Mary D. Midkiff's Women & Horses Newseltter
Newsle    Newsletter ~ November 2010 ~ Issue No. 105
In This Issue
Greetings from Mary
Rita at 19 Months
The Focused Horse Demonstrations at WEG: Day One

By Mary D. Midkiff

NEW DVD!!!
 
DVD cover

All the steps you need to use The InBalance Horse oil blend, mouth massage and acupressure!
5 steps to maximizing preparing, training and enjoying horses. 

 
 

"Fly Lite absolutely LOVES your oil blend- in fact, most days, she looks for the oils. It certainly calms her down and relieves her tension (which she has quite often as she is a typical chestnut mare). We used it before we schooled cross country and it made all the

difference between the normal "jiggy, crazy" Fly and the one that WALKED around the course!  M. DeCarlo, Lexington, KY"


 Buy Now
-  -   -  -  -  -  -  -  - 

Fitness, Performance & the Female Equestrian

Fitness, Performance and the Female Equestrian
Buy Now

She Flies Without Wings

She Flies Without Wings
Buy Now




THE FOCUSED HORSE
The New DVD "The Focused Horse" is ready for shipping!

The 26 minute DVD includes demonstrations showing steps on how to apply and use "The InBalance Horse" essential oil blend aromatherapy, massage and acupressure techniques to calm and focus your horse, and English and Western saddle fit specific to the female equestrian.

$10 plus shipping or check out the W&H special discount holiday packages!
The InBalance Horse Essential Oil Blend for Horses
 
InBalance Horse
Calming the Anxious Horse...
 
 
with aromatherapy and the analgesic affects of this essential oil blend.
 

Time after time, horse after horse, horse owners and handlers are experiencing the magic results of The InBalance Horse essential blend for horses.  

 
 

Links to Helpful Websites:

 

Go to Saddles for Women on the website to get a free DVD insaddle fit information!
  horsemens lab
 


Clinics by Mary Midkiff:

 
I am currently updating my clinic details and information for 2011.
Inquiries please email me at [email protected] or call 502-552-1195.

I'd love to come work with you and your horses and find out what we can create to build your partnerships.


 Galloping horse animation
Greetings!  Back from the World Equestrian Games and ready for the new season.

The Games are over for now but the new "game" of creating a smaller, more intimate world horse community has begun.  WEG was an experiment for everyone involved.  For 16 days the international world of horses was meeting, competing and socializing in one location which had never been accomplished before.  The Kentucky Horse Park and all of the thousands of volunteers put everything they had into making this event welcoming, smooth in its operation and unsurpassed in its facilities.  It really worked!  Now we begin to watch for the benefits.

To summarize the event was magical. I was able to re-visit my childhood as I watched young girls play and talk ponies and horses day after day.  I met so many professionals from all over the world, introduced to breeds I had never seen and loved meeting many of you in person!

I hope you will follow from newsletter to newsletter insights, observations, questions and solutions to numerous inquiries around horses and the world they live in.  The resources, weblinks, experts, books and articles listed here will give you lots of options to pursue.

The Women & Horses newsletter stands for all horse and pony breeds as well as donkeys and mules, all disciplines and uses of the horse and wild horses. Past newsletters have been archived on the website for you to check out anytime and I'm always open to receiving your inquiries via email. 

Sincerely,
Mary D. Midkiff
Equestrian Resources
Watching race horses in the distance on the training track

Rita at 19 months


Background: Rita (as I am calling her now until she gets her official name) is a yearling Thoroughbred filly who has come to me to be prepared, trained and managed toward a performance career.  She is by Andromeda's Hero (by Fusaichi Pegasus) out of Blondzaway (by Skip Away). She is bred to race.

Rita's owners were told by her breeding farm's managers that she was "different." She was said to be wary of people, standoffish, suspicious, spooky, very hard to catch even in the stall and when confined, out and out crazy with panic. She was not going to work with any type of "traditional" approach to training her. She came to me on July 31, 2010. This column is news about her journey.

Rita's life force is getting stronger and more clear week by week.  We still have a long way to go before she is ready to start any kind of training but there are glimmers, coming more often now, of a performance future.

What I am learning about her is how determined she is to live!  She takes such good care of herself by drinking and flushing her toxins often, licking and licking her deep-mined salt rocks to take in whatever minerals she might need, standing quietly while I give her her remedies and waiting to eat only when I say it is okay. Out in her pasture, I ask her to stand with the lead rope over her back and not eat until I am finished picking out all 4 feet.  This way I know she is safely square on all four and using her balance correctly.

