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Monday 8:30am - 5pm Tuesday 8:30am - 5pm Wednesday 8:30am - 5pm Thursday 8:30am - 5pm Friday 8:30am - 5pm Saturday 8:30am - 5pm Sunday 8:30am - 5pm

Hatha Equus

Co-Creational Horsemanship for aspiring Guilt-Free Horse Owners (our other page got hacked)
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10/18/2024

Nov 8th-10th in Louisburg (NC): Co-Creational Horsemanship Clinic by Hatha Equus.

Come to work towards:
✅ A guilt-free ride
✅ A fulfilled, self-aware horse who will learn to kindly state their needs and never leave you wondering again whether you're over-doing it or not (also, who won't feel the need to scream at you through dangerous behaviors, if that's your case)
✅ An excited-to-leave-food-and-friends-to-come-pick-you-up-at-the-mounting-block horse
✅ A cooperative sidekick for everyday care and husbandry tasks
✅ A strong, agile, mobile and stable riding companion
✅ Lots of giggles AND profound moments...WITH your horse 🥹

Active participant Tickets are sold out, but auditor spots still available.
Comment ⌨️⬇️⬇️ 'Louisburg'⬇️⬇️✍🏼 below to receive a DM with info 🤗

10/18/2024

Truly lovely to have you here! Come back soon!

10/17/2024

Take this photo, for example.
To get here, Elizabeth and her mustang Riggins spent time working on bridleless riding and did some occasional jumping.

CONTEXT:
🎶 Elizabeth and Riggins are two of the co-creators of Co-Creational Horsemanship.
🚑 This means their relationship is consensual, except in emergencies or health urgencies.
🏇 Movement in Riggins is mostly intrinsically motivated. He jumps because he sees a reason to. For him, it’s often something like: “Oh, that looks fun! Let’s do it, Mom!”
🍃 His movement doesn’t follow outdated 'correct biomechanics' principles. Instead, it considers inversion and stable attractors (i.e. repetitive movements that limit a varied repertoire), as the only taboos. According to modern movement science, healthy movement as per such definition is the most effective path to strength, agility, mobility, stability…and ultimately, longevity.

So, in the process of getting to the behavior in the picture, we can safely assume that:

💰 COST: Elizabeth invested time, study, and resources as needed to maintain the Co-Creational aspect of her relationship with Riggins throughout the process. The BENEFIT was that she became a better horsewoman, aligning with her own sense of personal and professional growth.
💰 COST: Riggins, like any learner in the world, probably experienced brief moments of mild emotional discomfort while expanding his repertoire and comfort zone to include this new behavior. All well-supported by Elizabeth. The BENEFIT was that he eventually added a key piece to his own self-efficacy puzzle.
➕ BENEFIT: Both Riggins and Elizabeth enjoyed a good dose of ‘feel-good hormones’ from the intrinsically motivated movement, which improved their physical and emotional health over time.
➕ BENEFIT: Throughout the process, both felt seen and heard, which strengthened their bond through the release of oxytocin, benefiting the body and mind of both human and horse.

We could keep going, but hopefully, you get the idea.

When we look at these costs and benefits, all we can think of is: "I can live with them!". We stand behind them. There’s a beautiful balance between them all, and to the best of our knowledge at this point, none of them seem likely to cause long-term negative effects for either of the individuals in this pair. Quite the opposite.

If these are the costs of the behavior we trained today, we’ll go to bed feeling glad, at peace, and aligned with our definition of growth and fulfillment for both horse and human.

Of course, sometimes we’re not so lucky. Life is unpredictable, and situations occasionally arise where the balance is much less…well…balanced 🤷🏼‍♀️

But as long as we see a clear and convincing reason behind our actions, we can find peace with our choices.

A typical example is an emergency.
We live in fire country here in Colorado, and we’ve faced multiple emergency evacuations. In those cases, all the horses need to load into trailers to reach safety. Some find this experience highly traumatic, for various reasons.

