icy conditions.

So how is Prowler taking to this you ask? Incredibly well! He is so relaxed and happy when I go out to see him. I don’t have to worry about rushing out to feed him, especially in the cold -20 with wind chill like last night. He was happy and warm when I went out to feed him his evening beet pulp. The feeling I get from him is safety, and contentment. It’s as though he’s thanking for me for really honouring his body’s needs. In fact, especially in the winter, I’ve noticed that I hear him calling out to me in the night or early morning. This is literally impossible as I am sleeping in a cement basement on the other side of the house from where he is, but I’m quite sure I hear him psychically. Since implementing the slow feeding system I have not heard him at all which tells me he’s not getting hungry and anxious in the cold dark night.

The feeling of abundance I described coming from Prow triggered a spark of curiosity in me. How would that feel to more deeply experience relaxation and trust in my life? To really trust that there’s no need to worry where the next money was coming from, or how the next bill would get paid? Now when I sit with Prowler every morning after chores I’ve been focussing on trying to align myself to the vibration of abundance and stating out loud at least 10 things I am grateful for. It will be part of my morning ritual with him from now on.

MY horse is my Guru.

Do Our Animals Speak to Us? (original post Feb 16, 2011)

Do our animals speak to us? I think so, if we are open and willing and able to listen to them they speak in a variety of ways. Horses are used for therapy (equine facilitated therapy: hippotherapy) and the common feedback that they give in such sessions is to blow and lick and chew in acknowledgement of congruity of emotions and alignment of energy. When on their own they will do this to release stress and tension as well.

I experienced Prowler talking to me yesterday as we were out for a walk – with all of our 6 legs – down Laska Creek Road. I was remembering quite visually the last time I rode him a little ways up the mountain here. He seemed fine and energetic and happy to be out but because of the arthritis in his back joints (hocks) I got off coming back down as I always do.  After that ride Prowler seemed very grumpy and it took me about a week to realize his lower back/spine was out again and called the chiropractor in to adjust him. And then the thought came (was it from him?) that I cannot ride him, or even walk him up and down mountains any more, that it’s too hard on his stiff joints and will be degenerative on his body rather than building muscle in his hind end which is what I had been hoping it would do. Immediately Prowler, head bobbing up and down beside me, blew and licked and chewed as if to say “YES finally you are coming into alignment with my old body’s needs!” It was a pretty powerful moment and showed me I do need to come to terms with what his body is able to do at this point if I do want to keep riding him at all. At almost 25, which is approximately 73 years of age, I definitely have a senior in my care.

Cantering is another issue for him I think and while I don’t ask him to do it much when we are playing he ALWAYS puts his ears back when he is transitioning from trot to canter. It is always hard to tell if this is simply a dominance/attitude displaying itself but now I will look/listen and respond with more care for his ageing body.

I feel strongly that when we get in alignment, first with ourselves and what is true for us, and then with another being, from that place they are then far more willing to move with us, towards us, for us, with energy, enthusiasm and joy. This is my intention in my relationship with Prowler. I certainly don’t always get it right, maybe only 70% of the time these days, but that’s part of the journey.

My horse IS my guru.

For more information google: equine facilitated therapy there’s lots of info out there!

visit www.sequoiadesign.ca for more unique photos

Deer in the night… (original post Jan 12, 2011)

Well hello all and Happy New Year! It has been a very long time since I’ve posted here. I’ve been busy. I’ve been procrastinating and I’ve been letting my perfectionistic nature get the better of me.

You see I wanted to use this blog to improve my writing. By setting that expectation I kind of shunted my creative flow and made sharing into this other thing. I do still intend for my writing to improve but I’m going to let that happen organically. The more I write the better I’ll get…..that’s my intention.

And so my title tonight ‘deer in the night’ is simply to describe my experience tonight out feeding Prowler.

