enlightened horsemanship through touch

Anna Wise, one of the first scientists to understand that science and spirituality can address the same concepts, and who developed the EEG technology to measure and describe the brainwave patterns that occur during meditation and intense, pure focus, has died.

I had the intense privilege to spend some time with her, and I was profoundly affected by it. The marriage of science and the mind, virtually embodied in one brilliant human being. That was Anna.

I know that Anna is now everywhere, and no longer limited by her body. May her brilliant, awakened mind gather and return again to further enlighten mankind.

Do not stand at my grave and weep,
I am not there, I do not sleep.

I am a thousand winds that blow.
I am the diamond glint on snow.
I am the sunlight on ripened grain.
I am the gentle autumn rain.

When you wake in the morning hush,
I am the swift, uplifting rush
Of quiet birds in circling flight.
I am the soft starlight at night.

Do not stand at my grave and weep.
I am not there, I do not sleep.
Do not stand at my grave and cry.
I am not there, I did not die!

Do not stand at my grave and weep.
I am not there, I do not sleep.

I am the song that will never end.
I am the love of family and friend.
I am the child who has come to rest
In the arms of the Father who knows him best.

When you see the sunset fair,
I am the scented evening air.
I am the joy of a task well done.
I am the glow of the setting sun.

Do not stand at my grave and weep.
I am not there, I do not sleep.
Do not stand at my grave and cry.
I am not there, I did not die!

~ Mary E. Frye ~

Between stimulus and response, there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom.

–Victor Frankl

The ability to remain mindful, to hold that space Frankl speaks of is a great gift. To greet it without compulsion, habit or knee-jerk reactions is to face what comes as honestly as possible.

As Rosemary McGinn says in her article, Addiction, Meditation and Space,

Without some degree of mindfulness, it can seem impossible to distinguish between stimulus and response, between experience and association.

Life happens fast. So fast our minds have a hard time keeping up with it. Even our judgements lag behind. So our minds form little habits in order to keep up, to deal with all that happens. They do it by forming associations.

But, like experiences, our

associations tumble along so quickly that they seem indistinguishable from the experience that launched them.

The human mind, not always a model of efficiency, makes a valiant effort in these cases. According to Sharon Salzberg, we

tend to compound our experience, jumbling together stimulus and response,

and our minds can drag us, unawares, from experience to judgement to anger or doubt to self-hatred in a trice.

As clicker trainers and those who practice mindfulness meditation know, there is a space in there.

Remember the old adage about counting to ten when angered before acting? That’s a means of creating awareness of the space. There are all sorts of ways of remembering that space, of recognizing it in the fleeting infinitesimal instant of its existence, and using it to its best advantage: kindness. Kindness to ourselves and our horses.

How to spot the space?

Some people do it by stilling their minds on a regular basis. This is not easy, but bears fruit over time. A few seconds at a time to start. Counting your breath without falling into the habit of discursive thought, daydreaming, etc. Returning to the simple awareness of the breath when you find yourself thinking. That breath is the space.

McGinn says,

It seemed impossible that I would ever build the muscle enough to be of much use: when I tried to count breaths up to 4, I often found myself at 37 before noticing I’d wandered.

It’s a conscious choice to seize the chance to slow things down once you spot the space, to deliberately choose your judgement and reaction based on where you’ve gone off the track, and returning to the basics. To have compassion for ourselves and others. When you’ve figured out what you want to do with the space, it works.

What do I want to do with the space?

I know what I don’t want to do with it. I don’t want to fall into aggression, anger or fear. They are the usual responses, especially when the stimulus is new or particularly challenging.

Last week I had a chance to work with a horse who showed me some particularly challenging behaviors. My task was simply to assess his body for signs of physical distress that might cause behavioral issues. But I could not get him to stand still long enough to complete the assessment. While he was dancing around, my feet were in constant danger, as were various parts of my body that he threatened to nip. Clearly, there was something going on with this guy.

Initial reaction, without respecting the space: irritation with the horse: “don’t you know I”m trying to help you?” It happens in a flash. So fast I’m not even aware of it.
Secondary reaction: “I can’t even handle him for the 90 seconds it takes to complete the assessment.”
Tertiary reaction: “I’m not very good at this.”