In these moments, we have to get the job done 'at all costs' - and quickly - to keep them alive. And sometimes 'all costs' are taxing. We might have to ‘make them’ load, using as little force as possible, but with such urgency that we’ll likely bypass consent and cause stress. The choice is essentially 'LIFE OR TRAUMA'.

In such high-stakes situations, we’ve learned to stand behind our decisions, and even be grateful that we do have the skills to 'make them'. Life takes precedence in emergencies, even if it means creating trauma.

Once everything calms down, later, we’ll do our best to address the gaps we left with that horse and provide a better trailer-loading experience (or encourage the owner to work on it if the horse isn’t ours).

We want to leave the world – and the beings in it that we interact with – better than we found it. That’s the guiding mantra for our decisions.
This is why we refuse to impose riding on a horse who finds it unpleasant. No, thank you.
Or to cut corners in pursuit of our own goals by forcing a horse to do something that doesn’t feel right to them at that moment. Pass.

We’re totally okay with our time being the primary cost.
It’s always a worthwhile investment if the result is Co-Creation.

09/21/2024

Have you ever gotten stuck in a Rehab Rabbit Hole?

That would be:
1.
😣 your horse gets injured —> stall rest —> they get over the acute phase
💔 OR your horse is physically broken in many unidentified places because of their previous 'career'
💪🏽 OR your horse has been ridden till right before you adopted them, and now you realize they never should have been. Their musculature is not right!
2.
Your vet tells you: next step is lunging them for 10min/day!
Your body worker tells you: next step is lunging them for 10min/day!
Your trainer tells you: let's lunge them for 10min/day!
3.
And so you do...you lunge them for 10min/day.
4.
BUT day in, day out...

😬...it doesn't seem like their movement is getting much better
😔...they start looking a bit emotionally distant
⛈...you start to feel soooo bored
🎻...frankly it seems like they're always tense like a violin's string, on the lungeline. It's not like you're a violent horse-human: so what's going on???

Well, what's going on is that...you are right 🤷🏼‍♀️
And...modern science backs you up 🧬🤯

Here's a few key things we now know from pain science:

😣 Pain doesn't always go away when the tissues have healed (or with meds)
📡 When an individual is stuck in pain patterns, when there is no longer any tissue damage, the only way to make it go away is to sneak new movement 'under the radar'
🧪 The recipe for 'sneaking movement under the radar' is:

- Autonomy
- Self-organization
- Intrinsic motivation
- No threat

In this sense, lunging is really not ideal for rehab 😬

Why?

1. When lunging, if the horse doesn't want to move, they are exposed to discomfort. AKA NO AUTONOMY

2. When lunging, the main reason for the horse to move is because if they don't, the whip is going to create discomfort towards its hind at best, or bring it actual pain at worst. AKA EXTRINSIC MOTIVATION

3. Even horses who are now soft and responsive...they've mostly learned to be in order to avoid such threat of discomfort or pain. AKA THREAT!

But here's the good news.

Science also built a new framework, which not only actually works...but it's also fun, kind, exciting and entertaining!

THIS is exactly what we'll teach you in the online course The Riding Prep Playground - Get Your Horse Fit through Science-Backed Play.

It doesn't matter if you actually plan on riding your horse or not. This course is for you if:
- you are stuck in a Rehab Rabbit Hole
- you want your horse more fit, agile, stable, mobile and strong...but not through threat or pain
- you want for them to feel at home in their bodies...through kindness and play.

Enrollment is now open (only until Tuesday!)

