friday night

[caption id="attachment_376" align="aligncenter" width="640"] we camped out in the back of the truck parked right beside billy's pen. he slept crammed into the end of his pen beside the truck. we were so cozy in our little nest sleeping under the moon and stars. bliss.[/caption]

we arrived in absarokee montana after a long hot drive across western montana.  it was a very hot day, therefor hot in the horse trailer, but billy handled the whole thing like a pro!  he was eager to get in the trailer and very calm and quiet about unloading after nearly 5 hours IN the trailer.  i was thrilled.

we settled him into his little pen with cold water, which he drank right away, and a feeder full of soaked hay.  then we went and looked around.

we met some of the others that came for the clinic, looked at david lichman's horses in the stalls.  unfortunately 13 was injured just after their arrival in absarokee and was sidelined for the demonstration.  scotty and julio worked hard and pulled it off with style!

[caption id="attachment_377" align="aligncenter" width="640"] photo by Heather[/caption]

david did the demonstration to music, showing some of the fun things his horses can do.  showing how parelli can make your relationship stronger.

then he took some time to talk to the crowd, answer questions and do a little teaching.

"we are helping our horses learn to learn."  this one really resonated with me.  it's the first thing i wrote down in my notebook.

another was,

"what do we want horses to do when they are scared?

NOTHING.

it's very hard to teach nothing."

at the end of the demonstration he talked about using music in our training.  it "takes us out of our head space and puts us in our heart space" and helps us school the horse.  we can use the tempo to maintain gait and know that the horse is in rhythm.  he went over how to use the beats per minute to encourage the horse to speed up it's walk, or slow it down.  once the horse understands that the tempo (beat of the music) is important it will seek it out and walk, trot or canter in time to the music.  that was amazing.  he talked about this on the first night and we played around with it on the last day.

 

 

a little something for the weekend

 

i am packing and getting all ready for my little road trip to the David Lichman clinic!!!!  billy and i will be leaving tomorrow so i put together this post to tide you over until i get back and have time to type up and upload all my notes and pictures.  i'm so excited!!!!

so in the meantime...

please, grab a steaming mug of your favorite tea/coffee/hot chocolate and sit back to enjoy some wonderful music and TOTALLY creative videos.  i LOVE lindsey stirling and can't wait to share her with you!!

i use her music in pretty much all my videos....

shadows

electric daisy violin (this is my favorite song!!)

moon trance 

spontaneous me

elements

and here are a couple of her playing with other artists...

we found love

radioactive

sorry

i'm so sorry that i've been absent these last few days!  i had a family bomb last weekend which was THE BOMB :)  we had a blast as did billy blaze since he was the center of attention for most of the evening.  he is such a ham!  he loves people and making us all laugh.  he also loves remote control helicopters... who knew!?

i am taking up the slack while my boss is on a much needed vacation so i won't be able to post this week...

and then i'm off to the DAVID LICHMAN CLINIC!!!!!!  i'm so excited about this clinic i can barely contain myself...  here are some of our preparations for the clinic...

trailer loading!!

david stuart

"Some of my peers would often speak about the lesson is repeated until learnt. Today many would prefer a direct answer, that is no guarantee that you have understood the lesson. The lesson may well be more important than the answer. Equally the horse learns what he lives and lives what he learns. Many of us have heard these words before, what the horse asks of us is that we live these words."

~David Stuart

the journey

i wanted to re-use this picture with this quote because i think we all need to be reminded once in awhile that life/happiness/horsemanship is truly about the journey, not the destination.

i've noticed a shift in my horsemanship.  thankfully, as i was getting entirely too single minded and direct line.  both things that i definitely DON'T want to be!

i gave billy the night off the last few nights, but i had the feeling that he wanted to go out and play!  the last couple of sessions have been so beautiful, full of learning (for both him and myself) with clear communication.  small steps towards the bigger picture.  me, expecting a lot, but accepting each and every try. and boy was he trying!

i absolutely love watching his face as we enter new territory.  he offers what he knows, then i re-direct and his eyes will sometimes get tight.  i wait or encourage depending upon what he needs and then watch as the understanding washes over his face.  his eyes get bright, his ears perk and he gives me his full attention, if i've set it up for success.  as long as i don't use force or make him feel wrong for trying.  i have to support his idea, then re-direct him back to my idea, gently, using feel and timing.  he can get so offended when he feels that i'm not listening to him...

how interesting!

talk about, "your horse is your mirror"!!

i've decided to slow down. don't be in a hurry.  level 4 will come when it comes (or not at all) and i don't really care right now!  i am still planning on riding him lightly this fall.  just a few times up on his back and then hopefully hitting the trails next year.  all while keeping my principles in order and utmost in my mind.  all in good time.  i'm ready to slow down and enjoy the journey!

thich nhat hanh

"the most precious gift we can offer anyone is our attention.  when mindfulness embraces those we love, they will bloom like flowers.
~ thich nhat hanh

a little something for the weekend

i am part of a Masterclass on facebook with David Lichman.  it's so exciting!  this is my video for the class.  i'll share what i learn next week...

and i made this video while filming for the masterclass ;)

here is a video i did showing "games in a flow".  that's when you move from one game to the next without stopping to rest in between.  billy and i love doing this.  it keeps us fresh and helps get him connected and responsive...

and if you want some more information about David Lichman go here!!  billy and i will be attending a clinic with him in two weeks!  i've been anticipating this since february.  SUPER excited!!!