Heidi Lorenz Equestrian Coach

11/07/2024

https://mindfulfilms.org/inproduction

The story of a friend & horsewoman Caryl Richardson who developed terminal cancer and a movie developed the picture of her journey to deaths door. Click the link to read more about her incredibly journey dealing with terminal illness and how she gracefully faced cancer, life and sadly death. Mindful films is a service to those facing this outcome too. Please show your support. Peace to you all. ❤️

11/07/2024

Fun with mini's! There is no end to the fun this little mare provides...she engages with me & is motivated...she really wants the treat & I love how she will virtually try anything to gain the reward. Beautiful girl!

10/28/2024

https://youtu.be/3ulkLHqHZ3g?si=toWo5P55G6xKMU9A

Amazing film, honestly a must follow through and watch!

08/11/2024

03/15/2024

Great quote I’m revisiting Zen Mind, Zen Horse

“When we clear our minds, we free ourselves of the collective flaws that will fill up our daily lives and befoul our thinking.”

Alan J Hamilton MD, ‘Zen Mind, Zen Horse’

03/15/2024

Training has had a back seat these past winter months. I have trained with playing simple games like target (touch the target on command) & circles around me (keeping a bio-mechanically correct posture while circling in both directions), liberty play (HI Forequarter yields, HQYs, mostly to keep the horses keen and relaxed while I have focused my attention in some other areas of life. I have been teaching myself video editing, which means playing around with short video clips that I had filmed sometime ago learning the basics. We are talking very simple here and this here is a clip of young Isabelle whom has always been super communicative & willing to 'try' anything to get the right answer (ie. treat). Short & sweet...not any color grading techniques under my belt yet (fair warning)!

02/12/2024

What better thing to do on a cold winter day than play with my miniature horse Isabelle or Iz for short. This young mare is bright, eager & always ready to figure out what I might want in order to garner a yummy treat.

12/29/2023

My farm filmed by Sam Sacks of Wormtown Productions.

11/30/2023

Positive versus negative reinforcement - the divisive trend that causes articles to go viral and heated arguments between advocates of each side. In my own journey, I have explored both approaches and variants thereof, and what has occurred to me is that we seem to be focusing the divide in the wron...

09/02/2023

After training Chani this morning I figured she had enough to think about & I casually played with Gem. He's had health issues for several months & we were playing around with some liberty (on a loose line) & Chani decided to join in! Hey, it's a mess and totally unintentional. Chani joined in because she wanted to. I can see the start of something here...liberty with multiple horses!!! 😄 And, I'm not ignoring Isabelle's attempt to join in too...I simply have to get some coordination here myself around having three horses wanting to play!!!

08/31/2023

Chani LO TS

Today, I submitted my LO TS. I submitted not because I think I can pass. I submitted because I showed up, because I made the effort to increase my skills, & because I want to help my horse & myself to become more balanced.

I recognize my tendency is to work too much & my wheel can become unbalanced & that’s OK. The great part is I see this tendency of mine! I also recognize that I feel more balanced when I take the time it takes to train with my horses! I feel better when I create that time for myself & my horses. I mean I love to paint, I love to isolate & hide in my studio all hours of the day! However, I don’t like spending periods away from communicating with my horses through our training sessions.

So, this morning I got up while it was still cool & damp from the night air. This morning I introduced Chani to longeing. The hope of passing my TS is not why I submitted. I submitted because there is a deadline for submission & I want to follow through with what I start.

I see at 38 secs I failed to check Chani’s balance from the side view & she is too much in her shoulders. She tells me this when her forward down is sticky & I fail to rebalance her & it’s OK (I’m getting a lot from this little short video).

At 2.25 min in I have another opportunity to rebalance Chani & to help her in her forward down & again I fail. (Fail Fast Forward, remember? This is great news). I also notice I am not precise in my giving notice to Chani when a halt is coming. So, I see she pushes forward & her hind falls in. I notice we are not parallel to the camera which can make evaluation more difficult for my evaluator…another opportunity for more precision.

At 3.42 Chani falls in when I send her out on the right circle. Note: Chani is left bended & balancing to the right is more difficult than when traveling left. Chani needs more support from me, a little touch of the shoulder to rebalance her. I notice her tempo slows when sending her out too. She’s just telling me she’s not sure, she’s unbalanced! But, she is figuring this all out pretty well. She is so polite. She stops easily and swings her HQ outside the circle. We will work on correcting this. I don’t correct her here, I simply put her back a little. This is awesome for her first attempt at longeing. What a superstar!

At 5.06 Chani seems surprised at me sending her away & when there is distance she falls in toward me.

At 5.19 What do you want? (calming signal, nose to ground?)(licking & chewing). At the halt she swings her HQ out & tries to look toward me. I step toward her to prevent that. Reward, this is not perfect! Our wins today :- I showed up, I charged my camera & it worked, in the walk Chani has a beautiful tempo, I submitted a TS, we beat the bugs & heat, Chani had her 1st intro to LO….we did great! Oh, & I took the time to analyze the film & recorded what I saw so I can learn & grow!!! YES!!!

