A Clinic Not to Be Missed with Certified Clinician Robin Gates
Jun 14th, 2011 by Carolyn Resnick Method
I enjoyed Liz Mitten Ryan’s interview with Robin Gates this past Sunday. Our personal journey that Robin recounted of our relationship flowed through my heart like a river. It is so hard to believe that so many years have gone by. Horses have been the main focus of my life, and with Robin, has been very fulfilling. When I listened to the interview I heard Robin’s individual voice for how I know her. For Robin to be compared to me, I am flattered.
She has a rhythm that is her very own song, and just viewing her connection with horses will evolve your understanding of horses. When we meet, I had no idea that Robin would have been with me for so many years. It just unfolded like a good book, or how I would like people to use my method- from not really knowing how it would all stack up, and taking one step at a time always leading the horse from what he offers that bring about the deepest connection. This approach must come from spontaneity and freedom.
Because of the way our culture has so much control over the individual, we don’t really get a chance to really experience our individuality connecting with others. Through spontaneous relationships and being willing to work with trial and error with no fault insurance, true magic and personal empowerment is obtained.
When I guide people on the path of developing a connection and partnership with a horse, my focus is not to make a version of myself, but rather to find the best part of a person’s own wisdom and nature. I think what I am proudest of is that I am gifted with the ability to help people to find their genius they did not know they had.
Horses @ Play with Robin Gates
Robin has always been extremely humble. As a true artist, she could not see herself in the matter. She is always lead by her passion to dance with others and share the good news horses bring to our lives. In that way, we are the same and it is what we deeply have in common.
My method does not have black and white outlines or set rules and boundaries so it can create a spontaneous dance in harmony and unity. Its approach must come from a heart connection and understanding of a kind of leadership that horses are drawn to. The guiding post of my Method is based on Rituals that horses use to create lasting bonds and working partnerships. What the student learns is the understanding of the true culture of horses. From this spontaneous dance, horses and humans develop a care-taking nature for one another. What Robin and I have in common is the desire to share with others and to feel the uplifting connection horses provide to our souls.
The clinic that Robin is giving is not to be missed. Liz Mitten Ryan will be hosting ‘Exploring the Waterhole Rituals With the Herd’ Retreat August 20-27 with Robin Gates.
For More information on ‘Exploring the Waterhole Rituals and the Joy of experiencing a Deeper Connection’ please go to www.equinisity.com/programs.html#Robin
Or, you can visit Robin’s website at www.libertyhorsetraining.com or contact her at 707-799-6638 or robingates2@gmail.com .
To hear the Radio Show: “Exploring Connection with Robin Gates” please
click the play button below. **NOTE: After hitting play, jump ahead to minute 3:30 that is when the interview starts.**
To download the MP3 version, right click this link and then select Save Target As.. or Save Link As
May the Horse Be With You!
Carolyn
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Dear Carolyn, I too was away for a while and when I came back I just wanted to jump on my horse and ride the trails. But I heard your words to ST, pause and reconnect. Then, when we did, the ride was bliss! Thanks for sharing the YouTube of Robin. Beautiful, just beautiful. I too found a smile on my face that grew ever so wide and deep! Blessings~Lisa
Beautiful. Checking in.
checking in and thank you both. (thank you all, in fact). wonderful video…!
sincerely sophia
Dear Carolyn, It is really nourishing and nurturing reading the interactions between ‘wise old’ you and some equally respected bloggers….it invites going deeper…..thinking and feeling beyond….
I love you all.
Geerteke
Back from clinics in Norway I am enjoying your blogs very much.
Good blog, nice that you make it so easy for us to get the right materials and inspiration through various videos.
I have downloaded the radio file and look forward to listen to the interview and get to know Robin Gates better.
Dear Carolyn,
The wonderful video of Robin and her horses makes me laugh with delight and with tears in my eyes at the sight of the true potential of the magnificent horse.
I laugh to see such joy and fun. And I weep to think of how few humans, the most “intelligent” species, have seen or even wanted to see the truth of the nature of the horse.
I am blessed to have found you , and through Robin, to have seen and heard what is possible.
With joy,
Bonnie
Dear Carolyn
re 11.1
Thank you for such a poetic description. “It is the trance of two hearts dancing”
“It is only with the heart that one can see rightly;
what is essential is invisible to the eye”
Antoine de Saint-Exupery
best
Crissea
Thank you
Hi Carolyn,
Checking in. I just keep watching this video. It brings such a smile to my face. You can see her movements are very similar to yours. I would say she learned from you very well. Several years ago when I did dog training, I had a young 14 yr old gal from South America who helped me. I would first train the dog and then taught her to do the same, so she did follow up work as a transition to the owner. I wanted the dog to be able to follow commands from more than just me. She picked it up very well, including the way I talked with the dogs. I was sorry when she returned to her country.
These are edited video clips so Ian does not see that treats may be being used at certain points that are edited out.
I will also listen to the interview when I can.
Thank you Carolyn.
Pat
Dear Pat,
Thank you for your comment. When the connection evolves to Liberty Dancing no treats are given at this level of interactions. The horse dances because he is inspired to do so. When the dance begins with the Last Ritual we are not using treats. The treats are given at the beginning of training in what I call the kindergarten level. Never are they to be used to encourage the dance.
