LBI vs. RBI/RBE

Elly took those two pictures yesterday. How very characteristic for those two horsenalities...
Milva - COOKIES???
Trollet - I´m not really here, you are not really here...no one can see me...

Free Your Soul...

It is not that I am against competition. It is just that I cannot support it as it exists today. Correctness is never forced. Forward is not mindless running. Aids are not mechanical devices used to compel the horse's submission to the illogical will of a rider hypnotised into a rule driven obsessions.

Where is the kindness? Is fear and avoidance of pain all that is needed to train a horse? Is winning the result of buying the most expensive horse? Competition is something I cannot afford. The price of admission is too high. It is not the money (and there is that) but hidden cost to your soul.

I have chosen to free my horse from my ideas of correct and explore its happiness. My greatest happiness now comes from my decision to do this. Upon making that choice, I find it funny that the horse ends up looking like a dressage horse and performing high level work.

I favor competition which is a playful banter among friends whose love for the horse is placed first and who sees test taking as what it is; a silly ritual devised to give one something to do with the horse when you lack the imagination and education to hold an intelligent conversation with a horse.

Now, as I read this, I can see how this could be seen as a bit mean but that is not what I intended, it is just I lack enough imagination to say anything else.

RBE vs. LBI

Trollet is a RBE I found out. I did have my suspicioun but of course I had to play the seven games first to be sure. It took 10min of catching game before I could put a halter on Trollet than we played with touch-it and the seven games. While I played the catching game Milva performed her own circus show in the pasture next to Trollet - everything for cookies. Too funny! I took my little lib for a walk afterwards.

Day1, getting to know the herd and lots of undemanding time with me. Trollet is not very interested in human interaction yet. Pretty flighty right now and nervous, definitely more right than left brain. Doesn't dare to do anything or express an own opinion - but coming from a traditionally dressage stable that's pretty normal. It's gonna be very exciting to find her true inner self...

Trollprinsessan has arrived

LBE-hästar.....och nej, Milva har inte mutiert till en LBE ;), men det är Prim - Peter´s häst ;)

De luskar ut vilka dina regler är och sedan utmanar de dig.

Det betyder om du inte har några relger kan de inte hitta något att haka upp sig på och spelet är slut.

Left brain hästar är dominanta, de utmanar ditt ledarskap varje dag och hela tiden.

Många undrar om deras LBE hästar någonsin kommer att lugna sig och blir lugnare. Vad tror du?

Kom ihåg att vi pratar om en medfödd karaktär, precis som i mänskliga karaktärer, så svaret är: ABSOLUT INTE!

Antingen kommer du att få fram det bästa ur din häst eller det värsta.

Här kommer några regler som människor förväntar sig av hästar och som LBE-hästar älskar att utmana:

Jag förväntar mig att min häst ska vara....

-lugn

-lydig

-medgörlig

-känslig

Hmm....det låter som motsatsen av vad denna häst med sin fria själ tycker är roligt!

Om hästen hade haft en T-shirt, skulle det stå "Född att utmana" på tröjans framsida och på baksidan "Du är inte min Chef".

Desto mer du försöker få din LBE häst att bete sig väl, deste värre bli det!!

Men desto mer du uppmuntrar honom och stimulerar hans nyfikenhet, desto känsligare blir han och desto mer bjuder han till.

Men det kan vara svårt för oss människor att ha med dessa hästar att göra eftersom att vi har våra egna agendor.

Nyckeln till en LBE häst är att lägga din agenda åt sidan för en stund.

Ge hästen vad den behöver så kommer han att ge dig vad du vill ha.

Det finns inga regler - bara principerna ;).

"Children should be taught to respect animals -- circuses, rodeo and equestrian sports teach the opposite, there are no educational values in seeing such magnificent animals reduced to performing tricks or being forced to jump colored poles. It is vital for children to learn empathy, or the ability to put themselves in someone else’s shoes. Events in which animals are forced to put their life in danger or to perform demeaning tricks teach the opposite." ~ Cloe Lacroix, NHE Representative in Canada and Dean of School

The attitude of justice is effective - Kathy Baar

It sounds simple and we know our attitude is vitally important on our horsemanship journey! Then, why, does it sometimes feel so hard to carry out the attitude of justice?

