A year or so ago Hannah said she couldn’t even catch Maia and now she is developing her own full-on artistic equestrian show.
Hannah Rivard was the winner of The GoldStar Scholarship and every time I read anything of hers, I remember again why she was given that scholarship to our on line course.
You can read what she said about her journey to develop a relationship with her horse Maia at this link.
The voice of the divine in a bareback ride
Off to the west, thunder and lightning, but try as it might, the clouds could not fill up the sky with gray. In South Dakota, there is always more sky.
Today was the third afternoon of my bridleless experiment, riding without cordeo, sticks, whips, or anything but myself and my horse; I’d committed to ten rides in a row of this to see if bridleless long term is possible or should stay closed in the realm of the dreamers.
Maybe I’d keep the bridle off for a month. Maybe the summer. Maybe forever. I wouldn’t put any limits on what the Lord wanted me to do.
We face the west, watch the lightning, and Maia snorts into rain-wet wind. Why am I here, Lord? Why do I ride? What am I missing that is beyond just reins and saddles, trot and canter, oat hay and brome grass? There is more—I know there is—there is a reason we long to ride, to be united with the power and the beauty and the sound of hoofbeats in summer grass.
There is more than one reason, actually, but today, there is a specific one: I want you to hear My voice, He says.
So Maia and I set off again, and suddenly, thoughts flood through my mind—sit up taller, look ahead now, yes! and breathe and breathe and breathe. Maia loosens, breathes, and in just a few minutes, we had our breakthrough: long and low at the walk, stretching, forward, softly bent, and utterly, completely bridleless. I haven’t been able to reach that state of beauty on my own. Ever.
In itself, this is not new—to walk with God, to converse about my day and yesterday’s breakfast and the e-mail I’m supposed to send by 3 p.m.—but this is different, now, a God-guided horse training. I haven’t read about that in my books or heard that in my church.
But do you know what this is?
This is hope.
Me: Oh yeah Hannah – I know what that is. Guided by God or guided by the horses or both, it’s coming from a place of deep and profound connection – And life is good…
Lovely. I’m just totally and disappointedly miffed by her comment that she never read it in any books: seems to me she read all about what she’s experiencing in a book and in a program that quite obviously had an enormous impact on her horsemanship skills: Zen Connection by Jenny Pearce. It would have been nice to see her acknowledge with gratitude everyone involved rather than only The Lord.
I wasn’t miffed sunshine – I have noticed before that when someone really gets something all the way to their bones and it is sooo… much their own because of the very depth of that insight, that they don’t necessarily remember where the original thought came from. It’s just part of the depth of the experience itself I think, when someone REALLY gets it and REALLY owns it and as such it is a good deal…
I loved it that she had such a beautiful experience and am proud that we played a part in that.
Really well done Hannah, this is such a beautiful story, I loved reading about your success. Good luck with your exciting venture.