I met Carolyn a few years ago.  I was introduced to her by a mutual friend (thank you Barbara!)  However, unlike her students, we met socially through having horses in common.  In the beginning of our relationship we talked horses, but not about Carolyn’s work.  We were friends for a year before Carolyn shared her Method with me.

Once Carolyn and I started talking about horses more in depth regarding her method things got interesting. Anyone who knows Carolyn, knows her poignant questions.  She reads people and horses like a psychic.  It is an amazing skill that I see from working next to her in the classrooms as she is coaching students.

One day while we were talking about some funny new thing my horses had come up with, Carolyn asked me, very cautiously, how I felt about my relationship with my horses.  I told her that I was very happy.  My horses loved me, I loved them and we had great times trail riding and spending time together.  It seemed like an innocent question, but I could tell I had just stepped into the “Carolyn Zone” and my life was getting ready to be changed.

I remember talking about … Read more

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The way we approach our horses in every day actions can make a big difference. My parents, when I was growing up, suggested that I look at how my horse sees my behavior and to look deeply into how my behavior could affect my horse’s attitude towards me.

Practicing this, to this day, causes me to approach relationships in my life with more consideration. The more I think of what my horse needs the more he surprises me with what he has to give back.

I went to look at a new horse that might be coming to my ranch. It was so touching, after spending less than an hour with him, when I went to leave he called out to me like a horse does when his best friend or his mother is being taken away from him.  He will be coming here for my Bitless riding course.

I am not going to tell you about him except that it was a momentous meeting. As time goes by with my work with horses  I am surprised how the door into another dimension continues to open wider.

When I have experienced this kind of connection with a horse, it … Read more

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My Clinic with Ruella Yates
I have not done a Waterhole Rituals clinic away from home for some time. Going to Ruella Yates Spirit Horse Ranch in Oklahoma City was a great adventure; it was a very nurturing event for me.  Yes it was cold but I was able to dress warm enough.  Karen Corn and her husband Tony brought heaters for the guests. Thank you for your contribution! It was greatly appreciated. I felt the clinic would go well but not as well as it did or that I would have so much fun! I would like to do more clinics like this one on the same intimate level that was built around bonding and performance.

What I Offer:
I feel what I offer to people in my clinics is important in regards to training a horse without insistence, force or entrapment.  Giving freedom to the horse and allowing the horse to begin a relationship with you offers a path that is eye opening in how easy it is to train a horse and how willing and smart horses are when we allow a horse time to process and … Read more

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Here is what several students have asked me to write a blog about: Taking Territory – the 3rd Ritual of the Waterhole Rituals:
Taking Territory creates respect and raises your position in the pecking order. You can gain the right of passage to be accepted in the horse world as a leader. Taking Territory is not about chasing a horse around; it is about Taking Territory away from a horse.

All animals in nature experience the loss of territory in social interactions and it is what builds their character and social behavior to fit in and be responsible in the community. You can Take Territory easily with a horse by surprising him in order to initiate his flight response.

The Proper Guidance:

Taking Territory Ritual is a ritual which is seldom used without my guidance and that is a good thing. In most cases it would not be applied in the way it needs to be applied without proper coaching. You do not need it at all in order to train a horse with my method, though it does have a strong purpose. In Taking Territory the horse is never touched, but only encouraged to move forward by being surprised. … Read more

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A Powerful Ritual -

What I am going to share with you is a story from my book that I decided not to publish. This chapter is on Sharing Territory, the most powerful Ritual of my program because of the magic that has come from it.  This is where bonded relationships develop with horses without any effort and people become better leaders.  There is a deep awareness that opens the door to leadership behaviors that are more effective and desirable.

I also want to point out something that people are still a bit confused about. Your horse may never come to you while Sharing Territory. However, Sharing Territory still grows the connection no matter what. The shear act of Sharing Territory will create as much magic with your horse whether he is at your side or he never acknowledges you. It is about the evolution of Sharing Territory and becoming connected through sharing vibrations that the moment and territory create in you and your horse. The horse is completely aware that you feel a bond towards him by Sharing Territory. This cases the horse to then bond to you.

I Want to Share a Story with You -

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A Letter from Bonnie Beresford:

Carolyn, today I went out to the herd with a purpose, both of my horses had forelocks that were tight with burrs and I wanted to remove them. I am writing here today because of what I believed happened as a result of sharing territory with the herd.

The horses were resting in the shade when I found them and there was no wind to keep the flies down. I rubbed some detangler into Chance’s forelock and let it penetrate for a few minutes. I then turned away and came face to face with June, the quarter horse mare with parrot mouth, who had walked up very close to me.  This was the first time she had ever approached me, though I have said hello to her a few times.

I stroked her face and turned away, but she stayed with me and put her head very close to me. She seemed to be seeking my attention. I noticed that her eyes were covered with flies, and she stood quietly as I rubbed my hands over her eyes and waved the flies away.

Then beside June, Cappy came up to me. … Read more

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The sound of Indian drums and chanting came on soft summer breezes in long-twilight evenings of my childhood on an Oklahoma farm. My grandfather spoke of the ceremonial powwows in tones of respect, as he did when he dipped water from our shallow well, dug long before by the People of the Plains. He walked with me to the smooth rock outcropping on the hill, showing me indentations where Indians had ground grain in the times before settlements broke up and fenced the land. Those memories were strong within me as I rode the prairie on my horse, pretending I was living in those times, with great respect for the land and native people that are my heritage on the Plains.

When I showed my horse paintings at a one-woman show in Oklahoma City, a Native American artist dropped by and said in quiet tones, “These are Spirit Horses, aren’t they?” They were, indeed, as they came to me unbidden into the paint, looking for the little horse-girl who loved them. The artist, Thompson Williams, gave me a name in his language, De-tomaha Nah-te, horse-woman. Rhonda Williams, a painter of horse blankets and hummingbirds in her White Stallion Studio, and … Read more

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