enlightened horsemanship through touch

For many reading today, it’s the depth of winter. Getting out and riding can be difficult, unless you are blessed with a heated indoor arena. I always had a really hard time making myself do more than visiting my horses on the short dark days of winter, particularly when it was raining or snowing. You may even feel guilty that it’s hard, and that the weather and the shortness of days has sometimes prevented you from spending adequate time with your horses. I say, don’t.

Solomon’s message, ❝this too shall pass,❞ or the Buddhist doctrine of impermanence (Pāli: अनिच्चा anicca; Sanskrit: अनित्य anitya), reminds us that all of conditioned existence, without exception, is in a constant state of flux. Nothing, absolutely nothing has a permanent state. I find this a comfort when enduring painful times or even when I’m just plain uncomfortable.

Someday soon, it will be spring. Not only will it be physically easier to get out there and play with horses, but it will also become a kind of instinctive call. Nature will summon us to enjoy the warmth of the sun and share the company of our warm-blooded outdoor friends. It’s a biological, evolutionary imperative for humans. For the time being, for those of us who are daunted by the prospect of entering the dark frozen landscape, no matter the reward outside, it will be a kindness to ourselves to hold in awareness the knowledge that this too shall pass. Instead of feeling guilty or forcing yourself to do something that makes you dreadfully unhappy, consider the following:

• If you hold in your awareness the fact that this time is impermanent, it may be easier for you to get out there in the cold and visit or ride.
• If it is essential that you feed, clean stalls, maintain the facility, then you have no choice. Having no choice is an excellent opportunity for practicing radical acceptance. Reminding yourself that “this too shall pass,” even while fully experiencing each moment, the coldness of your fingers, the dry icy intake of your breath, the damp footing in the aisles, places you in greater contact with the flux of reality.
• If you cannot force yourself to get out there, it is no great disaster. Do not feel guilty. If your horses are lucky enough to be in the company of others and to have the care of hired professionals at a boarding stable, then know that they are receiving the care you have generously arranged for them. They are in their natural company. They are taking care of themselves, and probably welcome the break. You need add nothing more. Take care of yourself.

While you’re waiting for the thaw, here are a few things you can do with your horses if you can’t ride.

1. Groom, groom, groom. I have a friend, Debbie, who has used the bad weather to elevate the grooming her horse Laddie to an art. Not only is Laddie the most beautiful Belgian cross around, but he also gleams with the joy of Debbie’s close contact and touch.

2. Massage. Do bodywork. Find the elusive magic scratching spot. There’s no time like the present to practice what you have been learning in those videos you rented. If you haven’t, get some! Your horse will thank you. He gets plenty of exercise outdoors. Maybe he doesn’t get enough muscle love from you.

3. Perfect that special braid you’ve always wanted your horse to sport. Equine Ink has two excellent posts on braids. Check them out. Do yourself a favor, though: wear some fingerless gloves.

4. Learn to trim your horses’ hooves yourself. This is a long term project requiring lots of education. It’s worth it.

5. Try something totally new. Something you would NEVER try when you are in work. Maybe something you can do right there in the stall. Clicker Train your horse to do a useful trick like lowering his head for the halter or even kneeling for mounting.

Maintaining an awareness of each of those moments, celebrating them even as we are mindful of their impermanence honors our lives and those of our horses. Got any more ideas to help take advantage of the moments we will never experience again this winter?

Read the article on Beliefnet by Deepak Chopra and let me know what you think.

For those who aren’t familiar with the term, “woo woo” is a derogatory reference to almost any form of unconventional thinking, aimed by professional skeptics who are self-appointed vigilantes dedicated to the suppression of curiosity. I get labeled much worse things as regularly as clockwork whenever I disagree with big fry like Richard Dawkins or smaller fry like Michael Shermer, the Scientific American columnist and editor of Skeptic magazine. The latest barrage of name-calling occurred after the two of us had a spirited exchange on Larry King Live last week. Maybe you saw it. I was the one rolling my eyes as Shermer spoke. Sorry about that, a spontaneous reflex of the involuntary nervous system.

I sometimes have difficulty with new-age gurus like Chopra. And guys like Eckhart Tolle positively make my skin crawl. Repackaging and marketing ancient wisdom as if it were his idea is at best a copyright violation, at worst, a fraudulent way to make millions. There are those who say it’s a great idea to bring this knowledge to the masses stripped of its cultural and religious trappings, and as such it is more accessible. I understand that. But there is a downside, and that it the skin-crawling part, that I can’t quite get over. No ancient ever became a wealthy celebrity, did they? What was the B.C equivalent of Oprah? These are different times, I know. Yet I can’t imagine Lao Tsu marketing $200 audio books.

