EAGALA Conference 2011

Layton Utah was the site for the 12th Annual Conference of the Equine Assisted Growth and Learning Association (EAGALA). There were Buffalo and Antelope nearby at Antelope Island, the Great Salt Lake; and tons of snow covered mountains! The entire airplane was full of skiers enjoying spring break skiing in the west. Even the head coach for the Eagles, Andy Reid was with us!

This year, instead of a full day at the Legacy Event Center where the demonstration  portion of the conference with horses was held, we had two half days!  With the second half of each day  being held at the Davis Conference Center,  I loved it because I am not fond of sitting in any one place all day!

We watched as experienced  Equine Assisted Psychotherapy teams used volunteers from the audience to participate in demonstrations; working with many populations. A team from South Africa shared a demonstration about "Healing the Diversity Divide through equine Assisted Learning" This experience allowed participants and observers to explore deep seated belief systems around differences.
Another team created a demonstration designed to move your business forward in an environment of economic recession! And a demonstration for teams who work in the field of Equine Assisted Psychotherapy to become more aware of using non-verbal interventions in experiential therapy. The Power and Principles of Ritual inside a session was explored, so was Suicide Prevention Awareness for Soldiers and at the end of the arena days with the horses was a "Beauty Pageant" designed to help people young and old with body image.

The local horses were fabulous both days, fully participating in and assisting each facilitation team in this powerful solution oriented work. They provided opportunities for us all to laugh, cry, gasp and watch in awe at how cleaver or how connected, or how smart the horses are.  As professionals, most of these horses are barrel racers who double as riding lesson horses and every weekday they participate in the arena assisting people in this work of growing and learning.

Back at the Conference center there were a wide array of topics to choose from for each 1.5 hour break out room.  In the Company of Horses was able to participate in such sessions as Anthropomorphism in all its forms; Low cost ways to market your business; Addiction programming; Grant writing presentations; Using Sand Tray Approaches in the Arena with Horses, The Impact of Perception; Current Research being conducted in the field of Equine Assisted Therapy; Horses Healing Trauma;  A Journey of Healing, Listening and Learning through Grief and  Boots in the Arena - How Equine Assisted Psychotherapy is helping returning Veterans and their families all over the world.

We had opportunities to network with people in our region and all over the world actively participating in Learning and Growing by way of the Horse. Gratefully I was acknowledged as one of the 12 people in the world who completed all of the requirements to become "Advanced Certified" in 2010!

Tips for Understanding Horses

Body Language

So what is going on here? Are these horses mortal enemies?  Both horses have their ears back.  Clearly biting each other.  

One or two pieces of body language should not be taken as a clear signal for anything! Lets see if we can triangulate the body language.  We can see the language of the head (ears and mouth). Lets look at the rest of the body.  Can you see how their feet are grounded?  The horse doing the biting is actually standing with all four feet completely on the ground. The horse on the right has weight pretty equally on three legs and it looks like his foreleg is only lighter because of the position of his head or we might be able to say he is moving forward into the space of the horse on the left. How about their tails?  Are they relaxed and quiet or are they full of energy? 

 Next lets look at the energy of these two.  Is it mirrored in each other?  Does one have more energy than the other?  Is it moving forward, back, up or down or is it staying put?  We can look at this one still photo and see if these two have been sweating; indicating previous movement or high energy levels.  

Now lets look at this next photo;

What do you see here? Friends or enemies?  These horses have their ears back and one is biting the other.  Lets go ahead and triangulate the body language.

 Are their feet and legs grounded or are they moving?  The horse on the left only has two legs on the ground and the horse on the right has all four legs on the ground, but those hind legs are coiled up like springs ready to jettison into the space of the other horse. What about their energy? Is it high or low?  Are the horses mirroring one another? What about their tails?  Can you see the energy in the tail of the horse on the left?  If you could zoom in close on these two, you could see their coats look dry indicating perhaps they have not been sweating.  

The first photo is of two friends (geldings) who have lived together for years near Kalispel Montana.  The second photo is of wild stallions fighting in the Namib Desert in Africa. The most discernible difference in their body language is energy. 