If you're curious to know more, comment 'Course' below ⬇️⬇️
💖

09/19/2024

We've made you wait for it, and we are super excited to finally announce that 'The Riding Playground - Get Your Horse Fit for Riding through Science-Backed Play' is now open for enrollment! 😍💃🏽

In this course you will:

💪🏽 Learn to assess if your horse is truly fit to be ridden - and if not, how to get them there
🏋🏽 Transform your horse into a badass & self-motivated weight-lifting (and carrying!) athlete
⚕️ Add to your horse's long term spine health and longevity
🛝 Discover play-based workouts that will make your horse feel stronger, more agile, mobile and stable, even if they are not medically cleared to carry the weight of a rider
🥳 Make it seriously fun, joyful & profound for your horse AND you at every step of the way
🏡 Join a horse-welfare-oriented worldwide community, in which science meets soul

This round of enrollment is a one-of-a-kind opportunity for a few reasons:

🏷 Super discounted rate
📚 You get access to our (work-in-progress) online library for 6 months. The online library is going to include important materials that are eventually going to be the backbone of our Foundations of Co-Creational Horsemanship Course.
🫱🏼‍🫲🏽 you get to contribute to shaping the contents, through your questions and feedback during the zoom calls

If you're curious to know more, comment 'Course' below!
Also, you might want to think about getting your spot asap.
Enrollment is open for less than a week, and there's some cool homework already waiting for you in Week 0 on our online academy 😍

We hope to see you there soon 🤗

Elizabeth & Giorgia

09/19/2024

Hatha Equus will be in Asheville, NC for a “Dances with Horses” retreat in October and the Early-Bird ticket sales end this weekend.

If you are ready for a beautiful experience with horses, community and your amazing self, type RETREAT in the comments 😍😘🦄❤️

09/18/2024

Yesterday we talked about how important it is to train your horse until they feel physically capable and ready to carry us. Sooooo let's get our horse fit for riding, right?

Right. Though...that's historically been a Catch-22. And it still is in many equestrian contexts.

The reason being...well...humans will be humans.

Linear thinking to linear solutions.

Linear Solution Example #1:

🥱 My horse is not physically fit for riding?
🏋🏻‍♂️ So I'll have him do x, y and z exercises on the ground until he's mastered them!
📿 Let me get my lead rope, longeline, whip and let's get started with teaching correct postures with pressure and release!
🏘 Once he can do them with me on the lead line in the arena, he will be certainly ready for riding 😍

Except...that's not always the case 😬😬😬

Hatha Equus' definition of a horse being ready for riding includes them mastering specific movement categories that ensure their soundness and spine health.

Also, our definition of 'mastering' includes:

- having made the movements their own (aka absolute self-carriage at liberty)
- having deeply understood their usefulness in their own life (even without us)
- finding them worth their while (dare I say pleasant?) to perform them

Well, in the scenario above, we can not be sure. The horse might be performing the movement just because they want to please us. Or just because they want for pressure (sometimes pain) of the aids to stop. Or because they want a treat.

I bet that you're still waiting for this to make sense.

Here comes my point.

What we now know from modern movement science is that unless an athlete has put that movement together on their own, not as suggested externally by telling different body parts what to do, then it's rare that their brain effectively knows that such movements are an actual part of their official movement repertoire.

Here's a telling example.

Say that I taught my horse to lift their topline on cue, by applying some pressure on the belly so that the horse - wanting for my whip's tapping to stop - will lift it up.

So now when I tap the belly, the whole barrel rises.
The horse knows what I am asking.

Does that mean for certain that any time I will hop on my horse, they'll know to push up against my weight the whole time, to preserve their spine health?

Probably not 😬

Imagine, instead, that you are scratching your horse's upper back on a very back-itchy day...and all of a sudden you stop, but you keep hovering with your hand. Your horse wants more. You wait. So your horse wants to reach your scratching hand...and in order to do so, they open their shoulders, lift up through the withers and...tada! They found your hand. The scratching resumes.

They came up with that movement all by themselves, which probably means that their brain has immediately added it to their official movement repertoire.

Plus, you see your horse do it in the pasture with a branch the next day!

That's when you know that they have truly made it their own.

That's when the probability of them independently thinking about doing it to push up against your weight is maximized.

I know it's a lot. It's enough of 'a lot'...that we've launching a course on this.

Because preparing your horse through x, y, z repetitive exercises in which you teach their body parts what to do without them making sense of it all...actually exposes them to much more injury and fragility than what you probably wish them to.

