Hello again. Today I want to talk to you a little about Robin Gates, who is a long time student of my Method and has a natural ability with both horses and humans alike. She is fun, uplifting and extremely knowlegeable on how to create a magnetic connection and keep it as you can see from this video.
Robin will be part of an intimate gathering that is taking place at Lisa Walters’ beautiful, private facility, EquuSatori Center, located in Sonoma County, approximately one hour north of San Francisco. To find out more, please click Robin Gates Clinic.
During this clinic Robin will be working with several different horses and their owners so you will be able to gain greater insights on how to work with the various needs and responses necessary for each situation. How to lead when the connection is strong and how to strengthen it when it is weak.
Often she brings one of her own horses too so you can witness what joy and willingness my Method creates. Like mine, Robin’s clinics are very open, interactive and focused on developing a magical connection with horses as well as addressing your personal questions and pursuits.
The reason for telling you this is I do not what anyone to miss this event. For all my students that cannot come to me, here is your opportunity to experience an overall understanding of my Method in person. As one of my Certified Trainers, Robin focuses on developing a magical connection with horses and at the same time she also takes care to meet your personal interests and pursuits. Like me, her desire is for people to get in touch with their own instincts and understanding… how to lead, love and allow to bring out the magical partnership.
Before I go, I promised a little help for those of you who might be still wondering how you are going to pay for the ‘In a Box’ Program which starts next week. We have managed to come up with a 50% now, 50% in a month’s time option, which means you don’t even have to finish paying for the class before you start it. This option should be available from tomorrow, Friday, so look for the link for it that will appear in the box at the top of the page.
Enjoy your weekend, speak next week.
Carolyn
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Thank You, Carolyn for the 2 payment option. This makes a big difference for me. I first learned about your way of being with horses through Neda DeMayo some years ago (Mark Mottershead was there, too!) I read your book and practiced with my herd and looked and looked for more. At the time there wasn’t much, but now…!!! I’m deeply grateful you have allowed your wisdom, insights and tools to flow out to others who are receptive. Thank you again and many blessings to you and your work.
Steph
Hello,
I am following Carolyns blog and method for a long time, from the Netherlands but never had the courage to react.Today I was encouraged to do so, but still not figured out how this works here…so sorry if my post is not okay.After all, I also love this video.I wish I was able to follow it one time in real, but I really live far, so I will take my inspiration out of this blog and the comments people share here. I do liberty work since a year and a half with my horse.Yesterday I did the quiz here, and I really was surprised that I answeared all those questions with yes! :O My horse came a long way, in the beginning he not even let touch his head! And now he is really so excited, he even stops eating to come and do some liberty work.This is really amazing.So I am really grateful that I could pick up some good things here from this blog!
many greetz from the Netherlands,
Barbara
This is such a lovely video. I also have rewatched it several times. It is just beautiful and I love the music! I look forward to dancing with my horse like this when the time is right. He will walk with me, and sometimes trot with me, but we have never cantered together on foot. I have to admit I was studying Robin’s legs to see what she was doing to make it so graceful! Robin has a lovely skip:)!
Thank you for sharing!
Connie
Seems I am not alone in loving this video, and I watch it over and over. The music runs through my head and makes me want to fly to my horse and dance dance dance! When I win the lottery (any day now!) I will bring my Hafflingers all the way from Ontario to California so we can meet you, Carolyn, and your truly gifted colleague! This video keeps me going when times are rough.
I watch Robin, Fresco in this “Liberty Dance” video over and over, never tiring of it – just makes me happy !! The beauty of the joyous mutual movements paired with wonderful music is both mythical and magical to witness…what a treasure.
Thank you for sharing, Carolyn, I sure wish that I was in a position to be able to attend Robin’s clinic.
Beth and Cookie,
in Virginia
That has always been one of my favorite videos to view again and again.
I just got a new field in which to start practicing once again. Last year I had finally gotten a field and just started to do some liberty work, but it was short-lived and I lost its use. I’m so excited to be able to begin once again.
Pat
oh! it is such a beautiful video and connection!