This could be at the heart of Michael Shermer’s objection, though, like me, he can’t seem to put his finger on it. Lucky him, he has the scientific knowledge to front his objection, even when he can’t manage it effectively.

For the time being, Chopra has challenged Shermer to a reasoned debate, reminding him of this statement:

“Nobody understands how decisions are made or how imagination is set free. What consciousness consists of, or how it should be defined, is equally puzzling. Despite the marvelous success of neuroscience in the past century, we seem as far from understanding cognitive processes as we were a century ago.”

That isn’t a quote from “one of those people who believe in spirituality, ghosts, and so on.” It’s from Sir John Maddox, former editor-in-chief of the renowned scientific journal Nature, writing in 1999. I can’t wait for Shermer to call him an idiot and a moron. Don’t worry, he won’t. He’ll find an artful way of slithering to higher ground where all the other skeptics are huddled.

Part of the “mission” of this blog is to research and discover ways in which science is now demonstrating the efficacy of touch as a treatment and teaching modality. It has been fascinating to watch as study after study reveals the lightbulb going off, lending scientific credence to what bodywork practitioners have intuitively known for decades. Since the new religion is effectively science, this credence is of utmost value. When “woo woo” and the new “religion” of science  concur, we are in for a revolution.

I’m curious to know what you think.

This is a really good list from Tiny Buddha.com by Lori Deschene, who lives in the San Francisco Bay Area. She writes about the bright side of life at SeeingGood.com and tweets as @lori_deschene.

Friendship isn’t a big thing. It’s a million little things.

~Unknown

If you’re looking for a few meaningful gifts that don’t require a debit card, you may find these creative ideas helpful this season:
50. Make a mixed CD of songs they’ll enjoy.
49. Create a hand-made card and leave a thoughtful note.
48. Randomly, without any prompting, look them in the eye and say, “I really appreciate you—just for being you.”
47. Compliment them on something people may not often acknowledge—like their work ethic, or consideration for other people.
46. Give them something from nature that reminds you of them—like a unique shell, or a smooth but sturdy rock.
44. Send them a funny video from YouTube, and write, “You make me laugh more than this video. Thank you!”
43. Draw a map of your apartment with them in it and write, “I’d be lost without you.”
42. Give them something of yours that reminds you of them.
41. Give them a book you’ve already read, and inscribe it with a meaningful message.
40. Ask them if you can take care of their responsibilities; for example, you could offer to pick your friend’s children up from school.
39. Tell them they were so right about something and let them know how that information impacted your life.
38. Look for something on Craigslist you know they need—a job or a piece of affordable furniture, for example—and forward them the ad.
37. Squeeze their hand and say, “thank you.”
36. Ask, “How are you—really?” Then do nothing but listen and respond to what you hear for as long as they’d like to talk.
35. Ask, “What can I do to help you today?”
34. Notice how they affect other people—not you—and comment on it.
33. Cook dinner for them.
32. Make a simple sacrifice to spend time with them; for example, TiVo that show you always catch, and stop by with a 6-pack.
31. See their potential, and encourage them to pursue their dreams.
30. Ask them to retell their favorite story.
29. Let them pick the plans and find a way to really enjoy it—go line dancing, and see the experience through their eyes.
28. Offer them your skill for free. For example, my friend Cori who’s a graphic designer designed something for me last year as an early birthday gift.
27. Tell them which qualities of theirs you admire.
26. Introduce them to someone you love as, “My dear friend who taught me…”
25. Introduce them to something new that you think would enrich their lives.
24. Let them be right, even if you think they’re not, if it’s not that big of a deal.
23. Ask their advice on something important, and tell them their opinion means the world to you.
22. Send them a text that reads, “Thought of you today, and it made me smile.”
21. Notice when they do something that might have been challenging, and applaud their efforts.
20. Tell them the block in your planner that includes their name is the most important on a busy day.
19. Tell them you understand their struggle—whatever that may be—and say you’re always a call away to help.
18. Say thank you for something they don’t realize they gave you, like inspiration to seize the day, or the courage to leave an unhealthy relationship.
17. Let them know how they helped you think about something differently. For example, tell your friend she helped you see losing your job as a gift (if she did).
16. Surprise them in some way with something you know they’ll enjoy.
15. Send them a picture of you two together, and remind them why that day was amazing.
14. Ask how their big day went—whatever that big day may have been.
13. Share their pain when they have it. Hold their hand, wipe their tears, and be their shoulder to lean on.
12. Give them an uncomfortably long hug, like the Do Happy tip suggests.
11. Share a childlike experience with them. Go on the swings, get some ice cream, and let go of your stresses together.
10. Sing a song at karaoke and dedicate it to them. It doesn’t have to be a mushy one. Dedicate Ice, Ice Baby—it’s the thought that counts!
9. Encourage them to be completely themselves around you. Tell your female friend she’s beautiful even without makeup; or tell your guy friend you like his corny jokes because they’re his.
8. Be honest even if it’s uncomfortable for you.
7. Invite them out with friends of yours they don’t know. Nothing says “I value you” like inclusion.
6. Forgive something they did that hurt you without needing to hear the words, “I’m sorry.”
5. Look out for someone they love.
4. Remember something they said that they thought you didn’t hear.
3. Help them reconnect with someone important in their life.
2. If you blog, write something they inspired, and dedicate it to them.
1. Simply say, “I really care about you, and I wanted you to know.”
Any ideas to add?

