Training horses from the ground up – The Carolyn Resnick Blog

The definition of a spiritual connection is that when the mind, bond and soul is entirely shared in the moment with your horse in a bonded connection in harmony and unity. Please do not use the Waterhole Rituals until you understand how to apply them and their purpose.

There are seven heartfelt strings of connection.
1. Bond
2. Trust
3. Respect
4. Willingness
5. Focus
6. Magnetic Connection
7. Desire and energy necessary for dancing.

For example in the last step if your horse is really too relaxed and not paying attention, then work him fast with you at a moments notice following your lead. Alternatively, if working fast would make him nervous because he is too hyper then his energy needs to be aligned.

When you go to your horse with my program you first must be in the moment and wait until you are completely balanced with no thought of the past or future outside of the territory you are sharing with your horse. You open your awareness to everything in the moment and the changing conditions that occur like a lead horse would. To get in a state of mind like a lead horse causes a horse to respect you from your focus and state of being. This is so important to understand and powerful.

At this time, evaluate your horse and what he is feeling in the moment towards you. Check the heartfelt strings of connection and identify the ones that are missing. Begin to repair them using the appropriate Waterhole Rituals to mend the string of connection that is not vibrating. Your horse is ready to step into your program for the day whether riding, training, or dancing with your horse at liberty once all the strings are vibrating between you. As a leader, you need to follow these rules to maintain the connection when you go to ride and train with tack.

There are two sets of rules you must follow one for the Waterhole Rituals and one for riding and training.

The rules for the Waterhole Rituals are:

• The horse must pay attention to you and must respect your direction and do what you ask if he choose to be in your territory
• You must pay attention to your horse and must respect his direction if you choose to be in your horse’s territory
• You must respect your horse’s personal space
• Your horse must respect your personal space
• If you walk up to your horse, you must follow his direction
• If your horse walks up to you, he must follow your direction
• You must give your horse your full attention at all times
• Your horse must give you his full attention at all times

The rule for riding and training is:

• Do not force your horse to do something he does not want to do

Riding and training is a self-serving act and you must always have your horse’s approval to participate. Think ahead and ask yourself the question. Will my horse do what I am going to ask him to do easily? If the answer is no, then don’t ask. Your job is to keep leading in every moment of your agenda and to pick the activity you know your horse will do and stay away from what you think he might not like. If you make a mistake and loose any of the heartfelt strings of connection then stop your agenda and repair the relationship. This is best done by asking your horse to stand still for while and relax on a dropped rein, until he is happy. Then reconsider how to get on a better program with your horse. Ask him to do something you know he would do and then build your horse up to more challenging exercises by asking for mostly easy stuff with a little harder things when he is in the right state of mind to try them.

The following might be a useful template you could follow when training.

• 3% of the time on activities your horse finds difficult to perform
• 10% of the time on activities your horse would rather not do and would not resonate with
• 2% of the time on new activities
• 85% of the time on activities your horse knows well and enjoys

Mix the activities up to give variety to the program. These percentages can change a lot but consider them in some form.

Have a lovely weekend

Carolyn

Tags: connection, respect, riding, training, trust, Waterhole Rituals

More people are taking a new turn for themselves in regards to their relationship with horses. Less people are prone to want a horse to serve them in some way. People are beginning to want a horse to have a relationship with them instead of looking at a horse as an object that is dispensable, that they can get rid of, when their child goes off to college for example.

All of this is such good news and as things are changing more people are realizing that a horse is something you need to care for all his life and if we are going to own one we should keep it to the end if we can. I just had a horse at my ranch get an ulcer and the bill is really very high. He was in the hospital for two days and now he has been put on medicine that costs US$45.00 a day. He needs to be on it for 30 days. I should have had insurance but I did not.

The point of this message is that horses can be expensive and we need to be able to handle the costs as they occur. The horse’s name is Cat. The horse was imported from Germany and was supposed to be a dressage horse. He has some training issues that made him unmanageable for dressage. His owners were wealthy people but saw no point in keeping him if he was not useful. Now I am his mom and he has a home with me and all he has to do here at this ranch is what he chooses.