Had I been more mindful, acknowledging the space would have allowed me to think,”Yes, there is something going on here. I can’t handle him myself and assess him at the same time.” I needed to ask for a second person. Focusing in on a spiral of thoughts on myself, my own little ego, obliterated the space between the stimulus (the dancing, nipping horse), and the response (self-doubt and recrimination). The efficiency and habit-following tendency of my mind did me no favors here. But I’m really in charge of that, aren’t I?

Now I know what I want to do with the space: Practice practice practice and awareness. Respect it.

Next time: see the space.
Choose the response (don’t ket it choose me): it’s not all about me.
Ask for help if you need it.
Help the horse.

Open Letter as of December 18th, 2009

Attn:
- FEI
- German National Equestrian Federation (FN)
Reprinted from http://www.gerdheuschmann.com

German National Horse Judges Association

To whom it may concern:
More than two years have passed since I sent my last letter to you. I have neither received a reply nor have I gotten the feeling that you have actually looked into and dealt with all those questions that – it seems to me – have become really urgent and important by now. Decades ago, you chose or, for that matter, started tolerating a way of schooling and training horses that values spectacular performances higher than established principles in order to fill stadiums, achieve higher TV ratings and enthuse the masses. This movement periodically reaches new climaxes every other year.
Looking at the economical side of the horse industry only, you might very well see a considerable increase, i.e. success.
Looking at current events though with YOUR teachings and ethical principles in mind, which every organization or club directly or indirectly imposes on itself by ways of its regulations, you are facing an incredible defeat.
Do you actually still care about the horses themselves as formulated in most of your rules and regulations? I cannot shake the impression that horses have become mere extras such as bikes to the Tour de France and that the actual goals are fame and money.
I understand that no one likes to question themselves and to admit mistakes that might have been made. However, you cannot honestly believe that those people, who are still tuning in and applauding, will continue to do so once they realize that most of what is happening is make-belief at the expense of the horse. The sentiment is about to change! The regulations of the FEI describe a well-trained horse as a “happy athlete”, they speak of looseness and
impulsion generated in the hindquarters. Reading this, my only reaction was: How stupid do you think we are? Is there any other sport in the world where doing the exact opposite of what the regulations prescribe is generally tolerated? Exactly these rules are still valid, are they not? From a historical perspective, they have been tested over centuries and approved.
You award a horse a score high enough to break the world record that does not fulfill any of your own criteria. You are looking for flexible and systematically trained “back movers”, yet you make “leg movers” superstars, that are shown in a skillful and technically accomplished way.
For reasons of credibility, however, the Germans have been enforcing a very offensive and transparent anti-doping policy. We are working hard on doping regulations, but forget to ask ourselves what the reasons for the increasing number of doping incidents are. In this context, should we not be asking why so much treatment in the area of orthopedic and psychopharmacological issues is necessary in the first place? Is it not the case that a horse
trained and presented according to the principles of classical teachings (regulations of FEI and FN) – a horse that moves cadenced and balanced, shows self-carriage, looseness and whose back muscles are flexible – requires considerably less medical attention than a “leg mover” full of negative tension?
Classical teachings equal actively practiced animal protection!
How do you suggest veterinary doctors are supposed to react when, shortly before a show, “sports equipment” worth millions of dollars suddenly “breaks”? Would you as a rider, owner
or trainer, who is directly involved, not be tempted to fix it? Which role does the veterinary profession play in all of this? On the one hand, a vet has an obligation towards the owner (and the horse?) and receives great questionable honor if his efforts to fix the damage pay off without being picked up on during doping tests. On the other hand, this vet will always exist in some gray area of legality since only these kinds of actions show that you are a good vet, who can join the conversations at the top of the “food chain”.
Why are so many institutions and educated people concerned about damage control and the treatment of symptoms?
Riding as a sport on such a high level is also about culture and art. It is supposed to create role models instead of questionable superstars.
If doping regulations were as clear as they are said to be and if we did not want any medical intervention, why do people require team veterinarians to be taken to shows? In case of emergency, a vet carefully chosen by the event’s organizer may just as well tend to the horse – and besides, almost everyone knows how to hold a hose pipe to cool down a horse or its legs. What do we expect from a “personal” vet during such an event?