So let's prepare your horse to:
🏇 carry you
⚕️ make the most out of carrying you, in terms of long term health benefits

Stay tuned for our new course "The Riding Playground - Get Your Horse Fit for Riding through Science Backed Play"! Enrollment opens tomorrow and it will end on Sept 23rd (it will be then closed again for a while).

09/17/2024

A lot goes into a horse's readiness to carry a human. They certainly need to know the tasks involved, even for the simplest of sessions: accept the tack, stand still at the mounting block, turn right, turn left, go and whoa.

But I'm not talking about what they know, which is - in our experience - what much of the horse training education revolves around. I'm talking about what they FEEL they are physically capable of.

Horses are usually not born as professional weight-lifters. Quite the opposite.

I was just thinking of how I can convey this concept in the clearest of ways, and my children came to mind. Here me out.

I happen to have two amazing toddlers under 5yo. One of the things we love to do as a family is hiking in the Colorado Rocky Mountains. This summer was amazing because we were able to hike quite a few times, joyfully and for longer stretches, everyone with their own age-and-size-appropriate backpack (big parental success for us, quite frankly 🤪).

But this didn't 'just happen'.

We have built every single element of this experience up over the years. Brick by brick.

Let's walk to the park.
Let's stay on the sidewalk.
Let's walk to that pond.
Oops you fell. Nothing of it, band-aid, kiss and we keep going.
Oh you're bored? Let's sing a fun song together.
Let's walk aaaaall the way to that barn today!
Hey, did you know that you could take one little toy with you?
This is called a backpack and it's shaped like a unicorn!
Buddy -- I'm noticing that they're slouching -- let's keep on walking but did you see all those cars behind us? And the cows on the other side? -- and in turning back to see while walking, their backs get much straighter all of a sudden.

And on it goes.

And one day they hike more miles than you thought possible, with their own backpacks, and gain all of the physical, mental, emotional and spiritual benefits from such experience 🥹

It's no different with horses. Truly.

We have to teach them, and teach them in a way that leads to a: "Omg yes! It's time to carry my human! Bring it!".

A huge part of this 👆🏼 picture is their sense of self-efficacy, of course, aka feeling physically capable and competent.

As we see it, leading them to such feeling is one of our responsibilities as horse owners.

AND our privilege.

"Your horse feeling physically capable and competent and finding it real fun to carry human weights" is exactly what w are teaching in our new course "The Riding Playground - Get Your Horse Fit for Riding through Science Backed Play".

Pre-sales open today for those who have enrolled in our waitlist.

Official sales will open in two days.

Stay tuned!
Giorgia

09/11/2024

We do so much to heal and expand horses at Hatha Equus, but what about the humans? Do they get a space to heal and expand?! Yes they do!! Yes YOU do!

Dances with Horses is the human focused retreat that will help you enjoy the best version of yourself so your horse can enjoy you too!

Hatha Equus is holding the Dances with Horses Retreat at beautiful Wonderland Hollow Ranch in Asheville, NC on October 19th & 20th.

If you are in the Asheville area on those dates…treat yourself…and your horse will thank you 😘❤️🐴🙌🏻

Comment “Retreat” if you’d like registration information 😍

09/04/2024

Thank you all soooo much for voting!!

We are so grateful to know which title and subtitle and photo resonate the most with you all!

Here is the winning combo 😍

We are going to announce more details soon, since the pilot will launch soon!

For now, if you’re not on the waitlist and wish to be, comment ⬇️“waitlist” ⬇️ to receive the “add me to the waitlist” link through DM 🤗

09/02/2024

Thank you all so much for voting for your fav title and sub-title option for our new online course!

We have a clear winning pair and we love it!!

Would you mind helping us out with one last vote? We need to choose the most awesome cover photo.