If anyone as any advice on alternative medication that is natural and that would do a better job than the GastroGard, medicine he now has to take, I would love to hear about it. He is also a nervous horse by nature and I would love to get some kind of herbs to put him on for his initial recovery. I use alternative remedies for myself but do not know about alternative medicines for horses that have a level 2 ulcer.

Stina made another YouTube called Horses and Resources. I am sure that most people will enjoy her short film. Her horses are looking really well and she has a strong message to share.

Horses and Resources with Stina

Enjoy your week!

Carolyn

Tags: attention, education, health, relationship, respect

For those of us gifted at birth with a natural affinity for horses, or those of us who as children developed a fantasy surrounding these marvelous creatures after reading King of the Wind, Black Beauty, or Fury, we gave special anthropomorphic quality to horses and that magical relationship based on communication, trust and understanding.

However, for those of us who have somehow maintained contact with horses as we matured, the relationship and training have become somehow more pragmatic, more cut and dry. The magic of horsemanship has been relegated to our youth.

Yet what if our adult dealings with the horse could be somehow aligned with our youthful dreams of a close personal bond with our horse, while at the same time facilitating and enhancing our training program? What if training could be more than simply a human’s will imposed on the horse, and become instead a mutually shared partnership between horse and rider, based on a system of communication both could understand equally?

What if the horse could have a real voice and truly participate actively in his training, working with the rider to achieve success, without coercion or forceful means? … And what if, in the process, the training time was dramatically reduced while results were significantly amplified?

All of this is definitely possible with liberty training, which is based on the actual language horses use to communicate with each other, which fosters a healthy ego in the horse, stimulating his desire to learn and motivating him to excel.

Unlike the general perception of liberty training as a system which applies pressure to the horse in a confined area, through aggressive pursuit with snapping whips and manipulation along a fence line or in a bullpen, this form of liberty training relies on the innate instincts of the horse and his basic desire to communicate in a herd environment. Rather than forcing specific behavior from the horse, my liberty training focuses on the horse’s language, which is spoken through movement, not sound; through eye contact and touch. It is a ballet of shared energies, which forge a truly harmonious working relationship between horse and rider akin to dancing, where body language and compatible movement create a strong bond.

Horses in the wild have a large extended family, the herd, while in captivity they are more frequently isolated from one another and stalled for human convenience. This separation is in direct conflict with the most basic instincts and needs of the horse, which is why liberty training has such rapid and dramatic results. For thousands of years, the very survival of horses has been linked to their interrelationship in the herd, with a clearly established pecking order. They feel a responsibility and a security in the herd, structured by a hierarchy topped by the lead brood mare.

All horses in a herd are responsible to the lead brood mare, whose function in the herd is to caretake and provide order and discipline. She is to be vigilant and alert for any danger, and must, if called upon, relocate the group. As such, all individuals in the herd have a duty to keep an eye on her. This lead mare will, during the course of a day, formally elicit eye contact from the various members of her group. Should any horse fail to acknowledge her, she may kick him, haze or chase him, or outright banish him from the herd until proper respect is learned.

Being aware of this, the horseman, with an understanding of appropriate communication skills, may convince the horse that he is a viable substitute for the missing aspects of a herd in his life, and may gain the attention and respect of the horse by functioning in the following recognizable capacities: lead brood mare, mother, father, sister, brother, enemy and friend.

The basics of liberty training teach the person how to communicate with the horse in a language he can recognize as the same he would experience within the herd, thus generating the necessary concentration and commitment needed for effective horse training on any level.

Through liberty training, the horse readily comprehends the goals the trainer hopes to achieve and has the freedom to work with him as a team player. It is an exhilarating feeling between horse and trainer when the horse is allowed to be trusted as a willing participant.

As the horse recognizes that his human counterpart is actually speaking in a language he can understand, cooperation is instant, precipitated by his immense gratitude for his returned voice, coupled with the security felt upon rejoining the “herd.”

I hope that all rings true for you now. Have a lovely weekend

Carolyn

P.S. I’m very excited as Mark and Elke are visiting tomorrow for a week!