Have you ever thought about the condition that ends most of the promising careers in dressage?
More and more often, dressage horses, which were showered with glory only a day ago, vanish from the main stage. Only in rare cases can a downfall be predicted because of massive swelling above the fetlocks. Most of the damage to the suspensory ligament is caused in the respective fetlock, invisible from the outside. Usually, lame excuses are being used even though it should be obvious to every horseman – no matter if he is involved in auctions or in the show circuit – that an increase in negative tension causes an increase in this type of injuries!
Even in world championships for young horses, forelegs flung about in a showy and flashy way receive the highest scores! These kinds of movements originate from tense back muscles rather than from active hindquarters.
There is no way that only “leg movers” should win and that we should simply approve of the extremely high drop-out rate with regard to “show movers”!
Another issue related to the problem discussed here is the fact that real collection does not exist anymore. It is biomechanically impossible for a horse with tense back muscles to flex or bend its haunches. Nowadays, horses that we assume to be flexing their haunches really only are pushed together and were trained to fling up their legs.
Attempts to explain uncontrollable psychological tension in high-performance horses by means of their lineage and bloodline are plain ridiculous. As every experienced rider knows, negative physical tension always causes psychological agitation and stress. When a horse is skittish and hard to control, this is usually not its own fault or its own doing!
A correctly trained horse is calm and has strong nerves because it is relaxed (especially with regard to its muscles) and trusts its rider.
There will always be misunderstandings with regard to classical teachings – we are merely humans after all. However, such systematic aberrations are incomprehensible and unacceptable to me!
Moreover, there will never be “new” or revised teachings of how to ride and train a horse. Horses have always been horses and will always be. The psychological and physiological concept, which is the basis of classical teachings, will always remain valid. There is no doubt that there will always be well schooled “back movers” with a flexible back and relaxed muscles displaying movements that are balanced and natural (i.e., not artificial or showy). It
also goes without saying that there will always be “leg movers”, pushed together by impatient and insensitive riders. In my opinion though, it is high time that the people responsible for defining and implementing the rules of our sport finally remember what they decided on and start putting it into practice. How is it possible that our distinguished and professionally competent national trainer repeatedly recommends the renunciation of the training scale as the only way to be successful? The balancing act between theoretical commitment and practical
implementation that has been practiced over the last decades is starting to hurt badly – especially the horses. I only see one way out of this calamity: consequently and unequivocally following and practicing the core principles as defined in the Principles of Riding (as published by FNverlag, Germany, or Kenilworth Press, UK, for the English translation)! Let us once again adhere to our rules and regulations!
About 50 years ago, Dr. Gustav Rauh said that it was a judge’s honorable task to distinguish a “leg mover” from a “back mover”. A “leg mover” should never be considered for high rankings even if his performance was technically perfect. Only “back movers” could be in the rankings – the quality of technique was only judged after making sure that a horse really was a “back mover”.
How are riders at grass-roots level supposed to interpret world record-high scores for “leg movers”? Do you honestly believe that you can continue to fool the public in this way? Where is this journey supposed to go? Where is this ride headed?

Yours sincerely,

Gerd Heuschmann
Veterinarian and author (Finger in der Wunde [Tug of War], Stimmen der Pferde, Mein Pferd
hat die Nase vorn!)

From the Metta Center, a statement by my favorite neuroscientist and all-around Renaissance man, V.S. Ramachandran,

There is no real independent self aloof from other human beings, inspecting the world and inspecting other people; you are in fact connected…quite literally connected by your neurons…and there is no real distinctiveness of your consciousness from someone else’s consciousness. This emerges from an understanding of basic neuroscience.

Harm or violence can be defined as “coercive action based on an illusion of separateness, or the inability to recognize oneself in the other.”

How much of horse training and horseback riding involves coercive action, albeit what we think of as kind coercion? You can’t do much with a horse without, well, getting him to do something you want him to do. Whether or not you “make it his idea,” it’s coercion. I’m not equating coercion in horsemanship with violence and harm, though it seems that way from what I’ve written thus far.

