Horse Stories

After a whole life with horses; I have a lot of stories! I've owned over 160 horses, known & schooled hundreds more... the big dogs were playing just now, raising a huge cloud of dust. I thought about a time way back when a friend's mare was to be used in the shooting of a TV ad for our renissance fair at the park with huge sweeping, hilly lawns. I was asked to help and arrived early that morning with the mare, Candy. A young man in knight's costume was to ride her and his lady was on her own horse (she was an acomplished rider). He, however, had never ridden a horse. I got him mounted (Candy was a big, sweet quarter horse) and tied a knot on each rein, telling him to hold a knot in each hand. We did the "pull the right rein gently to turn right, left to turn left, both to stop... etc." Candy liked staying beside the other horse, so the couple rode around the filming area and it was looking fine. The film crew and director had them ride down a hill toward the cameras, stop and stand beside each other and kiss. It was working! I was just behind the scenes, talking to Candy and advising the rider. When they were ready to film, the director called out, "Start the fog machine." Fog Machine!! Suddenly, a hissing sound screeched from the bottom of the hill and great billows of white fog with a sickly sweet smell rolled across the hills. My knees buckled as I watched Candy and the fellow trot, then canter down the hill into the fog with the lady right beside him, her horse doing a pretty decent passage! The guy was smiling ear to ear. Candy stopped right on cue. The couple kissed... I finally took a breath. It worked! Bless Candy, incredible mare. I was exhausted. It had taken the entire day. I watched the next week for the ad on the TV - it aired with scenes from past fairs and all of 5 seconds of the horses appearing from the fog bank. But, man, did I appreciate those 5 seconds!

Ride for the joy of it.

"Don't be distracted by criticism. Remember the only taste of success some people have is when they take a bite out of you" George Morris

Just for today, do not worry.

Just for today, do not anger.

Technically...

Especially in the United States (because this is my frame of reference), technology seems to have shifted the focus in humans to a world of service to the machines. With increasing "improvements" that create cravings for more and better machines, people have lost perspective. When I see people "texting" and driving a car, talking on a cell phone through an entire meal at a cafe or talking on that phone while riding down the trail on a sweet horse on a lovely day surrounded by trees and flowers that they never even see - well, I actually feel sorry for them; for all the parts of life and the real world that are never even noticed.

Gratitude

There is a strange habit most humans have of just expecting animals, especially horses, to fulfil the needs of the human - as if the animal should just innately know what those needs and expectations are. My mentor in Dressage told me (decades ago) "When you mount your horse, linger and thank him for allowing you to sit on his back". It was an important lesson, one that is not often taught. Gratitude toward the horse (or dog, goat, cow, etc.) is imperative if one wishes to be in relationship; in rapport with the horse. Simple domination can look impressive to the uneducated eye - a human standing on the horse's back with a leaf blower/chain saw/roto tiller or such loud, scary object engaged - and the horse, still and stunned simply accepting these indignities... what it may have taken over a few hours, days or weeks to "instantly" break the horse will surely have meant over-riding his fight or flight to the point of resignation... impressive to many because their own fear of horses makes such a feat seem a miracle of "training". Skilled handlers really can refine their techniques to the point where almost every horse they get their hands on can have behavior modification to the point of robot-like submission. I may be wrong - perhaps every horse breaker thanks his or her mount for their cooperation, but I sort of doubt it. Some of what I have seen has been pure domination in an aggressive manner. What I love to watch are the horsemen and women who are in rapport and obviously have gratitude toward and love for their horses. My favorite definition of love is: "Love is the active promotion of the wellbeing of the love object", E. Fromm. Someone who loves in this fashion is grateful, too.

"If you talk to the animals they will talk with you and you will know each other. If you do not talk to them you will not know them and what you do not know, you will fear. What one fears, one destroys." ---Chief Dan George

‎"Let us not look back in anger, nor forward in fear, but around in awareness." ~James Thurber

Healing

There are many ways to stimulate the innate healing abilities of a body. Should we be surprised that there is not just one method that works across the board? Of course not! To limit oneself to any single ideology or methodology would be the true extreme - No method would be the constant answer in every circumstance, year after year, decade after decade. Bodies are dynamic. A system that is in movement like this must have dynamic care and assistence. The ideal (in our estimation at Dharmahorse) is to have a consistent plan of nourishment that supports the four main bodies (physical, emotional, mental and spirit) and also a "toolkit" of modalities for treatment when needed (since imbalances are inevitable in this world right now). To Bring the Balance Back is our focus. Compassion is our motivation; Nature is our teacher and provider. The Elements of Nature hold the form for deep and permanent healing.

