In this seminar we were working on changing what’s in the way of our joy and feeling like our horse’s hero.
If this is your first time here, you’ll notice that instead of providing generic answers which may or may not be right in each individual horse and person circumstances, that I lead people through understanding and using their Feel to get their own answers. It’s kind of like “teaching people to fish instead of giving them a fish”. š
This is unedited audio with all the umms and ahhs and pauses as we set 8 people up to receive their own answers. If you work with me as if this was YOUR session (see what that feels like for YOU) then you’ll get the benefit too.
I’ve opened up comments for this page, for extra learning and benefit.
This seminar has a range of interesting “problems” where I facilitated people to use their own Feel to get their own solutions:
Anna-karin has a horse who has been occasionally so aggressive with her other horses that he’s actually put someone through a fence. There’s a gorgeous story unfolding in her emails below the audio where she’s steadily understanding what’s behind his aggression and his behavior is already changing. When you set yourself up for the answer with your Feel for your horse like we do here, the answer can come in straight away like it did for some folk today, or it can unfold over time like it is for Anna-karin. Both are powerful ways of getting the understanding, the information and the change that we’re looking for.
Kelly has a new horse that she was having trouble with on hills. It turned out her horse was having tummy pain and Kelly worked her way through to a solution that will work for them individually. Someone else’s answer to the same problem will no doubt be be quite different. Her body’s reaction – her inner guidance system – was quite clear that her answer was the one that will bring her the change she’s looking for.
Catherine’s new horse is very different to the first horse she took through Fast Track. He’s pushy on the ground, very highly alert, kicks out a lot, even to the point of having a kick at her. She “saw’ that separation anxiety was at the root of it. Horses simply can’t co-operate with us to change their unwanted behavior or learn new things easily when they have separation anxiety as the foundation for everything that they do. It literally clouds everything else. Now that she’s consciously aware of where this behavior is coming from, Catherine can use the lovely Feel for her horse that she already has, combined with the specific lessons on Fast Track to solve that problem. It’s a skill being able to be in a clinic learning from someone else and still stay tuned into our own Feel. Part of the fun of the journey!
Holly was worried sick about her horse whose integration into a new herd went so disastrously the first time – he’d gone through a fence and got badly injured. The worry is simply gone now that she understands it and knows how to move forward with the integration with no pressure at all, in perfect timing. Knowing all the way to her bones that the opportunities will just unfold in front of them.
Dorothy – came in to the seminar intrigued by Feel. She was focused on her horse’s healing after dental surgery and needing to understand her worry which is simply her problem solving Feel in overwhelm. She was also bravely talking about her guilt. It’s fascinating to reflect that we don’t feel guilt because we’re a terrible person. The only problem with guilt is getting stuck in it – it’s simply guiding us to change or understand something important.
Maxine is new to horse owning with with 2 off the track thoroughbreds, trying to solve her own fear and upgrade her skills while building a relationship with these two new horses, one of whom is particularly difficult. She’s just joined us on Fast Track after the seminar, so she’s well on the way!
Julie has a pony who’s gone from happily reliable to her having several accidents. Now he’s developed the habit of doing nothing for her – not going forwards at all. I loved this one, which turned out to be a seat lesson to help her with her wonderful Caretaker horse, who was looking after her by not going forwards when her riding seat was filled with tension from the accidents. That accident tension disconnects our riding seat and in her case is stopping her from the beautiful riding they’d previously been doing together. We are masters here at helping people to release what I call the fright imprint – that accident tension. Julie hasn’t been in touch yet for the support I offered on the call, so I’m hoping she will be and I’ll organize a group lesson on getting rid of tension from old falls. It sounds like a lot of people could do with it!
Now you get to watch Anna-karin unfold and solve a problem with her beautiful Feel for her horse.
Here’s a sharing for you from Anna-karin in Sweden who’s an advanced student. She had a question in the seminar about her horse who was aggressive towards the other horses. You’ll hear on the audio how she went inwards to understand what was going on and to know how to solve her problem. Over the next couple of days the answer has been unfolding in stages (as it often does) and he’s already changed his behavior and softened. Her first email:
“Now to Elvis, the leadership is about that he hasnĀ“t been around soft “leaders” so he feels uncertain. It brings frustration and that builds up in him. He has to test the boundaries and Jeremiha is stepping away, instead of confronting him. Elvis is not used to that. ( He has been in a herd with stallions and after that with mares , and before he came to me he was going with two geldings. The previous owner couldnĀ“t match his energy. She is very energetic and want to ride out, and she felt he needed someone that is calmer and can give him the time he needs. The breeder used to wrestle him down when he didnĀ“t do as what was expected.
What I can do is to keep on working the way we do. Listen to him and build his confidence through soft and clear companionship. To show him that every part in a herd is important. Elvis is a horse that looks after lions and tigers. Jeremiha takes care of the herd and blocks or attack when needed, to keep the herd safe. Bizkaia is more of a controller, is it true that we need to run or it is false alarm. And those calm grounded horses is a bit frustrating to Elvis. And she is the wisdom.
Alaqai is more like Elvis, and I guess that Elvis understands.
I will sit with this a bit more. I feel that I am not done yet. There are more around when he got gelded and there are some tensions in him that have to do with him being wrestled down. No wonder.
Feels good to be here and joining the seminarš This makes me happy and fills me with joy, I just love itā¤ļøā¤ļøā¤ļø
Jenny again: Notice how the journey to the answer can be filled with joy as well? That’s what we here call “enjoying the journey”, which is a phrase that used to annoy the crap out of me cos’ I didn’t know how to. š It sounds like Anna-karin has a whole herd full of leaders in different situations. We certainly did at Rokeby too.
Her next email a day later:
“Yesterday evening the vagus nerve popped up.” Help me relax the vagus”
And that will help him relax around food.
Yesterday he carefully pushed the others from the hay pile, not as hard as he used to.
It is about connection, connection and connection. He wants smooth connection but he can’t help his outbursts.
I will pour me a cup of bullet coffee and there are more to comeā¦
When sitting infront of the fire with my cup, having Elvis on my mind I feel a strong tension where the neck is inserted to his breast. When asking what I can do the answer is that I just need to know it, nothing else.
It looks like the information will come in slices and soon I will have the whole picture.
Sitting with the thought of maybe it is enough that I just know š¤
But before my thought ended I herd “No, you will take action ” š
then later…
“I will start to work with his lymphatic system ā¤ļø And will be open for what will come next š
I have a feeling of stillness and joy in my body right now š„°š“
Jenny again: Feel this in your own body. Round your shoulders and kind of slump forwards a little as if you were feeling defeated. That’s compressing the vagus nerve, which has branches that affect just about every part of the body from our heartbeat to our endocrine system (hormones and brain chemicals) and digestive system.
When a horse has experienced conflict with a human as normal – what they perceive as conflict – they drop over onto their front end, kind of slump over their sternum and compress their vagus nerve too. Anna-karin was talking about how previous owners had “wrestled him down when he didn’t do what was expected” – that explains his “defeated” posture that’s squashing the vagus nerve and why her Feel is bringing her attention to it.
As Anna Karin works meticulously with her already superb Feel and his co-operation, with the joy together that they’re already starting to experience he can enjoy the journey back into the power of his own body. He’ll lift up his front end, his wither bones will open and his rib bones will expand from his spine, kind of lifting up. If she’s riding him his spine will feel like a string of pearls underneath her with each spinal bone able to “breathe” independently, he’ll start driving his power from the “engine” behind and he’ll unleash the vagus nerve for his overall good health and well being at the same time. Woohoo!
Today’s photo is Anna-karin’s beautiful herd in the snow.