Great job
Hi, I love this video, I found it already earlier on YouTube an it is a joy to watch again and again. Makes me dream of possibilities with my horse in the future…
Also I want to thank you Carolyn, for recommending the Paul Belasik book. I’ve just finished the Songs of horses and it blew me away! For instance a simple sentence like: ” Technique and intention are meaningless without willing reception.” This is wat it is all about, what you’re all about, I believe.
This is a book about teaching and being taught and about live. Also a book to read again and again. Great!
Best wishes
I can look at this video over and over, it is wonderfull to see the connection.
Today I wanted to take a closer look at one of Ameris hoof, but he didn´t agree. I was too fast. I backed off and spent some time with him than I did some leading and following from behind. He stopped and looked at me and after that I could take the closer look without problem. It is wonderful how it works.
Anna-Karin
I love this video! I’ve just started practicing Carolyn’s methods on my Paso Fino mare, 18 yrs old, and still very spooky startly under saddle; I’ve done lots of Parelli stuff with her over the years but this is different; I feel like I am finally making a connection with her, slowly, that I have wanted all my life. Thank You! Also, please, who is the singer and what is the song that accompanies the video?
Breakthrough!!!
Or should I say, remembering that of which I had lost focus…
A year ago when reading Hempfling, before finding this blog, I was quite aware of a horse’s willingness to imitate one’s movement – if! – one stays very conscious, very focused.
Two things happened: one, on the previous blog, Kim wrote about leading from behind as key to working under saddle, and described her process. Thank you, Kim, that was so helpful!
Then when I watched Robin’s video a couple of times, and saw how matched her movement was with her horse, I realized I had become sloppy at times, thinking Capricho should just follow me like a dog on a leash. He had become resentful, I believe, of my inattentiveness.
How do I lose sight of things? I don’t know. I discover, apply, then get distracted and lose my way, only to rediscover it. OK it’s been a rough year, with two moves of household! That never does a person any good, does it? Moving is like having a housefire.
Anyway, I just went out with a big pan of carrots, let him have a few gratis, then placed it outside his pen, out of reach, and retreated to the far end and just sat down. I wanted him to realize he needed to interact with me to get the carrots. After awhile, he came to me, and first we just said hello.
Then I decided to lead from behind. Where I had often been going wrong, I think, is that after a little leading from behind, he would turn and face me – and darn it, he is cute – and I would take his suggestion to do something else. Well this time I decided to REALLY become a pest. Slowly, gently, persistently following, leading from behind, until he stopped going in small circles near the carrot pan and started going all over. We might have kept this up for a good five minutes until finally I used my eyes and thoughts to indicate we should go to the carrots, which he did, and I let him eat awhile and praised him.
I pushed the carrot pan back outside, and then decided to try companion walking very carefully matching my every step with his, like Robin did in the video. Amazing! He started really watching me, no sassy stuff! I would slow my steps, and he would match my footfall. It stayed very polite. When I stopped, he stopped.
What is different? He has been companion walking with me, but maybe with a “let’s get it over with” attitude. He really became entranced when I matched his footsteps.
I then led from behind for awhile again, not quite so long, then just sat down to share territory. He just hung over me, licking my hands – no bites. Then we companion walked back to the carrots, very orderly, trying a couple of circles, and it was an entirely new feel.
Thanks so much Carolyn, Robin, Kim and everyone for all the good work! I really cherish being able to read and learn here.
Thanks Carolyn. I have watched this video several times. I’m pleased to say that I have accomplished a bit of what Robyn does but of course I have a long way to go. We are doing the walk, trot and skip but it will get so much better with time and patience. I find I am enjoying playing with my horses as much as riding them and I know they enjoy it too.
Warmest Regards,
Regina
Dear Carolyn,
Loved the video!
I have decided to do most of my training at liberty these days. I started grooming Lyle at liberty last week and he walked off. I took your sound advice and walked off the other way. He immediately stopped and turned to look. I was lightly kicking my foot around on the barn floor. I call this game “looking for a lost hoof pick”. His curiosity was killing him. He came over to check things out, and I gave him a treat, told him he was a good boy, and started grooming again. This happened about 4 times before he decided to stay and stand still for grooming. It was great! HE decided to stick around; no halter – nothing! When grooming was finished, I asked him to bow, gave him a few treats, pet him, and then left.
