I FELT the horses with me, I FELT Their HEART.
I was in a conversation this morning and the person really wanted to move to Hawaii, but was "LED" to move to Florida instead. As soon as she said it, I had a POWERFUL HEART emotional reaction!
Our horses, trust us to LEAD them, they do not know where they are being led, they put complete TRUST into us keeping them safe, leading them on their journey, and they trust us 100% to know the destination. This is so powerful for me. I need to trust and have faith that I am being led on this journey to courage and the journey to help others find their COURAGE!
I have struggled with fear and riding. I am coming to Trust my horse, for her to keep me safe. The more I trust her, the more confidence she gets. The more I LEAD her and keep her safe riding or on the ground, the more TRUST she has in me.
Courage Pennies!
Every step of trust, for me, for my horse, is a COURAGE PENNY! Picture a beautiful bowl for you and a beautiful bowl for your horse, and every step of trust, puts a shiny Courage Penny into those bowls. As those bowls fill up, FEAR has no room, Fear diminishes, FEAR GOES AWAY!
Simple exercise to start filling your bowl with your Courage Pennies:
I have been doing this and it is so rewarding! You can do it mounted or from the ground so that is a bonus!
- As you are with your horse or riding your horse, pay attention to them and their ears. Their ears tell a lot about their emotions so this is so important to get in tune with their ears. The best time to do this exercise the first few times is when their ears are relaxed or they are calm.
- Move as little as you can to get their ear to flick to you. In some cases, this might be a touch on the lead rope or rein, or a slight move of your foot, or a wave of your hand. In some cases, you will have to become a mountain lion to get their attention on you. Play with this. The goal is to get an ear to flick to you with just a SLIGHT movement. There are two purposes for this! They will start to pay attention to you with just very subtle connection and you will begin to pay attention to them before you get into a situation that they are already gone mentally.
- Once you have this working really well, it can take a few minutes or a few months so don't worry about how long it takes, start practicing it when things are escalating. When their EARS are FOCUSED on that DEER, That CAR Screeching BY, and you can control this with having people help you. Have someone crinkle a water bottle, that is a good one for triggering. Again repeat the exercise with getting an EAR.
- You want to do all of this on the ground and riding!
- Reward - 100 Courage Pennies for being able to do this subtle on the ground when they are VERY ALERT and 200 Courage Pennies when you get it riding!!!!!
If you have enjoyed this post and you are not already in my COURAGE group, please join our free group and get the support of all of us on this journey! Click Here! Happy, Courageous, Horses and Riders!
I absolutely LOVE summer, heat, humidity, they agree with me. But I also use summer heat as an EXCUSE not to ride!!!!
Who is with me on this one???? You get all dressed up to go ride, you walk out the door, and you think, maybe later, maybe I will get up earlier, maybe after they eat, maybe after I eat, EVERY EXCUSE in the book, I have used.
But what if you look at this differently. My main reason for not riding is FEAR, I will admit that. The FEAR of getting hurt! The heat seems like as good a reason as any NOT to ride. Can I USE HEAT, to my advantage?
What CAN I DO in the heat?
- Walk
- Halt
- Backing
- Small Bending Circles
- Turn on the forehand/haunches
- Leg Yields
- Serpentine - Using Reins or just the legs
- Etc.
GENIUS!
I have been doing this for a few days now with Taika and I have to admit, I am having a BLAST. Every minute spent on her back adds Courage Penny's into the Piggy Bank! I can feel my confidence growing and it is so simple. We are developing our partnership!
It is hot so she doesn't want to run off or bolt or do anything except stand. She gets the reward of a nice cool bath after. We find places that are in the shade which pushes me out of my comfort zone and are places I haven't ridden before but it is easy because she wants the shade too.
There is some prep involved that I recommend. If it is really hot you can hose off before riding, just make sure you sweat scrap. I always use my Thieves for Courage and Stress Away for Calm and they really help me! I wear my FROGG TOGG which has been a HUGE game changer for me (link at the bottom). I keep a bottle of water right by my grooming area, with my amazing electrolyte stuff to save me from passing out when I get off.
All of this has made for a GREAT Summer and I know that every foot step I take on the back of a horse, gives me one more penny in my Courage Bank!
If you have read this far, you might be interested in joining my FREE SUPPORT GROUP for people searching for their riding Courage!
I also have a bonus for you, 3 Easy Ways to Build Courage with Your Horse! Click Here To Get the BONUS!
I remember the excitement to go see this 3 year old filly at the track that would replace my heart horse I had lost. She had unlimited potential.
