I hope you will glean the treasures in the words, store them in your heart and share them with your own horse.

ON CLASSICAL DRESSAGE ...

"... Theories, techniques, mechanics are all just dead, inanimate topics for discussion ... the FEEL is what riding any discipline is all about. Yes, there are certain seats and certain reins etc. that will help us to achieve that feel, but until we actually *do* feel the movement, it's all just head knowledge. Nothing more. Once we get the *feel* of the executed movement, the horse also is moving as one with us. The horse feels it too! It isn't something forced with pressure or equipment ... it is a heart matter for both rider and horse.

I am glad to hear of your success. Particularly that you ride from your center ... see? That's where the feel is after all! Think of a horse and rider as two circles ... intertwined. While intertwined, the ""centers"" of the circle are not together. Once the circles are perfectly together, the centers of each become one. That is/should be our goal when riding any discipline ... dressage, cutting, penning, hunting, jumping, vaulting ... even driving. It is definitely something that can be very elusive! Particularly when trying to describe in words!!!! *G*"

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ON LISTENING TO THE HORSE ...

"... a subject near and dear to my heart. there's no other way to work with horses or any other animal. If people could keep the scripture below in their minds when working with animals of any kind, I think there'd be a whole lot LESS abused and psycho pets than there are now;

"But ask the animals and they will teach you, or the birds of the air, and they will tell you;' or speak to the earth, and it will teach you, or let the fish of the sea inform you. Which of all these does not know that the hand of the Lord has done this? In his hand is the life of ***EVERY*** (emphasis mine creature and the breath of all mankind."

--Job 12:7-10

That scripture was shown to me a number of months ago. It has tickled my brain and pierced my heart. I am going to make a bumper sticker of it to put on my van ... and I have become fanatical about it. BUT ... it's a good thing because it validates everything I've always believed. It has brought to the surface everything that was hidden away due to hearing ""Oh??? You 'talk' with the animals, do you? Well, don't you think that it's just your over active imagination? Animals don't 'really' communicate to us. They're just dumb animals. They don't have souls like humans. I think you might need some help, honey!"" etc. etc. etc. My 'favorite' comes from my own husband ... ""Oh, and they 'talk' back to you, right?"" said with a grimaced smirk.

I have also learned that there is a season for everything ... there are those who are incapable of ""hearing"" because of fear. But that's what abuse is all about, right? We ""fear"" the very object of our abuse? We ""fear"" losing control? We ""fear"" being hurt .... yadi, yadi, yadi. Especially when we're working with animals that outweight us by X12 !!!

It's a growing thing ... a maturing thing. Not everybody is in the same place. So, we, who understand the ""natural"" stuff, have an obligation to share as much as possible ... and we have a responsibility to the animals as well as to our Lord to bring light to those things which have enlightened us. Yes?"

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ON RELATIONSHIP ...

"It's not the tack, the bit, the equipment, the ring, the lighting, the mirrors, the money ... it's the RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN HORSE AND RIDER!!!!"

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ON THE HORSE'S NEEDS ...

"It is only when we take care of the horse ACCORDING TO THE HORSE'S NEEDS and not our own, we can expect the horse to give back to us as fully as possible. A horse CANNOT change it's design and ways to fit human preferences ... the human MUST change for the best of the horse."

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ON ASSERTIVENESS ...

"As long as the human has the mind set to MAKE the horse do what is wished, the horse will continue to be defensive and uncooperative unless it gets to the stage of going forward out of fear. Then it's *still* not the ride that is desired. People have to learn to be assertive without being aggressive. When one gets frustrated and angry, he/she then becomes aggressive. When one approaches things from an assertive and respectful manner of ""I would really like for you to try this"" then there is no aggression. Animals, including horses, can certainly sense the difference and will respond in kind."

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ON THE BUCKING HORSE ...

"Something for all to think about ... when we ask for a horse to do something with our leg but leave no room for the horse to go forward, where else is the horse going to go? It's either going to try like crazy to do what you ask and sub sequentially go UP (Up is *still* a ""forward"" movement) or the horse will stop."

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ON TRUST ...

"Could you explain for us a ""better way"" ?? What would *you* do in the face of a stallion that has gone into instinct mode? Remember ... stallions exist for one reason only ... to reproduce. Are you able to assure, 100% of the time, how your horse is going to react to a new stimuli? Are able to assure, 100% of the time, that your horse is going to *listen* to you 100% of the time? Are you able to GUARANTEE the safety of anyone who comes near your horses? I don't believe that is possible when working with any animal. Anyone who assumes 100% TRUST of his or her horse is (excuse me) ... a fool! A fool who is just asking to get hurt. NH is about kindness, gentleness and effectiveness. (among other stuff) ... NH is about understanding the psychology behind the equine behavior. If any one of you think that a horse is 100% to be trusted you have not learned the basic psychology of a horse. It is a horse owner's responsibility to understand what makes horses tick in order to help safeguard, not only the well-being of the horse, but of the human who comes in contact with that horse. The only guarantee we have is that a horse will always be a horse."

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ON RIDING ...

"Learn to center yourself, b-r-e-a-t-h-e, r-e-l-a-x- and just ride!"

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ON THE BUTTERFLY ...

"A couple of things I have learned over the years ... one is that horsemanship, GOOD horsemanship, is built on a foundation of FEELING combined with knowledge and wisdom. Any one of the three, left by themselves, is like a butterfly without wings -- Can't go anywhere; cannot take on ""normal"" tasks and when trying to fly, won't ever get off the ground except for a few inches. Can really do no more than squiggle around on the ground for awhile. Knowledge without wisdom is a dangerous, dangerous thing. Feeling without knowledge is a weak foundation, to say the least. And, wisdom simply does not exist without the other two. Again, this can be attributed to the equine nature as well as the human nature. We all are given feelings; we all have the opportunities to increase our knowledge; we all have the inner workings to receive wisdom but, one must be open and ready to accept the gift of wisdom. Once the ego starts rearing its head, its shadow blocks the light of wisdom and the ego can be unforgiving and solidly wrapped in an unapproachable shield.

There is a balance in everything in the natural world. It's a long journey, sometimes, to equalize the givens and the choosing, but with open eyes and open heart it is certainly possible and actually, a never ending quest."

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I do hope you have enjoyed these short excerpts. I would appreciate any feedback, comments, requests for the book etc. Please e-mail me at santa@kersur.net.

Thank you!

--Gwen