Mixed feelings have I concerning social media and I don't tweet. But, I do have an Exceptional Horsemanship page on Facebook (you should know that and go there and it wouldn't kill you to tap the Like button). This allows me to post a sentence or two about what's happening with some of the horses and people I work with to share training ideas and accomplishments, and also post pictures and lots of videos, some by me and some that I come across from others that I think you'll be interested in. So, what a huge bonus and delightful happenstance when someone shared this cartoon. Of course I snatched it!

It's by Kay Thornton - a dressage trainer in Australia. Of course I went on her website, Funny Horse Cartoons, and then, of course, emailed her. What a fab cartoon to go along with my Curbside Service, eh? I asked her if she would be willing to rustle up a frame or two for my "Balky, Balky, I Ain't Goin' " e-book that is nearing completion. And she said YES! I'm so excited! She has done 2 and they're on my fb page if you want to see them before the book comes out.

Here is the site to ask the FEI to do a better job stopping Rolkur   http://www.fei.org/contact-us  If you're unfamiliar with what this is, there's a bunch of stuff including video and more of Kay's cartoons on this terrible practice of horse abuse at even and especially, the Olympic dressage levels. This is a very easy page to just pop in your name and say please STOP! Having watched the DVD Classical vs. Classique (review and commentary coming in the November issue) the horses are going to be in trouble for quite some time as the FEI is solidly in the camp of Rollkur practices although they know it looks bad to admit it.

Horsemanship Alchemy

How to turn a thought in your head into horsemanship. 

If you've got a big enough why, you'll figure out how. Of course if you don't care, you won't 'waste' your time figuring out how your horse operates and how to operate your horse. Check out this youtube video. It's only 9 seconds and if you need to find it a different way, type 'rope jumping with a horse' in the search box. Now, I don't imagine I'll ever accomplish that as I don't have the motivation, but as soon as I watched it I started thinking about HOW I would go about training for that. What movements, skills, time, positioning (watch his seat and... does he have stirrups? Hard to tell, but... Maybe not!)

This horsemanship alchemy is leading to a new deal I'm working on that I think I'm going to call "Armchair Horsemanship". Because what you need for Exceptional Horsemanship must start in your head first.  

"Thought is the original source of all wealth, all success, all material gain, all great discoveries and inventions, and of all achievement."

What processes need to be examined? What order might the processes need to be arranged in? What skills are needed to have decent results? What skills are needed to correct both horse and person to achieve the desired result? What is a respectable time frame? Whose job is what?

This is gray matter work. Sit in your recliner or on the sofa, read and think. Ponder is one of my favorite words.

Have you thought about what kind of person you are? Commitment.

"What else" could be the problem? "What else" could be the answer?

Menniger Institute study says - Single most important quality that you can develop is flexibility. The opposite is rigidity. Unwillingness to change in the face of new info or circumstances. And new info may be that what you're currently doing is not 'it'. Be willing to change your thoughts!

I have an insatiable hunger to know everything about how a horse operates in mind and body. And I have this compelling urge to see people come to life with their horse. One of the most freeing learning skills is the beauty of "I don't know, but..." For heaven's sake just say it! It's so much easier to get on with figuring out what to do next. To stay on the cutting edge, you need to test and develop new and different techniques. And if it's new and different - YOU   DON'T   KNOW    IT!