Posted in Advice, Clinics, Misc on Aug 11th, 2011
Announcement: Robin Gates Clinic
Click the image below to view PDF flyer.
You’re going to love this video – it is from Robin Gates. This video is going to show how active horses are and how important it is to bring activities like the Waterhole Rituals ™ ,beyond riding and training, to our horses. This video is going to show how intelligent a horse is by the fact that they understand complete concepts of planning. So watch and enjoy!!!
Clinic dates on September 3rd and 4th in Sebastopol, CA
Want to learn about Robin or need further information, please see www.libertyhorsetraining.com or email libertyhorsetraining@gmail.com
Animal Planet…
This morning I woke up early and I watched a TV show on orangutans. It was all about the things I had observed about the pecking order of horses. I got very excited! They spoke about all of it, all the things that I had discovered in natural horse bands in the wild. On this show, they spoke of the misguided strength of the youth, attitude, responsibility and there being a “self appointed cop” to the community that did not get into pecking order games.… Read more
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Posted in Advice on Mar 1st, 2011
I am really excited! I am taking a new horse “Chip” in training for my project horse for the Insider Circle and Extended Circle Program that will be starting this spring on April16th, 2011. The official announcement will be soon, and that is when you will be able to register for those of you who are interested. The Insider Circle will be open to 40 students in two separate classes, and the Extended Circle program will be open to everyone. You will get to read all about the course details soon.
Back to Chip!
Chip is a yearling wild horse that was taken from the Theodore Roosevelt National Park’s band of wild horses in the North Dakota Badlands. He was three months old when he was taken from his mother. He had pneumonia and had to be nursed back to health. In the process of his recovery, he developed orphan foal syndrome. He lost his social skills and instincts he was born with from too much human handling to get him well. It will be my job to raise him back to what his natural behavior would have been.
Natural Instincts
When a foal is born, he is born with… Read more
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Posted in Misc on Jan 13th, 2011
Today’s post is in response to a letter I received recently from someone:
Dear Carolyn,
I am also incredibly excited about the reformation. It has been a question of mine for a long while, as to how can one influence herd behavior.
Actually, Joost helped me come up with the plan. He too is using the Waterhole Rituals to influence with all of the horses he works with.
He has a 2 year old filly in training who bites everything she can reach.
Last week while grooming her he stuffed a cookie in her mouth when she reached for his elbow.
Well! That totally interrupted the deal and then he asked her for several steps back.
She was very different all morning.
Thinking things through in this way is becoming 2nd nature, and we are doing everything possible to coax that along.
I do have something to report back to you about our mustang, Geronimo.
We have been doing the intimacy exercises with him for about 4 weeks. He can now eat out of a bucket, keeping his head inside the whole time, which is a huge improvement.
His normal behavior is to grab a mouthful and then move away
… Read more
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Posted in Advice on Nov 11th, 2010
What fascinates me about wild horses is their beauty, and their free spirit and how much they enjoy. I fell in love with horses as a child. It was a romantic connection, as it is for many children who are drawn to horses. I felt if a wild horse should befriend me, I would have something special. I grew up with horses, and as a child I was offered an opportunity to observe and ultimately make friends with a natural wild horse herd. I spent every day with wild horses in the summertime in the San Jacinto Mountains of California where my family had a cabin in the woods close to the horses. My summers with the horses extended over three years and began when I was 10 years old. At that time in my life and still today I was looking for the magic I could share with a horse. I wanted to learn their culture and pecking order behaviors. I wanted to develop a relationship with wild horses, to be able to ride a wild horse from a bonded trust and magical connection without having to capture it against its will or train him to accept me on… Read more
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Posted in Advice on Feb 2nd, 2010
When I look back on my experience with the wild horses, what it meant to me then and what it means to me now, I realize I have never lost sight of the importance of horses and the natural environment.
Horses have impacted our lives throughout history, and nature promotes their well-being through the harmony of diversity. I appreciate life and wait to be in harmony with my environment before I act. To know horses as deeply as I know them comes from my understanding of harmony. Harmony is not made, it is found. Harmony in nature is the most trusted element in life and is the basis of the success I share with horses.
Humans honor intelligence. We spend time thinking. Horses honor instinct. They spend time being in the moment.
Working with horses is one way people can learn to be here now and get in touch with their instincts. We normally think of instincts as base but I think of instinct as being plugged into the universal connection… and when you are, you do not make mistakes!
Instinct is just as deep and rich as intelligence. Animals know what time it is. They do… Read more
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Posted in Misc on Dec 15th, 2009
Hello again. I love working with my horses. There isn’t anything much that I get so much pleasure out of, as you might have guessed. However, there one thing that thrills me almost as much and that is seeing my students succeed with their horses using my Method.
One of the students who continues to delight me and who is always very generous with her praise of me is Stina. For those of you who don’t know her story, she contacted me about 3 years ago asking if she could study with me. As she lives on St.Vincent in the Caribbean and I live in southern California, this was pretty tricky especially considering the horses she had recently ‘adopted’ were a herd of effectively wild horses. So she started having phone coaching with me and I must say that Stina has done a remarkable job with her herd. The results she and the horses have achieved are fabulous as you will see here and on the videos on the Coaching and Favorites pages.
So I would like to take this opportunity to thank Stina for her continued support of my Method and for the lovely videos… Read more
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Posted in Stories on Oct 20th, 2009
Here is another story about how learning the Waterhole Rituals™ helped Lynn with her wild brumby when he escaped. It brought tears to my eyes and showed me just how much can be learnt in the virtual classroom….
What do you do when you lose a part of your family? You grieve, you don’t believe it and all those assorted feelings. This is exactly what happened last Sunday, when Sakima, my wild brumby, exited my life in dramatic circumstances.
My manager had become over-confident with him and assumed that he was so adjusted to life on our farm that he would not leave through our rainforest that leads to a National Park. With an open gate an invitation too inviting to ignore, Sakima was on his way to freedom last Sunday.
I went up in the afternoon, only to find no horse and an open gate that led to thousands of hectares of wild bush and rugged mountain ridges. I knew immediately he had gone.
Calmness in a crisis is important and business had well equipped me to contain my emotions and the feeling of dread that enveloped my body. This is a wild horse that won’t allow
… Read more
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