Taking the Long Journey
Aug 18th, 2009 by Carolyn Resnick Method
A cultivated understanding of the culture of horses enables us to fit in with them, train them and befriend them and brings out a horse’s desire to bond and follow our lead, as well as an amazing ability to perform for us in all equestrian pursuits. Just picking up some tips to be able to get along with horses has some serious drawbacks. Trying to fix horses that do not fit with their jobs or with our abilities also has drawbacks. Taking the long journey to get to know horses has no drawbacks and offers a more enjoyable experience that is far reaching. You evolve your ability to create a connection with horses from being able to acquire a state of being and consciousness that horses are drawn to.
The best way to acquire this cultivation is by being present in the moment when a horse feels safe and comfortable. We need to spend time watching horses with a keen eye to learn how horses communicate with one another, and how horses train horses and how leadership in horses can be gross as well as highly sophisticated, since it comes from an care taking approach. Care taking lead horses have a natural magnetism. This magnetism is a state of being that can be trusted as it comes from a consciousness that is greater than the horses he is leading. All horses are draw to humans who have these same qualities.
Through hours of sharing territory and observing horses we learn their true culture. Many of us are unable to go to the wild and study the culture of horses in herd groups but we can if we choose learn from one horse how to connect with him by using the Waterhole Rituals. From sharing the moment and being present to only your horse and the task at hand we become master communicators and leaders and receive a state of beingness and personal magnetism that draws harmony and unity to you where goals are reached without effort.
From the first Waterhole Ritual Sharing Territory, where the bond grows deep, the horse begins to see us as a family member and trusted friend as the practice of this Ritual creates in us a true awakened state of being present to the moment, like a horse. This focus causes a horse to naturally connect and understand our communication. Being present in the moment from this practice also helps us acquire magnetic leadership, without effort. From this state, we communicate more appropriately and begin to share a cellular connection with the horse where we share the same body rhythm with him. This connection opens up many avenues to a true partnership and we can wind up on the back of a horse through divine providence. Out of this connection grows the best relationship you can have with a horse for all equestrian pursuits. This is where the dance with horses and humans begins
Along this slow journey, it is also important to learn from riding a good horse, a horse that enjoys being ridden and wants to follow your lead and to take lessons and learn more about horses from books. Study all methods of horsemanship from any sources you can find. Almost all horsemen have followed this approach but in ways that they never expected to and in ways that took them more years as they tried to reach goals that they expected to achieve and never did. Taking the long journey can actually prove to be shorter in the end.
You may be interested to know that I have a new DVD coming out in the next few weeks that will help you get into just the right space for just being with your horse. It’s called Waterhole Meditations and there’ll be more details and a trailer coming soon. In the meantime, I would like to invite you to share your personal journey in horsemanship with me and everyone:
I look forward to your replies.
Enjoy your week
Carolyn
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Hi everybody
I think that when I was very young the horse’s softness, kindness drew me to them.
What draws me now is that they learn me to be in the moment, to accept and stay open for other vibrations.
I like the best doing nothing with them, just being in their world and feel good and connected with them, with myself but the best I like also dancing with them.
Have a nice weekend!
tine
I have always loved horses, wanted to be a horse, and galloped everywhere as a child. Can remember asking my grandmother if we could squeeze one into the green area just below her house.
I grew up using horses as an escape from the reality of an abusive mother and a drunken father and then the awkardness of a badly blended family on my mom’s third marriage. When my older sisters each ran away in turn cause they couidln’t handle the beatings any more, I slipped away to the horses any chance I had and just sat in the grass and watched them.
Every time there was a disaster in my life, there was a horse nearby that I could watch and love and talk to. I honestly wonder if I wouild have kept my sanity if there had not been animals around.
For me its been a real struggle to be in the moment with the horses on a conscious level as I had to develop as a child the ability to escape reality by using magical thinking and daydreaming to shut aside the harshness of my life.
Oddly enough as I live more in the moment with the horses I am finding some thing uncoiling and healing in me that I thought would never be fixed.
Its early days for me, and the big difference is I now have someone who can help me develop the relationship aspects of being with the horses, and who gave me permission to do so. I don’t know why I needed to have the permission from you Carolyn, but thank you for freeing me and teaching me.
