Breezing Hill Farm

12/14/2024

Abby learning "panther walk." I've never seen her more her shoulders that much! A little bit of pawing as she figures it out.

12/04/2024

Another great post!

Unconscious movements muddy the waters.

Lately, I have found myself teaching something consistently, across levels, across countries, in lessons with my clients. I have been assisting my community in finding a base line in their body that they can rely on. And their horse too.

Imagine talking to somebody, and as you talk to them, they don't look you in the eye properly, they fidget, shift from foot to foot, scratch themselves, fling their sweater haphazardly, and change weight rapidly without meaning, and posture themselves in 13 micropositions, all without meaning.

Well, the meaning is there. The meaning is= meaningless movement.

This is nothing to feel ashamed about around horses. We all do it. We all find ourselves stuck in patterns that became unconscious and out of our control. We all do it. I remember where I was when I learned that the movement of a lead rope laid up in my hands, and its pendulum swing as I walked quietly was enough to perturb a very sensitive horse. All I had to do, was keep the rope well in hand and well controlled and I could make my communication through to the horse, more clean.

Because that's what I am talking about. Clean communication.

The same way I strive to say my mind plainly nowadays, even to a fault I'll admit, is the same skill I bring to horses and teach to my community.

Be aware. Then, be aware of your awareness. Then be aware of your awareness and its own awareness.

It is amazing really how congruent a horse is. Present to me a fidgeting horse, that "gets bored" easily, or struggles to stand still or dislikes quiet, and I will show you their handler/owner nearby who is exactly the same.

If we present ourselves with background noise, you won't have a quiet horse.

And the quiet horse is the keystone, the backbone, of really beautiful and sucessfull training and riding.

A horse who is base line quiet now has the mental and emotional capacity to put energy into discerningly exciting activities with people- if they want to.

And that starts with us, cleaning up our movement.

If you struggle with this, I do have a whole online course designed for human movement for equestrians. But if you don't have time for that, I challenge you to find your quiet, still position, one that cannot and won't be moved. Start there, and end there. Find your position and start and end all techniques you train with there.

Just like my Vaganova Classical Ballet training taught me to start in fifth position, and end in fifth position- even if nobody is watching. It is a discipline that brings organisation and clarity to what can sometimes be very muddy waters.

And I am determined to be here, cleaning this industry up. One loving horse person at a time.

12/04/2024

Great reminder. When they are stressed, I feel like their brains are running so fast they can't hear what I am saying. The horse feeling safe so it can relax is the starting point

Comparative neurobiology of horse and human.

Horses and humans are both mammals.
Our brains may not be the same size, but they are almost identical in their structure and function.

Why can our brains look so similar but our behaviours and sensitivity to the world look so different?

The area in the picture highlighted is the prefrontal cortex or the (PFC). Its job in humans, horses, dogs, dolphins, elephants, cats, mice, rats, all mammals, and even birds is to carry out "higher executive functions" such as:

🧠 problem solving
🧠 decision making
🧠 reasoning
🧠 risk assessment
🧠 forward planning
🧠 impulse control
🧠 intention

Obviously, these executive functions are more advanced in humans than in other species of mammals, but this part of the brain plays a pivotal role in higher levels of learning beyond primal behaviours and learning survival skills.

So why aren't we seeing these higher executive functioning skills and behaviours in horses as much as what we see them in dogs, dolphins, elephants and even birds?

Ultimately it comes down to safety!

The latest neuroscience research suggests that when the brain feels unsafe it causes the body to produce stress response hormones and these stress response hormones cause the PFC to go "offline".
This means that subcortical regions of the brain (deeper parts of the brain) such as the primal brain (AKA limbic system, survival brain, flight/fight brain) completely take over to increase the chances of survival.

Feeling unsafe causes the feeling of fear and it is fear that gets this party started.

So behaviours come from two areas:

1. The PFC, carrying out problem solving skills, reasoning, impulse control, forward planning etc. that may be interpreted as "obedience" and "partnership".

2. The primal brain, carrying out reactive survival behaviours. This brain does NOT carry out impulse control, forward planning, problem solving, etc. It just reacts to the world. This brain heavily relies on patterns and consistency. This brain will cause freeze/flight/fight behaviours such as shutting down, bolting, biting, rearing, bucking, kicking, barging, etc.

Which brain is the domesticated horse spending most of it's time in?
It's primal brain!

This is why we don't get to see their full intellectual and cognitive potential because most of the time, domesticated horses are perceiving their world in a fearful way to some degree.

We can help our horses with this!