Tags: bond, force, horsemanship, liberty training, partnership, training

Several months ago I watched a program on TV about Bruce Lee’s Philosophy of Life. As a student and instructor in martial arts, he had come to the conclusion that styles and formulae are inherently flawed and can block your ability to be like water, as he put it. Water, in his mind, was a great thing to emulate. I heard him say that if you pour water into a glass the water becomes the glass. If you pour water into a teapot it becomes the teapot.

He went on to say many things about the attributes of water. I was taken in by how passionate he was on wanting his students to step away from formulae and get in touch with their instinct and become the movement. He spoke of knowing how to deal with the broken rhythms and unpredictability of an opponent and use it as your great asset of strength and he felt that martial arts did not deal with these conditions. Martial arts he felt had become stuck in tradition and become blocked and less than it could be. I got the feeling he would have said it had lost the water energy he had been speaking of earlier. And that students who have mastered a school had not become everything that they could be because the rules stood in the way of their greatness.

Bruce Lee’s feelings on the subject of formulae were also how I felt about what I had witnessed in my own world of horse training. In general, horse trainers that follow formulae, no matter how accomplished, were uncomfortable with unpredictable behavior which creates a feeling of being lost and unsure of how to respond. The format of the seven Waterhole Rituals fixes the problems inherent in other formulae by creating a situation with the horse that, when you don’t quite know what you are doing, using trial and error will bring you to a positive result. This way you learn how to work with unpredictable responses from the horse, which will bring out ultimate horsemanship skills.

These rituals and ceremonies are similar to the exercises in martial arts called Katas, except they are companionship activities rather the pursuit of an opponent. Katas are exercises of movements slowed down in a rhythmic form that you would use to stop an opponent in hand to hand combat. The interaction with horses is similar to Katas in that they are exercises slowed down in a rhythmic movement that you would use to create leadership in harmony. However, the horse may choose to behave at any speed he wishes and the human can control this in a very timely and slow response. This way humans can take their time to think, act and respond accurately.

I believe my greatest asset is how comfortable I am when I haven’t a clue what I am going to do next. I just know how to flow in the interaction that works for me from a natural understanding of horses and the language of movements. This is where I put my focus when developing people in the art of horsemanship. Once my students have made the all important connection, formulas and style then become extremely helpful. All information becomes valuable. When you have developed your natural abilities to be able to handle unpredictable behavior, formulae do not get in the way and become supportive. Horses should be handled like water when water is an ocean wave. An ocean wave cannot be controlled but surfers can ride a wave with a connection that is magical. When you allow a horse total freedom you can shape his behavior to achieve a willing performance without force. Then you have become a master in the art of horsemanship.

I look forward to speaking with you on Thursday.

Carolyn

Tags: bond, communication, connection, horsemanship, leadership, partnership, relationship, Waterhole Rituals

Hi. When Sharing Space, the first quality of connection you would hope to have with your horse would be gentle and kind with a feeling of friendship. Where safety would never be a concern for the human or horse, without the worry about being pushed around, and mauled. Most yearning colts go though a period that is a little intimidating for their owners and this is what was occurring with Morning Star.

Shaping a relationship and connection with a foal can be a tricky business because things can go wrong, like getting the foal angry which can lead to more aggressiveness. Also he could decide that he does not like people or he could get defensive and flighty making him harder to deal with. You cannot just reprimand a foal for doing something that you feel is dangerous and aggressive because the foal does not understand that he has done anything wrong since he does not yet have the ability to distinguish between right or wrong. From the foals’ perspective, he thinks that you, his friend, has turned on him.

So how did I approach my problem with Morning Star? When he was occupied at the far end of his pen, which is 80×40, I was able to get into his pen with out being mauled. My plan was to use the reed. To shish the reed in front of me when he approached, which would cause him to stay away because horses will usually shy away from something in your hand, when you act like you mean business. Initially, Morning Star came up to me and pushed right into me ignoring the reed so I took off my jacket and waved it at him in protest. He took off running. He respected the jacket but not the reed. I teach my foals at a young age to respect my personal space as foals at a younger age are more easily directed.
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After I had taught him not to bite the jacket and not to bite me, which was explained in my Tuesday blog, I began teaching Morning Star the way I wanted him to respect the reed. I showed him the reed by waving it around his body only when I wanted him to move away from me if he got too aggressive. When he did not respond I used the jacket. He learned that the best way to behave was to move away from the reed because it was a precursor to the jacket that frightened him.

