Is now the time?

Is now the time?

There eventually comes a time. For some the time is sooner and others it is later. Your practice needs to change. Things are just not working for you any more. It is not that you cannot do “things” with the horse, but more that “things” just do not bring the satisfaction they once brought. It is a difficult time and for some, it is far easier to ignore the feeling of it not being quite right or you seek out and find someone or some other thing which for a time distracts you from the feeling of dissatisfaction. Yet, there it still is, a feeling of “not right”, but what is not right, you cannot quite say. This dark feeling is a door to the change in your practice. This is the moment when the confusion and discomfort can be overcome. It is the moment when you know you cannot do it, you cannot fix it without some help. Looking outwardly, you have not found the solution and looking within only heightens the darkness. Here is the time when you need a true friend and here is the time when you realize the friend has always been there for you. Who and where is that friend? It is the horse and when your heart opens, you find the deep listening you crave. The sun rises as you give up your doubts and start to find simple pleasure in a simple truth which is about harmony. The idea of harmony saves no one, but the experience of harmony saves everyone. Long before you can change anything, in a good way,...
Ponder that

Ponder that

So I took the “Ponder this” that I just posted and I did: I pondered it more deeply and wrote it out for you to enjoy (or so we hope): “Keeping dressage simple is only hard because of a belief in complexity. The desire for numerous complexities obscures the naturally present wisdom present in the horse. One is present and seeing two starts obscuration and yet one does breath. To, from, up, down, front to rear, rear to front, right to left, left to right and two diagonals are the ten directions. The circles blend the lines. Let movement occur and find harmony in what arises. The masculine and feminine always dance; join in, feel. Do not grasp with the mind or body. Find this dressage.Essence is always present. Details always abound. The reduction of the complex and the vision of simplicity in a myriad of details is why one trains a mind. Gentle and sacred grow and flow when the work connects to goodness in dressage.” Reflecting more deeply, we can see:This idea speaks to the opening of the mind and body to the horse’s movements.. This is not a contrived state, but an experience which arises from a proper relationship with the earth. It speaks to a fluidity which allows the joints to play (water).   When earth and water are dutifully balanced, there is a heating up in the horse and the element of fire appears.This fire is not emotional excitement, despite some similarity to it. It arises spontaneously from primordial confidence which appears as the element air.   The fire and air control each other...
A-maze-d

A-maze-d

The first step is to understand. It is being able to have a clear view. Vision is the gift needed before you choose to move. One must not only look but also see. We are given something precious and rare when the horse enters our life. Training and dressage are the journey to an awakened relationship within yourself and with your horse. Your dressage is a projection of your mind. As a projection, everything is transparent and workable. It is not the horse which is a certain way, but rather your certainty of the horse which is and this is what you are working with. The difficulty here is that when you change your mind, there is a delay in the time it takes for the horse to reflect such changes. Training is a series of steps which your mind makes. When the mind progresses in a classical manner, your dressage has at its root a symmetrical, geometrical and cadenced flow. Energies are not blocked in genuine dressage and they are danced with. When training is not classical, the work lacks a certain cohesiveness and horse lacks confidence and may demonstrate a lack of emotional stability. Because a trainer states that their work is classical dressage does not mean it is. Classical work in dressage is not a matter of stitching this and that technique together to find a workable progression which leads to be able performing a dressage test. Classical work is much more organic and is completely integrated. In it overall view is makes a circle which overtime manifest as a spiral. In addition to this holistic...
Formless wisdom

Formless wisdom

There is a formless wisdom nature which we share with the horse. Part of the way this manifest is through the horse’s natural desire to communicate and grow. It is the source of curiosity which only arises when fear abates. In this wisdom nature, beyond words and language is the feminine impulse to find community and communion in relationship. In dressage, as it is commonly presented, we see an over emphasis of the masculine principles. Control and domination, as well as the whole concept of oppositional aids are not just central to a dressage that has lost its balance, but a problem which reflects itself in our culture. To find openness, lightness and gentleness is not about a certain behavior, but a deeper penetration into the formless, feminine, wisdom nature. This wisdom nature is the cause which supports kindness, openness, lightness and gentleness in our work with the horse. Relationship and the subjective side of the horse/human existance is the sacredness of our mutual being. It should not and cannot be ignored in our work with the horse. A dressage which ignores or discounts that which appears formless manifests a sport which has lost the art. It is funny and tragic that in a time where women have virtually taken over equitation, that they should seek to emulate masculine qualities, when they should turn to their own feminine nature to secure a healthier and better balanced dressage. This classical and ancient riding that we try and share and teach is one which shines in the ancient divine mother without losing the details and masculine energies and in the balance,...