Rocky Creek Farms

09/25/2024

Here comes the welcoming crew🐴

09/02/2024

Sticky is feeling better and Oscar is practicing his riding skills🐴

08/20/2024

Sticky had foot surgery today. His sweet barn kitty, Oscar, is holding space with his hurting friend🐴🥰carrots and cuddles welcome while he recovers🙏🏽

08/14/2024

I saw a post recently where someone wanted to know how to teach their horse to let them spray their face with the hose. My first thought was to comment that they should first spray themselves in the face with the hose to show the horse that it's OK. 🙄 But seriously, I restrained myself because the world needs kindness added to it, not snarky-ness.

Most people suggested some form of desensitization where the person would gradually expose the horse to the water getting closer and closer to the horse's face until the horse would "let" them spray their face. ("Let" is in quotes because in most cases, horses aren't agreeing they're just giving up).

The person tried some suggestions and came back a few days later with a new post saying they tried but the horse threw up it's head and ran backwards and got really upset. The owner now wondered if perhaps the horse had been abused and how should they proceed if that is the case. Commenters were generally dismissive of the abuse question and proceeded to give more ideas on how to make the horse "accept" the water hose in it's face.

This whole scenario is a classic example of a horse clearly communicating that something is not OK and a whole slew of people essentially telling the owner how to get the horse to stop communicating--to basically shut up and do what they say. If you recognize that horse behavior is horse communication, you recognize that this is essentially what traditionally we've all been trained to do: the horse is says no (by throwing his head, backing up, or otherwise evading the water) and the people just keep asking the same question (let me spray your face) the same way over and over, often increasing pressure on the horse to give the "right" answer.

The owner in this case was curious about the reasons behind the horse's behavior--could the horse have been abused?--but the commenters dismissed their curiosity. Why do we do this? Why, as horse people, is our first response always about how to make the horse stop communicating (aka change their behavior)?

But, BEHAVIOR IS COMMUNICATION. Essentially we're telling the horse that not only should they stand quietly while we do something that not one of us would tolerate (a blast of cold water in the face), but they're also not allowed to let us know they don't like it.

We ask a LOT of our horses, often with little regard for what they would do if given the choice. Our horses are generous and give of themselves, often to the point of self-harm, and ask for very little in return. If you've made it this far you may now realize this post isn't about spraying a horse in the face with water. It's about questioning equestrian cultural norms, and learning to listen.

Can you teach your horse to "allow" their face to be sprayed with the hose? Sure, some horses even learn to make a game of it. But ask yourself is it really that important? If it is, consider how you would like to be approached if you were in your horse's position? Sometimes we do need to ask our horses to do things they don't like for their health or safety or our own safety. Just consider what kind of culture you want with your horse--a true partnership where the horse is heard and trust is built? Or one where the horse is made to obey and has no voice?

07/01/2024

Everybody needs a herd💜

My dad has bees.Today I went to his house and he showed me all of the honey he had gotten from the hives. He took the lid off of a 5 gallon bucket full of honey and on top of the honey there were 3 little bees, struggling. They were covered in sticky honey and drowning. I asked him if we could help them and he said he was sure they wouldn't survive. Casualties of honey collection I suppose.
I asked him again if we could at least get them out and kill them quickly, after all he was the one who taught me to put a suffering animal (or bug) out of its misery. He finally conceded and scooped the bees out of the bucket. He put them in an empty Chobani yogurt container and put the plastic container outside.
Because he had disrupted the hive with the earlier honey collection, there were bees flying all over outside.
We put the 3 little bees in the container on a bench and left them to their fate. My dad called me out a little while later to show me what was happening. These three little bees were surrounded by all of their sisters (all of the bees are females) and they were cleaning the sticky nearly dead bees, helping them to get all of the honey off of their bodies. We came back a short time later and there was only one little bee left in the container. She was still being tended to by her sisters.
When it was time for me to leave we checked one last time and all three of the bees had been cleaned off enough to fly away and the container was empty.
Those three little bees lived because they were surrounded by family and friends who would not give up on them, family and friends who refused to let them drown in their own stickiness and resolved to help until the last little bee could be set free.
Bee Sisters. Bee Peers. Bee Teammates.
We could all learn a thing or two from these bees.
Bee kind always.~
~author unknown
art: Autumn Skye Morrison