08/10/2023

WEAR PATTERNS

This past week, I had Saxon Alexandra, a Structural Integration Therapist, staying at the farm here to teach me about myofascial work and help me learn some exercises to get my hoof rehab cases here to the next level of soundness.

We spent days exchanging knowledge- both about bodywork (from their end of things) and hoofcare (my end of things).

Something we talked a lot about was wear patterns on the hoof, and how telling they can be.

Any time we take a video, or watch movement, or assess a horse, we are noticing just a moment in time. Even when looking at hoof landings, which I love to critique, those landings are influenced by footing, energy level/impulsion, topography, etc.
Even range of motion and flexion in a limb can vary depending on so many factors and variables.

But wear patterns on a hoof can tell you the predominant way that hoof is landing and loading over days or weeks.

Seeing a steep and flared side of the foot can tell you how that foot is distributing ground reaction forces and load.

Noting wear at the toe, point of breakover, thinner areas of wall, etc- it all tells a story.

I was telling Saxon that I often make my trim decisions based on the story I am reading from the foot. We make informed decisions based on wear patterns, comfort level, posture, movement, depth of collateral grooves, health of frog and wall and sole, but also conformation, past injury, environment, diet, owner involvement, etc.

And sometimes, we are wrong. Sometimes we make a decision and we don’t know until we come back to the foot X amount of weeks later to see how that foot responded to our decisions, and how the wear patterns changed- or didn’t.

When we see patterns perpetuating, we know that it most likely is previous injury, conformation, diet, metabolic status, comfort level, or even potentially the “wrong” suggestion we are giving to the foot with our trim. This almost always encourages me to critique my own work but also push owners to pursue diagnostics and bodywork.

The amount of information we can see from appointment to appointment, from the wear patterns and subtle changes in hoof growth and morphology, is amazing. It’s something I’m constantly learning more about, and it’s also allowing me to grow in my trim choices.

Do you notice various wear patterns with your personal or client horses? Does this inform your trim decisions or make you seek out bodywork or further diagnostics?

06/02/2023

There are many reasons for wanting to start straightening our horses. I started my thoroughbred Gem because he was flightly & nervous & it was clear he needed something. Well, it turns out a structured system of exercises to help balance him was the ticket. He was always nervous in his surroundings. You see, despite his mature age he was a green horse who had no formal training after his track days. I learned ,by teaching Gem the fundamentals of straightness training that his balance increased not only physically but mentally too. My current goals with Gem are to continue ST as maintenance to keep him fit & flexible into old age so he might live out his days here on my farm as a dignified, gentle & calm horse.

Attached is a quick look guide you can use to start teaching your horse the most basic of warm up exercises. The goal is to get you all on the path to a balanced horse.

05/28/2023

I want to think about being honest about our goals with our horses. What do I mean about being honest? I suppose what I mean is do you have a goal & is that goal attainable with your knowledge & skill level. I can truthfully say when I purchased my first horse my only goal was to have a horse. I wanted a horse because physically seen I have always had an attraction to the horse's grace, majesty & power. That fascination alone propelled me to seek horses out whenever I could. If ever I heard the clip clop of hooves you know my eyes were glued on that horse until it was long out of sight. At age 13 as soon as I was able to earn my own money it was spent seeking out horses. Later, as an adult I was exposed to the race industry vicariously through my sister in law, a jockey & trainer. I realized then my potential of owning my own horse. The first horse I owned was a thoroughbred re-named Chance. He’d had quite a long race career & boy was he beautiful! He had arthritis & was no longer useful on the track, so he retired to my sister in laws farm & I was thrilled to have him. I thought I knew horses & in reality I didn’t know much at all. I had ridden on them, mostly group trail rides through the forest. My goal then was to simply stay on the horse. And, that is exactly what I did. I didn’t realize those trail horses were solid & what I now recognize as ‘bomb proof’ or ‘push button’ horses. So, owning an ex-race was an entirely different experience. My first ride out on Chance he spooked as his tongue went over the bit & there I was face in the dirt. It was human error; the bit was not correctly fitted & I wasn’t prepared. That experience shook me & began a long & rather slow process to seek out more knowledge of the horse. Fast forward 27 years & I am still seeking knowledge & understanding. My goal now is still to stay in the saddle although there is so much more than that. I have gotten to know myself & I get to know the individual horse I am working with. I sought out understanding the horses nature & herd dynamics. I have studied operant & classical conditioning. My goal today is to guide my horses into physical fitness to support longevity & to reinforce mentally stability & I respect the horses opinions. I am mindful not to always be ‘doing’ with them…I allow not doing. I take the time to simply sit or hang in the pasture with no expectations. I may sketch them, fix fencing & allow them to interact if they wish. I don’t always make it about my desires, I allow them space & a choice whether they want to interact with me or not. My life with horses increases in breadth & width daily & by increasing my knowledge I have started to create a really beautiful partnership with all my horses. It is a heartwarming & enriching way to be. I wish I had learned this way of being sooner although I’m extremely grateful to be where I am with my horses today! It’s never too late to create a stronger bond with your horse.