Feeling fearful is the OPPOSITE to feeling calm.
If we want to help our horses access their PFC then we MUST do whatever it takes to help them feel calm.

☝️ ONLY when a brain feels calm can it slow down enough to develop TRUE confidence. Only when the brain feels confident will it access TRUE cognition (PFC).

☝️ We first need to understand that when we get "bad behaviour" from our horses, it's not intentional or naughty or rude. What you are seeing is either a horse that is just reacting to the fear they feel or they are carrying out their "coping mechanism" in response to their anticipation of feeling fear.

☝️ Try to remove expectations that your horse should "know better".
"Knowing better" implies that all behaviours are coming from the PFC and there should be some impulse control and reasoning. Unless your horse feels calm, they can't access the PFC to "know better".

THIS STARTS WITH YOU!!!

You need to be consciously aware if YOU feel calm first. If you feel calm, your horse will have a better chance at feeling calm. Expecting them to feel calm when you don't is unfair.

The best way to create calmness is to intentionally be SLOW!!!
SLOW EVERYTHING you do down.
SLOW your movement down.
SLOW your talking down.
SLOW your walking down.
SLOW your breathing down.
SLOW your horse down.
If you feel too slow, then you're going slow enough.

Calmness is slow, not fast.

This will help you and your horse to connect and feel safe together.
When the brain feels stressed, the stress response hormones cause the body to speed up.

Stress = speed

We can reverse engineer this process and create a calm mind through slow intentional movement and a relaxed posture.

The by-product of a calm brain is confidence and cognition (PFC access).

Happy brain training 🧠
Charlotte 😊

Photo: Credit: Adult horse (equine) brain, sagittal section. Michael Frank, Royal Veterinary College. Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0)

12/02/2024

Abby trotting over her poles. Hatha Equus

12/02/2024

Another clip of Abby. This time trotting over her ground poles. Hatha Equus

12/02/2024

Abby is having fun with her new games. She is very enthusiastic! Hatha Equus

11/21/2024

Cletus, the donkey, trying to get Hank to play with him.

11/20/2024

You get what you train.

And that is with respect to the muscle groups you target, the emotions you practice and the nervous system state you operate from.

If you practice sitting hunched at your desk like a shrimp, you will lay down muscle to support you there.

If you are always operating from an upregulated nervous system, your body will try to adjust its physiology so that this becomes the new homeostasis.

If you spend your life practicing negative thoughts, this will become your default setting.

This means that you will develop into wherever you spend the longest time - irrespective of what you *think* you are working on.

-

"Tell me 3 things you love about your horse"

I was working with a lovely lady, who cares very deeply about her horse and was diligently helping him to feel better in his body. And yet every session started with all of the ways in which he still wasn't quite right, or was doing things she didn't want him to do.

Frustration was radiating from her body.

She looked at me, a little derailed by my question.

"Do you want me to tell you 3 things I love about your horse?"

She nodded

"I love the black tips on his ears. And the way the markings on his muzzle look like a love heart. And the way his black stockings make him look really classy"

And then she got excited and told me all the things she loved about him... as he stood there yawning, licking and chewing, releasing the tension in his neck.

And as her energy changed towards him, his energy changed towards her -

And in that session he moved like a totally different horse, flowing in a way that we had never seen before.

The exercises were the same, though the output was totally different.

-

My initial training taught me about targetting the musculoskeletal system and that, if you repeat the exercise enough, with an appropriate amount of progressive loading, you develop the body.

And this isn't wrong at all.

But I subsequently learned that the emotional and nervous systems run the show.

We can do all the right moves, but if the nervous system and emotional association to the work aren't in alignment then you will be perpetually putting a stick in your bicycle spokes.

This provokes topics for discussion -

How do you show up to your horse? They can feel that energy and it has an effect on how safe they feel.

If your horse does not feel safe, the quality of their movement will be compromised. And let me tell you that their own personal safety is their opinion based upon their perceptions - not yours.

Though we do need to give them coping strategies to feel safe in a chaotic human world.

What does your horse perceive of the work? The exercise might be appropriate for their muscles but if the emotional association is poor, the output will be too.

Whilst the body may benefit, if their amygdala-hippocampus relay is perpetually assigning the work with negative emotions, its never going to feel nice to them.

-

📸 before & after of stripping the tension out of this guy's neck by helping him to find safety in some very simple movement patterns combined with very gentle upper cervical mobilisations ❤️

11/19/2024

So true

"Advanced training is just the basics done really well." - Ken Ramirez
+
"Training often fails because people expect way too much of the animal and way too little of themselves." - Bob Bailey
=
"Please just do your homework." - Fred

11/13/2024

Another great nugget from the clinic

11/12/2024

Fabulous clinic. Lots of great information over the three days. Looking forward to playing around with new ideas and exercises.