It is a dance from the heart.
The connection is all just a magical flow of connection in a spontaneous unison of the heart. It is a trance of two hearts dancing.
First in the beginning stages of training the horse is in charge of his training, then you are in charge, and then a shared give and take and then the dance in complete freedom and sharing in the unknown of what comes next. No treats only inspiration.
Step be step I built Robin with her horses to dance and make it on her own. The bond that formed between Robin and I would be hard to understand if you have never been that close to a teacher or that close to a student or that close to a horse. It is not about the treats. It is about the ability to read your horse and use treats to make it about something else in the beginning stages.
Discerning eye will not see the magic. The open heart will!
Thank you Carolyn for that clarification. I think it is an important one for ALL to know. That’s why I said “treats ‘may’ be being used” as I couldn’t tell for sure by the edited videos. But it does make perfect sense that it is the true spirit of the moment of The Dance taking place without having to go run for treats. It makes it even more special and magical allright. I certainly got the tears along with the big smile when watching.
Pat
Dear Carolyn
I wonder if I am being a ‘stick in the mud’ here, for Robin’s video had the flavor of your ‘old’ school approach to it. Much more natural and flowing in comparison to the more recent ‘treat’ orientated versions. Taking the long route to connection still looks and feels more beautiful to me. It speaks more horse if I may put it that way.
Either way, I take my proverbial hat off to you – your message transcends time (and egos) as usual and is as pure as it can get.
Thanks for your incredible inspiration that I know the horses appreciate and respond to as I do.
I am reminded of a song and line that goes: if you are gonna do it, do it right and that to me means your method and its free interpretation that doesn’t ‘graze’ far from source:-)
Thanks
Ian
Dear Ian,
I do not understand. What are you pointing out? What did you like better between treats and not treats and why? I think there is alot to talk about here. And I am ready to talk. One school is not dead over the other. Which school is longer in your eyes? Robin uses treats. I do not see what you are seeing.
Carolyn
Dear Carolyn
I think you have cleared up the point in your comments above. I know you use food to create respect in the beginning and you had a lovely video that you posted here showing that. So, yes, food – treats – are a basic part of your method, although, I think, you have increased the use of them progressively over time, pointing out that this need not be the case, necessarily, and is an option.
However, I notice other people posting videos where they are using treats for every little thing, ‘shaping’ the horse’s behavior. Your view, as I understand it, is that treats accelerate learning, which nobody can dispute if used wisely, but the aim is to always stay in touch with ‘horse’ behavior, isn’t it? Respecting and cherishing the ‘horseness’ in the horse. Robin talks convincingly about that in her very sweet and captivating interview.
As you expressed explicitly above, treats are not a part of Robin’s dance, which is a reflection of the interaction of human and horse hearts. The result is natural – even humorous – and, above all, brings out the beauty in the horse.
Once again, I hope I haven’t misrepresented you in anyway and hope you will enhance on this more. Clearly, knowledge, wisdom and talent all come into this and can’t be picked up at the drop of a hat, but are the result of a lifetime’s work and experience.
By the way, a friend told me that she saw a Canadian policeman dancing with his horse at liberty in a park – just the thought of it brought tears of joy to my eyes. You know, a horse that undergoes extremely rigorous training still gets to dance and let his spirit soar.
A test of the validity of your work might be the tears of joy that the results evoke. (And tears in men as well as women:-))
Thank you for being you, Carolyn
Ian, I think your post was very valuable, despite the minor misunderstandings it may have raised, or better put: because of those misunderstandings, because the comments that resulted from it, especially the one Carolyn made to Pat (11.1) made it even more clear which place treats can have and shouldn’t have in training. I have been thinking about this issue a lot lately and Carolyn’s 11.1 comment helped me to sort out my thoughts. So thank you Ian and Carolyn
!
Dear Marja,
I spent half my life with the Rituals and horses without treats. The interview where Robin spoke about my dance with Stony and how he was trained for lack of a better work I never treated him.
What the treats do for the students is to make it easier to initially get connected up with a horse. People and horses love the idea of sharing treats.
Treats bring out the strong nature of a horse bringing more attention to the need for polite social behavior and in the shaping of that behavior a true bond and understanding forms.
The big secret about treats is that at first you use them and then it is important to use them less because a horse will put more effort into the game when less treats are given as you go along. Treating for everything causes a horse to do less and want more. This is what I see is the biggest mistake people make along with keeping the treats on their person an thinking you need to treat right way for something a horse did. When you want a horse to understand he has done something great you let him know with a pat and your happy expression of your voice and body language and then go get him a treat or ask him to walk back to the treats with you.
It is all about adjustment one way or another for ever.
The consistency is Sharing Territory as much as you do anything else and making sure that the horse is not forced and every thing his does he volunteers and the performance is used to deepen the connection and to bring a sense of freedom and pride to the horse.
What you are doing with the horse is developing your leadership and communication skills and learning how nature and evolution can help you in the training of the partnership and dance.
I would like it if people would not use the method to get results but rather as a way of being with horses and a school of learning and forming marriages.