He is responding to me so much nicer now. He chooses to be with me more often, and his curiosity, which has always been high, is sky high!
I share territory with him a lot now, and we take turns leading and following. This is all quite new to him, and he seems to really like it.
Thank you for continuing to give of your experiences so we all can learn.
Toni
What delightful work! Beautiful.
Also it’s good to see the horse’s ears. In one of her videos they were always forward, and I began to question what I was doing, because Capricho’s are at “half-mast” like this horse’s are. I looked at Honza Blaha’s work, and the same thing.
Fantastic connection. Thanks very much for this visualization.
Oh, and our Black Stallion DVD just arrived! This is all so helpful!
hello carolyn,
sorry to have missed the inner circle opportunity but i am working 12 hours every day here so would not have been able to do it justice.
really happy to be a part of such a great group of true horse lovers. even if my time is little to correspond with you i love that you are all out there for me as i work to bring humane horsemanship to this corner of spain.
thrilled to say the new filly India is now doing mounted work happily and is trusting of everyone who comes to work with her. i am sure all i have learned from carolyn´s online help has added to the incredible ease i have found training her. i am still waiting to get equipment so i can send videos of her and the other horses here at el prado.
Loved the video. I taught my young horse or I should say encouraged him to canter by skipping…. when he came to me he had some issues from coersive “quick” training. At the time ( 2 years ago ) I didn’t know about Carolyn. I have been reading Naked Liberty and have found so many of the methods and attitude of Carolyn to be so similiar in the approach that I took with my youngster. I really want to do the in the box class but money is sooo tight right now for us ( my husband and myself ).
I do hope it will be offered again. I also want to say that it has been so delightful and validating to read this blog and to find that I am not alone in my view or ideology ( if you will ) of horses.
I particularly enjoyed reading about lead horses vs. dominant ….what a great insight to learn…..thanks Carolyn.
Kindest Regards
Carrie and Sidhe ( spotted draft horse, my fairy horse….LOL )
Thank you Carolyn,
I will call Robin tomorrow. Looks like good timing for us. I am thinking Robin might be helpful to check on our interactions during the WHR course as well.
True was great today I was able to pick up all her feet in the field loose no halter and asked from the same side just to see if I could. She figured out what I was asking and adapted, without concern,actually faster than our other horses when I tried this a while back. Still working on her being comfortable with the halter and her feet. I realized I had never really showed her what I wanted as to staying out of my space when tied or practiced her standing really still. I think I just kept asking but didn’t offer it in a way that encouraged her to seek it out. That was today’s revelation. Goes back to your UE suggestions on the phone. We were working on her waiting at the stall door, gate open and not crossing over an imaginary line and have expanded it to different locations and am almost all the way around her now. The stall door is the hardest for her. But she is applying the concept to multiple locations and applications. So today it was feet while tied. If I couldn’t approach and retreat without her moving I focused on the stand and she really tried. I am hoping this will make easier for me to do her feet. While we are working on our relationship I still need to keep her feet cleaned out. It is actually safer for me to have her restrained to do her feet right now since I can at least control at least one end when she has what seem like flashback moments. This was very successful and I could move around her and she kept very still. It is really easy to see when she is trying now and she has a certain look of understanding. Alfalfa in a bucket outside the stall was her reward or scratches. She has a habit of swinging her rear when she gets nervous and I just worked on her stopping. She really tried to work with me on this. Approach and retreat has been helpful and she has allowed thrush treatments by choice, she can be very brave if you give her some processing time and an apology. I also give her breaks to move as she wishes staying back. She is good tied in her giant stall and isn’t a danger to herself. I can pet her standing above her while she is loose eating as well. She has learned to leave when I say go especially when I have her rolling treat filled toy. Matter of fact I don’t need to say anything if I stand in the stall door with the toy she is now leaving on her own. She never leaves without having a destinations to be “busy.” The toy is also what helped with the stand still practice. She really loves it. What I like about her toy is that I think she also uses it to decompress or process what we have interacted about and she is really good about comming in when called from the field because she will get the toy as