In one session he had learned to be very sensitive to the reed without the need for the jacket. It is important to teach this as quickly as possible because if your take you time you could desensitize him to the whole process and you could have a more aggressive colt. When he did not try to push and bite and threatened to kick me whilst we were Sharing Space he got a treat. If he was not kind, I made him leave. It was an easy choice for him to make.

Morning Star is still a little bit pushy and a little bit timid but every day he gets a lot better and he is happy to see me. He comes racing up to me when I come to work with him.

If you have any questions on this please comment below.
Enjoy your weekend

Carolyn

P.S. Mark asked me to remind you that you can easily tell your friends about the blog by using the ShareThis link just below. He says you can email from there, send a message to a cell phone and also bookmark it (?) or something like that. Anyway, give it a go and see what happens.

Tags: aggressive, friendship, reed, relationship, sensitive, treat

I want people to see themselves as leaders, when this happens a student becomes empowered. I see my role as leading leaders. My first focus is to lead the person to use their ingenuity with the Waterhole Rituals. The Waterhole Ritual takes ingenuity for them to work. Discovering the leader within is as rewarding to the people in the course as it is for me. When people achieve a connection and working bond with their horse, it is as life enhancing for the horse as it is for the human. The student needs to apply the program as it suits them by choosing the ritual that will develop a stronger connection and dance with their horse. They discover how to communicate with their horse through a program that they develop for themselves. My part is to inspire and share a method that is a step by step process, that requires a venue where fences do not play a part in being able to help control the horse. This helps to guide the person to make the right choice in how to respond to their horse. I give a person a philosophy that will also empower their choice to guide them and give them rules to follow that horses appreciate and understand. This paves the way to a magical connection with their horse.

At first, it is hard on my students to get lost in the journey. It takes them and me about two weeks to successfully get onto the same page together with a horse in Sharing Territory. I find that this is the most important tool I have as a teacher to start creating a bond with the horse like horses have with each other, and to guide the students to the leader within. I also need this bonding time to get to know the class and to hook up everyone with their horse, so the other rituals do not get perceived as pointless and predator like. I want the bond to be as deep as the bond that horses share with one another. Training a horse does not build loyalty and magic or the dance, however focusing on the connection does.

I have a new student and colt in training. Amanda Myers and Lucero, who I call Morning Star because that is the English translation of his name. I took Morning Star in for training using the Waterhole Rituals to develop a working bond so I could share my experiences with the Insider Circle Coaching Club. I needed a horse to help me guide the class. By working with a new horse, it opens my memory to the finer details in how to guide my students. Morning Star is a yearling colt already weaned, and in his case, this is a good thing both for his mother and for him. Morning Star’s mother was very lenient in how she was raising him. This permissive behavior was causing Morning Star to push his mom about; way too much. He was developing into a bit of a bully with her and he did not even know that he was turning into an uncaring colt with little feeling for others. This caused Morning Star to be very forward thinking. Morning Star was beginning to believe that he could control every thing in life. He was growing way too big with his ego. He had never considered his mothers feelings. He had developed an attitude that life needed to listen to him.

He is a happy, pleasant natured colt but not well enough developed to be in charge of the world, especially when he thinks that his feelings should come first with no consideration for others. This warped sense of how life needed to fit in with him was not showing up as a bad thing because he likes people and had a likable personality. But the truth of it was that just beneath the surface when he needed to be respectful for others, there was no consideration. As a cute, sweet colt he was causing people to caterer to his needs, growing his inability to have any feelings for horses or humans other his own. This was the attitude of Morning Star had when he arrived at my ranch Dances with Horses. He took the move well and settled right in.