Many times in one day of three days of working with one of the Rituals a person becomes discouraged with the results of the horse’s reaction to the interactions that happen while working with the Rituals not understanding that with practice and evolution with bring the magic.
You bring out some helpful nuances again here, Carolyn, with respect to your method in general and the role of ‘treats’ specifically. Re: ‘I spent half my life with the Rituals and horses without treats’ – And what tremendous patience you must have had! The problem, as we can only imagine, is the time factor and the degree of dedication that requires.
What was so enamoring about Robin’s dance was the ending, she almost kisses the horse, but, more than that, she shares ‘intimate space’ without doing anything at all – something horses love, don’t they? – the biggest reward and complement of all, as I see it.
Re: learning how ‘nature and evolution’ can help you in the training of the partnership and dance – now there is something to swallow – pretty earthshaking – How to get a handle on that! I don’t know, but I can ‘see’ what you are referring to and recognize it is an integral part of the beauty expressed. It is part of the uniqueness of the moment, bringing past and present together and inviting in the future.
What a visionary you are, Carolyn!
Thank you Carolyn, this is all so true and helpful
!
Dear Carolyn,
Just checking in, I will listen to the interview too!
Elodie
Dear Carolyn,
I wasn’t able to listen to the interview on Sunday, so I was delighted for the opportunity to hear it now. Thank you. I would love to see Robin interact with Liz’s herd for the first time and observe how the relationships develop! As I listened to the interview, I made a mental note that when I see my horses today I must thank Roscoe for vehemently resisting the pressure and release method I was using a few years ago. Because he resisted, I went on a search and found your method. Smart horse!
Karin
Dear Carolyn,
Thank you for sharing the Horses At Play video with Robin Gates—what a wonderful horsewoman.
And the interview with Liz Mitten was terrific.
Only wish I lived closer to Robin…and had the free time and money to learn more, more and more from you all.
I wish I could attend clinics and watch U Tubes, our internet connection does not allow… I feel so humbled and in awe of you who have fulfilled this connection and ridden the wave of freedom that has your horses loving and trusting you so. Please know if there is any chance I can facilitate the organising of clinics here in South Africa for you Carolyn, or Robin, it would be my honour… In all selfishness I would just love to learn from you directly and hope that more people here will come to hear about connecting with your heart. Horses in South Africa are still very much entrenched in traditional ‘people orientated’ equestrian persuits but I really believe there are many owners who would love to liberate themselves and their horse friends by learning and studying with you. Your mails are such inspiration…THANK YOU!!!
Hello Carolyn,
Checking in – I’ve been away so lots of ST to re-establish the connection with my horses before riding. It is amazing how well this works – when I began to ride again the connection was right there, as if I hadn’t been away. Before you and your words of wisdom I would have come back, started riding again immediately and wondered why I was so out of sync with my horses. Again, many thanks!! (I will now spend some time catching up with the Insider Circle Class).
Abigail
(In a Box 2010, EC 2011)
Dear Carolyn,
.
I listened to Liz’s interview with Robin a few days ago on my MP3 player, while ST with the herd. ST always brings me in the right state of mind to get the most out of listening to precious interviews like this (and your WRIC calls). I had never heard Robin speak before but I hugely enjoyed all she had to tell. She is very humble and at the same time so powerful and wise! I enjoyed all her stories and what she told about meeting you and how that changed her life.
For me a beautiful image she described was to behave like a Queen among our horses, with great calmness, clarity and self-confidence.
Thank you for sharing the link to that interview
Carolyn,
It just came to me reading your post that when John and I visited Robin at her home for a preclinic get aquainted lesson last year that we experienced with Robin something quite similiar to the video of Robin playing with the horses. I think this is probably the best way to explain the intesnse energy Robin puts into clinics and lessons. The video really describes the fun we had while learning from her years of working both with you and some very challenging, creative, and yes some troubled horses. The lessons brought clarity to certain specific details that the horses need us to understand, but the energy and enthusiasm Robin put into them evolved into a highly energetic educational play that is not to be missed or forgotten easily. The amount of effort Robin gives to both her students and the horses speaks volumes enough on her passion of taking students and horses down a road to clearer leadership, communication and understanding. And like you Carolyn, Robin’s unique creative solutions arise when the need calls so that each individual horse can walk their own unique healing path. The video you presented showed the results of how that can turn out, when you see the horses sharing their Joy with Robin’s. I have you both Top on my list to spend more time with as soon as my heath is back on track.
Dear Carolyn – Thank you for the links- I have watched Robin’s ‘Horses at Play’ twice a day since you posted it – it brings the right feeling to me before going out to visit my horses. Last night was nearly a full moon and I spent two hours with them. The closest thing to Heaven on Earth. Tonight there is an eclipse so I hope for clear skies! Much love and many thanks for sharing your knowledge.
Carolyn B
Hullo Carolyn,
That is the most wonderful joyous youtube. It just makes the heart bubble
and soar.
I actually was going to the last retreat at Liz Mitten Ranch, timing was not
right and my Mother was not well.
Wow very tempting.
Going to try and listen to the interview.
thank you Carolyn