In my path of helping humans learn about natural horsemanship I am often repeating the need for the ‘attitude of justice’ while demonstrating a technique or concept with a horse. In answer to this statement about ‘justice’ I am greated by blank stares or nodding heads with little to no change to how the student is handling their own horse. What I have discovered is that this response comes from a core difference in belief on what “justice” and “natural” actually mean. So, I’ve looked up a simple and concise definition from Wikipedia to help us get on the same page:

Natural – “existing in or caused by nature, not made or caused by humankind.”

How interesting! . . . What does it mean to be natural? Often when people hear the words natural horsemanship they think, “oh good, I can think great thoughts about my horse and they will do what I want just because I am thinking it” or “I will never have to become effective to be understood and my horse will become a willing and safe partner”! Somehow when people first hear of ‘natural’ their minds travel down a thought pattern of believing that actions no longer have consequences. However, if you take the quote above and think about things in nature – things “not made or caused by humankind”. How many actions in nature do not have consequences?

If, for example, an ant colony gets lazy and decides not to go out to gather food, what happens to the colony? If a horse herd leader can’t outthink a predator, what happens to the survival of the herd? If the herd picks a leader that isn’t aware, effective, and smart, what happens to the herd?

Just for the sake of argument let’s say that same herd chooses to have no leader, in fact every horse is equal and has a chance to “voice their opinion”. Now imagine, this herd full of mares, foals, yearlings, and a stallion ranging all the horsenalities LBI, LBE, RBE and RBI. They are all eating grass happily enjoying their equal opinions and contributions. They hear a rustle in the trees. The LBI’s say, “oh it’s probably nothing, let’s wait and see what happens”. The RBI’s say “ “ (nothing – they have frozen for the moment). The LBE’s want to go check out what made the noise, maybe they can play with it and the RBE’s are running circles around the herd, they want to leave but don’t want to leave the herd. At this stage they agree to have a meeting to discuss what should be done about the rustle in the bushes and who’s opinion they should follow. After several minutes of deliberation they have come to the conclusion that they can not act on any ONE opinion and are better off not reacting at all so as not to offend the horses feelings that were voted down. So, at the end of a lengthy discussion they have chosen to do nothing. This time the rustle turns out to be a squirrel and everything is fine, but what about next time when it is an approaching group of wolves/lions? Will the herd loose a few members? Does this system really work in nature? Of course not! The herd needs a leader, right or wrong the herd can follow the leadership and have a better chance of survival. It makes sense if you think of nature. Nature has laid out a perfect system, one where without humankind intervening their feelings and opinions the species survives.

Now here’s the interesting part, somehow humans have decided that our way is better and that everything should adapt to suit what we ‘think’ is best. Some examples of this specifically in the horse world range from not allowing horses to interact with each other; so they won’t get hurt. To never allowing horses to experience consequences for acting inappropriately in the human environment, until they are so uncontrollable we have no choice but to put them down because they endangered themselves and others. Perhaps we should put children in a bubble wrap suit with an air purifier mask and have them walk around in a little bubble. This way they can’t get hurt, they won’t get any germs and the bubble will protect them from getting to close to other humans, just in case the other humans say something ‘mean’. Also, the bubble will protect the other children in case the perfect little angel is mad and feels like hitting or slapping someone. Sounds perfect doesn’t it? The funny thing is that to some humans this does sound perfect, this way we can control everything that happens to the individual and be sure no one is ever hurt, but is it natural? Is it natural to keep horses separate from their own species? Is it natural that their actions have no consequences in our human world, until it is too late (doing more later instead of less sooner)? Is it natural for humans to think we know more about what horses need then horses do?

To me the attitude of justice isn’t about punishment it’s about cause and effect. If you touch a hot stove – you get burnt. If you stick your hand in a fan blade – you get whacked. If you don’t look and pay attention to where you are going on uneven ground – you fall. Plain and simple – no emotion involved, it is just natural. It is the most natural part of learning. Cause and effect is how we learn. If you text while driving in traffic you could crash – simple, no emotion, if you choose one path/action there are reactions put into motion.

When I talk about being effective with horses and using the attitude of justice all I am saying is to be natural. Sounds simple, however, this doesn’t mean that it will be easy. Many humans get into habits of living and ways of acting that are supremely unnatural, this can cause the shift to becoming natural again challenging. To be successful this new and natural journey must be filled with thought, decision and purpose. One doesn’t just wake up and say “I’m natural” and then go about their day as usual. Becoming natural requires a conscious choice and many choices along the path until natural becomes our new way of being, of living, until it makes more sense than all the other ‘stuff’.