Make sure to visit Tiny Buddha.com to view the original post and see all the other inspiring posts from mindful bloggers all over the world.

Don’t Just Do Something, Sit There.

You’ve probably heard someone say this, or maybe even said it yourself. But it was Sylvia Boorstein whose turn of phrase reintroduced us to the idea that just being, instead of doing, might help provide solutions to some of the problems we create for ourselves today: the frenetic striving for perfection, the avoidance of uncomfortable truths, etc. The gift of this concept came as the title of one of Boorsteins books, a kind of guide to creating your own meditation retreat.

As a representation of one of the main concepts of Buddhism, Boorstein’s exhortation is truth-in-a-nutshell.

Since humans generally do not see things in the most uncomplicated way possible, we often exhaust ourselves making up our own version of reality on a platform of our individual histories, fears, memories etc. We frighten or discourage ourselves before we even get going. It is believed that animals do not burden themselves with such destructively creative forms of perception.

Mindfulness is seeing things as they actually are, not as we imagine them to be….Pleasant and unpleasant experiences, the Buddha explained, the joys and pains of everyday life, are not the problem. The yearning and despising—the imperative in the mind that things be different—the extra tension in the mind that disappears when things are seen clearly and understood fully, is what the Buddha called suffering. Mindfulness—the relaxed, non-clinging, non-aversive awareness of present experience—is a skill that, like any other skill, requires developing.

Years ago, Boorstein developed a kind of do-it-yourself mindfulness retreat for people who weren’t yet ready or able to take the plunge and visit a mindfulness center. I love this idea of setting aside time to care for our selves in a kind of constructive restfulness. Not only for the mind, but also for the body as we ride.

As we ride???? Yes!

Sally Swift employed ideokinesis (the use of imagery to effect changes in the body) very creatively in Centered Riding®. Riders can use the tool of ideokinesis to imagine an active resting state in the saddle.

Active resting? Yes again!

Try this first at home. For five or ten minutes, lie down on your back on the floor. Don’t drift off into the mind-numbing daydreams you might be tempted to allow. Put your arms by your side, palms up or down, whichever is comfortable. If you need a towel under your knees or a pillow under your neck for comfort, get one. Imagine gravity as the active entity it is. Watch it work on your body as it helps your muscles release tension. During the process of release, notice any areas of tension that have become patterns in your body. You will recognize those spots where gravity has to work harder. Send messages of gratitude to those areas, for they will be your teachers. Also, send gratitude to gravity for assisting you in releasing them. You may find that you have to be very clear in giving suggestions to your body to assist gravity in its task: “allow my neck to be free of tension,” or “I’m noticing the rise and fall of my breath, but this makes me breathe faster.” The most important thing about active resting is doing nothing. Don’t just do something, lie there. Do not cling to any idea of what you must accomplish during the exercise, even if it is relaxation. You might find that this is even more refreshing than a short nap.

With practice, you will begin to develop more awareness of your body and its relation to the earth. “Well what do you know? It’s not my body’s job to resist gravity! I can allow my body to move within the earth’s gravitational field without undue stress on my muscles! All I have to do is allow it!”

Remember that the path of least resistance is always available to you, because it will be important when you try this exercise in the saddle.