I would ride her for 20 or 30 minutes with a lovely trot and canter and then all of a sudden, she would REAR to full height and come down like a BRONC in a rodeo. It would last 20 or 30 seconds and if I could ride it, she would go right back to the lovely trot that we has started with, if not, I hit the ground.
Then after just a few months, diagnosis and Devastation! KISSING SPINE! I felt like I had been punched and all the air had left my body. My new amazing horse that I planned to start competing with in the Spring of 2014, had Kissing Spine (along with a fractured skull). I felt completely helpless!
Everyone I knew didn't even hesitate, they all said put her down! She will never be SAFE, she will always be in pain. The more I learned, the more I felt CRUSHED. She was just the sweetest young mare and I had bonded with her immediately at the track when I went to look at her and our bond had only grown.
On top of that, the treatments were THOUSANDS of dollars! I just couldn't fathom putting this sweet young horse down, I had to find a solution.
Lots of research and an Amazing Chiropractor and we had a GLIMMER OF HOPE.
THE GAME PLAN:
1. Teach her to carry herself to build her "ABS", yes, you read that right…."ABS" to support her back. We did this with free lunging, no side reins, no lunge line, it had to be on her terms so that if she did hit that spot, she wasn't confined, she could move through it on her own. No trotting, this was all WALK and CANTER. There are a lot more details if you would like to know more Contact me.
2. Monthly Chiropractor work at first and in the end, it was every 6 months (this took THREE YEARS!)
3. Fix her feet. She had really low heels as most horses in the US do these days. I am now trimming myself because I could not find one trimmer that didn’t take too much off the heels.
RESULTS:
A sound horse, cleared 100% for everything, even jumping. I still have to do maintenance when I see her abs letting down but for the most part, she is MY HEART HORSE, no rear, no buck, just amazing riding partner!
I would ride her for 20 or 30 minutes with a lovely trot and canter and then all of a sudden, she would REAR to full height and come down like a BRONC in a rodeo. It would last 20 or 30 seconds and if I could ride it, she would go right back to the lovely trot that we has started with, if not, I hit the ground.
Then after just a few months, diagnosis and Devastation! KISSING SPINE! I felt like I had been punched and all the air had left my body. My new amazing horse that I planned to start competing with in the Spring of 2014, had Kissing Spine (along with a fractured skull). I felt completely helpless!
Everyone I knew didn't even hesitate, they all said put her down! She will never be SAFE, she will always be in pain. The more I learned, the more I felt CRUSHED. She was just the sweetest young mare and I had bonded with her immediately at the track when I went to look at her and our bond had only grown.
On top of that, the treatments were THOUSANDS of dollars! I just couldn't fathom putting this sweet young horse down, I had to find a solution.
Lots of research and an Amazing Chiropractor and we had a GLIMMER OF HOPE.
THE GAME PLAN:
1. Teach her to carry herself to build her "ABS", yes, you read that right…."ABS" to support her back. We did this with free lunging, no side reins, no lunge line, it had to be on her terms so that if she did hit that spot, she wasn't confined, she could move through it on her own. No trotting, this was all WALK and CANTER. There are a lot more details if you would like to know more Contact me.
2. Monthly Chiropractor work at first and in the end, it was every 6 months (this took THREE YEARS!)
3. Fix her feet. She had really low heels as most horses in the US do these days. I am now trimming myself because I could not find one trimmer that didn’t take too much off the heels.
RESULTS:
A sound horse, cleared 100% for everything, even jumping. I still have to do maintenance when I see her abs letting down but for the most part, she is MY HEART HORSE, no rear, no buck, just amazing riding partner!
Here is a bonus that has helped on our journey to health! If you would like to get my "3 Snippets of Removing Toxins from the Tack Room!" and to stay in touch!
Detoxing Your Tack Room SNIPPETS!
Disclaimer - I am not a vet and do not give medical advice for horses. I am just sharing what I went through and what worked for me.
Detoxing Your Tack Room SNIPPETS!
Disclaimer - I am not a vet and do not give medical advice for horses. I am just sharing what I went through and what worked for me.
Disaster struck a few weeks ago! Horses get into the craziest things but this time, I WAS THE CAUSE!
I have 3 mares, you know, MARES. I have one that has high liver Enzymes and COPD which makes things additionally challenging and has me on a whole new journey into the world of TOXINS and what is not toxic. My horses and I have been "Clean" for over a year now!
I used to have hot flashes, lots and lots of hot flashes but I fixed that. The horses have very mild cycles and all 3 get along great. I never have issues, feeding time, taking one or two of them out, they are always just calm and quiet. Truthfully, they are better than my geldings used to be.