I was massaging his sore old hips and leaning on him looking out towards the fence line as he ate his evening beet pulp and hay cubes. Two deer, presumably  a mother and youngster (as one was larger than the other) hopped the electric fence and went right over to the hay I’d already spread about. They couldn’t see me as I was between Prow and the barn door. He was probably obscuring my scent as well. The young one came right up about 8 feet away then bounded back to mom and the pile of hay. Unfortunately when Prow was done his mushy treat he made a beeline to the hay and I was exposed. I felt kind of ‘found out’ and sure enough the deer whistled and ran off. I’m sure they didn’t go far, not with the promise and security of hay and Prow’s company awaiting them.

Since Prowler is alone, an unatural habitation for a herd animal, I called to the deer not long after we moved here to Harrop and asked that they come and be with him in the night. Since then, almost every night there are deer prints and poop in his field.  I’m so grateful to the dear deer for being the companion of my beloved friend.

My horse is my Guru…more soon.

A New Perspective on Playing (original post August 15, 2010)

I’ve been watching some Jonathan Field DVD’s these last couple of weeks. While part of his training originated with Pat Parelli Jonathan went his own way and in my opinion is doing some fine work. He has created his own names for what is basically the 7 games but I’ve definitely learned some new tricks watching him.

Like most horsemen (or horsewomen for that matter) he has a very neutral energy and stance with his horses. The thing that I’ve really taken from his teachings are tricks with the circling game or as he calls it ‘the responsibility circle’. This is not lunging. Lunging is driving a horse around in a circle. This has it’s place but allows the horse to disengage from the human and tune them out, therefor not building confidence or connection (it will certainly get your horse fit). The responsibility circle is all about asking your horse to circle around you ‘on-line’ (nope, not the internet but on various lengths of ropes) you send them and ask them to maintain the gate you’ve asked for. IT IS THE TRICKIEST GAME OF ALL!! Why you ask? Well for many reasons. As humans we want the horse to ‘just do it’ (sorry Nike  ) after all they know how to go around in a circle right? Ah, but as always most things with horses are dominance games. They play them with each other all day long. Who can move who’s feet? That’s the game. So ultimately the respect and trust that this game builds is HUGE because the human doesn’t move their feet, the horse does. Another reason is because of the frustration that can set in when your horse learns how to play you!

What I’ve been reminded of watching Jonathan’s techniques and tricks is to reward EARLY and OFTEN! Surely this works with husbands/wives and children….no? So when asking for 1 circle at the walk in any particular direction reward them and bring them in after 1/4 of a circle. They think WHAT? That’s all you’re asking for? Yup. That’s it buddy. Good job. Now head back out there and lets see how much you can do. They give you the same? Reward again. Eventually I promise you they’ll do 1/2 a circle and you just keep repeating the process.

Changing directions often is somthing he does too. It’s a great technique for smart ‘left brained’ type horses (aka lazy) who get bored easily and need to have more engaging play sessions. I tried these techniques with Prowler last night and really rewarded often. By the end of our little warm up session he was so with me! When I’d moved on to other games, I’d slightly raise my energy and he’d trot, I’d drop it and he’d walk totally syncing with me. AT that point I knew it was time to ride. Our play warmup is also for me I realize. I also have to get in tune with him if I want him to sync with me, it is a relationship after all – not a dictatorship.

Our ride was really good too. It wasn’t a long one, just up the hill for him to keep building his strength and stamina after his one month hiatus. One big threshold leaving our play field. We approached and retreated a couple of times and then I asked him to stand facing the direction he didnt’ want to go, not letting him turn his head but keep his nose straight, and voila! He took a big breath and off we went. No more thresholds the rest of the ride.

When I can tune in with my horse there really is a feeling like with the people’s in Avatar that can ‘plug-in’ to the horse like creatures. It’s humbling to have an instant feedback mechanism for your emotions though!

Next post I want to write more about all this energy I keep referring to when being with/around/on or playing with horses. If you’ve never experienced it then you might not know what the heck I’m talking about.

Feeling the spark before ignition (original post August 15, 2010)

About 6 years ago, I was hanging out with my little Morgan mare friend Jeanie and her paddock mate one foggy fall morning. The dampened quiet had collected a murder of ravens chatting calmly amongst themselves in the trees. I was standing right beside Jeanie, breathing with her, very present and alert – like a horse, when in a flash I felt a ripple go through me and I instinctively  jumped away from Jeanie. In that split secondthe ravens swooped down into the trees at the end of the paddock spooking all of the horses in a fairly dramatic way (there are maybe 12 horses at this boarding facility). I felt the spook go through me as exilleration and life force tore through the herd bringing a moment of excitement and fresh alertness. Within a couple of minutes all was quiet again and it was as though it had never happened.