Riding

Align your own shoulders and hips in the way you want the horse's shoulders and hips to align. Keep shoulders parallel to the ground and look where you intend to go.

an important quote

Whatever problems come to us from beings or inanimate objects, if our mind gets used to perceiving only the suffering or the negative aspects of them, then even from a small negative incident great mental pain will ensue. For it is the nature of indulgence in any concept, whether suffering or happiness, that the experience [will be intensified by that indulgence. As] negative experience gradually becomes stronger, a time will come when most of what appears before us will become the cause of bringing us unhappiness, and happiness will never have a chance to arise. If we do not realize that the fault lies with our own mind's way of gaining experience, and if we blame all our problems on the external conditions alone, then the ceaseless flame of habitual negative deeds such as hatred and suffering will increase in us. That is called: "All appearances arising in the form of enemies."
-- Dodrupchen

Upcoming Workshops at Dharmahorse

12/18/2010 - Horsewomanship Workshop $40
1/15/2011 - Equine Phytotherapy Workshop $55
1/29/2011 - Water Therapy Workshop $55
2/5/2011 - Rain in the Desert; a fresh look at horse care $55
2/12/2011 - Holistic Dog Care Workshop $55
2/26/2011 - Reiki for Horses $55 / Reiki 1 attunement: $45

Contact: katharinechrisley@yahoo.com for flyers, details.
dharmahorse

Nasty Tasting Treats

Years ago, I had an orphaned colt who constantly "mugged" us for treats and didn't understand that he was a horse and not a human. I had made some herbal treats with peppermint leaf, chamomile, calendula, garlic, slippery elm and rosemary. The horses did NOT like the taste of them... so, thinking about this, I decided to offer a nasty tasting treat to Dharma Gita every time he demanded a treat or tried to nip (I'd push the treat in his mouth). It worked. He would seem pleased at first; then he looked distressed (like saying YUCK) and would spit out the treat. Very quickly he quit the behavior!

Chamomile Herb

One of our favorite herbs for horses - Chamomile supports emotional health by calming and relaxing when fed as the whole herb (fresh or dried blossoms) or infused into water as a tea for drinking and to pour over food. Chamomile helps heal mouth sores and relieve pain in the mouth. It is soothing to the stomach.

Connections

The way we feel about our animals connects us to an energy that transcends the obvious - we become family. We can sense when a family member is in trouble or is suffering. Through our compassion we strive to relieve the suffering, to support our dear ones and truly love them. My favorite definition of love is E. Fromm's - "Love is the active promotion of the wellbeing of the love object".
This kind of love; this lovingkindness, also connects all of us who live this way and we become a family; a Tribe of the compassionate ones.

A Matter of Perspective

My friend, Bert Gammill and I went painting a while back in the valley (I live on the mountain above, in the desert). We set up with the same view, after a rain storm. We painted very different pieces, as you can see! It's not just a difference in technique or medium or even of talent. We were each looking through different eyes. I saw the wet and the green predominantly because (I guess) I live in the desert and she saw the high clouds above sandy hills because the valley and the green-ness are always in her view. We painted the energy of the day. My painting is at Tatiana Maria Gallery in Silver City - where I had to explain that it really is a painting of New Mexico! I am profoundly drawn by this experience to see that others in my life have certainly seen things through different eyes as well. Maybe the negativity I perceived was actually just a different perspective, a different spirit...

the Journey

Tonight I was feeding the horses as dusk came and I remembered a little over 5 years ago when I was trying to live in an unliveable situation: In a shack on a hill without heat, without propane, no stove at all, no fridge, no water heater, electricity to 2 outlets (and water, at least there was running water..), a tarp for most of the roof (and it was winter) where rain POURED in and would fill up 8 muck buckets in 2 hours.... Anyway, I would look at houses around in the evening as I fed my horses back then (their roofs did NOT leak) and watch the neighbor's lights glow from inside through windows. It felt so scary and I would sit on the floor and cry, holding my little dog. Then I would fix her supper, then mine (on a hot plate). I heated water in a bucket with a cylinder water heater (from the tack shop) and took "bucket baths"... So, tonight, I remembered that time that strengthened me and it weakened me. One night we had 92 mile per hour gusts that made it too dangerous to leave in a car and I had to stay put, praying. We survived. I learned just how much I loved my horses and my dogs. I had a neighbor call the sheriff on me (and on other neighbors) regularly; another neighbor call me "trash" in a comment to a friend.
Can you just imagine how grateful and grateful and grateful I am to have my precious little farm now with a man who really loves me and horses who need me and dogs that I adore! And, unbelievable as it may seem, after I left the shack on the hill, I ended up in Arizona to help at a horse rescue where the management hated me! So, I worked in the fields of an organic herb farm commune for room and board; came back to NM to help a friend with cancer caretake her horse farm, then ended up at a farm where the owner berated me one minute and was friendly the next... in total "melt down", I held on to my dream for Dharmahorse, found a business advisor and an incredible realtor who went above and beyond to get us into this (to me!) incredible place.
I have had $73 to my name; I left Arizona in an old (really old) Jeep with everything I had in the world stuffed into and top of it - during a hail storm! And got to NM to discover that my tires had been recalled because they would blow out for no reason! I was protected always, cherished by the Universe is what it feels like. My little dog has been through all of it with me. I'm sure that she held me together dozens of times! - So, I thank her and my friends and my family, because I'm just so glad I never gave up on my life (and I sure thought about it at more than one point). And to anyone who reads this - hang on! You never know what good may be right around the corner.