Today was Day One of the Beyond the Waterhole Rituals Clinic.

For the next 8 days we will be developing more horsemanship skills to bring out the dance we would like to share with our horses.  I developed my school of learning because I saw that there was a learning opportunity not being offered to the equine world. Some things were not being taught like timing, leadership responsibility, understanding the nature of horses, noticing the individual personalities and working with the situation that exists in the present moment without forcing an unwilling horse to accept leadership.

Finding Empowerment Through Your Body Language

A person needs to develop a sure footedness in their direction and connection with horses. The way I go about this is by beginning with exercises working on assertiveness and sensitivity. Then we practice being supportive and finally move on to developing directive skills. From these exercises the student learns how to be flexible and gain more willingness from their horse. Through the practice of the Waterhole Rituals, the student develops a consistent ability to stay focused on the horse by keeping the connection alive and the horse motivated to keep the dance alive.

Begin with … Read more

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Hi, this is Mark here. As you may have seen, Carolyn’s site has been down the last day or so for which I profusely apologize. At this stage, we do not know exactly what happened. I am guessing it was some sort of hack attack, a professional hazard of working online. Anyway, we have restored a backup from LAST SUNDAY 23rd, so if you made a comment on or since then, it may have been lost. Please go back and check if you are not sure.

Apologies once again and normal service will now been resumed… here’s Carolyn!

As many of you know, I use treating and food very specifically and purposefully in my work with horses. However, in the ‘Saying Hello’ Waterhole Ritual, you do not want to use treats. The reason for this is it causes the horse to focus on the treat and not on you.

I gained a deeper insight into why not to use treats during the Hello Ritual from the dog whisperer, Cesar Milan. Watching his TV show, I learned more clearly the way a dog’s mind operates. I was feeding my food-aggressive dog, Apollo, the way Cesar suggested and now that I have … Read more

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When I was growing up, I couldn’t wait for my two horsemanship magazines each month. One was called Western Horseman and the other was called Horse Lovers. They cost 36 cents a copy and they held free lessons in them and free things to send away for. With my horses and these magazines, my days were filled with things I could do and ways I could train. Over time, my skill grew with horses. The horses helped me along in their training because of the connection in friendship that we shared. They made me look like I knew what I was doing even when I did not. It was like a Dr. Dolittle adventure. The reason for this is that I focused on how to get the horse to help me from my lack of experience in training horses. From the bond I had developed with my horses, we had a desire to do things together and my horses would try to figure out how to support me on our adventures in our ever-deepening cross-species bond.

Not only have I been able to help you to develop a cross-species bond with your horse through this site, but also my blog … Read more

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Hello. Today I want to talk to you about my new Waterhole Rituals Insider Circle Program and why I believe it is the foundation for all your equestrian pursuits. Before I do though, let me ask you a few questions.

• Do you dream of dancing with your horse in the same way the boy did in the movie “The Black Stallion”?
• Would you like to truly enjoy the tranquility and peace of being together with your horse like horses do in nature?
• Do you want to be able to read the moods of your horse and be able to change them for the better?
• Would you at last love to really communicate with your horse?
• And do you want to be his best friend but at the same time maintain an ideal working relationship?
• So how do you do all this?

Of course, there are many horsemanship schools available out there. They often speak of a philosophy that is based on the high ideals of bringing about a partnership built on trust. Far too often their formulae and rules are so inflexible that the horse has no choice in the matter, he simply has to comply.

The two vital things … Read more

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Hi again. Today’s blog post is once more on the horse racing industry and I was moved to write it in response to the very positive comments we received to the last post on the subject and also because I received an email from Dawn Mellen.

Dawn is busy organizing her first fundraiser for her newly formed foundation After The Finish Line, a funding non-profit to rescue thoroughbred racehorses from the track. Dawn’s foundation aims to give racehorses the chance of a second career rather than go to slaughter. We have posted the invite below, so I hope you can go to the event as I intend to or donate a silent auction item or just send money. If you’d like to contact Dawn, her details are beneath the invite.

*** To read the rest of this post, get Carolyn’s Blog Collection Volume 1 ***
Click the image above for more details

 … Read more

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