There was no way I could sit in a chair Sharing Space with him because his is a very gregarious colt and wanted to be right up there with me controlling the action. He wanted to be in my lap and treat me like he did his mom, which was rough. He had no respect for the reed. I had to take off my jacket and shake it like you would a rug to get the dirt out of it. This worked. But in a minute, he returned and grabbed the jacket in his mouth. He did not try to take it from me but held onto it. I took my two fingers, put them into the side of his mouth, and pried his mouth open. He let go and I then said “good boy” and gave him a leaf. Along the paddocks, we have fruitless mulberry trees and the horses love these leaves. It is a great tool for me and a treat for the horses. Soon Morning Star learned that he would be moved away from me if he did not show some respect for my space and that to get a leaf he could not have the jacket in his mouth, so he started to leave it alone more than hold onto it. When he forgot I would drive him away by shaking the jacket aggressively at him, moving into his space to help him to connect with his herding instinct. I wanted to film all of this for you but when we went out the next day with the camera he had already learned not to bite or crowd, so then we made the video for the Inner Circle Group to show how to start Sharing Space with a horse and colt.

Big Tip: On the subject of Leading from Behind do not go behind the horse to drive him forward if he is standing still but rather approach the horse from the side of his head, belly, or hip. The object is to turn your horse around and get him to walk way from you, this way putting the horse into a submissive position and you into a dominant position behind him. What happens to people who try to approach the horse directly from behind is that the horse will try to face them. Once the horse is walking you can be in any position from just behind the cinch line or at his hip or as much as 12 feet behind him or directly behind at a safe distance. As long as you influence your horse to move forward from a driving request rather than Companion Walking or following you are Leading from Behind.

Another way to start Leading from Behind is to walk after your horse when his is walking on this own and when he stops ask him to go forward in a very gentle but effective way and just follow until he thinks of stopping and urge him on again. You want him to go very slowly at first. You want the horse to enjoy the process.

I’m loving this journey through the Waterhole Rituals with my students because I am learning so much too. Thank you.

Carolyn

Tags: bond, communication, connection, leadership, relationship, Waterhole Rituals

This is a note on how the Insider Circle is doing. I have read many of your stories and how many of you are having incredible experiences with your horses doing nothing… leading to something that could have never taken place if we had not be practicing the importance of the pause with the First Ritual, “Sharing Territory”. Some of you are going to be able to bring new discoveries to the horse world from your experiences being in this class. From these shared experiences, we will discover things that we did not know. From these shared experiences the world of horsemanship will advance and I will be learning new things as well.

We are always in the experimentation of creating willing connections and growing friendships with horses if we are truly present in the moment and a true leader, healer and student. Everyday I am learning something more about horses.

The horses enjoy our company as much as we do theirs and when this happens the dance is really quite natural but it surely is not a race to the dry cleaners. Sharing territory in the pause of feeling connected, horses are more willing to bond with us right from the start to learn and work with us because it brings them a feeling of connection, well-being and companionship.

The amazing connection and results that some of you have been experiencing using the First Ritual have taken place because the student learned to wait until the horse starts the action. Waiting for this to happen is an amazing door opener to the magical partnership that springs forth. Though some of you in the class may not be having such amazing experiences and results and maybe feeling like you haven’t found your magic, it may just be the circumstances that you are in. Your horse may take longer to bond due to abuse or something he has to get over first or there may be challenges you deal with in the facility your horse lives that slow down the connection. It may be you can’t stop doing instead of just being with your horse. Whatever it is that is in the way will disappear if you keep going.

I just want to say, please believe you will reach a result that is profound. Maybe it will not happen for you from the First Ritual. Maybe it will come from carving a method out from my Method that serves you better than mine does. We all want to walk our own journey and my Method is to teach you how to do that.

Once you learn to trust the power of the pause things happen. Repeatedly sitting with horses once the bond is formed and we have shared many moments in companion energy, I find that I can jump into action and have a horse that dances with me and is consistent as if he has been trained.

I also want to address what companion energy is. It is a word I coined. It is metaphysical and scientific and relates to the study of quantum physics. It is tangible but you can’t touch it. It is tangible because it can be measured. It is a vibration.

Matter influences matter and vibration influences vibration. In matter, there is magnetic influence between two objects. It is the same with vibration. A connection occurs over time and becomes the same. When this happens, love, communication and trust are the outcome.