I’m trying to delineate those two ideas, if possible. Radical animal rights activists will say that no delineation is possible. these are the people who advocate not keeping pets, etc. because it’s demeaning and abusive to them and an unnatural state. I see their point, but in my humble opinion, it’s not realistic in today’s world. If you choose not to have a pet based on this assumption, that’s great. It does not solve the companion animal population crisis overnight, nor does it address the issue of where the breeds came from in the first place. They are here to stay unless there’s a mass extermination, and I don’t think they want that. I merely want to think about the ways in which we interact with these animals, and to examine the core principles that inform our common activities.

If our core value is not compassion, loving kindness, and the will to do no harm (in short–met(t)a horsemanship), then we delude ourselves. Minute failures in metta, coercion without kindness, amount to violence against our horses. When we do violence to another, we do violence to ourselves. As V.S. Ramachandran states above, there is no duality–the Golden Rule, Do Unto Others As You Would Have Others Do Unto You–is not just an aphorism, but a necessity for living as a human being. We are all one being.

To go one step further, watching another doing violence (read: in the media, TV, video games, in our family relationships and in our relations to animals), we also experience that violence ourselves. Remember how you felt the last time you witness something unpleasant occur between two beings. See what I mean? Mirror Neurons virtually guarnatee that we experience this kind of empathetic response, because violence is based on an illusion of our separateness. Itt affects us all as interconnected beings.

Unfortunately, we can raise our tolerance to violence and even our ignorance of its existence by taking more of it in. You’ve watched horse training videos or presentations in which there was great violence against the horse, cloaked in modern training-speak and perpetrated by charming media-savvy stars. I’m willing to bet that, like me, you’ve come to realize that methods you accepted in the past are not compassionate, as and such do not recognize the inherent oneness of the human and horse. You have resolved to find a better way.

Nonviolence is a force that reveals itself via an ability to see ourselves in the other, a realization of the non-separation between ourselves and those around us. Research on mirror neurons … can help us to begin to understand the science behind this interrelationship between ourselves, other beings, violence, and nonviolence. This video, and the scientific paradigm of which it is a part, is worth watching, and worth developing.

I’m curious to know what you think. What are your opinions on the subject? With posts like this, have I gone off the deep end? Addressing the foundations of horsemanship or strayed too far?

See also, Sage by Nature: Horses Drawing Out Our Goddess Force

We really are all ONE.

Training the Whole Horse® Missy Wryn DO NO HARM – Loving Horses & Living Leadership

Elise over at Kraften fra Hestene has the most wonderful posts. Sometimes she brings a tear to my eye. In Manifesto to My Horse, she writes of having spent 11 years with Taktur. That’s a lot of life for a young woman and a horse to share. Looking at the images and videos of the two of them together, often with no tack on him, it’s obvious those years were spent with a lot of love and compassionate training.

Elise’s idea of a manifesto speaks to my sudden mania for resolutions/intentions. Making conscious statements about our intentions toward others enables us to clarify them, and in communicating them, we deepen our bond.

I was struck in the heart by one of Elise’s statements:

I wish to see you evolve so that you can continue to give the world your gifts.

Every mindful, conscious parent should develop a manifesto for their children, as every horseman intent upon living deliberately with his horse should consider the same. In times of trouble, it is often helpful to refer back to such a statement to learn whether or not our behavior or intentions align with our initial desires.

I would like to propose a manifesto writing workshop. In this workshop, I’d like all of you who read this post (yes, ALL of you lurkers too!) to share your thoughts and feelings about what would go into your manifesto, (a public declaration of intentions, opinions, objectives, or motives).

As I continue to develop the concept of an Equine Bill of Rights, thoughts and words shared here will aid the process. For ideas, skim over your own blog posts. If you don’t blog, read someone else’s. Take a look at The Five Freedoms of Animal Welfare. Then, dig deep. If you were to offer to your horse five or ten things–the best your have to offer–what would they be?

I am really looking forward to a discussion about the ultimate horsemans’ manifesto. I would be so grateful for your participation.