My favorite thing to do is just sit and share time with them. The fillies will come and lean their heads on me, MoMo being the first one to do it when she was just four months old. (She is going to be a year on the 18th of April, happy birthday Mohave Morn!) I was watching a friend working with one of the mares and suddenly there was MoMo coming and wrapping me with her head and neck and I just scratcehd and rubbed and loved on her.
I was busy doing and now I am learning to BE. To BE content. To allow time to unfold without Doing. To know on a new level that it is ok to BE loved, its ok to BE part of the herd. To not have to BE frightened, that I am safe and accepted and loved and trusted by my horses and that is alright and I won’t be punished for it… what a gift they give me each day.
# What is it that first drew you to horses?
As a child of 4 I became an escapee..intent only upon meeting the milk cart horse.. I still have that sense of his being..calm and steady and the strength and solidity of his leg which was the only part of him I could cuddle. It was the wonder of such a magnificent creature who came everyday to see me and I loved him.
# What draws you now if it’s different?!
Now I understand how much I can learn about myself through my interaction with my horses…from them I learn how to “be”.
If we allow it, horses talk to us all the time… we just need to learn how to listen. So nothing has changed except my desire to learn and to understand and to provide for these magnificent creatures who greet me every morning with a kiss.
# And from this natural interest, what is it you like doing best with your horse?
More than anything I like just being with them.. yes I ride almost every day… but I love watching them while they graze and play and I am about the chores of poop- scooping- or weed controlling or fence repairing. How could you be bored when one or other of them comes up to be with you to get a scratch or simply to graze nearby. I love to watch the herd dynamics change when the mares come in season… how my lead mare will go on alert and I can follow her gaze and see the magic of march hares leaping in the long grass half a mile up the hill.
Maybe best of all I love it when I finally make some coffee and sit out in the sun (LOL when we have it!) and one by one my horses will come down to “graze” with me.
I don’t know who said this but it is true. Horses ar BEings.. humans are DOings. My horses have taught me that I have the right, once I have taken care of my responsibilities, to simply BE.
Being with my horses is what i love the best.
In my search for personal growth I read a book by John Cleese called “We’ve had a Hundred Years of Psychotherapy and the World is getting worse.” He likened us to a tree, that the branches of a tree develop as a sapling from the seed which has a predestined shape built into it’s DNA, it is only if the tree is damaged that it grows in a different way, distorted or twisted by outside elements. I believe I was born with my set of branches already predetermined, like my sensitive creative nature, my love of animals and in particular horses. I don’t remember ever not being like this. My mother used to say to people when I was little that I could walk up to a tiger and it would let me pet it! We lived in a town, my parents had no pets. My first one was a mouse when I was about eight. I dreamt of horses, they were magestic beautiful, magical and aweinspiring creatures to me. I had my little plastic ponies and made them fields and stables out of shoe boxes. Wherever we went I looked for horses out in the fields. I used to cry at Westerns if the horses fell or were being shot at, never mind the people! I watched every horse programme on TV, Black Beauty, Champion the Wonder Horse to name just a couple. I played horses with my friends and on my beloved hobby horse. I was desperate for my own and every christmas and birthday wondered if I would get my pony. Sadly never did, was only last year age 49 when I got my dream!
All my life I have had this odd feeling I was born in the wrong place and wrong time, I should have been born in the plains, living in a tent surrounded by wild horses. Far cry from my upbringing in the middle of England!
What made me decide to take Del on was different in that I had discovered Natural Horsemanship enabling me to learn how to be with horses the way I have always known in my heart is the way it should be. I have always disliked intensley the lack of respect so often shown by traditional methods.
What do I like doing best with him? Being another horse with him just hanging out and sniffing his velvet nose while keeping the flies off his nose with my hair! Oh and scratching inside his ears so his eye goes funny and he goes all silly.
So many of us drew pictures of horses! It was as though we were willing them into our lives from our souls down into our hands.
Now, my little daughter draws them everywhere. She has inherited the horse spirit and yearning. She will have her own horse some day.
I waited for 40 years for my horse. He found me. I was working at a stable so I could just be near the horses. He kept looking at me. I felt it. He then picked up a stick and brought it over to the fence. I went to him and held the other end. We stood there a LONG time. It was magical.