If you are creating all kinds of vibrations while sharing territory, you cannot connect as deeply. If you doing some activity with your horse like grooming or any shared interaction there is too much going on to have a cellular connection take place and mature. The rhythms and juices you have in your body need to match the rhythms and juices of your horse in moments of the pause in companionship. When this happens communication is instinctively understood by both of you.

To dance at liberty you need to have shared vibrations and energy to stay connected. The pause will bring you the knowledge and awareness you are looking to have.

Please share your experiences that are so heart warming and show the value of using the First Rituals in the comments sections below for all the blog readers and for those that need convincing or support to keep going. I am sure it will be very enlightening and encouraging, and bring more meaning to the importance of the First Ritual.

Enjoy your weekend, doing nothing, with your horse

Carolyn

Tags: companion energy, Insider Circle, pause, sharing territory, vibration

Can you imagine a connection from a deep bond with your horse, a bond as deep as horses have with each other? Imagine your ability to lead, listen to your horse as well as to set the rules that create order and well being and a desire to dance in a partnership. Share on my blog if you will about a horse that you own or have known or herd about, read about or have see or imagine that fills your spirit as a true dance partner and then describe him, or make one up. When I was a child we would play games with our friends by describing the greatest horse we could imagine and then we would become that horse and run around town in a large herd acting out your roles and supporting each other and fighting imaginary predators.

With the Insider Circle group put some music on and dance with your imaginary horse at liberty with music to increase the timing of your body language and to let go of the adult mind and get in touch with your core energy. I practice this all the time.

• What do you want in a relationship with a horse under saddle and why would a horse want you and how could you tell if your horse wanted to be ridden.
• In my book I speak of Moonlight’s taking me for a ride and I describe the feeling not as well as I would have liked because words are hard to describe such feeling of trust and connection. If you ridden a dressage horse that was magical share it with us.
• Make a list of the horses you have ridden that felt like magic and describe the feeling. Just write their names on the blog if nothing else as a remembrance and thank you. Or take time and choose something to write about on the list above.

Insider Circle Journey write on one of these ideas or all of them and surprise yourself form you automatic writing. Get your pens going when you do not know what you will say and be surprised at what you will write. You will learn about what is inside of you that you did not know was there. I do it all the time. This lesson will help you to let go of your agenda with the Waterhole Rituals. I want you to sit with your horses until you do not care to move on to the next ritual and feel you would enjoy this experience with horses enough to be completely satisfied. We are not going to stay there but at least experience it for the next week. How can you have a deep bond if you do make the commitment to be with your horse in his world? Maybe at first it is not fun and maybe even painful but in time, a light of joy will be ignited and it is well worth the effort to let go and be present like a horse is.

My parents worked when I was too young to ride alone I would sit with them as well to intermingle with them most of the day waiting for the weekend. I would also walk around the herd and in with the herd not to disturb them and to be apart of them and behave like a horse and share space with horses like they did and kept my relationship with them harmoniously. I learned to love this time as much as when I rode. My ability to know horses, to lead horses, to train horse and to bond and connect with horses came from these times.

Don’t take this part lightly. Really, get lost in your own discoveries, make up your own way, and remember you are the one that keeps yourself safe.

Carolyn

Tags: bond, connection, imagination, leadership, relationship, sharing territory, visualization

On Tuesday I was speaking about using Core Energy with the first Waterhole Ritual, and I promised you a story. Before I start the story, I want to say that when the core is strong it is the blue print of who you are, and what you know and your intentions and a instant way to communicate with like minds. When cores communicate, there is a magnetic attraction.

I had a lovely gelding named Navarre and he loved people and did not like horses as a rule. One day Sutter, a beautiful palomino stallion, wild most all of his life arrived at my ranch who could talk from his core. When I took him out of the horse trailer all the horses were on alert. Because of the core energy both horses held, Navarre and Sutter clearly communicated with one another with no sounds, thoughts, or anything tangible. We all acknowledged that we were aware of their connection. I could tell that Navarre had a different feeling for Sutter than he had ever shown to any other horse. My core energy could feel the energy that hung in the air around is. From reading Sutter’s, core energy, Navarre fell in love with Sutter at first sight. Both Sutter and Navarre went into a horse ritual I had never witnessed before. My core told me that it was safe to let them meet, to bond and that to allow this was very important for them to experience. So, I led Sutter to Navarre and Navarre did a strange thing. He stuck his nose up into the air which with a new horse he would normally have bowed his neck, danced around making a statement that he was planning a fight and win the fight at all cost.