Now that you have set up the conditions for awareness of your body in space and maintaining a space of least resistance, you can try this active rest in the saddle. Your horse will be thrilled. At first you may worry about this idea of some kind of floppy-muscled Zen session in the saddle: is it safe? Think about the last time you stopped getting in your horse’s way, and your muscles stopped competing with his to get the job done. There was a much better flow, wasn’t there? That’s what this exercise is all about. You can set up an active resting retreat in the saddle anytime you want.

Make sure you are in an enclosed area, such as a fenced arena or round pen, just in case anything goes wrong, or your horse is really fresh or extra delighted to be liberated from the constraints of your muscular control.
Swing yourself into the saddle, make sure to give your horse a good rub on the neck, and explain to him what you are doing. This is important.
Keep your eyes open (you’d be nuts to close them!!!). Be aware of your surroundings but try not to focus on any one thing. Hear the sounds around you but don’t listen. Alertness without that laser-like focus of the straight-line, left-brain thinker is the goal. You can do it. It’s only a few minutes’ worth.
Remove your feet from the stirrups, let go your vice grip on the reins, and practice the same non-doing that you tried at home. If you are willing to let go of any desired outcome, you will feel gravity work to join you and your horse together as one being.
Being physically together without an agenda, allowing the stress of your muscles’ resistance to gravity (and to the horse) to melt away. Remember those resistant muscles in the active resting exercise at home on the floor? Recognize them now, give them the extra attention they deserve, and your will feel your horse do the same.
Notice what you feel beneath you. Has the horse’s back come up beneath the saddle to meet you? Perhaps it has shrunk away? Does his breathing match your own or is it slower?
In time, each of you will learn to allow your bodies to stop resisting one another. Your mutual awareness can flourish and grow in this space.

Active resting can be expanded to include riding, as in the practice of walking meditation. But that’s a post for another day.

The active resting retreat is a useful tool because the rider is setting up conditions where insights are likely to arise. In this intimate encounter with your horse, you rely on perception rather than action, receiving rather than sending. It’s like becoming a child all over again. Bringing a “beginner’s mind” to being with your horse can awaken us to a fuller, wiser understanding of what riding him really is.

© 2009 enlightened horsemanship through touch and Kim Cox Carneal

NB Thanks to Debra Crampton who wrote Nothing Doing in this month’s Centered Riding eBulletin for giving me the impetus to finish this this post (started many months ago) as well as the term, ideokinesis, which I add to my working vocabulary with delight. It’s interesting to note that the “Construcive Rest,” “Active Rest,” and other techniques for generating attentive stillness do not trace back simply to the Alexander Technique or to any school of Ideokinesis, but to Buddhist meditation techniques as described by the historical Buddha more than 2,500 years ago.

I learned of Sylvia Boorstein’s DIY Meditation Retreat concept in a recorded interview at Shamhala Sunspace.

MINDFUL MONDAY image courtesy growabrain@typepad.com

I’ve had the pleasure and privilege of working on a document/concept exploring a set of universal rights for horses for an international organization for horses’ welfare. This is in its nascent stages and I’m constantly thinking, “how should this be communicated? How can I write this so that it is compelling, emotionally accessible and easy to implement worldwide?”

Wonder and it shall be delivered!

Into my inbox last week popped a flawless example of how to enumerate the absolute compassionate approach to other beings. Compassion (karuna in Sanskrit and Pali) is the foundation of mindful living and Buddhist practice. How timely then that this wonderful link should arrive just as I approach this task with new vigor.

The Charter for Compassion

The principle of compassion lies at the heart of all religious, ethical and spiritual traditions, calling us always to treat all others as we wish to be treated ourselves. Compassion impels us to work tirelessly to alleviate the suffering of our fellow creatures, to dethrone ourselves from the centre of our world and put another there, and to honour the inviolable sanctity of every single human being, treating everybody, without exception, with absolute justice, equity and respect. It is also necessary in both public and private life to refrain consistently and empathically from inflicting pain. To act or speak violently out of spite, chauvinism, or self-interest, to impoverish, exploit or deny basic rights to anybody, and to incite hatred by denigrating others – even our enemies – is a denial of our common humanity. We acknowledge that we have failed to live compassionately and that some have even increased the sum of human misery in the name of religion.
We therefore call upon all men and women ~ to restore compassion to the centre of morality and religion ~ to return to the ancient principle that any interpretation of scripture that breeds violence, hatred or disdain is illegitimate ~ to ensure that youth are given accurate and respectful information about other traditions, religions and cultures ~ to encourage a positive appreciation of cultural and religious diversity ~ to cultivate an informed empathy with the suffering of all human beings, even those regarded as enemies.
We urgently need to make compassion a clear, luminous and dynamic force in our polarized world. Rooted in a principled determination to transcend selfishness, compassion can break down political, dogmatic, ideological and religious boundaries. Born of our deep interdependence, compassion is essential to human relationships and to a fulfilled humanity.
It is the path to enlightenment, and indispensible to the creation of a just economy and a peaceful global community.