Next day he took a terrible fall and broke his coffin bone. I nursed him every day. The owner ‘sold’ him to me for $200.
We have learned and grown so much together. We were both so unsure of ourselves. Now I manage a stable of 9 horses and my main objective is to just be there for them and with them. It’s blissful work.
My favorite thing to do is gently stroke my horse before I leave at night from one side of his body to the other. Taking notice of the sensations I’m feeling. Then I lean my chest against his side and feel our union.
Hello — I’m new to this web site, and am very happy I found it. I love the honesty. As others have mentioned, I got tired of the old ways of working with horses — there was no real connection in that method.
I’m looking for something ethereal in the relationship with a horse, with any living thing.
Horses have always been a retreat for me … that is why I’m drawn to horses.
I love my two horses — they trust me, and they show me they trust me.
What Kim said really resonates with me. I also feel that the horse is my spirit guide and that there is something about them that is paramount in my spiritual evolution. If Kim (or anyone else) wants to email me she is welcome to at erinvie@austin.rr.com.
* What is it that first drew you to horses?
The magic of their presence–I have loved horses since I don’t know when. In my childhood mind and heart, they were all Pegasus.
* What draws you now if it’s different?
Hmmmm, well, still they are like magic….awareness of their soul spirit.
What is really different now, is the form–I never thought I would have drafthorses and now I would have 100. So not sure if the essence of my feelings changed or why they manifested as drafts……don’t we attract what we may need at that time to help us grow spiritually?
I always wonder about that when I am with them.
I had a dream once a long time ago–about a horse I once had…his face was next to mine and he said, I’m going to guide you and protect you. I feel like Miracle is that horse reborn and that is exactly what all three have been doing…guiding me towards a higher place.
* And from this natural interest, what is it you like doing best with your horse?
Making them happy.
Communcating with them and just plain having fun.
Hanging out and rubbing their bodies and their faces–they love that.
My first memory is the time our family wintered in Arizona for my dad’s health. In those days, the air in Phoenix was healing and without smog. There was no concern about me missing a couple on months of school. In the early morning we would walk across the street to visit the horses in their lush fields and give them carrots. It was a total experience for me – the sounds of the morning dove, the fresh smells of the vegetation, the sense of family. The horses completed that for me with their beauty and quietness, adding their own sounds and smells. Then there was the excitement of the Phoenix parade – hooves on pavement, the smell of leather. I thought all girls growing up had a love & passion for horses and was surprised to find out that wasn’t the case. In the years that followed that memorable winter, I had only a handful of trail riding experiences. I would read horse stories, draw pictures and collect fiqurines and fill my imagination with how it could be. I was never drawn to horse shows or the competitive aspect. A few years ago, a business associate of my husband, asked if he would be part of a pilot program she was developing using a horse experience for developing leadership in the corporate world. Upon asking, I was welcome to join the group.The passion still simmered and here was an opportunity to be with a horse! It was very clear to me that if I was to be with a horse, up close and personal, that my life would be changed forever. And so it has….. that was five years ago. The horse that is with me today was born during time. I love being with him in his field, with his herdmates – he brings a sense of completeness as he guides me back to myself. The small, unnoticed exchanges bring me great joy and that is what we build on. We are moving soon to a place where we can openly embrace your approach. I’m very thankful for that. And so the journey continues.
# What is it that first drew you to horses?
# What draws you now if it’s different?
# And from this natural interest, what is it you like doing best with your horse?
What first drew me was their beauty (physical). When I was eight my mom bought my sister and I horses. I grew to love their smell and where they could take me and the experience they could give me (in a selfish way sort of)
What draws me now…still the original things, but add to that a love of their peaceful (mostly) nature, the way they are so ‘present’. Their companionship and the relationship they are willing to have if I just become good enough.