In the end studying natural horsemanship may be a different picture then some had originally envisioned but if you are dedicated to becoming truly natural, it is a never-ending journey worth taking! One filled with discovery, awareness and a feeling of peace to experience “existing in nature”. The horses give us a window with which to peer in to the world of natural. The love for the horse gives us the motivation to go against the flow and learn how to become natural. The attitude of justice is intrinsically natural horsemanship. If you can remember and internalize what natural truly is, your horsemanship journey will proceed with more smoothness and fewer stumbling blocks. So, if you endeavor to take the journey, keep ‘natural’ in mind and see what unfolds!

Mm...Tomorrow...

Horse first want to feel safe, They want to be happy, healthy and want things to be easy. So do we. 

Each of us feel that we are the center of the universe. Life turns around us. So it is that the horse feels this way too. 

These are most basic things that we have in common with the horse. We all can see and acknowledge that we share these basic things with the horse but the horse only knows that we share these things by our behavior.

Show by kindness that your respect of these common things. Be generous, gentle and consistent so that through good intention you prove to the horse the truth of who you are and that we are together.

Think of how to be like this in all of your actions. From this behavior a wisdom of goodness will show itself in you which will find reflection in the horse.

This way of being will manifests as a lightness and the beauty of self carriage that then will manifest itself in your work. It is when heart, mind and body are aligned and held in kindness that this arises. This is a dressage to be proud of.

This month study :)

Horse Lovers Weekend

Winter Fun

Kisses

Morgon Mys

Helping Patricia to take out the horses in the morning and then we chit chatted about the world. The social part in a collective stable sure is of advantage. Gonna solve all the world's problem at 0700 a.m  ;).

Trakehner Horsemanship

Wintersunday - à happy one

Mudprincess

Well, I still can´t blog from at home but at least it´s working from work now.
Johan outdid himself again with those two pictures :).

AHHH...it work´s again...Stablegirls...

I couldn´t get access to my blog for a little while now, that´s why I didn´t update anything.
Lots of things going on in my life...
The deal with the Haffi went through unfortunatelly. He still has no passport and it doesn´t seem that he gets one anytime soon.
Sooo...,..
I had the great opportunity to buy a Quarter stallion. He won´t be a stallion very long though...lol...
He deserves his own post though so I will write more about him in a bit...
The new stable is so much fun and I totally love the girls there. Well, I knew all them from before but I didn´t realize how much I have missed them.
Milva is really happy to be with Orkan again as well and Nelson and her are big boddies.
The only downside are the pastures but Milva will be going with Nelson on summer vacation so that´s all settled and good.

Söndag Morgon...

Har du någonsin frågat dig själv varför du gör det du gör? Varför tror du vad du tror på, varför arbetar du med det du arbetar, varför bor du som du bor etc.? Tänk om du har fel. Jag säger inte att det är fel men tänk om du har bestämt dig för något du tror är bra men det kanske inte är det. Tänk om du skulle ha fel.

Precis så tänker jag om allt det vi har i hjärnan. Någon har sagt att vi inte sk...all tro på allt vad andra säger och jag vill påstå att det är likadant tvärtom, vi skall inte tro på allting vi säger till oss själva. Ett av de största hinderna till att uppnå det vi vill är att vi inte tror att vi klarar av det. Det handlar alltså inte om att vi inte klarar av det utan att vi har tillåtit hjärnan att tro att det är så och därmed begränsa oss. Det är lätt att hamna i det trygga, i mellanmjölkens land.
Vill du att folk skall komma till dig och säga: Det är så bra med dig för du är så vanlig och precis som alla andra? Troligtvis inte men samtidigt så är det så lätt att hamna i det facket och inte våga sticka ut. Så vad kan du då göra annorlunda? Här kommer en liten fråga som du skall svara på.

Låt säga att du och jag träffas om fem år. Vi träffas helt plötsligt ute på stan och jag frågar dig:
1. Vad gör du annorlunda idag jämfört med för fem år sedan.
2. Vad är det du gör idag som du även gjorde då?
3. Om vi träffas om ytterligare 5 år, vad är det för skillnad i ditt liv då jämfört med hur du har det idag?