Alerted by my friend Pattie, a member of the Oak Ridge Fox Hunt Club, I found this neat list at CNN. Rita Mae Brown is a novelist (Rubyfruit Jungle, arguably the seminal lesbian work of the 20th century), a gay rights and feminist pioneer, a writer of two mystery series (the “Sister” Jane Foxhunting mysteries and the Mrs. Murphy mysteries) and an animal lover. She is an avid horseback rider (Master of Foxhounds of the Oak Ridge Fox Hunt Club) and lives on a farm in Virginia with cats, house dogs and a pack of foxhounds. If you’re a mystery lover who happens to be interested in foxhunting, and learning about the real thing (not the mythologized or brutalized version), the Sister Jane books are instructive and entertaining. Her latest book is Animal Magnetism: My Life with Creatures Great and Small. When I lived in Virginia, we were neighbors. I have ridden with Rita Mae and Oak Ridge Hunt Club several times and they were experiences to remember.

Excerpted from the book:

Animals Make the Perfect Humans

• In case there are a few on two legs who aren’t convinced, allow me to present my case.

• No animal has ever tortured himself by trying to be perfect.

• Humans routinely breed past the food supply. Most animals are too smart to do this.

• Animals cannot damage the water table. Humans are doing this all over the world even as you read this.

• No animal is ever a hypocrite.

• Horses can work well with a physically compromised person. They are very giving animals.

• We are medium-size animals who survived and then flourished by hunting in packs, by cooperation. A horse is a large animal. The journey from your mind to a horse’s mind is the longest journey you will ever take.

• If successful, it will be one of the strongest bonds of both of your lives, one you can never really explain to another human who has not made the journey. It is a bond of deep emotional richness.

• No animal will ever correct your grammar. Given that service dogs have a vocabulary of 300 or 400 words, this shows remarkable restraint on their part.

• An animal knows when she is dying. However, she does not carry around the notion of her individual death. This, I believe, is the true gap between us and other sentient creatures. It is the root of our discontent, denial and search for escape.

• Animals remember. They have some concept of the simple past, but they live triumphantly in the present. Few of us do.

• Most animals have a sense of humor. Horses seem to have a highly developed one. Humans routinely deny this until they find themselves the butt of the joke.

• Thanks to technology, we believe we are more powerful. Take that away, and our limitations (bad night vision; no fangs or claws; long dependency of offspring; terrible slowness compared to, say, a cat; etc.) make us falter. One of the reasons we made a social contract with domesticated animals years ago was to “borrow” their power, speed, senses. In return, we feed them, care for them. We have broken this contract. They have not.

I rest my case.

Visit USEventing.com and click on the photo in the top left corner. Those are all my old barn mates at Millington Stables in Free Union, VA making a snowman during a trail ride. It’s not what you expect!
Read more…

She’s done it again. Sage By Nature has challenged the limited concept that horses merely mirror our inner selves and in the process revealed something important about human beings’ inner battles.

She says,

I have long been enthralled by the concept of animals being our mirrors. However, what if there is more to that than reflects the eye? What if I called my horse an extension of me? What if the things I respect and admire about her have been inside of me all along? I might find them if I look closely.

Perhaps, then, I don’t need her to be resistance-free, push-button, or dominated by me. In fact, if I see her for who she is and who I might be, then I cannot rejoice in crushing her spirit or completely molding her to my will whether through my hands, my voice, or my tools because that would be, in essence, an annihilation of pieces of me. And ladies, haven’t we all had enough of our pieces strewn across the floors of homes, schools, places of work, and even barns?

(embedded links mine)

Her brilliant extension of the concept of horses as mirrors is this: eliminating every single expression of free will and individuality on the part of the horse is in fact to extinguish their potential in ourselves. By extension, to quash their potential expression as a a unit: horse and human together. This reminds me of some of the things I have been reading in Gallop To Freedom, and the way Frederic Pignon trains his horses. He allows, even encourages, expressions of personality and will in his stallions, incorporating them as they occur into their performances. It takes serious guts to allow this, and letting go of the urge to control. The result is, however, a real union of experience and expression. Sometimes the audience doesn’t know exactly what they are seeing, but it gives them goosebumps nonetheless.