Though I had never seen this behavior, I understood it and maybe I will be able to put it into words someday. I led Sutter up to Navarre, Navarre stuck his nose straight up into the air, and Sutter grabbed his throat gently and held on for several minutes then turned him loose. They did this greeting over a few days and in between this ritual, they shared the tightest bond I have ever witnessed.

This story demonstrates strong core energy for communication and making judgments. From using the first Waterhole Ritual, with the intention of building your core energy, you will acquire a communication line and be able to read the intentions of horses and what they are saying silently, as well as to develop a magnetism that many horses are drawn to.

This story should interest you to sit more often reading books with your horse, with a greater understanding of why it is important to do so. You must have this understanding for your core energy to grow from sitting with your horse. Just sitting isn’t enough, you need to understand the purpose for your sitting and then expand your awareness in the moment like a horse does. It is important to choose to be aware of being in the moment and feel connected to everything that surrounds you. To pay attention to the changes in every moment, like a lead horse in a state of watchful restfulness. Doing this with the intention of developing your core is the best and fastest education I can think of for developing a friendship, leadership, and bond with horses. This is why you need to take the time to share real time with your horse. It will enable you to build the connection as well as the dance you are looking for.

But first you must give up the rush, the agenda, even the longing, and expectations and wanting to get on with it. If you cannot sit, sit anyway because from sitting, you will give up all things that are in your way and then you can move into the next stage of building your core. I promise.

Enjoy your weekend and for those of you in the Insider Circle Club, I look forward to speaking with you on Sunday or Monday!

Carolyn

Tags: bond, communication, connection, core energy, rituals, trust

You must become your horses mind. It sounds inviting enough and it takes a lot of consideration to get to this point. If the First Ritual has not been utilized properly, the rest of the Rituals will not be built on a strong enough foundation.

Your horse will not see the relationship that you are sharing with him as an intimate and personally growing relationship that has meaning and purpose. The first Waterhole Ritual besides developing a deep bond and a feeling of bliss with a horse has many purposes. From practicing the first Ritual, your communications with horses will be better understood. This is very important in your ability to dance at liberty with your horse.

Your body language will have more effect as well as to create a magnetic connection without even thinking about it. You will strengthen the core energy you were born with. Through territory sharing using the first Waterhole Ritual, your core strengthens from your intent to strengthen it. Without your intent, you have a big chance that your core will not be strengthened. The intent therefore is most important.

Your core is the substance you were born with, that gives you the ability to know how to survive, communicate and learn without being taught by others. It has the ability to problem solve and the know how to create bonds. When your core has been strengthened, you then can use your core to guide, direct and speak to you without the need of a coach to develop a relationship and dance with most horses you meet. Using the intent to strengthen your core by sitting with your horse will give you the skill you want to have with your horse on your own and it’s a mastery you will acquire without effort or practice. You will know how to communicate clearly with your horse and how to develop your horse’s desire to learn and dance in a partnership for anything that your horse is well suited for.

The journey is the reward, the desire for the goal starts the journey.

Do you remember the dance that Stina videoed between Panadero and me on my last YouTube video? No matter how wonderful it looked or how interesting to the viewer, I can tell you there are no words to explain my reward from the moments I shared with him from the connection and the dance. Panadero enjoyed the experience as much as I did and the unity was completely shared between us. It came from a core energy that leads the dance in both of us. There was no plan in my direction of Panadero. My direction of him came from leading, supporting and following the courtship that unfolded while we were dancing. But it could have never taken place if our core energy had not guided us.

On Thursday, I will share a story with you to show how valuable core energy is as a communication tool.
Till then

Carolyn

Tags: bliss, communication, core energy, intent, liberty, sharing territory