Ta några minuter och fundera på dessa frågor och bestäm dig för vad du vill kunna svara på frågorna. Det som är så bra med denna övning är att oavsett vad du kommer fram till så sätter det igång processer i hjärnan och det är en bra början. Även om du inte vet hur du exakt skall kunna uppnå svaren på frågorna så är det viktigaste att du kommer igång. För att komma igång skall det till förändringar för att uppnå målen/svaren.

För att komma till en förändring så måste du antingen börja med något eller sluta med något. Om du inte börjar eller slutar med något så kommer det inte ske någon förändring. Du har alltid 100 % ansvar för ditt liv. Om du lägger några av dessa procent hos någon annan så är du offer för omständigheterna. Det kan vara när vi skyller på allt och alla. Det fungerar inte. Vi har alltid och kommer alltid ha 100 % ansvar för vårt eget liv.

Så vad skall du nu svara på frågorna och utifrån det hur skall du rensa i röran för att komma dit? Jag vet att du kommer lyckas för om du kan läsa detta så lever du och lever du kan du alltid ta 100 % ansvar för ditt liv.

Gå ut i livet och ta ansvar för det som händer dig. Bli mer medveten om hur du kan påverka dina resultat. Låt aldrig någon trampa på dig och ge aldrig aldrig aldrig upp.

Lycka till.

Torkild Sköld

En dag i stallet...

Hittat Hem

New Stable

Om man tänker efter en stund kan det hända att man kommer fram till ett mycket viktigt beslut - Nalle Puh

Hemligheten för dig som har för lite tid över – Sluta gnäll och gör något åt det!

Hemligheten för dig som har några kilon du vill bli av med – Sluta gnäll och gör något åt det!

Hemligheten för dig som har ett tråkigt sexliv – Sluta gnäll och gör något åt det!

Hemligheten för dig som känner dig ensam - Sluta gnäll och gör något åt det!

Hemligheten för dig som vill komma i form - Sluta gnäll och... gör något åt det!

Hemligheten för dig som har många idéer men som inte får dem förverkligade – Sluta gnäll och gör något åt det!

Hemligheten för dig som har drömmar som aldrig blir uppfyllda - SLUTA GNÄLL OCH GÖR NÅGOT ÅT DET!

Ur: "Hemligheten som löser 95% av alla dina problem" av Stefan Ekberg.

Fairy Pearls in Milva´s mane ;)

Packed up all her stuff today and loaded it in the trailer. Tomorrow we gonna drive all her belongings up and then on Wednesday she is gonna move.

Trailerloading must be exhausting...

Tired...

Sleep through a storm - author unknown

 "A young man applied for a job as a farmhand. When the farmer... asked for his qualifications, he said, "I can sleep through a storm." This puzzled the farmer... but he liked the young man. So he hired him. A few weeks later, the farmer and his wife were awakened in the night by a violent storm ripping through the valley. He leapt out of bed and called for his new hired hand, but the young man was sleeping soundly. So they quickly began to check things to see if all was secure. They found that the shutters of the farmhouse had been securely fastened. A good supply of logs had been set next to the fireplace. The farmer and his wife then inspected their property. They found that the farm tools had been placed in the storage shed, safe from the elements. He sees that the bales of wheat had been bound and wrapped in tarpaulins. The tractor had been moved into its garage. The barn was properly locked tight. Even the animals were calm and had plenty of feed. All was well. The farmer then understood the meaning of the young man's words, "I can sleep through a storm." Because the farmhand did his work loyally and faithfully when the skies were clear, he was prepared for any storm. So when the storm did actually break, he was not concerned or afraid. He could sleep in peace. ~ Author Unknown

Yeah....;)

Kissable Chunky Monkey

Sneaky Quiet Walk

I thought  Milva to walk very very quiet today, like a sneaky walk without making any noise and having her head low so we can hide. Don´t know what to use it for really but she totally got it and as soon as I started to sneak so did she and she put in alot of effort not to make any noise - too funny! So in case we need to flee one day we can do it without making any  noise - just need to work on the speed ;).

Fjällräven Polar 2014 - please vote for me :)) - you can do that by liking the videoclip

http://www.fjallravenpolar.se/polar-2014/visa-alla-bidrag/?uid=208321