Three weeks ago, I found a "STASH" of SWAT. I thought hmmm….I better use this stuff up. It had been a year since I had used anything commercial on my horses, I make my own. After finding the Swat, I just put a dab on their bellies for the no-see-ums. That was it….just a DAB!
24 hours later, I noticed pinned ears. 48 hours I had 3 horses in FULL CYCLE, Kicking each other and extremely aggressive. I also noticed that I was having hot flashes again, HUGE NASTY ONES. Was it possible that a dab of Swat could influence hormones that drastically????
The answer was yes, sadly, it was the SWAT That was fully responsible for not only mares trying to kill each other, but also for me feeling horrible and not even wanting to function! It took a full week for the 4 of us to recover. From TWO NIGHTS of a little dab of SWAT! That is what started my journey into Toxins and hormones.
Mares always get a bad wrap and it got me wondering, are we, the HUMANS, the cause of the mares bad wrap?????
I decided to go through and check the ingredients of EVERYTHING in my tack room, no small feat and I actually gave up after only a few items. EVERYTHING had Toxins, cancer causing, poison control warnings, Endocrine Blockers, you name it, it was in the ingredients. I just used CDC and the Center for poison control to look stuff up, stuff I could not pronounce or even type! The worst were the cleaning products.
The SWAT Went in the trash, I developed a non-toxic salve (I like to call it TAWS since it is the Anti-Swat) and if you have read this far, the recipe is in the Three Snippets for you!
If you are interested in finding out more, click here to get my "3 Snippets of Removing Toxins from the Tack Room!"
Detoxing Your Tack Room SNIPPETS!
I have 3 mares, you know, MARES. I have one that has high liver Enzymes and COPD which makes things additionally challenging and has me on a whole new journey into the world of TOXINS and what is not toxic. My horses and I have been "Clean" for over a year now!
I used to have hot flashes, lots and lots of hot flashes but I fixed that. The horses have very mild cycles and all 3 get along great. I never have issues, feeding time, taking one or two of them out, they are always just calm and quiet. Truthfully, they are better than my geldings used to be.
Three weeks ago, I found a "STASH" of SWAT. I thought hmmm….I better use this stuff up. It had been a year since I had used anything commercial on my horses, I make my own. After finding the Swat, I just put a dab on their bellies for the no-see-ums. That was it….just a DAB!
24 hours later, I noticed pinned ears. 48 hours I had 3 horses in FULL CYCLE, Kicking each other and extremely aggressive. I also noticed that I was having hot flashes again, HUGE NASTY ONES. Was it possible that a dab of Swat could influence hormones that drastically????
The answer was yes, sadly, it was the SWAT That was fully responsible for not only mares trying to kill each other, but also for me feeling horrible and not even wanting to function! It took a full week for the 4 of us to recover. From TWO NIGHTS of a little dab of SWAT! That is what started my journey into Toxins and hormones.
Mares always get a bad wrap and it got me wondering, are we, the HUMANS, the cause of the mares bad wrap?????
I decided to go through and check the ingredients of EVERYTHING in my tack room, no small feat and I actually gave up after only a few items. EVERYTHING had Toxins, cancer causing, poison control warnings, Endocrine Blockers, you name it, it was in the ingredients. I just used CDC and the Center for poison control to look stuff up, stuff I could not pronounce or even type! The worst were the cleaning products.
The SWAT Went in the trash, I developed a non-toxic salve (I like to call it TAWS since it is the Anti-Swat) and if you have read this far, the recipe is in the Three Snippets for you!
If you are interested in finding out more, click here to get my "3 Snippets of Removing Toxins from the Tack Room!"
Detoxing Your Tack Room SNIPPETS!
There are so many places that I could start this part of my story. I have talked about the accident, I have talked about some of the things I have gone through, but I think I will start this part of the story with Taika. I lost my big jumper in 2013 and I just know that somehow, he brought Taika to me in Sept of that year. She was three and had flipped in the starting gate at the racetrack and fractured her skull and ended up with kissing spine (or the KS was the reason she flipped, we will never know which). Where did I start, where did I turn, what steps did I take? It was Daunting!
1. Fix the Physical!
My fear of flipping and her terror at flipping caused us to be a great match for an amazing learning journey. First things first, almost everyone really thought I should put her down. My heart told me different. I worked with vets/chiropractors and a lot of physical therapy exercises to heal her. It took three years but she was deemed 100% sound. During this time, I had learned a lot about horse training so I would be ready when she was ready to get back on.
