Carolyn Resnick Horsemanship: Liberty Horse Training

Valuable Life Lessons that Contribute to Your Well-Being from Training Horses

Horses are changeable in their attitudes and emotions from willing to unwilling, trusting to fearful and relaxed to hyper. Basically a horse’s nature is dynamic, cautious and willing. That makes sense; we are a lot like that ourselves. Horses have two changeable behaviors. They will fluctuate from trusting to not trusting and from social to anti-social…again a bit like we are in our own society. They also seek leadership and live in communities and family groups…hmm, a bit like us. However, when they feel secure and have enough space, food and water they live in unity and harmony with one another.

They are very social and caring and are outwardly affectionate. They seek unity and harmony with one another, most of the time. Once we have formed a deep cross species bond with a horse, it will be deeper than the one we can share within our own species. When we share this cross species bond, the horse shows us how deep our feelings of friendship can truly be. If we choose to look for this connection with all… Read more

Tags: being a leader, communicating with your horse, horse-human connection, horses training people, training horses, well-being through horses

Eye exercises for your horse and how to develop the weaker side

Test your horse and see how your horse is using his eyes when traveling in a circle. If your horse is working well in both directions; when he is going to the left, he will use his left eye to guide him into the circle and when he is going to the right, he will use his right eye to guide him.  If your horse is not working well in one direction, it often times can be corrected by eye exercises.

Put down a bucket of food, walk your horse in hand around the bucket of food and then turn him towards the bucket, in a tight circle.  As you are approaching the bucket, make sure that you only let him see the bucket with the one eye, using the eye that is on the inside of the circle. How he goes up to a bucket reveals allot in how he responds when you ride him in left or right circles.  Does he try and turn around and face the opposite direction when he goes to put his head… Read more

What not to do raising a foal and how to develop respect

When a foal is born, he is born with all his instincts intact. But he can loose his instincts quickly by how he is treated by humans and even his own mother. He has a natural desire to stay with his mother when he is born. From his instincts and his mothers behavior, he learns very quickly that he needs to keep up with his mother rather that his mother keeping up with him. This helps his ego not to get out of control; it keeps his herding instincts developing.

One of the first lessons he learns from his mother is when it is alright to nurse and when it isn’t. This is a very valuable lesson. Right in the beginning he learns how to fit in and how to problem solve and work around his mothers needs. His mother can shape his attitude by teaching him that he can not always nurse when he wants to. He must learn to cope and listen to her wishes.

Learning how to fit in gives a foal an ability to learn… Read more

My Horses, My Heart

I’m living the dream. And the dream is real. The dream of living with horses was with me from the beginning of my life, when I knew the way to be with horses. And now again, thanks to Carolyn Resnick, my inspiration, my teacher, and my dear friend, I know again the way to be with horses, nourishing their wild hearts and merging with their ways until at times I feel more horse than human. It’s been a long journey back, with the last years filling me with such gratitude for the incredible joy of living on the prairie with my own herd, knowing their thoughts, breathing their breath.  How did I get to this magical place? The Horse Nation came for me in my busy, sometimes frenetic life and brought me home.

As it happened in my life, being an adult got in the way. The little girl who always said she would have a horse ranch didn’t get one. But she lived an extraordinary life, infused from birth with the gentle ways of horses, their unbridled spirits and their beauty. Raising a family with a mostly-inspiring teaching career had its times of… Read more

*This week’s guest blogger is Alessandra Deerinck, Certified Carolyn Resnick Trainer, sharing the story of her student Astrid Clavé, Kenya, Africa.

News from Kenya, Africa by Alessandra Deerinck

We did it again! Like Rosalie, another racehorse, Aliocha, has developed a fabulous relationship with her owner Astrid Clavé, and this is just the beginning of the dance! Once they have established such a strong connection the possibilities are wide opened.

The harmony in the picture is so evident is almost tangible and was achieved by Astrid’s commitment coached by lessons I conducted from the United States, through skype in Italian, the support of videos on the method and from reading Nuda Libertà (the Italian edition of Carolyn Resnick’s book Naked Liberty) along with articles that I published on the Italian magazine Il Mio Cavallo between 2009 and now. These circumstances definitely highlight the power of communication nowadays!

Astrid and I worked through lessons that she diligently practiced with Aliocha until she felt she got what we had spoken about. At first she was skeptical about the possibility of working together, but nonetheless was interested and got over the hurdle once she started to see the change our work… Read more

Tags: human to horse, liberty training, racehorse, relationship training

A Smile that Spoke Volumes

Chuck taught me how to smile. He had one of those smiles that spoke volumes. Chuck was a soft, gentle, polite and formal man that I highly respected. He was my coach in horsemanship and horse training. I was twelve when I started training with him.
I met Chuck showing my horse Sweetie Pie, an American Saddle bred. He was the judge. I placed last at the show he was judging, or at least very close to it. After the show he came to talk to me. He told me he liked my horse and he thought I was a good rider and he offered to coach me. My Dad told me he was a renowned trainer of fine harness horses and I was lucky to have him take an interest in me.

I credit Chuck along with my father, as well as several other trainers, for developing my skills, feel and understanding of horses. Chuck coached me regularly for about three years. He taught me how to train my mare, Sweetie Pie. I got to watch him train six horses from every step of their training up to finished saddle and driving… Read more

Tags: approach, horse training, liberty training, positive feedback

Reflections on the Beyond The Waterhole Rituals Clinic – March 2012

Another Beyond the Waterhole Ritual Clinic has come to a close. Each group has its own heart beat. Every class is as exciting to me as the next because of the people that attend. This group was effusive and we were all about having fun in and out of the clinic. This group told me that the bond they had formed was a forever bond and they plan on getting together as a group for vacations.

Liberty Dancing with Aline and Rosalie

I set up my class so people can create connections with the horses and with each other. This bunch became a cohesive herd quickly. They were instantly having fun and learning skills through games and signing harmony lessons that were brought to the class through Robin and Molly. Robin is preparing to teach harmony in a choir in her home land in New Zealand and she led us in harmony and round songs that were bluesy and heart felt by all of us. Molly taught us how to do the cup game and sing a song that goes with it, I… Read more

Tags: Beyond the Waterhole Rituals Clinic, Liberty Dancing, liberty training, Spring 2012 clinic