Un-Natural Horsemanship

06/21/2025

Katherine Lowry’s Rider Pillar Program changed my life and apprenticing her in this work is a dream come true! It takes a village 💪 🙌💃
~ Chiara

06/20/2025

Fun facts about Éowyn

While her namesake is my favourite Shield Maiden, the name Éowyn is Welsh and it means Joyful Horse 🥹

She has a heart shaped marking on her left tmj and a faint star shaped like Africa right in the middle of her forehead 💗

She’s a two whorl mare 😇😈

She is an Irish Sporthorse out of my Stormcat OTTB. 🍀 🦄

She was born over two weeks late and came out with a full set of teeth and a full tail. 🐴

She had severe nerve compression of the brachial plexus due to birth trauma (most likely) and was presenting neurological by age 4. BTMM + LNRT resolved this issue completely!

While she has been receiving education since birth, at age 7 she has let me know that she is physically and mentally ready for work. Wild to think how if I’d had her 15yrs ago, by age 7 we would have been campaigning at Preliminary in Eventing and 1m20s in Show Jumping. Minimum. She is green under saddle. 🏫

She was born with Secretariat’s club foot. Sigh. 🐎

She likes to shake it to Kesha 💃

She enjoys belly rubs, aloe vera juice and chasing anything that moves 🏃‍♀️

I have no idea what we’re going to do together but I know it’s going to be a helluva ride 💫

06/15/2025

Thank you !! We had a fantastic time with you yesterday exploring mindful horsemanship with every day handling practices for nervous system health. So many big laughs, big releases and ah-ha moments for all of us! Helping horses and humans feel good in their bodies, full in their hearts and curious in their minds is our greatest joy. 💕

06/08/2025

Since I was a kid, I’ve ridden my horses bridleless. Thinking back, I am proud of all the cool tricks I’ve done with multiple horses in the neck rope- jumping cross country, basic lateral, lead changes, canter voltes, Spanish walk, etc. While I am not keen to undermine any of these achievements, I recognize now that while impressive, our movements were rarely (if ever) “correct” with proper balance and shape.

Takoda is the first partner I’ve had where I’ve emphasized maintaining balance and shape regardless of equipment and it has been immensely challenging. Any horse with a basic understanding of being ridden from the seat and leg can perform in a neck rope and while it’s certainly nifty, I wanted to explore how bridleless riding can highlight areas that are lacking clarity in our communication. The half pass has been particularly difficult-creating and maintaining proper flexion, angle and pace + track without the reins of a snaffle or bosal to aid in influencing these. We put in a lot of time working on renvers on a volte in the walk and this has really helped us to find where our bodies need to be and how we need to interface in order to achieve the movement of half pass. There are a few things I’d like to polish before taking this movement into the canter in the neck rope but y’all… progress, not perfection is the name of the game for me!

In my opinion, Dressage isn’t about judge’s scores or ribbons or flashiness, it’s about balance, harmony and partnership between two beings who are schooling beyond that of basic usefulness. How I open and close a gate is Dressage, how I handle the lead rope is Dressage and there are no limits except those imposed by my own imagination!

~ Chiara 💕

06/07/2025

🙌

This quote sums up everything I've ever tried to say about "behavior" and does it so perfectly succinctly in four sentences.

What's the best-case scenario? That instead of wanting to get revenge on children for the ways they act that inconvenience, bother, or annoy us, we start to soften. We start to see them empathetically. We start to genuinely feel our hearts change as we want to help them. Children who have been struggling, who have been hurting, who have been overlooked, who may not have any other adult in their life who's "on their team" start to feel seen and heard.

What's the worst-case scenario? That a child who isn't actually in any kind of distress manages to pull one over on us? That we miss an opportunity to get revenge on a kid for being annoying? I can't even think of one here that makes sense.

I think what we are *actually* afraid of is that the worst-case scenario is that our best isn't good enough. That our empathy doesn't solve everything for a child whose life is scary and stressful in too many ways...and that the child behaving like they're in stress becomes an adult behaving like they're in stress, and something scary in life could happen because of that.

It could. That happens every day. So we mistakenly think that maybe we can fix it by "getting back at" the child earlier in life...before our whole broken society, our whole broken world, can "get back at" an adult who does something wrong.

But that's not how it works. We don't have to preemptively break kids so that the world won't break them later on. On the contrary, when we tell ourselves a truer story about what the child is doing (they're stressed, they're hurting, they need help), then it becomes the story we tell the child about what they're doing (you're stressed, you're hurting, you need help). And when the child grows up, it becomes the story they tell themselves: I'm stressed, I'm hurting, I need help.

Not "I'm bad"

Not "I'm lazy"

Not "I'm a piece of crap"

Not "things are going wrong, yeah, I deserve that"
..but I'm stressed, I'm hurting, I need help.

And then they know, too, that there are people who can help. Because we helped when they needed it before.

(The quote in this meme was taken, with permission, from Greg Santucci, Occupational Therapist's original post here: https://www.facebook.com/gregsantucciOT/posts/pfbid0YEQGqFESGPrE29njC9ZSFZy9cmbCysrWxdoCBcJL14fPHSBEVbYfcC4UijP1VkbMl )

[Image description: A soft purple background with a white square in the middle with a quote on it that reads, "So how do we know if a 'bad' behavior is a response to stress? Just assume that it is. If we do, it puts us in helping mindset. If we don't, it's a revenge mindset." The quote is by Santucci, Occupational Therapist whose page is linked above in this post. End description.]

06/07/2025

Throwback to Buck Brannaman C**t Starting- Zak and Éowyn, first ride 💫

06/06/2025

Apologies for the grainy before and after photos (video screen shots from a virtual session) of the stunning Bianka! She and her lovely human joined me yesterday in the first of my BTMM Pillar One Support Mini Sessions!

Pillar One (Relationship to Contact and Connection) is the foundation for everything we do- helping horses (and humans!) shift into a parasympathetic state, finding softness in physical contact and balance + security in functional posture.

Note the changes in this mare from a 30min virtual session- softer eye, extension through cervical spine (open throat latch), more even weight distribution (finding centre of balance over all four quarters), elevated withers (engagement of the thoracic sling), beginning of release of brachiocephalic (under neck) muscle, better integration (pushing into the ground in the front limbs).

When we feel safe, we can relax. When we are relaxed, we can begin to be curious. When we are curious, we can begin to learn. When we learn, we can integrate changes!

Being a part of The Balance Through Movement Method has opened doors in my own horsemanship that I didn’t know were there and I am so excited to assist in bringing this revolutionary work to the world.

Already a BTMM member? Reach out if you’re looking for real time support in finding your P1 and inviting your horse to join you! Curious about BTMM? Reach out and I’m happy to discuss with you!

~ Chiara

From Bianka’s Human- “It was such a great experience. I have not had a chance to watch the video yet, so it is really cool to see the differences in the two frames. I highly recommend booking with Chiara. I was questioning if we were headed in the right direction so it was super helpful to hear that we are on the right track. Plus, she gave us some really great tips and exercises to add to help us find the relaxation and better balance.”