Alan’s Legacy Foundation

08/05/2023

Definitely.

26/04/2023

Speaking to Your Horse & Yoga Life! , US sports psychologist, former athlete and horse lover Dr Jenny Susser shares her tips on how equestrians can overcome their riding fear and perform better in competitions.

16/11/2022

There’s something about horses that soothes the soul.

I'll be in the barn.
When people have come to visit over the years they commonly hear from me I'll be in the barn.
When life gets hard I'll be in the barn.
When things are just right I'll be in the barn.
When the sun shines,
The rain falls,
Or snow covers the ground,
I'll be in the barn.
If things seem to be falling apart or if I'm celebrating the simple things, I'll be in the barn.
When I'm looking for answers or trying to clear my mind, I'll be in the barn.
When I'm looking for myself, I'll be in the barn.
If I'm working or trying to relax, I'll be in the barn.
Even when I'm not in the barn my mind drifts there, I find myself thinking about being in the barn.....
soaking feed for the next day,
mucking or spreading manure,
how to fix a problem I've been having with a horse,
tack that needs cleaned or changed or mended,
wounds that need doctored,
if I need to put on blankets or fly masks.
It's where I keep my riches.
All my wins and my failures.
Everyone of my hopes,
Dreams,
Hardships
And memories.
You can find them all in the barn, buried in the hay, hiding under a saddle, spilling out of the feed bins, or glimmering with dust in the evening light.
I may be covered in dust, dirt, a mash feed, hair, and hay, smell of sweat and manure, and sometimes there may be blood or tears but I'll be there. I'll be in the barn.
So if your wondering where to find me, I'll be in the barn. If I'm not there, I promise I'm on my way.
-Author Unknown-

09/09/2022

Absolutely love this quote. Alan himself has shown exactly this to be true!

08/06/2022

08/03/2022

This is lovely.

Anxious or Calm? It starts off their backs.

I have watched thousands of humans deal with horses over the last 70 years. So much of how horses behave has to to with whether or not they are anxious or calm, and so much about whether the horse is anxious or calm depends upon how it is handled---I think---

Watch the way a good horse person catches a horse in a field, how they put the halter on, how they lead the horse, how they handle the horse on cross-ties, how they groom, how they tack up, how they mount, and then, after they are on the horse, how they warm up.

I don’t think with the better horse people you will see much drama. You won’t see yanking and snatching and slapping. You won’t hear lots of yelling. You will see quiet movement, almost deliberate handling, consistency, and when the horse gets tricky, like sticks its head way up to get bridled, there won’t be a big deal, lots of patience.

You won’t see the saddle getting slammed on the horse’s back, or the girth getting cranked tight, maybe the horse being kneed in the belly to “make him let out his breath.”
There just won’t be all that hassle and drama.

And once the rider IS on, you will see calm walking, no insta-contact, no feeling of rush or hurry, or frenzy.

All of this is not about riding skills or training while riding, but it is a prelude to that, and usually how you see a human deal with horses OFF their backs will give you a pretty good clue about what you will see when you watch them ride.

14/02/2022

So sorry it’s been awhile, but hopefully soon we will have more to share. In the meantime, Happy Valentine’s Day from Alan's Legacy!

13/11/2021

Love this graphic from Horse Conversations! If your horse is acting out, there’s an actual reason. Try getting to the bottom of it rather than simply blaming your horse.

11/11/2021

Recent studies conducted by the Institute of Heart-Math provide a clue to explain the two-way “healing” that occurs when we're close to horses. According to researchers, the heart has an electromagnetic field larger than the brain: a magnetometer can measure the energy field of the heart that radiates from 2.4 meters to 3 meters around the human body. While this is certainly significant, perhaps more impressive than the electromagnetic field projected by the heart of a horse is five times larger than that of a human being (imagine an electromagnetic sphere around the horse) and it can influence straight into our own heart rate.

Horses are also likely to have what science has identified as a “coherent” heart rate (heart rate pattern) that explains why we can “feel better” when we're close to them. Studies have found a coherent heart pattern or HRV to be a solid measure of well-being and consistent with emotional states of calm and joy—that is, we exhibit such patterns when we feel positive emotions.

A coherent heart pattern is indicative of a system that can recover and adapt to stressful situations very efficiently. Many times, we just need to be in the presence of horses to feel a sense of well-being and peace. In fact, research shows that people experience many physiological benefits by interacting with horses, including lower blood pressure and heart rate, higher beta-endorphins (neurotransmitters acting as pain suppressors), decreased stress levels, decreased feelings of anger, hostility, tension and anxiety, better social working; and greater feelings of empowerment, confidence, patience and self-efficacy.

Repost credit .equine

27/10/2021

While I'm in a hiatus from posting regularly, I wanted to share one of my favorite sports psychologists, Dr. Jenny Susser. She's also a rider. These are wonderful words to live by!

