Kirklee Farm

01/10/2024

Our first official clinic at the new farm will be a bit different than our usual Immersion Clinic! We will be joined by Reiki healer and medicine woman for an intimate equine facilitated Reiki workshop. Learn about diving deeper into an energetic and spiritual connection with some of the greatest teachers we know, the horse.

After the workshop, participants will enjoy an intimate lunch where we will then discuss the importance of energy connection in what we do with our horses as well as everyday life.

Spots are very limited so please PM for more information and registry!

01/09/2024

We made it through winter storm Finn relatively unscathed. I checked cameras throughout the day and our boys did so well. They were happy to get back to roaming when the rain moved out though.

01/09/2024

We gave the boys a couple of scoops of RepleniMash with some ViaCalm as we were prepping for the storms coming through tonight. I’ll add some to their morning rations too. Calm and hydrated is the name of the game.

01/07/2024

Small wins and whale butts

I find my adult students come in two distinct types…
1.) those who celebrate small wins, and
2.) those who constantly say, “Well yeah, BUT….” every freaking time I point out any progress or anything that’s going well. “Well, yeah, Buuuuut,…” is a mouthful, so I’ll call those “Whale Butts”.

Lisé is the epitome of celebrating Small Wins. I mean really small- if she went 1/4 of a circle further than last time, she celebrates it!!!!
I used to actually get secretly annoyed that the wins were Sooooooo tiny- like, come on, ask for a little more! lol. But here’s the thing, because she celebrates those tiny minuscule wins, she can get them easily and she’s practically addicted to them. She sees every ride as a success, so why wouldn’t she want to come back and do it again, and again, and again? Now she is at the point that every single barn day she will manufacturer some small win. Sometimes that means she hops on any other horse any chance she gets. Maybe it means she rides outside the arena and simply goes a different place than she did before, or includes some trot this time. It means she keeps track of exactly how long she was able to hold a soft feel in the canter, and therefore knows exactly how long she has to hold it to make an improvement today. That girl is always smiling, and even if it’s tiny, every day she makes an improvement in her riding- AND IT ADDS UP!!!!

So what about us whale butts? If I tell a Whale butt rider, “Hey, you rode some really accurate circles today,” the response is going to be, “well yeah, but my seat was a mess!”
“well yeah, but I didn’t have him on the aids!”
“well yeah, but it’s only taken me 6 years to figure it out!”
Why would a whale butt rider want to try something new? In their mind it’s going to be a potential failure instead of a definite win. If a small win rider does something new, that is already a win!! If they have absolutely any success whatsoever, they see that as an additional small win and now have a tale to tell! For the whale butt rider if any little part goes wrong, the whole thing was a failure.
Stop whale butting!!

01/06/2024

This is a new venue for me.

01/06/2024

I am so proud of our boys this morning. They didn’t want to come to the copse to eat breakfast and I don’t blame them; it was pouring. So, I girded my loins and prepared to do battle to ensure that Ben got his breakfast. Ben’s nerves got the better of him and he opted to stand just outside of the shelter partially under the overhang.

Mando barely even looked at Ben’s bucket, much less tried to run him off of it. And Ben didn’t immediately yield when Mando did look up.

They both got lots of praise for their bravery and good manners as well as a few extra cookies.

They’re growing up 😄

01/05/2024

01/05/2024

We refreshed on lunging this evening with Michele.

01/04/2024

01/04/2024

I got to wondering last night why the farm chores take me so long?

This morning while I was picking poo from the run in I realized that it’s taking longer because our husbandry has improved. Gone are the days of just tossing out a bale of coastal and filling the water trough and being done. We fill hay nets, we put alfalfa in the corners, pick the poo and discarded hay from the paddock daily. I haul hot water from the house to the trough on cold days. We rinse the feed buckets and pans after every use. All of that takes more time but makes for healthier horses, humans and the farm overall.

01/04/2024

I’m constantly having to remind myself that it doesn’t take a chunk of time but it does take a lot of time 😉 and intent.

I also have to remember that this is not the first time I’ve changed my life, mindset and habits and I am very good at that.

How to train with minimal time:

I’m of the mind that quality, consistent work ten minutes here and there is far better than an hour or two on the weekend. Everybody’s schedules are crazy, everybody has stuff going on, and probably everybody feels guilty all the time for what they’re not doing.

I have a busy life too. It can be hard to prioritize my own horses, but I’ve had several teachers essentially grab me by my shirt collar and emphasize with gusto how important my own horses training is- and so I present to you my secret plan for short sessions with quality

1- have a plan going in. I don’t mean decide exactly what you’re gonna do, because life happens and you have to work with the horse you have in front of you. But have a plan to give this session your all- to be 110% present for ten, fifteen minutes. No distractions. And calm. If you shoot for 110%, you might hit 70%, and that would be a great success. Get your head on straight, then go in to the pasture.

2- focus on quality in everything. How much care can you invest in putting the halter on? How did your horse feel? How nicely did they lead? How much attention can you give to brushing in a way your horse likes? How well did they stand at the mounting block, how much attention to detail did you give picking up their feet with softness? These things matter, and add up.

3- focus on being smooth and rhythmic. The more I can get me and my horse moving in a smooth, rhythmic way, the sooner the distractions fall away, the sooner my horse breathes and calms, the sooner every thing gets awesome. So get that rhythm!

4- if things go wrong, as they can do, backtrack to something easy. Spend your time building successes, so find something you can do well and quit on without eating up your whole evening being frustrated.

