...mostly like no one else!

November 2014
Exceptional Horsemanship Newsletter

 

EO's. What's an EO? Essential Oils. Highly concentrated aromatic essences from plants around the world. Could be roots, wood, bark, flowers, fruit and/or leaves.
So what! Who cares?
This story may seem a bit long, but I didn't think it was long enough to have a link and the Horsemanship segment below is not to be missed!
Going out on a limb here, I'd say a good portion of the population knows the story about the 3 Wise Men (yeah right, get serious! There's 3? Yes of course I'm laughing my butt off with that one, too!) bringing frankincense and myrrh to the baby Jesus. This is not religious stuff - this is medical stuff. There's a good reason and it's still a good reason. 
Two years ago, with tears running down my cheeks I realized that I was going to have to have my dog Lila (sounds like Leela) put down. She couldn't get up, she couldn't walk. I'd spent the past 6 months, going every week, dishing out hundreds (lots of hundreds) of dollars each time at the vet. I couldn't keep it up financially and to make matters worse, the vet's diagnosis and
recommendation was that I keep Lila tied in the house at all times and put her on pain meds 3 times a day. What?! Are you freakin' kidding me? Tied so she couldn't move... in the house... on pain meds... for the rest of her life... and she was 6 years old.
My friend Paulett (who I love dearly and am forever indebted) was into EO's', did some research and even went so far as to give me some cute little sample bottles of frankincense, helichrysum and lemongrass about a week prior. There they sat on my counter as I didn't have a belief in place to make it worth the effort it seems. My bad. But that evening, faced with taking Lila in the morning to be put down, I figured what the heck and put a drop of each on her back and hip area, carried her back to the cushion by my bed and cried myself to sleep.
As you can imagine, I didn't want to get out of bed in the morning. With dread, I swung my feet over and stepped to the rear of the bed as Lila got up from her cushion, went down the hallway, thru the house and out the doggie door to do her morning business.
Yes! All true.
We went to her already scheduled vet appointment - she told me it wasn't the oils. That wasn't possible, and that oils were only good for making her feel calmer. Right. There was NO other possibility. I continued putting the oils on her 3-4 times a day for months and discontinued the vet immediately. I still do it one time, 3-4 days a week, but the fact is, she's like a Benjamin Buttons pup getting younger all the time. She runs all over the place, in the pasture and everywhere and jumps up on the couches and plays with the grand pups when they visit.
I believe.
Even though I had told Paulett that I just didn't have time to get interested in even one more subject, I've had so many other oil miracles with myself, my husband, the horses, my daughter and son-in-law and friends. There is NO DOUBT about it. And I love having my shelves with all my favorite oils lined up on it just waiting to help and sniff. I love studying the subject.
Thought you might like to know, too. Because I don't want this newsletter to get too long, I'm thinking of sending a "Mid-Monthly Musing" occasionally (because I'm really busy right now), with more stuff including an 'Essential Oil of the Month". A heads up. I hope you enjoy and/or become a believer too.
Paulett got involved due to a family member's health issue that have also been miraculous. She's jumped in whole hog, is a great teacher and will be helping me with the info on oils when I post about them. So, if you would like to contact Paulett, I'm giving you her email here. I recommended she get one just for oil stuff so I wouldn't be giving out her personal one and she did:  durangooils@gmail.com  
I'll tell you the story of the Eye of Newt subject line next time, too.

Really, really looking forward to being in Kansas for several days the 2nd weekend of Nov. as I get to do an IMMERSION with Billy, Playboy and Red. I hope she has a stump!! ALL EXCITED! 

You can catch up on all the training ideas you've missed on the blog and don't forget the Facebook page if you want to keep tabs on what I'm doing with the horses I have here in training.
 
So... Are You Horseman Material????