She is also reminding me what it is like to have an adolescent student.  She really wants to play with me and it is just not something I can allow her to do with me or any human until she is 100% respectful of my boundaries.  She likes to rear on occasion and wants me to play the game and I have to tell her it's an impulse she has to learn to control.  I watch her eye as I lead her and we connect deeply.  At some point she lets go of that impulse and releases a deep breath.  Now I know we are safe and she is with me.

I met Rita's mother, Blondie, last weekend and I learned a lot more about Rita in doing so.  Blondie is known to be shy, wary, very hard to catch, head shy and anti-social.  I walked out into a huge field of broodmares and sure enough the minute Blondie saw a human she turned the other direction and walked off.  I noticed two mares pushing her, especially one mare who clearly had Blondie under her thumb.

I asked a farm worker to hold one mare and my husband the other which released Blondie to be on her own. At that point I began slowly walking toward her and telling her that I was Rita's caretaker for life. I explained I was just visiting and wanted to connect with her. She finally allowed me to come right up beside her. I kept very low and stopped.  We were at a stand-off and she had one leg and her head poised away from me ready to escape.  I waited in this bent over pose until she let out a deep breath and her eye let me in. I grasped her halter and stroked her head telling her all about Rita.

At that moment in time, I felt honored that I had been let in and felt that she appreciated what I was doing for her filly. We shared our deepest nurturing feelings of what it is like to have your life involved in protecting others. Here's a photo of us together having mother to mother conversations.

Blondzaway with Mary9-10
Mary with Rita's very pregnant mother.

When I saw Rita the next day I told her all about my visit with her mother and her half siblings. She seemed accepting and I felt at peace knowing how much she is loved.


The Focused Horse Demonstrations at World Equestrian Games

Each day of the three days I was asked to provide demonstrations at the World Equestrian Games, was an adventure.

The Maker's Mark Secretariat Thoroughbred Retirement Center (www.thoroughbredadoption.com) based at the Kenucky Horse Park provided me with two lovely Thoroughbred horses for my daily demonstrations.  Suzanna Thomas, the center director and her assistant Melissa De Carlo (also the adopter and owner of the mare) organized and managed the horses in order for them to be a part of WEG and my presentations.

Ferdy, a fifteen year old gelding son of Kentucky Derby winner, Ferdinand and his girlfriend, Fly Lite, a 10 year old mare were led into the large breed's arena with hundreds of people watching in the stands and an announcer booming on the PA system.  They were both alert and especially Ferdy was bouncing around with head held high.

It was evident to me right then that he was the protector of this mare.  It was his job to watch over her safety. I chose him to go first for this reason.

I introdced my program, and went right to work showing how you can naturally shift a horse into focus.


2 demo horses

Ferdy and Fly checking out the audience

 

Ferdie start
Getting started with Ferdy
Ferdy Step 2
The InBalance Horse oil blend application


Ferdy Step 3

Relaxation and acceptance begins

 

I always allow time inbetween my release work for the horse to feel, think and process what is going on.

Within the first 15 minutes of the first day Ferdy was shifting into a peaceful and comfortabe state of mind.  He became more and more manageable as I continued into the mouth massage and acupressure work.  I only had 30 minutes with these horses and I really wanted to make a difference for them and their handlers.

Ferdy STep 4
Ferdy stretching out


Ferdy Step 5
Mouth massage next step with Ferdy
Ferdy Step 6
Release endorphins with mouth massage techniques
 
Ferdy Step 7
Ferdy stretching from the poll
Ferdy Step 8
Using acupressure for release


Ferdy Step 9
Ferdy letting go
Ferdy Step 10
Ferdy releases all tension


Ferdy Step 11
Suzanna takes Ferdy for a walk after our session. In front of hundreds of people Ferdy let go of any anxiety or tension through natural techniques and The InBalance Horse oil blend.


Mary conversation with WEG crowd
Q&A time with a curious audience ends Day One
Day Two and Three will be featured in my next newsletter but in the meantime go to the website and watch for updates in the WEG album.  We are downloading lots of great photos from the event.

I love hearing from you and your horses.  Let me know what's on your mind as we enter the cold months and the holiday season.

Many thanks to Cara Stewart for taking these great photos.
Happy Riding!
 Mary D. Midkiff
Sincerely,
Mary D. Midkiff
Equestrian Resources, Inc.