Posted in Advice on Aug 31st, 2010
Hello. As you may know, I have a very close and long-standing relationship with Neda De Mayo, who does wonderful work at her American Wild Horse Sanctuary, Return to Freedom, in Lompoc, California.
Neda has been a long time student of mine and has introduced a number of people to my Method during her workshops. As were putting together today’s blog, we came across a very interesting question from the Insider Circle which I wanted to feature. As you will read, this person was indeed introduced to my work via Neda and Mark told me that he was on the same workshop and that’s how he found out about me too! So I’d like to thank Neda and say that if you ever get chance to visit the sanctuary, I really recommend it. They run a variety of different events and workshops there too and of course it’s a wonderful cause to support too.
In fact, large parts of my Waterhole Reflections DVD were shot at the ranch and it really is beautiful up there, especially in the Spring when all the flowers are out, so go take a visit.
OK, so on to the question, which… Read more
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Posted in Misc on Jul 8th, 2010
There are segments of time when things work out magically, and there are other times when chaos is present.
Today I was dealing with an upset on the ranch. Two horses had become very agitated with one another from having been switched to one another’s paddock. They worked themselves up so much that I was going to have to put them back in their original paddocks, because of the risks of them running around and getting hurt, as they were looking for a way to get to each other over the top of the fence. They got so wild we could see that we could hardly lead them back to their original homes, because they wanted to fight it out with one another and break away for being lead. Both horses have some unfinished training in regards to getting out of control when being lead in a time that they get angry with another horse. One is a stallion and the other is a tough gelding that exhibits behavior like a Stallion. He was the more difficult of the two.
The natural order of things is harmony, and if you let chaos go through its course, it will on its… Read more
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Posted in Advice, Misc on May 6th, 2010
When I first got Apollo, I decided I wanted to see how a dog breeder would handle him to give him a bath. I wanted to see his behavior toward a bath so I would not make any mistakes and start a behavior in him that I was responsible for, that would develop a bad connection with him. I learned a lot. What I learned is that she talked to him with sweet tones every minute that she was bathing him helping him to feel secure. When he got too whiney and nervous the husband would come into the room and poke a finger into his rib cage and say “Settle down.”
To my surprise, Apollo responded by settling down and the wife would then would go back to sweet talk. The husband’s energy was on the muscle but calm and direct. They had a plan. One of the reasons it worked is that down deep inside them they knew it would. Because of this, it influenced my dog to accept his bath like they expected him to.
I learn by watching, reading, experiencing, practicing and the big one, evaluating. From evaluation, I can usually come up with… Read more
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Posted in Misc on Mar 18th, 2010
Hi there. You may remember a couple of weeks ago I announced I was looking for someone to be ‘my voice’ for the podcasts we will put on iTunes. Well, I was just overwhelmed with the number of responses we received, it was very humbling.
With so many people volunteering, the question then was, how do we decide who should do it? We thought about holding a competition and having elimination rounds like they do on that TV show American Idol but that didn’t seem fair. So what I’ve decided to do is let EVERYONE who wants to, read the blog and be my voice. Plus, I thought it would be nice if you could tell us all a little about yourself beforehand so we can all get to know each other better.
Before I get on to how this will work, I want to explain why I’ve decided to find someone else to read the blogs rather than do it myself.
As you are probably already aware, I have a good deal of trouble with reading and writing. I guess my brain’s just not wired that way. Don’t get me wrong, I love to write and enjoy very much… Read more
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Posted in Advice on Dec 22nd, 2009
For anyone new to my blog, the programs I offer are about developing better connections between horse to human and human to horse. They are meant to support the equine community by creating better equine partnerships through social interaction and communication that strengthening the bond, trust and dance.
If you are new to my classroom and want to understand more deeply my philosophy and the programs I offer, I would suggest that you order my book Naked Liberty, the DVDs Introduction to the Waterhole Rituals and Panadero’s Journey. I also invite you to join in on the free training course on the Uberstreichen Exercises. These are exercises to develop a better partnership and connection when your ride, by working from the ground teaching a horse to perform the beginning stages of collection.
You can join in the free winter Uberstreichen Exercise Program by going back in the archives and reading from the November 19th entry. Every Thursday there will be a new lesson, Tuesdays will be regular blog entries that might have further information regarding the lessons.
From reading all of your comments, many of you say you are visual learners and are grateful for the YouTube… Read more
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Posted in Misc on Aug 25th, 2009
This is an amazing August, usually it is hot. Fall is in the air and the weather is beautiful. I do not have much to share today so I just wanted to update you on everyone here and tell you about a small tip you might find useful.
Cat is doing really well and appears to be very happy, as is Stoli. Morning Star (Lucero) is also very happy with his life and is like a little puppy dog now. When he came here about 10 weeks ago, he had a very surly attitude but has responded wonderfully well to the Waterhole Rituals™ and is as friendly as you could wish now. This kind of grounding well set him up very well for whatever training he does later in his life.
Greg Bruce, our equine dentist, came the other day. He fixes all my horses teeth and it was amazing to watch him. He spent at least 30 minutes with Julia telling her all about how a horse uses his teeth and things to look for that can cause a horse problems. I came in the middle of it and got a lot out of his talk. Greg teaches… Read more
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Posted in Advice on Dec 11th, 2008
I deal with a loss of performance under saddle using the activities surrounding the Waterhole Rituals as we are doing fun stuff together at liberty. Like the game, “Look at me and eat all you want, or come with me and I will take you to the food.” I gain co-operation and respect over food issues rather than asking a horse to perform a self-serving act under saddle. The Waterhole Rituals prepares the horse to perform under saddle perfectly by priming him to be focused, willing, connected and having the right energy to perform at its best under saddle.
You will approach your horse much differently at liberty than when you are working with a horse under saddle because under saddle you are focused on the performance rather that the teamwork and quality of connection. At liberty, you will take the time and deal directly with issues of why the horse is not performing well under saddle with a kinder attitude. In this state of mind, you can put all of your attention on developing the connection instead of trying to get a horse to perform when the connection is not quite right.
*** To read… Read more
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