 Follow the below link to an interesting article that links the effects of energy on the body.   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somatic_psychology

Sterling Archer got his name~

It was the last day of our time together and we had a plan for "healthy celebrations and endings".  The girls were sad that it was their last day and my co-facilitator and I felt that too.  One of the things we did was choose a card from "The way of the Horse" and one of the girls read it.  We began outside, but had to move inside because of the shorter daylight in October. When we went inside, the girls saw our new colt in "Sorrel's" stall.  It had been his stall for  all of his 20 years at our farm and his name plate was right there. Which brought up the topic of this new little boy's name.

In the summer and fall of 2010 In the Company of Horses had a group of girls from two group homes come to learn by way of the horse, things like; how to get along with others, how to ask permission and be grateful, they learned about positive body image and enjoyed the freedom to dance with horses uninhibited.  They learned about themselves and universal truths outside of themselves. And along the way they experienced the death of my first horse and the addition of our new colt.

As one of the girls went on reading aloud from the book, another laid across the stall door snuggling with our P.R.E ( Pura Razza Espanola)  colt.  It was quite comforting for everyone as I'm sure they fell asleep together.  When they awoke, some 20 minutes later; the troubled and youthful sixteen year old girl proclaimed, " I know his name".  Curiously, I asked "What is it?" She said "His name is Sterling because just like when you get your ears pierced you get sterling silver posts, because you will never get an infection and he'll never do you wrong."
Well that sounded right to me!

This little horse seems to be wise beyond his years (ha! months).  He knows things, like how this sixteen year old girl who stood 6 feet 6 inches tall needed to cuddle with him on her last day at the farm, he did not judge her because of her family situation or the way she looked or talked. I'm sure he enjoyed what she offered to him as well, unconditional acceptance, a warm and undemanding welcome to his new home.  He doesn't mind being alone and he also likes to be together. He does have a Sterling character and his color is dark gray for now.

His papered name is Valiente Silver Cross Wind.  He came with the nickname "Bogie" which is fitting because of his confidence and air of maturity, named after the actor Humphrey Bogart; suave, debonair. Sterling Archer was a natural progression coming from my Son who knew right away he needed the rest of his name from a comic character Sterling Archer.  He has a gleaming smile and will also "Never do you wrong".

This is Sterling in his stall; He can just fit over the door! 

A family learns by way of the horse

A Mom and Son came to work out an issue they were having in the arena.  Mom teaches yoga and wants her son to have his own yoga practice, which at 10 years old, does not appeal to him.  Son is a football player and looks like one!  They tell us that they have agreed to just do 5 sun salutations every day together, but they never have.
So we send them on a task to use the things in the arena together to "create" a metaphoric place where they will do yoga.  They use all of the hula hoops and make a free standing sphere.  Then we asked them both to go get a horse of their choosing and bring the horse to the yoga place.
Son was doing a lot of talking and bribing and coaxing with the pony.  Mom seemed to just go over and then her horse followed her to the yoga place, then the pony came over to be with them!  The son asked, looking astonished, "How did you do that?"
So we (the facilitators) asked Mom, How did you get these horses to come with you to your yoga place?
She explained that she was taught to greet each being with an open heart, so she went over to the big chestnut thoroughbred opened her heart in a greeting and invited her to join with her heart and she accepted, then the pony just joined in with them.  
We asked Mom, "Where did you learn how to greet each being with an open heart?"  Mom replied that she learned  this from her long time yoga teacher.
This is what she wanted for her son.  While he did not readily agree to have his own yoga practice, he saw how his Mom's practice gave her something special that he wanted.

It was a simple session, but profound. 

Universal truths.......... timeless, without boundaries.

Here in NJ, I felt the spring come in a few days ago, maybe as much as a week or so. If you follow this blog, you will surely notice its new look!  I love winter and snow, so I'm satisfied now. I think that is why I love spring so much and when it comes, the changes are everywhere.  I think that rain we had the other day was telling. Then the peacocks, their feathers are long and gorgeous.  They loose their tails in the fall and spend all winter growing them back, they are like a calendar dancing around the yard. They start to fuss at the feed bowls in a new way.  In the winter, they are just happy to eat, in the spring, they dominate the bowls  arguing with the rooster, and even the hens want to tussle with each other.  Feeding time is quite a lively time that takes on a whole new life in the spring just like everything else.

 Sterling, my lovely Andalusian boy is growing and changing every day.  He owns his seat at the table if you know what I mean, which for a 9 month old, I'm impressed by!  He is kind in every way, smart and thoughtful, and happily I have not seen signs that he is "interested" in the girls. I find great joy in watching the horses interact and I learn much about leadership and living together, waiting with patience. As Sterling makes his way into the hearts and minds of  his band of mares, I'm drawn to thinking about the rhythm of life and the universal truths all around us.