When I told a friend about my experience he kind of poo-pooed it saying that I had merely logically seen the spook coming. While it’s true if I were observing from afar it in that moment, and not embedded in the middle of the herd as I was, I would have had to agree with him. But that’s not what I experienced. I felt the invisible electric connected current between all of the horses that serves as their lifeline and safety net as the spark came through me just a flash before the herd reacted.

The difference between the horses reaction and mine is that they are so present they quickly let go of alarm if there is no real danger and return to calmly resting or grazing. They might have to move their feet to let that energy spark move right down into the ground and out of their bodies (the flight response) but then all is quiet again. For me my nervous system felt frazzled immediately afterward. I didn’t know how to ground the experience out of my body and probably because I had spent most of my life shunting the expression of powerful emotions I could only feel shaken and upset and wondering what to do with myself.

Horses can teach us emotional fitness, presence and how to be an effective conduit for our emotions rather than stuffing them away thereby causing inappropriate emotional outbursts, or disease in the body because that energy is looking for a destructive way to express itself.

My horse is my Guru. Indeed.

The 3 top things I’ve learned over the past weekend….(original post July 26 2010)

it’s a HOT one! I’m getting so much out of watching the colt starting at the grounds right now.

The #1 thing I’ve learned that is changing my relationship with my horse? Horses are constantly claiming space or yielding space to/from one another. It’s the game they play that in the end determines who’s the leader (and there are varying degrees of leadership within a wild herd). When we play this same game with them it’s on their level so they truly understand it and respect it.

The #2 thing I’ve learned is if I can’t be congruent in my leadership on any particular day I should just take the day off and hang out with him with some undemanding time.

The #3 thing I’ve learned is that too much ‘friendly’ with our horses is not good. We have to balance respect and rapport which means desensitizing them to the things we need to (for them to be safe and relaxed in our human world which is not a natural place for them to be) but then also sensitizing them to the things we do want – like following our energy, following a feel (say on the lead rope or reins or of our body and legs). The balancing of these things keeps the horses focus on us and their attention on us will help them learn and respect us all at the same time.

Whew! there’s lots more and I’ll be updating my blog over this next while.

Parelli Clinic….new ‘aha!’ moments (original post July 25 2010)

This weekend 3 star Parelli professional Fawn Anderson is holding a level 2/3 clinic 6-9 pm at the Nelson & District Riding club here in Blewett. Her partner Jason is also doing colt starting most days at the grounds too. I’ve been watching the colt starting and auditing Fawn’s clinic.

I really wanted to be in the clinic this year as I feel I have enough going on with Prowler, as  level 2 student (meaning I do not have my level 2 yet but am working towards it). Unfortunately almost 3 weeks ago it became very clear that his back was not sound. I felt his hip give way when I was attempting canter transitions in the arena next door one day and then 2 nights later Prowler told me in a dream that he was in a lot of pain. In the dream I was looking down at the top of his hips and he had rubbed two circles, one on each hip, completely raw of hair. I was so upset in the dream because I knew how much pain he must be in to have rubbed the hair right off.

It still took me a couple of days after the dream and after seeing him nearly colic (I thought it was from the heat initially) to really connect the dots and massage him in that area and have him confirm, first by hearing his gut start moving and second by him licking and chewing, sighing, blowing and walking away, that something was definitely wrong. Later that day the vet looked at him and said he had pulled the connective tendon that holds the pelvis onto the spine. I think it happened when I was cantering him. His back end has been a bit weak for a while and I had been trying a different saddle on him for a few weeks which slid back too far and put me on the unstable part of his back (he’s very long between his last rib and his pelvis which at his age has created some weakness and instability). It was good to have the confirmation but the cost of the vet visit as well as the fact that I definitely could not be riding my horse or playing much took the idea of being in Fawn’s clinic right out the door.