06/11/2024

This sweet big guy has been keeping us company♥️🐴

06/01/2024

Pat them. Pat them pat them pat them. If your horse even thinks about thinking about how to think about the thing you want him to think about, PAT HIM. Praise every right thing, all of the time.

DO NOT ‘make the right thing easy and make the wrong thing hard’.

JUST MAKE THE RIGHT THING EASY, and forget about any botched efforts or wrong answers. Don’t take it personally if the horse doesn’t get it right first time. He doesn’t speak your language. He doesn’t understand your ambitions. He doesn’t understand conflict through the lens of human interpretation. He just knows how to horse, yet he is willing to learn, adapt and change for YOU. Make sure you do the same for HIM.

Horses are the only animal on the planet willing to try for us and to give us everything they have, for absolutely no return for themselves whatsoever.

If you do not foster the horse’s desire to try, you will lose this most precious gift.

05/12/2024

Happy Mother’s Day everybody!

05/04/2024

There were times when I really struggled to be present with my horse. "Being present" is a term that gets thrown around a lot but is not so easily understood. For me, my active mind always got in the way. I was constantly thinking about what I'd done that day, what I had to do, what so-and-so said, what I wanted for dinner, what the people in the barn thought about the "weird" stuff I did with my horse, what I had to do at work tomorrow, etc. etc.

It was a constant stream of thought which I wasn't always aware of, but I'm certain Farletta was. I've encountered horses that find our constant mind babble distracting and even uncomfortable. It's really hard to turn off. But one of the many things I learned in my time with Farletta is the benefits of quieting my mind and being present with her in silence.

For me, one of the best ways to quiet my mind was to focus on Farletta's hair, to note the different colors, how they blended together, how her dark skin made an outline around the dark patches, how fine her hair was, how much detail there was in a simple "ink spot," how many shades of brown were in her bay coat, how I could see her pink skin through her white hair, and so on.

It's a very simple exercise, a meditation, really. It allowed me to clear my mind, silence the inner babble, and truly be in the moment with my horse. I noticed that my breathing slowed and soon was matching Farletta's. I would not be surprised if our hearts also synchronized.

I hope you'll try this some time with your horse. Make sure you're in a safe place and not in danger of getting run into or over by another horse. I'd love it if you shared your experience with me. Peace and Gratitude. Cheryl

04/22/2024

04/12/2024

Here are five lessons we learn from our equine partners.

🐴 Be Authentic. Horses do not know how to be anything other than who and what they are. They inspire us to embrace our authenticity and connect with the world openly.

🔮 Be Present. Horses focus on the present moment, reminding us to enjoy life's simple pleasures and find peace in the here and now.

👋 Let It Go. After a scare, horses can return almost immediately to their previous state of calm. We can learn from the horses how to do that as well.

🗣 Say What You Mean and Mean What You Say. To communicate effectively with horses, we need to be secure and confident in ourselves. They teach us to self-regulate our emotions and find our voice, verbally and nonverbally.

👨‍👨‍👦‍👦 We're Better Together. Just like horses find strength in their herd, humans thrive with healthy relationships. Horses remind us that support systems are crucial, especially during difficult times.

04/11/2024

Cool!

03/31/2024

Happy Easter 🌸

03/27/2024

Sweet spring moments…🌸

03/15/2024

From the perspective of a horse, we are not a diagnosis, we are partners. Horses have a unique way of sensing our emotions, offering a safe space for vulnerability and growth. In their presence, anxieties melt away, replaced by a sense of calm and connection. It's a reminder that healing isn't a solo journey, we all need a herd to lean on.

02/01/2024

Trust🐴