It used to be when I first got back into horses three years ago, I felt I had to have an agenda….what was I going to DO with my horse? I felt bad if I didn’t have a plan. I felt that if I didn’t ride I was somehow losing out. Groundwork, what’s that?? I got my mind around that and we got really good, but now I was still having an agenda. With focusing on the Waterhole rituals, (and as a spiritual being I was also searching in other ways to rehabilitate in a spiritual way so I was also reading the Tao Te Ching, The Secret/Law of Attraction, developing the sixth sense, etc) I discovered the power of just being in the present and allowing things to unfold and focusing on the bond and relationship. Now I am completely happy when I can go out and just attend to my horse and share her company. Yes we do other things, I hop on for a bareback bridleless ride, and go on the occasional trail ride…I try to pick stuff she likes to do and stay away from things she hates (horse soccer for example, she hated that one!). I am learning to respect other people (and horse’s) and tendencies. But I feel the best when I am scratching my horse’s itchy spots and giving her food because that’s what she likes best! If she’s happy, I’m happy!
I was attracted to them as a child, but never had the opportunity then to connect with them. They stayed remote, only saw them while driving passed them.
Then, when I turned 26 I had a very traumatic experience. For some reason I went for a lesson in that time, my first time on a horse. They healed me over time and without me even realising that.
I now own my own horse. He had a bad time at the racing stables, but he’s a healer just the same.
I vowed I won’t ride him before we are both ready for it, I won’t ride until the connection is such that I can ride without inflicting pain on him.
They healed me, I cannot hurt them in return if I wish to ride them.
to be with them is heaven, it is to be with the highest part of me. To breathe my Valor, to look into his soul, to invite him to play and make him glad, it is my Life.
I was drawn to horses as a child because of their beauty and also their power. I loved jumping on them and riding bareback and bridleless – even falling off. Always wanted just to be near them.
Now, I feel the same but with the added element of responsibility. I enjoy giving my horse the best possible life I can offer, the communication we share, the lifestyle that having a horse offers, the leadership challenges, and I do enjoy riding and learning dressage as well. I love liberty work and the dance and one of my all time favorites is going on long walks at night in the dark and just looking at the stars together. Its is so peaceful at night with the horses.
Hi Carolyn,
My Mother tells me that my first word was horse, everytime I saw a horse, pony, zebra, or donkey I fixated on them. Apparently I got really joyful and then became really still – I just wanted to watch them for hours. Before I could focus I would turn my face in their direction. Most all of the punishment I received at school was for drawing horses or daydreaming about them or always having them as the subjects of anything written.
I guess that it would be their innate energy as species that drew me to them so young. I must have resonated with them.
What draws me now? That same energy yes and also a sense of being able to respond – responsibility – I want to give back to horses what freedom and joy they have given to me in my life.
What is it that I like doing best? being near them. Giving them freedom:- of choice, freedom of bodily restrictions and freedom of nutritional deficiencies symptoms – freedom to be the best feeling being they can express. I like to give domestic horses their hope back and then to watch them become and be.
To watch wild living horses help domestic horses learn to be horses and love to be horses again, that is the best experience I’ve known.
Carolyn,
As I read your wonderful blogs and gather ideas, ponder new thoughts and listen to my insider group in the box teleconferences I become more knowledgeable, refreshed and inspired. We are fortunate to have 5 wonderful horses to observe outside our windows as well as to work on the rituals with. Your keen insights combined with observation of the “herd” interactions is both enjoyable and is teaching us daily how the horses use these approaches to get along. We are very grateful to have a group that are both social with us and each other. Watching them setting boundries, using play, sharing groomiing, making themselves and us smile and laugh at times. For those new at this not riding all the time, grooming or “doing” can be very educational and provide living, breathing education and fun. So many think to like horses is to ride, but we have been gifted with so much more.
I can’t tell you what drew me to horses. It was immediate, before my memory reaches. I don’t remember not loving them. They were always beautiful. I knew, as a child, if I could just know one, it would be magical. As an adult, was bothered by traditional horse training, it felt like rape. I had to walk away. Better to never suffer my company than that. I searched for a better way, and when I found a way to do it better, the door to horses opened anew, and I haven’t looked back. I thought I wanted to ride, but I tell ya, my favorite thing to do is their favorite thing to do. (that’s a gift from you, Carolyn) What ever “that” is. Sometimes it’s grazing, or playing, or sometimes someone will invite me to ride. I guess there is no “doing” anymore. I’m being taught about being present. When I really get this one down, I’ll let you know what else they have in mind.