On some level, we all get it, we all want this. It’s the letting go of the need for control and the willingness to share in the process that holds us back.

See the entire post, entitled Respecting Your Horse And Your Own Goddess Force in its original form by clicking here

Wizard Liz forwarded this to me this morning. She is the embodiment of the woman described below. Capable, quietly joyful. I have no idea who wrote it, and I might get a whack across the back of the head for posting it. It wasn’t me, but I wish it were. If anyone knows who did write it, please speak up. It is a wonderful treatise on The Literary Horse’s WHY HORSES? and on the real reasons we love horses.

I ride. That seems like such a simple statement. However as many women who ride know it is really a complicated matter. It has to do with power and empowerment. Being able to do things you might have once considered out of reach or ability.

I have considered this as I shovel manure, fill water barrels in the cold rain, wait for the vet/farrier/electrician/hay delivery, change a tire on a horse trailer by the side of the freeway, or cool a gelding out before getting down to the business of drinking a cold beer after a long ride.

The time, the money, the effort it takes to ride calls for dedication. At least I call it dedication. Both my ex-husbands call it ‘the sickness’. It’s a sickness I’ve had since I was a small girl bouncing my model horses and dreaming of the day I would ride a real horse. Most of the women I ride with understand the meaning of ‘the sickness’. It’s not a sport. It’s not a hobby. It’s what we do and, in some ways, who we are as women and human beings.
I ride.

I hook up my trailer and load my gelding. I haul to some trail head somewhere, unload, saddle, whistle up my dog and I ride. I breathe in the air, watch the sunlight filter through the trees and savor the movement of my horse. My shoulders relax. A smile rides my sunscreen smeared face. I pull my ball cap down and let the real world fade into the tracks my horse leaves in the dust.

Time slows. Flying insects buzz loudly, looking like fairies. My gelding flicks his ears and moves down the trail. I can smell his sweat and it is perfume to my senses. Time slows. The rhythm of the walk and the movement of the leaves become my focus. My saddle creaks and the leather rein in my hand softens with the warmth.

I consider the simple statement; I ride. I think of all I do because I ride. Climb granite slabs, wade into a freezing lake, race a friend through the manzanita all the while laughing and feeling my heart in my chest. Other days just the act of mounting and dismounting can be a real accomplishment. Still I ride, no matter how tired or how much my seat bones or any of the numerous horse related injuries hurt. I ride. And I feel better for doing so.

The beauty I’ve seen because I ride amazes me. I’ve ridden out to find lakes that remain for the most part, unseen. Caves, dark and cold beside rivers full and rolling are the scenes I see in my dreams. The Granite Stairway at Echo Summit, bald eagles on the wing and bobcats on the prowl add to the empowerment and joy in my heart.

I think of the people, mostly women, I’ve met. I consider how competent they all are. Not a weenie amongst the bunch. We haul 40ft rigs, we back into tight spaces without clipping a tree. We set up camp. Tend the horses. We cook and keep safe. We understand and love our companions, the horse. We respect each other and those we encounter on the trail. We know that if you are out there riding, you also shovel, fill, wait and doctor. Your hands are a little rough and you travel with out makeup or hair gel. You do without to afford the ’sickness’ and probably, when you were a small girl, you bounced a model horse while you dreamed of riding a real one.

My treasures do not chink or glitter, They gleam in the sun and neigh in the night.

The path to your horse’s heart lies through your own.

Amen.

Edited on January 14, 2010 to add:

I received an email from the gracious Julia Edwards-Dake, author of this brilliant essay. Here is a portion of her email.

… And thank you for posting my essay “A Simple Statement”. Most of the time I find it on the internet as “I Ride”. It was originally published in the American Trail Horse e-newsletter. I have since been published many times in EQUUS Magazine. My best work might be “A Simple Statement” but “Tea with Miss Em” is my favorite.
Again…thank you for publishing my essay and you have done a beautiful job on this site. Kudos!

Look up Ms Edwards-Dake at Voices for Horses