Feel; timing; balance.

• Music - Listening to the quality of the spaces between the notes or playing the long note..........
• Painting something - A portait or a barn; Painting it thick, thin, one coat or many, combine colors? Brush, roller, feather or rag; maybe a sponge or a leaf, maybe fingers. 
• Making  love - I remember hearing an interview with Carlos Santana where he explained to all the ladies in love with him that "I cannot do to you what my guitar does to you", soft or firm, slow or faster, the first time;  the last time. But we look for that, that universal truth of feel. We all innately know it when it's right. 
• Driving a sports car - or a big rig, feeling the flow of the road, traffic, the engine when it's asking to shift, be the grace of a pick up as you down shift before the curve and apply just the right amount of gas to stay in the curve, a well oiled machine.
• Building something - With integrity, that works, that looks good, that lasts, smell the wood, sand it smooth, feel the engine purr when it starts for the very first time. 
• Baking something - Choosing the perfect ingredients; organic grown to perfection added at the perfect time. Feel the batter, know when it's perfect, inhale deeply to know when it's done. Find the sweet spot! 
• Practicing yoga  - Strong and slow, hold and let flow, the breath in and then out
• Walk - Feel the Earth, placing your feet one after the other in rhythm, like a dance. Smell the land, the pavement, the leaves or the water, feel the wind on your skin, drinking it in.......
• Swimming - immersed completely, breathe through your mask at 30 ft., snorkel just under the surface, backstroke on top of the water with ease and timing, rhythm and relaxation.  Feel the water cradle you. Catch a wave and stay on top; or ride in the middle or just dive underneath. 
• Stargaze  as the moon rises and flows across the sky, then disappears  into morning when all the flowers open up to gather the sunshine. Sense the changes when they come, feel the winter, smell the spring, languish in the long days of summer, rejoice in the blaze of autumn colors. 
• Ski with the mountain.
• Dance by yourself to the music in you; Dance to natures music all around you; Dance with someone else; be willing and brave enough to lead and be led. Feel the rhythm find the sweet spot. 
• Ride a horse: let go and ride forward and back; up down, over under, through...........
  
  Add yours......

Opinion ~ January Mark Rashid Workshop

I happily traveled in the back seat of the truck while my friend who was going to ride in this workshop managed all the driving and the co-pilot; the navigating.  I even had a nap! It was about an 8 hour drive to the therapeutic riding center in Mebane NC where the clinic was being held.  Monday night was a farmhouse conversation where it seemed that the theme of Mark's teaching was unfolded.  Feel.

 It begins in the mind with a thought and then mirror neurons do the work of transmitting that thought.  We all have these mirror neurons, just look around and see how everyone does what everyone else does and we don't even know we are doing it or why! You know when you finish your long time partner's sentences and you begin to look like your dog.  We think we are different and suddenly what we like; have; do is popular.

Mark practices Aikido to stay centered and balanced.  That is a physical as well as emotional description of his way of being with the horses and the people at the workshop. It seems that this is the way he puts feel into words so the intellectual mind can understand it. I might also say, the woman's inquiring mind can hold it.  There were a few men in the room and none had questions or needed more than one demonstration.  While some in the room could not understand the concepts, everyone could feel them.

The format for Tues and Wed was 3 riders in the AM; 3 more riders in the PM. There was one thing everyone was taught; the back up with feel mostly through steady pressure.  Everyone showed up in the arena prepared to ride in the outfits of their chosen disciplines, Endurance, Eventing, English,  Western, Dressage The first lesson was at the mounting block for a horse who could not keep his feet still so the rider could mount.

Marks maturity as a teacher showed through over and over.  It really was all about what the rider wanted in conversation, but what the horse needed in deed.  The lady who was having trouble at the mounting block asked Mark to hold her horse while she got on.  He said he would do that or if she would like, we could just fix the problem and have the horse stand there on his own. Choosing the latter the lady stood back while Mark approached and stood on the mounting block.  He simply showed the horse what he wanted by moving him to where he should stand. This took about 15 minutes and then the owner did it herself and mounted up.  Day 2 the little saddle seat rescue knew just what to do and so did his person.