I like the approach I call "Act as if". I expect things to go right and since I work with knuckleheads on a regular basis, much of what I do is a sort of first time in some way or other. But, so what? I just act as if we (the horse and I) have been doing it all our lives. Sometimes the horse buggers up and says "Hey! I've not done this!!!" And I say back, "So? We're fine. Carry on."
I took Beau on his first trail ride out in the desert. Courtney went along riding Black as she was visiting from Yuma. I wanted to see how Beau was and what to work. So, within a minute or two of mounting (from the trailer fender Curbside perfect, of course, which he aced) I steered us to a wash/arroyo where we could see how he handled dropping off a 2 foot edge into a really tight 2 foot bottom where I asked for a left turn so that we could have a better chance at a good step up the opposite 2 foot side. I didn't want him to jump the arroyo, hence the left turn on the decline. Well, he was a bit skittery when we were in the wash but, came out of it well even though he was still a bit skittery as we walked off. I was acting 'as if' and telling him to carry on, which he was. Courtney and Black came thru the wash and Courtney calls ahead to me, "Not bad for his first time, but I'm going to have to dock you points for the tumbleweed." I had no idea what she was talking about so I just continued on as Beau was walking nicely thru the desert shrubbery. When Courtney says, "No really, mom. He's got an entire tumbleweed stuck in his tail from the wash." HA!
 
She snapped a shot with her phone, then I walked him thru the creosote bush (another training opportunity) to get the tumbleweed out of his tail.

Why Courtney is the only person I ride trail with (unless someone is paying me a lot): After I went thru the brush, I pushed Beau (Missouri Fox Trotter) into a run. I'm using the word run, because he had no idea how to operate his feet with a person on him, in the desert, at a fast pace. Feet flying everywhere and in no particular sequence - it was terrible. I felt like I was in a cartoon and I had to push him faster and keep him going so he could find his way. It took quite a long distance for him to, little by little, figure it out. Plus, we were NOT on a trail so he had to navigate the terrain.
When I finally stopped, I turned around to see where Courtney and Black Diamond were. A ways back, they were just loping along, reins long and flopping as they caught up and dropped to a soft halt directly from the lope. Courtney sporting the best smile on her face a mom could want to see.
Neither one of them worried about whatever training I was needing to take care of with Beau. Didn't need to catch up or stay up or race up. Black is indeed a Diamond and I absolutely adore her. Of course the same goes for my kid, too. 
I don't need to ask her if she's okay with me bolting off. I don't need to worry about her. I don't need to tell her what I'm going to do. I don't need to tell her I'm stopping or going, left or right, fast or slow. I take care of what I need to train and she rides her own horse.
LIFE IS GOOD! 
If you'd like to create an ideal horse like Black, and WHO wouldn't!!! Surely it's gonna be easier for you since you probably won't be starting with a killer horse, check out her story here) give me a call or email me.
Please be a good shining light and forward this newsletter to your friends and tell them to sign up for their own. Click the purple  "Gimme" button on the website.
 
There's a difference between techniques and technique.
For exceptional results, think "how and how can I".
Upcoming stuff:
Nuance and accuracy. Beau and people stuff
Freddy's forward
Boundaries - Alfie/Black? Baby steps - not necessarily a baby step for your horse, just that people don't know the right moves and positions to ask correctly.
Accuracy - what does the movement look like? ex:  on the galloping bridge. Drift. Would you know what side of the balance bean you'll fall off?
Dressage Mastery
Asking your horse to do something way above his level and way above yours! 
 "awareness" - the need for calm.  maintain boundaries in order to create focus, both in yourself and your horse.  ladder jumping - the art of waiting   timing/feel   come
Managing space around other horses
Fear, fear, fear.
  • "You get out of the horse what you put in - the way you put it in." - Ray Hunt
Might Immersion  be a possibility for you to Advance your horsemanship? Accelerate your knowledge, skills and fun on a whole new level. Call or email me to schedule a lesson, training session, phone or email lesson/consultation today.
Don't forget to check the blog for more training and put in your questions and comments!

Sincerely,
ME

Lauren Woodard
ExceptionalHorsemanship.com
Lauren Woodard
Scottsdale, Arizona 85254