05/27/2023

In the spring I imagine all horse lovers are excited to work their horses after the winter months. Here in New England, it can be difficult to exercise our horses. I have no indoor arena although I do have a friend dedicated to my mission and plows an area so I can work my horses! The only deterrent could be ice and the short days, the cold though rarely stops me. Spring is longed for and once it arrives I’m reminded of the other tasks needed in order to train successfully! In early spring it is the perfect time to work, cooler weather, solid ground, no bugs and if you wait until late afternoon you can feel the warmth. Later spring the warming trend is felt in the late afternoons & with heat comes black fly season! So, again, I adjust training schedules to help beat the black fly and I set a schedule for 6am. I left training until 7am yesterday and it was on the verge of being too late. I managed to work two horses and complete a few sequences of exercises before the flies woke up and it got too hot. So, what is my point? I guess if one prepares for the regular and sometimes irregular patterns in life, the ebbs and flows of nature, and is conscious of what to expect we can all set ourselves up for success with our horses. After all, I have found going out to train in a mist of biting black fly is going to produce a failure. I can’t concentrate and my horses demonstrate their discomfort too. So, I’ve learned to accommodate for the seasons. Summer will be here soon and so will the mosquito so I set the training back another hour to 5am.

I’d love to hear how you plan your schedules around working with your horses so please feel free to share. Any great products you might use to help with flies, mosquitos, ticks in your barn. I’ve generally stuck to making my own fly sprays using essential oils, building fly traps out of old plastic bottles…but, what do you use?

05/26/2023

I have been writing in a journal regularly & I have wanted to write publicly about my horse adventures for at least a year, probably longer. I wondered what to write & realized it doesn’t matter what I write, this is for my benefit, a record of events, a diary of interactions with my horses along the way. &, if there are others that could benefit from my story then all the better. I have no expectations. I simply want a regular place to come to discuss my journey with horses & it’s been a long time coming. I suppose theri may have been some fear wrapped up in here somewhere. Fear of not knowing what to write, fear of disapproval, fear of failing at conveying my intent, fear of other people's misconceptions & reactions. I was listening to Seth Godin speaking about his one star reviews on his many books & he reminded me no one ever got better from a bad review because it says nothing about him as a writer it has everything to do with the one star reviewer & their opinion. Interesting right! He also said show us your bad writing because honestly we don’t get any better by not starting. Now that is inspiration!

On my six acre farm currently I have two miniature horses Isabelle & Spirit. Both amazing in their own rights & for different reasons. Isabelle is young & smart as a whip, Spirit is older, wise, unphased by much & has the opinion that he doesn't much like vets (I wonder if that is a result of being castrated at an older age & having a three hour ordeal of the event)? He loves me, bum scratches & his dinner!! I love how he has connected to me. He is a grounding force for me but a true brainiac as he pulls off his great escapes to get to the grass on the other side of the electric fence. I also have two thoroughbreds…Gem my older guy (he’s 27) with lyme & an insatiable desire to suck wind whenever he can. He was the guy that got me into Straightness Training because we didn’t understand each other very well. He’s the type of guy that I was told when I was thinking about purchasing him 23 years ago that he was too much horse for me. But, I couldn't get him off my mind & he did come home with me. Then there is Chani. She's about 10-12yrs old but her history is a mystery. She’s a boarder & I have permission to use her as my own while her person goes through college. She’s soft & kind & so sweet. I’ve recently started ST with her, although not with the tenacity that I would like. We’ve had a few roadblocks with a busy work schedule but no regrets. It is as it should be & we now seem to be getting into a regular rhythm. The bugs are out in force here in NH so the commitment comes early in the morning before the bugs wake up their fierce little heads. Chani is a horse that is really bothered by the black fly so we have to do what makes her comfortable to set us both up for success.

Last year I pursued an education with the Straightness Training Academy & it was an amazing year of hard work, growth & stamina to show up & to do the work. To me I joined the Academy as a way to challenge myself & increase my knowledge of the horse. I got so much more than I had expected! The academy doesn’t focus on the horse solely; it puts a lot of responsibility on us as humans…our growth is paramount in this education. If you want a quick fix this is not the way to go! This is a dedicated journey with multidimensionality to it. If you want to excel or do something great then I can recommend showing up here in the Academy. There is no doubt you will learn & grow & the caveat is this only works if you work! If you have an interest in learning more about the Straightness Training Academy you can find it at https://www.straightnesstrainingacademy.com/ & there is lots of totally free material to dip your toes into you don’t have to throw down any money to familiarize yourself with this classical way of training your horse. You learn about herd behavior, nature of the horse, you learn exercises to help your horse to carry you well, & there is self mastery here too. I say if you have a desire to learn more about yourself, human behavior, horse behavior & how to increase your relations with horses & people then take a look, step off the edge & come along for the journey. Or, you can simply follow my journey & learn vicariously through me & my experience as a Basic ST instructor, scholar, & horse owner & enthusiast.

02/25/2023

Sharing my fun farmyard antics with my miniature horse Isabelle! A little liberty work. We are working on her curling around me in the circles with proper stepping under of the inside hind leg so that she can balance herself well distributing even amounts of weight in all four hooves & stretching up over her topline to build strength in her back!