I noticed time and time again in Mark's maturity as a teacher, when the student explained that their trainer taught them to do "it" this way, he just showed them another way with no judgement, sarcasm or derogatory comments about anything.  He told me later that people just want help.  That's it. I noticed that he did not share his opinions about bits or bit-less headgear, spurs or not, shoes or not, saddles or not, or any of the other judgments and opinions that were clearly running through my mind.

Then I read a bit of his book "Whole Horse Whole Heart" It's his newest one.  I don't own or have not read any of his books, so I thought if I was going to buy one it should be the newest one. Right there in the beginning he muses about a dream that seemed to keep him awake about the Grand Canyon.  What was stronger the river or the rock. As he went on about that, he realized that it doesn't matter.  Like all the questions in my mind about saddle fit and rider position, they don't matter if the rider can actually hear their horse.  Are we listening to what our horse is telling us. His goal is to teach us to listen to our horses, feel them, feel for them. If we do that , we will fix all the other things.

I can't say I learned anything new about technique or strategy, but what I did was experience a seasoned, educated, balanced teacher, who made a difference for every horse and rider combination. I'm very particular about where I spend my training dollars and who's influence I allow into my horsemanship.  For sure I left trusting this teacher and I will ride with him when the opportunity is right.
   

The uncomfortable place of misunderstanding............

Earlier this week, I broke out my long lines to see if I could help Moses relax with lots of bending from the ground.  Much to my surprise, he seemed to have experience with this type of driving. So we moved to exploring; just what did he know?  I discovered right away that he was worried about the lines flipping over his back from behind, so I did this excessively in motion all the while letting him know not to worry, using my voice to make soft noises of approval when he relaxed. 


 I asked him to follow the feel on the halter. He had trouble following the feel when I was on the left wanting him to follow the feel to the right.  He wanted to look at me, but with a tap of the line on his cheek he quickly learned that was not the answer. I have finally learned, that it is better, just to go there! Make the correction quickly and clearly, just like the lead mare does. 


I had the perfect example shown to me by Valentine and Jessie when they first got to co-mingle with Moses (on purpose!) in the field.  We were all there, all the mares and Sterling too, I was cleaning as usual and playing with horses when I got bored with the cleaning. I let everyone in quietly, without a fuss.  I noticed earlier in the morning Mo and Valentine seemed to be interested in one another across the fence so I knew it would be a good time to bring everyone in.  Valentine is my lead mare and Jessie is the enforcer, but she honors  Valentine's lead and they are usually together.  


Without looking at or acknowledging Moses at all, Valentine went straight to grazing.  Jessie and Moses both turned butts to each other and tucked under and I  thought they were going to kick each other.  Then they didn't ~ Hmmm. Then with just a cock of her ear in his direction, Valentine double barreled him! I heard Whack.  She was back to grazing only one heart beat later. He was looking at her like a little puppy dog seemingly apologizing for being in the way, and only moments later, they were touching noses and that touch ran all the way to the flank.  Lovely example of Love language and leadership.  Firm fair and friendly. 


So that was my goal when Moses did not follow the feel on his halter, but wanted to turn and face me.  Touch quickly, firmly and go back to grazing, so to speak. Like Valentine, I was sure this was the best way to get through this uncomfortable place of misunderstanding.  Unlike Valentine, I needed to repeat this lesson a time or two during our session! Soon enough, he was asking me questions about the quality of his hind quarter yield :) So we quit for the day, friendly confident and happy.


It was two days later when we revisited this lesson and gratefully, the yields were soft and way better than how we left off! We have been making a habit out of approaching one another with our necks relaxed and body language soft.  I go out several times a day to give Moses a piece of carrot, just to reinforce the relaxation.  I go up to him and crouch down in front of him and encourage him to come get his carrot.  At first he would come right into my space, not asking permission to share the space, but taking it, so I needed to send him away.  But as the days went by and our lessons progressed he realized the price for the carrot was to come in relaxed, respecting my space and asking politely. 


I wasn't sure a couple of days ago if this horse was going to be a reliable riding horse for his owner, and I'm still not sure, but I was encouraged yesterday by the shift in him.  I think he is having congruent conversations on all fronts, even Mya, my little 30 inch tall mini mare, tells this dominant horse where to be, then she leaves him alone until he asks politely.  


Once again, it is my honor and privilege to live, play and work In the Company of Horses..........