PLEASE AFFIRM THE CHARTER by clicking on this link and signing your name.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wktlwCPDd94&rel=0&color1=0xb1b1b1&color2=0xcfcfcf&hl=en_US&feature=player_embedded&fs=1]

See also Toward An Equine Bill of Rights and The Five Freedoms of Animal Welfare A sold Foundation for an Equine Bill of Rights

© 2009 enlightened horsemanship through touch and Kim Cox Carneal

MINDFUL MONDAY image courtesy growabrain@typepad.com

1.“Be kind whenever possible. It is always possible.” ~ Dalai Lama

2. “If you want others to be happy, practice compassion. If you want to be happy, practice compassion.” ~ Dalai Lama

3. “There is no way to happiness, happiness is the way.” ~ Thich Nhat Hanh

4. “If it isn’t good, let it die. If it doesn’t die, make it good.” ~ Ajahn Chah

5. “If we learn to open our hearts, anyone, including the people who drive us crazy, can be our teacher.” – Pema Chodron

6. “As soon as we wish to be happier, we are no longer happy.” ~ Walter Landor

7. “Hatred never ceases by hatred; it only ceases by love.This is a timeless truth” ~ Joseph Goldstein

8. “There is no enlightenment outside of daily life.” ~ Thich Nhat Hanh

9. “Realize that this very body, with its aches and it pleasures… is exactly what we need to be fully human, fully awake, fully alive.” ~Pema Chodron

10. “When we scratch the wound and give into our addictions we do not allow the wound to heal.” ~ Pema Chodron

Which is your favorite, and why?

In a recent email conversation with Lori Skoog and thinking of Gin at High Mountain Muse, and Tamara at The Barb Wire, I was reminded of the fundamental Buddhist concept of groundlessness.

We humans work hard to create an illusion of standing on solid ground, of seeking metaphorical earth under our feet, especially in times of crisis.

This propensity to create safety and continuity for ourselves has its roots in the neurological setup of our brains. It’s natural for people to try to create formal systems out of chaos. Even daily life, even at its most prosaic, prompts us to make sense of all the input, and to organize and categorize it in order to create a perceived sense of order. When life goes to DefCon 5 and we realize that we are out of control, this creativity kicks into high gear.

My own recent situation exemplifies this very human way of organizing experience. It was my decision to leave Virginia, the home that has brought me the most happiness in what has been, unarguably, a very rough and tumble life. At last, I’d found some peace. After almost seven years, I discovered that I’d found a little too much peace. There was no challenge for me in the life I’d created, other than meeting the constant needs of a hundred-year-old farm. Those burdens were simply not the ones I wanted, it turned out. Increasingly I sought mental and emotional challenges instead. I chose to leave. Conscious choice. I convinced myself that I had a solid ground under my feet in this decision. Just as people do when making decisions: they make little lists of pros and cons, discuss their decisions with their loved ones, let the question rest a while and then return to it. All in the name of making right what they want to do. This is a form of pushing away the illusion that there is order in the universe, that we can impose meaning on the chaos in our hearts. But there really is no such order. The fact remains that I did what I wanted, needed to do. And shortly thereafter, things went haywire. Wild Card!

Things happen. The world is a seemingly chaotic place. We can never predict. All the planning in the world can never indemnify us from the unsecured dog, the friend who turns on us, the reality of life with 1000+ pound equine partners.

But we can indemnify ourselves from harmful, negative reactions to these factors.

The first step is acknowledgement of the fact that there really is no ground under our feet. All our years of training, all the preparation, all the homework, don’t really add up to the concrete pedestal we hoped for. The products of this background work are still constructs of the human mind. We have to acknowledge this fact in order to move forward with the understanding that we are always flying by the seat of our pants. It’s true we have put in the requisite hours over fences or on the trail. But in the end, the preparation is just that. Preparation. When the time comes to use it, we are on our own.

Given the fact that we are in partnership with other living beings, like horses, who have minds of their own, it pays to remain aware that this wild card virtually guarantees surprises.