10/29/2024

A great visual for what happens when we don't follow with the hands particularly in walk.

10/22/2024

This was an amazing clinic.

This weekend, I attended another horsemanship clinic by Nashon Cook, which was only 15 minutes from our house organized by Ali Perkins Dressage. It was such a treat and an inspiring experience, especially since I missed out on going to the HERD camp last month where he was the keynote speaker. I feel fortunate to have had the chance to witness Nashon’s teaching style and expertise again.

His approach is a beautiful blend of deep intuitive care and wisdom, showing both horses and their humans how to set and hold boundaries, listen deeply, and trust one another. Among many insights, watching him guide an 8-year-old girl to connect with her pony through her mind and body, and empowering a grown woman to trust herself and her horse, was truly inspiring.

What stood out most was Nashon’s ability to model assertiveness with love, the importance of being yourself and being heard—both by ourselves and those around us. His words, "See the fear, love it, and tell it to f*** off," were a great reminder of how we can face fear with love and strength.

It got me reflecting on the impact of what we are holding on to inside can have on our sense of agency, competence, and self-worth—how we sometimes feel like we’re at constant risk of failure, even when doing things we know we can do. In learning new things, it can feel like an impossible uphill battle, as if the body ‘knows’ we can’t possibly succeed. But Nashon reminded me that it’s okay to embrace the process, no matter how awkward or uncomfortable it feels. He said to put what you carry into the corner, don't be the bag lady like in Erykah Badu's song. He also said that each of us bring a lifetime of experiences to each moment.
For me, that means acknowledging what’s showing up in the moment in my body, and taking a deep breath, remembering I’m supported.
It’s okay that what I’m doing feels awkward and uncomfortable at times but It’s okay to move at my pace (even if I think I should be faster).
I forgive myself for not being able to do more, faster, or better and I remember that I am a blessing, and it’s awesome to be me.

I’m thankful for Nashon’s insights and love for horses, which have left me with so much to take into my personal practice and beyond.

Thank you, Nashon, for sharing your heart. The world is a better place because of it.

10/18/2024

I remember watching Walt compete when we lived in Massachusetts. An inspiration!

Inspirational words from Walt Gervais, who rode in his first long format 3-day event at 75, and was still weight lifting into his late 80s.

One time I wasn’t going to ride because it was raining, or something. Walt said something that we all need to hear sometimes---I don’t know why it’s not on more T-shirts and coffee mugs---

“Don’t be such a f@ # #$% weeny.”

10/05/2024

Focus -

Many of us are happy to complain about our horse’s lack of focus. We want the horses full attention, but we often really have no idea just how scattered our own attention is!

We notice AFTER the horse does the wrong thing, but fail to have a clear picture in our minds of what we even wanted in the first place. Many riders chase down every little thing the horse does that we don’t like, but haven’t developed the personal discipline to know what we want and ride that in our bodies.

I often compare guiding the horse to singing next to someone who is off key. You have to essentially stick your fingers in your ears sometimes and sing the song as you know it goes, instead of following every mistake the off key singer does. We follow the off key singer’s tune into its highs and lows, and then try to pull the singer back to a tune we’ve gotten too far away from to recover - but the reality is, the horse can never know the tune if we can’t sing it ourselves.

Many of us getting lessons are unknowingly hooked on a steady diet of distractions - a stirrup problem, another horse too close, too hot, too cold, need a break, my horse is too close to the gate, and so on - and so progress , or even lining out a solid beginning is difficult or impossible because we cannot focus on the task or what we want for the duration of a session.

It’s pretty amazing to experience the distractions melt away, and the problems melt away, when we really focus on the ride - the horse no longer pulls to the gate, looks for his friends, veers in the corners and so on, because we are mentally present, and physically clear. Suddenly every little thing is no longer a problem because we are truly guiding.

It’s an incredible feeling to be in the “zone” with a horse and find them more than happy to be there with us.

So focus is truly a human issue, and rarely a horse’s. Horses like to be guided with peaceful clarity - but we have few experiences in our lives developing that, and so guiding with peaceful clarity is a weak muscle -

Just like any muscle, it becomes strengthened through repetition.

Set up your tack, clothes and environment, and then focus on the work.

Photo by Jade Premont

09/13/2024

International dressage competitor and trainer Felicitas von Neumann-Cosel explains this important piece of the training puzzle.

09/05/2024