Oops

On my last posting, I decided to send my email link of the post to my email addresses under "animal lovers" - some of these email addresses were given to me with the understanding that they were "share-able" and I could send the occaisional item on to them. Oops. I have apparently offended one lady, so there may be others that are outraged as well. I am so sorry. It was not my intention to cross a line. I try to live in integrity (as all of you who know me know well). I just want to help animals & support my company and my family. If there are those of you who I have offended, all I can do is apologize. I deleted every email address from the group in which her address was included. This way, it will not happen again. I pray that no one else accidentally receives something from me that offends them - but it still could happen. If it does, I promise, it is not done intentionally to offend!

Peace, K.

Discounts at the NP Store

Now through May, all items at the Naturalpaths Store are 10% off! Jerry, the horses & dogs and I are moving to our own little horse farm mid-June and need all the help we can get for the moving and helping with Susie's ongoing healing and Vet bills, etc. We appreciate every purchase! The Ebook downloads are full of healing and communicating information. The Art shirts and tiles are of the highest quality. The Equine Herbal 1st Aid Kit is created and assembled fresh when the order is placed and the Boundary Halter can help keep a horse from jerking away from his handler. We love what we do and are excited about this opportunity to create our own sacred space for our work! Please help us by sharing this information and by taking advantage of the 10% off at www.shop.naturalpaths.org just enter the coupon code mayday when completing your order.

Equine Art Tiles

Our Dharmahorse painting has been professionally reproduced on 6X8 inch ceramic tiles with a satin finish. They are just beautiful and available from www.shop.naturalpaths.org

Equine Art Shirt

Our Dharmahorse painting has been professionally reproduced on black cotton T shirts that are for sale at www.shop.naturalpaths.org

Happiness runs in a circular motion

I've been thinking about circles & spirals lately. In our Dressage, we use circles to straighten the horse. Only by stretching the outside of the horse's body by bending him (evenly in each direction, never doing "more" to the stiff side), can we release his ability to stretch both sides as he swings his back and moves forward under the burden of our weight. It is by this reaching or stretching that his body can become "straight" in it's path. This also refers to being straight on a curving path - this means that his left hind hoof follows the path of the left fore hoof and the right hind follows the right fore! Work on "two tracks" (which is actually work on 3 or on 4 tracks in most cases!) or "lateral movements" are deliberate deviations from that "straight" path and are used to further stretch and strengthen (like YOGA) the horse's musculature, spine and topline. These improve balance, strength & suppleness! If someone thinks that Dressage is just "riding around on circles", they have missed the point of providing a foundation that is smooth and graceful rather than sharp and abrupt. Simply turning a horse's neck & head does not create stretch or softness - it does command submission. But Dressage asks for more than mere submission. For articles on Dressage and More, go to the Articles page at www.dharmahorse.com

Spooky

I was told, decades ago, that there are only two things a horse will spook at... Things that move and Things that don't move.

"Light within us all is a tangible reality. Molecules spin and spiral with 'handed-ness' in specific ways, producing light! We must shine it on the scary places inside and see them for what they really are: things that move and things that don't move." -K L Chrisley, from "The Well Being of Pets and Companions".

Love what you do.

We may not all be dressage STARS, but every one of us can SHINE!

Stretching increases Suppleness

Quote:

It takes a lot of courage to release the familiar and seemingly secure, to embrace the new. But there is no real security in what is no longer meaningful. There is more security in the adventurous and exciting, for in movement there is life, and in change there is power. -Alan Cohen

staying grateful

I've been thinking about my life lately. I've known what it is like to have 78 cents to my name and to be Vice President of a newspaper corporation. I owned my own business at age 18 and had 2 more schools of horsemanship through the strange stream that is my past... I had a dangerous wind whip my car and trailer into a long fish tail to jack knife in the mountains north of Santa Fe that scared me so much I vomitted, but nothing was harmed and there were 3 trucks full of men and a winch behind me that pulled my rig out of the ditch. I've been stuck in a deadly snow storm on Interstate 40 with my Mom in a 30 year old pickup truck going 15 miles an hour with ice covered windshield and no visibility - to make it to Santa Rosa and have one motel room left at 3:00 AM and a restaurant still open (!)... I have guardian angels. I have stood beside beloved horses, beloved dogs and even people as they died and was honored to stand by them. The first time I rode a Harley, I rode it from Las Cruces NM to Roswell, through the mountains of Ruidoso in December with ice on the roads... with my legs so frozen that I fell over each time I stopped! I want to publicly thank my guardian angels - for these and SO much more!

Aromatherapy

It used to sound strange, but now it is an accepted, effective therapy for people and animals to heal the mental body and bring comfort to the emotions. Pure essential oils extracted by distillation are used for their scent (aroma) and added to sprays, diffusers or just placed a drop or two at a time, onto the horse's chest or withers... or mixed with a carrier oil (olive or grapseed) at a 1-30 ratio and a few drops rubbed into our palms to smell or on a dog's back. Do not use essential oils on cats - they are too sensitive for direct application! Use only non-toxic oils (lavender, sandalwood, bergamot, ylang ylang, frankincense and patchouli are suggested) and never use on babies or on pregnant beings. Scent is used for the mental body.