Pema Chödron writes a great deal about humans’ unwillingness to accept the fact that we stand on continually shifting ground, and the kind of tantrums we throw as we discover that there’s nothing we can do to solidify our base of support. My beloved books have not arrived from the mainland yet, or I’d have plenty of meaty quotes from this wise woman to bolster my point. If you’re so inclined, click on over to her site, and see what she has to say on the subject. She is far more eloquent than I in writing words that allow us to embrace this groundlessness.

MINDFUL MONDAY image courtesy growabrain@typepad.com

Don’t click away. Let me explain. Or let me begin and then you can apply this concept to horsemanship. You won’t need my help.

The Dedication of Merit is chanted at the end of meditation or other positive actions with the intention to help all beings become enlightened.

The Wheel of Merit, courtesy of the Metyeyya Foundation (click on image to visit their site)

Here is one English translation:

By this merit, may all attain omniscience. May it defeat the enemy, wrongdoing. From the stormy waves of birth, old age, sickness, and death, may I free all beings.

When we work so hard, emotionally, phusically, mentally, dedicating our work to a cause that is greater than we are, that encompasses the object of our effort and the entire universe as well, has a grounding, solidifying effect. Though it is not its intended purpose exactly, I am comforted by the dedication of merit I offer at the beginning and end of each work session. It offers the greatest gift to the horses I touch, the lives I encounter, and to my own faltering human form.

I am thinking today as well of Tamara of the Barb Wire, and her efforts with her horses Consolation and Aaruba, as well as her own recent injury and the cause of it. We can so often get swamped by the need to get things done, to solve problems, to cause others to take responsibility for their actions or the lack thereof, that we fail to remember what it is we are working for.

Take a moment and think what it is you are really working for.

At the moment, I am working for my own salvation from anger and victimhood and the continuing positive feedback loop that anger engenders. May my efforts to conquer anger defeat the enemy, wrongdoing. From my own efforts and existence in human form, may all beings find freedom.

In general, I work for the well-being and liberation of all animals through working with horses.

Obviously, I have written here a Buddhist dedication of merit. But there are many ways this might be altered to fit your own intention. Intention is everything, isn’t it? If the Buddhist source version doesn’t ring your bell, then make up your own.

It’s all about being aware of what we do and why we do it.

If you come up with your own personal version of the Dedication of Merit, particularly as it relates to your horse work, please post it here or in your own blog and linkback. I am very interested in reading how mindful horsepeople might interpret this ultimate call to mindfulness.

© 2009 enlightened horsemanship through touch

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Are you present? There are moments, days, weeks even, when I’m not.

Are you mindful enough to notice when you are working and your dog slides his sleek head under your hand or your cat brushes softly against your leg?
Do you take notice when you get to the barn and your horse is standing at the gate in greeting? Or are you, like so many people, wrapped up in thoughts of what you have to do, how behind schedule you might be, etc.?

Part of my everyday life is trying to remember to take advantage of those ever-present winning tickets. By winning, I mean taking advantage of the chance to truly share in a relationship, to be present in the moment it offers you, no matter how briefly. As long as I give the entirety of my attention to it, my animals and I both win.

When I’m sitting at the computer (I do a lot of this these days), engrossed in work, it’s easy not to notice the soft brush of Ruby’s snout on my leg. It’s even easier to get annoyed with my cat for “typing.” When I went to the barn every day, I didn’t even notice that I ignored the many faces turned my way over the fence. I looked for my own horse and thought of my own plans only.

How many opportunities for true and fulfilling mindful tenderness we all miss because we are too busy. But we are not really too busy. It doesn’t take long. A minute, maybe even less.

Here’s what I try to do:

When Ruby or Wibble approach me while I’m working, I stop what I’m doing and acknowledge their presence. I also acknowledge, in my heart, their existence, and their love, their place in my heart and how much love they give to me, unbidden. I adore them in return. All this can happen with a single loving touch while looking into their eyes. A good belly rub or back scratch and mutual recognition of our roles in each others’ lives, and back to work I go. Back to their lives go the dogs and cats, satisfied that they have made contact. I feel good. We all win.

Same story at the barn. If a horse is giving you his attention, it’s a reward for both to return it. A moment to rub a velvety nose or neck. To pull a burr from a forelock and murmur a kind word. This really doesn’t take much time. And it certainly doesn’t take time away from your intended activity. It’s the gift of a momentary awakening to the present.