part of the routeen. So she usually is waiting to be called or watching for us when we change the horses in the field. We did have to teach her to share the toy(with us) and sometimes that needs to be refreshed. But of course not if it is empty. If she by accident rolls it into poop it is “game over ” she will not touch it. John and I are having fun now with her trying to get along and her ears are looking forward most of the time which is so much better than it was for a while. Scratches are at least as good to her as food. I also think it was helpful that her pasture equine advisor came into her stall and took the toy and her space. We are assisted daily by his efforts. Raisin has also grown in his leadership skills and companion skills. He was a bit of a bully and not attached to other horses when he came to us and he is becomming a mentor, no longer being a bit pushing changing the field with the other horses, sleeps with True on the “beach” I haven’t seen them groom yet like she does the other horses but they do play and it is not to rough, more like romping. I will say that every day he makes sure she is listening to him or facing him when he arrives in the pasture. Usually he takes her side of the hay but she is usually leaving when he comes to do the “I am so busy doing this right now.” Then they spend the rest of the day in harmony, sometimes together sometimes apart. Each horse has a different way of relating to her but they all have taken the leadership role. She pushed this a lot for a while but now seems content most of the time as she matures. Maybe that is why it is easier for us to get along with her now as well. We are lucky the horses here seem to all like each other, don’t want to hurt or get hurt and want to get along with each other and us. To be on the safe side we avoid mixing them in tight areas and True isn’t turned out with my 29 year old, which is his preference now that she is bigger and he is slower. They groom and visit over the fence daily. Little baby lambs she has access to but that seems to be different to her.
I don’t know why I wrote so much, but we did have a good interaction together today. I look forward to meeting Robin.
I already have watched this video so many times and it always creates this wonderful emotion in me – this is pure joy of life!
Love, Andrea
Oh, Carolyn, with your teaching and from watching Robins beautiflul video of the magic that can happen between Horse and Human. I can only long for the day when my Magnum and I will Dance at Liberty. Please keep on unlocking to me the keys to this magic.
I love this video. I love that Robin skips with the horse while the horse canters with her. For those of you that are in Northern California, I can attest to the fact that Robin is an awesome teacher. I went to her ranch and met her horse Frank and saw her put the Waterhole Rituals into action. The I got to Companion Walk with Frank. He was wonderful, and an Arab, too. Unfortunately, my horse, Snowy, also an Arab, has a number of different trust issues, and we are working them through very slowly. Robin has advised me just to take it slowly and let it happen. Sometimes it is hard for me not to have an agenda, but the trust is growing. I have had Snowy two years now, and I have ridden him, and my daughter competed with him in dressage and eventing. But there was always something missing. He can be sweet, obedient, and he can also be spooky and bolt. I only just started with the Waterhorse Rituals in the end of November, 2009, so I am just starting my learning process. Robin advises that when we solve the trust issues, I will have the deeper connection I long to have, and many of the spooky and bolting issues will more or less subside. A lot of the natural horsemen people say that when you become the leader, the horse trusts you to decide what is scary and what is not. So as Snowy trusts me to be his leader little by little, things have seemed to improve. We’re doing a lot of Sharing Territory, Saying Hello, and Leading from Behind. One of the things that Robin showed me, and Carolyn mentions, is that if the horse leaves you, you should immediately leave the other way. Otherwise you lose your position. Knowing that little thing has made a big difference. Now, Snowy wonders where I am off to rather than think I have lost my credibility. All these little movements mean something to the horse, and as I learn this body language, my understanding and communication is improving. What a wonderful journey.
Thank you so much for the link to Robin. A gift for those of us in Northern California… this is so wonderful to view and know that there are others out there to share the giving and receiving of the relationship/connection/ bond with horses.
It is a real gift… I make me smile… if only more horses had owners such as Robin and the rest of horse conscious group. Keep spreading the gift!!
Celia
That is a truly lovely video. The connection is so strong it glows like an aura. If you are not moved by the visible, utterly voluntary joy of Robin and her beautiful horse as they share the moment, you cannot be reached by anything worth doing with horses. If only San Francisco were closer to Florida.