This morning I took Prow out for a light play session before it got too hot and while there was still some shade in the arena. At one point when I was asking him to trot in circling game (which is not lunging for anyone who doesn’t know the PNH lingo) and he went off at a canter then immediately started limping on his back right leg. I felt so bad and so discouraged!! He is still healing after all and here I am pushing him. It’s a rough thing to know what to do. I want to get him doing some exercise that increase his belly strength to help his back but not re-injure him. Sigh…..

I’m realizing that I may need to find another horse to play with and progress with if I want to keep moving forward on my natural horsemanship journey. I don’t know what any of this means in this moment. I am taking no action but instead beginning to ask questions of myself, the universe, and Prowler – my guru.

Welcome to my Blog! (originally posted July 2010)

(transferred from IntheKoots.com)

I recently watched 'Julie and Julia', a story about a young woman Julie who is looking for inspiration and decides to spend a year cooking one recipe a day from Juila Childs cookbook and blog about it. It's a very entertaining movie. It reminded me that I've been wanting to blog about my journey with my horse Prowler for a while now. So welcome to the very first post!!

What can you expect here? My intention for this blog is to share my Natural Horsemanship journey and all of the insights, breakthroughs and well, sometimes humbling, spiritual and emotionally raw experiences I've had along the way.

First off I'll post some old stuff from my journal about my developing relationship with Prowler, eventually leading up to the present.

It will be an interesting experiment as I don't consider myself a technically well developed writer, but I do have a meaningful and hopefully touching and teaching, message to share.


MY HORSE IS MY GURU. It's soooooo true!

Changed my blog Address

I decided to switch from IntheKoots blogging to Blogger because I find Blogger much easier to use. And for my busy life easier is definitely better. I LOVE http://inthekoots.com/ and will miss being a part of that community but hopefully the folks who need to find me will find me here as well.

Until then....

My Horse is My Guru

Laying Down

I've been practising trying to get Prowler to lay down when I ask him. There are many 'methods' one can use and I'm sure if you Google that topic you'll see the myriad of ways humans have used to get their horse to lay down: teaching them how to bow, asking them to stand with their front and back feet very close together (the pre-laying down stance you see horses do on their own), tying a rope to a front foot...etc. I've been watching Carolyn Resnick's Introduction to the Waterhole Rituals and reading the posts on her blog to get a sense of how to begin doing this.

The first time it happened I felt that Prowler wanted to lay down. I made sure I gave him enough space, relaxed as much as I could in my body, went down and scratched/patted the earn and minutes later he went down. As he was going down I said 'lay down Prowler, lay down' and then 'good boy' when he went down. Carolyn says to have treats ready (your horses favourite) and keep giving them treats to encourage them to stay down. If they get up then no more treats. I haven't progressed to this level yet as I've been focussing on the communication/relaxation required to lay down.

The second time hey laid down near me. I was sitting in my plastic adirondack  chair and again I could 'feel' Prow thinking about laying down. I imagined it in my own mind thereby inviting/encouraging him to do it, and then relaxed my solar plexus and dropped my own energy down to a kind of 'sleepy haze'. This time he went down right away and closer to me than he has in the two and a half years he's been in my life. Beautiful. Intimate. Very, very special.

This morning I was doing chores and then wanting to groom Prow a bit (the BIG spring shed is still on) but he kept backing up and saying "um, I'm not really wanting that right now, can you just sit and BE with me?" I said sure buddy, grabbed my coffee and sat on one of my little blue water jugs that I use as mini-barrels, treat holders or obstacles for him to go around. He put his nose down to the ground after a time contemplating laying down but didn't. I decided to get down on the sand myself and see if he would join me but he then took the mental stance of watching over me as horses often do for each other when one is sleeping. I got back up and patted the ground again inviting him to lay down and seconds later he was down 2 feet from me and I lay down and joined him.

This time I waited for him to relax and get some rem sleep in and then when he was more alert I went over and put my hands on him in a loving way and he accepted me there for a while until he told me he wanted to get up.

My friend is such a precious addition to my life.

My horse is my Guru.