Here are the 4 options ⬇️

Would you vote your favorite by commenting the corresponding number below? 🙏🏼🤗

Address

10067 N 65th Street
Longmont, CO
80503

Opening Hours

Monday	8:30am - 5pm
Tuesday	8:30am - 5pm
Wednesday	8:30am - 5pm
Thursday	8:30am - 5pm
Friday	8:30am - 5pm
Saturday	8:30am - 5pm
Sunday	8:30am - 5pm

Website

http://www.hathaequusinternational.com/

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Videos

You’re a trainer and you have a month left with a client horse before he goes back home.What do you prioritize?#cocreationalhorsemanship #hathaequus

In many equestrian environments it is EXPECTED for trainers to “fix” horses. Emotionally, physically, mentally. We want to bust this “fixing horses” myth, here, by challenging the very notion that it is somehow possible to actively change anyone other than yourself. We can certainly facilitate situations that make it probably for the other being’s nervous system to change and adapt, but ultimately the responsibility for change lies in the hands of the individual. #hathaequus #cocreationalhorsemanship

Often the ‘belly lift reflex’ is not a synonym of ‘the horse knows how to actively lift their back’. When they react to our scratches on the midline by lifting up, we can safely assume that their bodies are capable of engaging in this movement. But here’s the catch. What their brains actually KNOW about what their body can do is often a whole different ball park. That’s why we usually teach crunches (it’s one of our topline engagement liberty excercises) by inviting the back to lift up to touch our magnetic hand, instead of trying to put a ‘reactional belly lift’ on cue. If you want to know more about fun, happy-horse-friendly topline engagement techniques , we have a whole free video training on exactly that! Comment ‘topline’ ⬇️⬇️⬇️below and we’ll dm you the link 🙏🏼 #cocreationalhorsemanship #hathaequus #toplineengagement

What do you feel might be the foundational cornerstone of co-creational horsemanship? #cocreationalhorsemanship #hathaequus

Unpopular opinion: choice-based training is not always a good idea. Sharing the Hatha Equus perspective on what we call 'Choice Overload' #cocreationalhorsemanship #hathaequus #choicebasedtraining

#cocreationalhorsemanship #release #breathe #yougotthis

My mustang was distracted. The weather was coming in, her herd had left and our usual liberty recall was not working in the least. I could have used any skill from any framework I know and practice to get her attention and ultimately get her to come to me...but I opted for using my soul instead 🥹🎶🤗 Here's the first step of the series: from distracted and preoccupied with survival to an authentic: "Hello! I see you!". Step Number 2 and 3 to follow. #cocreationalhorsemanship #hathaequus

Peace. Presence. Music. #cocreationalhorsemanship #hathaequus

They drop in so deeply 🥹 (I do apologize to all the fine ears out there for my absolute cello rustiness). #hathaequus #cocreationalhorsemanship

Nov 8th-10th in Louisburg (NC): Co-Creational Horsemanship Clinic by Hatha Equus. Come to work towards: ✅ A guilt-free ride ✅ A fulfilled, self-aware horse who will learn to kindly state their needs and never leave you wondering again whether you're over-doing it or not (also, who won't feel the need to scream at you through dangerous behaviors, if that's your case) ✅ An excited-to-leave-food-and-friends-to-come-pick-you-up-at-the-mounting-block horse ✅ A cooperative sidekick for everyday care and husbandry tasks ✅ A strong, agile, mobile and stable riding companion ✅ Lots of giggles AND profound moments...WITH your horse 🥹 Active participant Tickets are sold out, but auditor spots still available. Comment ⌨️⬇️⬇️ 'Louisburg'⬇️⬇️✍🏼 below to receive a DM with info 🤗 #cocreationalhorsemanship #consensualtraining #hathaequus

We do so much to heal and expand horses at Hatha Equus, but what about the humans? Do they get a space to heal and expand?! Yes they do!! Yes YOU do! Dances with Horses is the human focused retreat that will help you enjoy the best version of yourself so your horse can enjoy you too! Hatha Equus is holding the Dances with Horses Retreat at beautiful Wonderland Hollow Ranch in Asheville, NC on October 19th & 20th. If you are in the Asheville area on those dates…treat yourself…and your horse will thank you 😘❤️🐴🙌🏻 Comment “Retreat” if you’d like registration information 😍