In a similar manner, I’ve tried to incorporate mindfulness into work even when my animals don’t come along to remind me of my connection to the greater consciousness. I downloaded a little widget that rings like a meditation gong. The sound is very pleasing and peaceful. It rings on the hour like a grandfather clock. For each hour of my life that has passed without a pause for mindfulness, this little gong reminds me to stop. Pause and clear my mind and just BE. Maintain, even for a few minutes the essence of being. Just being. I try to make my mind like a clear blue sky. Thoughts are like clouds that pass through on a breeze. I don’t allow them to hang around and cloud up my beautiful sky. Move on! I’m gazing at BEING here!

Just a few moments, nothing more. These breaks for gongs and animal love actually increase my productivity and decrease the tiredness I can get from working at a desk all day. I feel a greater connection to life. It’s a proven fact that animals reduce cortisol levels (the stress hormone) in the human body. Once again, science goes along to prove what animal people have known all along: animals make you happy. So why not take advantage of every opportunity to share your life with them?

Try it, and you’ll see. You have to be present to win.

MINDFUL MONDAY image courtesy growabrain@typepad.com

I’ve been thinking about those round pen sessions between new horse and trainer. Neither has seen the other before, and it’s a neck-and-neck race for dominance and submission. You’ve all seen them. They get you on the edge of your seat every time. In its extreme form, The Race To the Horse comes to mind.

Who Could Resist This Face?

I attended a Clinton Anderson Clinic in Ogden Utah in 2005. It was so cold we turned blue, but I went both days, and stayed all day. And boyo, does he get the job done. At first, long before I knew there was another way, I was totally enamored of his Aussie accent, his long legs and his, shall we say, confident way with horses. Now when I watch, I still admire some of his techniques, but I cringe at the dominance inherent in his manner, and the lack of time he allows the horse to stop and think. If I watch the horse carefully, I can feel the rapid heartbeat and lack of true understanding in his heart. He sees what Clinton wants him to do, and, like the intelligent animal he is, he does it. But he does it because he has NO CHOICE. The sheer dominance of the human being he is corralled with allows no time for a true partnership to develop. He also does it because he has been allowed NO TIME TO THINK. When Clinton Anderson says,

Make the right thing easy and the wrong thing difficult,  

he allows no time for the horse to pause and come to the conclusion himself. Clinton Anderson’s entire basis for training is all about “Yes Sir, yes Ma’am” and gaining RESPECT. Moving the horse’s feet gains that respect. This is a useful thing and a big plus in the safety department, especially for the novice rider. It’s just that there’s so much testosterone involved. Hasn’t he noticed that the majority of pleasure riders are female? Where are most of us going to come up with that much masterly manliness in the face of a barging horse? No novice I know could accomplish what it takes to master Clinton’s methods and get that respect on the ground and in the saddle, including myself. It takes time. And in that time, you have lost something valuable. The horse’s trust and partnership, and his ability to pause and think for himself.

The Showman

Pat Parelli always won my respect and admiration by talking about partnership with the horse. In his videos, he stresses

always allowing the horse to be right,

and giving him adequate time and physical space (this is important when you have a scary horse) to make the desired decision. Longeing a horse toward a tree comes to mind. After two or three tries, the horse comes to understand that he is to avoid the tree and stay on a semi-circular path, because he gets no slack to go around the tree. Pat does not run screaming at the horse, or yank the lead to pull the horse from behind the tree, but merely allows the horse time to work out the issue on his own.

To develop the horse’s responsibility rather than making him a mindless puppet.

This is confidence building at its best. That’s progress toward building a mindful, thinking partner to ride with. Like others, however, I have some amorphous problems with the Parelli method. And no, this does not include personal problems with the Parelli “PR Machine.” As far as I’m concerned, he can suck in as many riders as he wants with that enormous and charming ego as long as they learn something. Heck, I bought some videos. I’m just as guilty of getting trapped in the PR buzz as anyone else. I’ve learned a lot from him, though probably not in the way that he intended. Admittedly, my problem could come from my own ignorance and lack of exposure to the right kind of horsepeople. But I have never yet seen a Parelli student whose horse stood quietly under saddle, and was able to walk, trot, canter and gallop according to his rider’s wishes, or make safe and sane transitions among gaits. But they were very good at moving that green ball around the round pen. Again, probably my lack of exposure to the trainees. If you happen to be reading this and you are one, please feel free to put me solidly in my place. In fact, I really welcome this. I want to learn more.