5- be happy with less. Don’t expect flying changes in ten minutes- be happy with breathing, be happy with standing still, be happy with moving nicely, be happy with moving at all. If you have minimal time, your expectations should fit the bill: small and simple, and learn to get happy with less. Resist the urge to do it one more time, keep that greed monster away and accept what is fair to accept.

Photo by Jasmine Cope

01/03/2024

John didn’t get home from his 9-5 until nearly 10pm last night. I had to wake him early this morning to help repair the paddock fence. At least no vet bills were incurred during last night’s adventure. 🤦‍♀️

01/03/2024

We had quite the little reversal in the paddock tonight. Ben was a little on the testy side while Mando behaved like an angel.

01/01/2024

I know that first photo looks like it’s subject is Ben but it shows so much growth and progress by Mando. Just Saturday he threw an absolute fit about me working with Ben and here he’s just snuffling away while keeping a close eye on us.

01/01/2024

It took Ben about two minutes to figure out the target. He’s smart as a whip.

12/31/2023

Just yesterday I said to our farrier that Mando really likes being around laughter. He becomes so responsive and light.

It turns out the old adage about horses being able to smell your fear might actually hold some truth. But it is not just fear; horses can also pick up on your happiness. I’ve included one research study and two articles inspired by other such studies below, with the piece from the Paulick Report being particularly interesting because of its interview.

One thing this had me thinking about is the fact that traditionally, it is believed among some of the equestrian population that a horse sensing human fear will either become fearful themselves or try to take advantage of a fearful rider or handler. This viewpoint seldom considers the possibility of a horse expressing empathy. Yet, many of us have seen instances where horses behave gently and protectively, especially towards vulnerable children and adults.

This raises an interesting question about the nature of a horse’s emotional intelligence and their ability to not just sense, but also interpret and respond to, human emotions.

As we continue to research this fascinating aspect of equine behavior, it is worth considering how our understanding of, and response to, their emotional reactions can enhance the way we train, care for, and interact with horses. Their reactions to our emotions are likely as varied and complex as horses themselves, reflecting a depth of sensitivity that deserves our attention and respect.

I am not sure how researchers can go about measuring depth, range and nuances in emotions vs things like fear and happiness but I am interested to see them try.

https://paulickreport.com/horse-care-category/can-horses-really-smell-fear-yes-and-thats-not-all/

https://equimanagement.com/research-medical/equine-discrimination-of-human-body-odors-fear-and-joy/

The study:

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-023-30119-8

Another really interesting study which explains amongst other things how horses use their olfactory (smell), audio (hearing) and visual (sight) senses to channel positive or negative stimuli to the specific brain hemisphere most proficient at processing that particular emotional content. Recognizing which ear, nostril or eye a horse uses in any given situation can help a horseperson get a better read on how the horse feels and respond accordingly.

https://theses.hal.science/tel-02360897v1/document

©️𝘾𝙖𝙧𝙤𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙚 𝙇𝙖𝙧𝙧𝙤𝙪𝙞𝙡𝙝, 𝙋𝙧𝙤𝙪𝙙𝙃𝙤𝙧𝙨𝙚 𝘾𝙤𝙣𝙣𝙚𝙘𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙨,2023

12/30/2023

Thursday we worked at moving one hoof at a time with Mando. After he and John Kirk got all four feet over the pole he got a pellet reward and about 30 seconds. We then moved him away from the area at a working walk and reconvened for the humans to chat and recap the session. After some time, I dunno, maybe five minutes he started releasing. Big releases. Those tongue wagging types that people love to post in photos and videos. He was initially tense when we brought him home but he’s increasingly becoming more relaxed and happy as we to continue to work at a reasonable pace and give him time and autonomy too.

“Because you gave them the time”

Time is a gift.

Time is irrelevant, actually, but that’s more than I can get into in this post.

Horses have shown me just how much of a gift time is because it’s something I offer to them in whatever measure they need—and I mean it.

It’s become a running joke when I tell my husband when my work day will be done, because I never really know for sure.

Folks sometimes like to say that my visit with their horse is a “spa day”, though I find they consider it that less and less.

Because much of the time, it’s actually a sort of deep awakening, sometimes it feels like a bit of an exorcism.
At the very least, I’m reaching into things that are very physically, energetically and emotionally restricted.
Bits and pieces that have been hiding away, tucked in the shadows, manifesting as chronic lameness, digestive problems or some other issue.

It’s not commonly a picnic, especially in the beginning.

But I give them time.

Time to soak on whatever they just let go of.
Time to stand in their bravery of doing so.
Time to move on.

I wait until they’re ready for more.
They always tell me.
Sometimes it’s a moment, sometimes it’s 10.
Sometimes I work on a pasture mate and come back to them when they’re ready.

Giving them time is so important to me.
It’s healing in and of itself, to feel recognized in something truly unconditional.
All they have to do is show up.

It’s a revelation for owners, even though most of them have already begun the journey of slowing way down and listening to their horse.
They see how much participation is required of their horse during a session, they see them do hard things, they see them get to the other side of it.
They see them bask in that and feel better in their body.

“But it’s because you gave them the time.” they say.

What an honor it is to be able to give it freely.

12/29/2023

The 2023 Wrap-Up on the USEA Volunteer Incentive Program Leaderboards

12/29/2023

We had our training session with Michele Arana from Instride Equestrian tonight and I was so eager to show what Mando and I accomplished the other day. So eager, in fact that I was rushing and couldn’t replicate the feat. 😣 So we worked on moving slowly and asking Mando to move one step at a time. It’s harder than it sounds, for humans and horses.

12/27/2023

It’s Honey Cat’s world.

12/25/2023

Christmas time on our tiny farm.

🎄Merry Christmas 🎄