2. Understand the training!
I found CJ Corral, Carson James, the Buckaroo Crew and through them I also found Warwick Schiller (and a few others). These trainers and supporters gave me the tools I thought I needed to enjoy riding again! It certainly helped. But, getting on and riding Taika again was petrifying. She was scared and I was scared. Just about every time I touched the left rein, she BOLTED RIGHT. We had a LONG way to go and a lot of fear to get over!
I had thought training the HORSE was the answer, WRONG....It is part of it, but not the WHOLE it.....we left out the most important part......
3. Healing our emotions! (Healing Taika's will be a future Blog post!)
Fear follows you, it hunts you down and surrounds you when you need it the least, or at least that is what I thought. Her fear, my fear, the combination was TNT. What I discovered was that I really needed both of our fear to GROW! I needed it to FIND my courage! I needed it to LIVE LIFE in the saddle again.
Finally, last August, I found the start of some help for me, my emotions! I had a lady help me with a process called Aroma Freedom Technique (AFT). My goal for the session was to enjoy riding again. The process we developed, was Thieves essential oil on the Left Wrist and Stress Away on the Right wrist. The left wrist gave me COURAGE, and the right wrist gave me CALM. This first step in the process of working on my emotions, was amazing and it STOPPED the Bolting Right, but I never understood the bolting right, at least not at this point.
I remember that day, the first day that we turned effortlessly left, the smile on my face was HUGE, and the relief in Taika, was palpable.
4. But was that all?
My journey continues. Emotionally healing takes time, effort, and most of all, it in and of itself, takes COURAGE. It is one day, one ride, one step at a time. It is understanding that emotions for both you and the horse flow, just like the tide, good days and not so good days. It takes courage to Not ride when things are not right, and it takes even more courage to NOT use FEAR as an excuse. It is a journey, and I have a long way to go on this journey.
I talk a bit more about my journey to emotional healing in a short Youtube video and it includes my latest breakthrough, for me, IT WAS HUGE. It explained the BOLTING RIGHT when I touched the Left rein, and it WASN'T WHAT I THOUGHT! To watch, Click here!
I love having support and supporting others with building Courage! If you haven't joined my FB group, Finding Courage, and are interested in a support community for Courage, click here!
1. Fix the Physical!
My fear of flipping and her terror at flipping caused us to be a great match for an amazing learning journey. First things first, almost everyone really thought I should put her down. My heart told me different. I worked with vets/chiropractors and a lot of physical therapy exercises to heal her. It took three years but she was deemed 100% sound. During this time, I had learned a lot about horse training so I would be ready when she was ready to get back on.
2. Understand the training!
I found CJ Corral, Carson James, the Buckaroo Crew and through them I also found Warwick Schiller (and a few others). These trainers and supporters gave me the tools I thought I needed to enjoy riding again! It certainly helped. But, getting on and riding Taika again was petrifying. She was scared and I was scared. Just about every time I touched the left rein, she BOLTED RIGHT. We had a LONG way to go and a lot of fear to get over!
I had thought training the HORSE was the answer, WRONG....It is part of it, but not the WHOLE it.....we left out the most important part......
3. Healing our emotions! (Healing Taika's will be a future Blog post!)
Fear follows you, it hunts you down and surrounds you when you need it the least, or at least that is what I thought. Her fear, my fear, the combination was TNT. What I discovered was that I really needed both of our fear to GROW! I needed it to FIND my courage! I needed it to LIVE LIFE in the saddle again.
Finally, last August, I found the start of some help for me, my emotions! I had a lady help me with a process called Aroma Freedom Technique (AFT). My goal for the session was to enjoy riding again. The process we developed, was Thieves essential oil on the Left Wrist and Stress Away on the Right wrist. The left wrist gave me COURAGE, and the right wrist gave me CALM. This first step in the process of working on my emotions, was amazing and it STOPPED the Bolting Right, but I never understood the bolting right, at least not at this point.
I remember that day, the first day that we turned effortlessly left, the smile on my face was HUGE, and the relief in Taika, was palpable.
4. But was that all?
My journey continues. Emotionally healing takes time, effort, and most of all, it in and of itself, takes COURAGE. It is one day, one ride, one step at a time. It is understanding that emotions for both you and the horse flow, just like the tide, good days and not so good days. It takes courage to Not ride when things are not right, and it takes even more courage to NOT use FEAR as an excuse. It is a journey, and I have a long way to go on this journey.
I talk a bit more about my journey to emotional healing in a short Youtube video and it includes my latest breakthrough, for me, IT WAS HUGE. It explained the BOLTING RIGHT when I touched the Left rein, and it WASN'T WHAT I THOUGHT! To watch, Click here!
I love having support and supporting others with building Courage! If you haven't joined my FB group, Finding Courage, and are interested in a support community for Courage, click here!