Linda Tellington-Jones at her Wedding to Roland Kleger. Photo ourtesy Gabrielle Boiselle Edition Boiselle

 
Time and time again, I have heard Linda Tellington-Jones decry the use of longeing as a horsemanship tool, reminding us to,

Have the grace to stop running your horse around in circles and allow him time to stop and think about what you are asking him to do. 

Like Pat Parelli, Linda is a founding member of the Anti-Longeing Movement. To her, it just doesn’t make sense to run the horse around in circles until he is so exhausted he cries “Uncle” and turns in defeat, head down, to face you.  Linda would rather make friends. Though she does not refer directly to mindfulness, Linda’s training method, the Tellington TTouch Equine Awareness Method, stresses, you guessed it, awareness on the part of both horse and rider/ground trainer.  And the good thing is, any idiot can do it. If this were not true, then I would not be writing about it, because I amany idiot. 

At every stage of training, T.T.E.A.M. is all about the pause. The pause to allow the horse to think and make the desired decision to either stop, turn, move in the right direction, get the right lead, whatever the rider is asking for. And I stress asking. Never is there a yank on the rope or an aggressive switch of the whip. Linda’s Playground for Higher Learning, a kind of gymnasium for horses, can be set up in under an hour in any ring. It is worked in hand and under saddle, with the same goal in mind: a horse in hand or beneath you who is capable of independent but parallel thought. A thinking partner. 

I’ve been lucky enough to see that the results of working the Playground for Higher Learning translate to under saddle and outside the ring. Because of the added benefit of Tellington TTouch and its effects on the brainwave patterns of the horse, his ability to learn calmly and to remember what he has learned is significantly enhanced. You don’t have to carry the green ball outside the ring and start over.

What about when you are faced with a monster of a horse you can’t handle this way, you ask? (First of all, I’m not talking to trainers here. I have no business doing that. If you’re the average rider, like me, and dealing with your own horse, who proves too difficult or dangerous to handle or ride, get a new one, but not before you find a safe and permanent home for the one who’s too much to handle.) Being a T.T.E.A.M. practitioner-in-training only, I can’t answer this question with any authority. My advice, based on hours of watching T.T.E.A.M. professionals do this, is, get help, the same way you probably would in any case. I’ve seen pros double and triple team a scary horse, TTouching for trust until the “monster” was drooling in relaxed delight. This does not mean that the horse became a marshmallow in the next steps in training, but they had something to fall back on when he became unruly again. And each time they would fall back on it, a little it more trust and relaxation developed until the horse understood that there was no battle for dominance. Over the course of even just an hour, a horse would gradually come to understand what was being asked.

“Stop and think. There’s nothing to fear. No equine dominance model is being used here. We won’t insult your intelligence by trying to fool you into thinking we are horses. Let’s just be friends. and try some fun stuff.”

Before you know it, all this play on the ground and under saddle turns into a partnership with true mindfulness on the part of both horse and rider.

I can’t imagine a safer, more satisfying and fun equine partner than a mindful one.

I am interested to know what readers think of the most popular horse trainers out there. And why. Where have you gotten your most trusted methods?

MINDFUL MONDAY image courtesy growabrain@typepad.com

I never had those reoccurring dreams you read about or see on TV.

But lately I’ve been having dreams that are eerily similar, leaving me with a sweet/sad feeling that lasts half the day. Sometimes I wake half out of breath, as if it’s just happened.

Let me tell you about one. It seems real, except there’s a longing that permeates the air like the ripples in old glass:

I’m first aware of sound, then sensation. The breeze is whipping by my ears, whizzzzzzzz. I hear the rapid clop clop of hooves on the earth, singing cicadas. My muscles pleasantly tense, my heart thumping loudly in my chest, my gloved hands grasping a clump of grizzled mane, legs clamped around a galloping Millie.

In front of us, Zeus and Karen. She looks back and gives me a wicked grin. I think, “I would never turn around in the saddle at a gallop!” Not a lot of experience at the flat out thing–I do as I’ve been taught, and it gives a rush like no other.

For a moment, just long enough for me to revel in the freedom, the power and the speed, we gallop on. Then, Millie being eighteen years old and a Percheron to boot, slows unbidden to a trot. Karen and Zeus have disappeared around a hill. It’s over.

No mane in my fingers, no wind in my face. Those cicadas weren’t really cicadas. They were the sound and shimmering ice of a winter’s morning, that moment just before waking, when you are unable name the things your heart aches for.