What’s so wrong with being at your level of skill?

Most athletes have this notion that they should be a top performer.

You put in the hard work, so of course you expect to be at the top of your game.

What most people don't seem to understand is that 𝙞𝙩 𝙞𝙨 𝙤𝙠𝙖𝙮 𝙩𝙤 𝙗𝙚 𝙬𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙖𝙧𝙚.

𝗔𝗻 𝗮𝗺𝗮𝘇𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗻𝘀𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗼𝗰𝗰𝘂𝗿𝘀 with retraining your mind. It takes the pressure off, and you will find that being okay with where you are actually makes you 𝗙𝗘𝗘𝗟 𝗕𝗘𝗧𝗧𝗘𝗥.

𝗔𝗻𝗱 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗙𝗘𝗘𝗟 𝗕𝗘𝗧𝗧𝗘𝗥, 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗣𝗘𝗥𝗙𝗢𝗥𝗠 𝗕𝗘𝗧𝗧𝗘𝗥!

04/08/2021

Love this quote from Olympian Martin Fuchs!

19/07/2021

The word “Failure”

Here are some definitions:
1. The condition of not achieving the desired end: unsuccess, unsuccessfulness.
2. One that fails completely: bust, fiasco, loser, washout. Informal: dud, flop, lemon. ...
3. A cessation of proper mechanical functions: breakdown, outage.
4. Nonperformance of what ought to be done: default, delinquency, dereliction, neglect, omission. ...

There are some humans who can shrug off failure, of whichever definition, as a normal part of the act of trying, while others take any failure as some sort of personal affront.

Horses can be made to suffer greatly when they are in the hands of those who despise failure. I would go so far as to say that one of the biggest differences between a good horse person and a bad horse person revolves around how the individual handles not getting a desired result, who the person blames, how desperately it matters when things do not go as wished.

If someone can get to a point of emotional stability where he or she can think, “I tried, it didn’t work, so I will figure out how to try again, no big deal,” the horse will not bear the brunt of that person’s frustration.

Becoming a horse person means becoming grown up enough to accept the ups and downs of existence, and if that sounds “zen,“ maybe it is. But taking it out on the horse when things don’t go the way we want is like being the 4 year old who hurls his toys out of the crib, and even less productive, because it doesn’t have lasting effect on the hurled toys, but it can have long term consequences for the punished horse.

04/07/2021

29/06/2021

Love this from Dr Sam Fielding.

🌟MINDSET MONDAY🌟

Do you feel guilty for going to the barn?

Do you feel like you should be spending time with your family and not riding?

Well, it's time to put that one down ladies.

Let me say it louder for those in the back.

Doing things to get you in the right mental state are NON NEGOTIABLES, not bonuses.

Do you understand that?

If you're not doing the things that put you in the right mental state,

You cannot give, serve, create, parent, work,

DO anything you do in the other areas of your life well.

You and your loved ones deserve better.

Can't shake the guilt?

That's not surprising, most of us carry limiting beliefs that we picked up a long time ago.

But are you letting the 8 year old version of your beliefs dictate the way your adult self processes your life today?

Because if you can't let go of that, then there's something that you can identify and move past.

Everything we do in life is a reflection of who we are inside.

Don't feel good about yourself and what you deserve in life?

Guess what your exterior life, your riding, your relationships will look like?

Not much spark, energy, joy, love...

Not very good.

And you should never be afraid to admit this,

Because we ALL have elements of this.

It's the brave ones that own it and say enough, I want more for myself,

I deserve more for myself.

So when you're ready to own it and learn how to be in your best state,

More often than not, you're ready.

Now it's time to lean in.

Reach out to learn more about how you can live your life like your best ride everyday.

08/06/2021

This program is worth signing up for! Our Founder has become a member and the courses are phenomenal. Her favorite instructor so far is Dr. Jenny R. Susser: Power & Performance Sport Psychology Services. The six free lessons in the Noëlle Floyd.com ad here are expired but you can still join her page or become a paying member. It’s 100% worth it!

07/06/2021

While we don’t have any new content here, we thought it would be helpful to share some information from other creators. Check out this piece from Eventing Nation!

At Eventing Nation, we love competition but also fiercely believe that equestrian sport can be embraced from a number of non-competitive perspectives — it’s OK to “just ride,” or even just enjoy the ride vicariously!

17/05/2021

Love this from Waterfall Reiki & Animal Talk! Melissa is currently teaching our Founder about Animal Communication through her Heart & Soul Animal Connections course.

12/05/2021

Check out Stephanie + Dreamer from a few weeks ago as they embark on their first ride in a long time. Thank you for sharing your story! Remember that sometimes when a horse acts slightly abnormal, something may be wrong. Stephanie realized that minor medical issues could have caused ulcers and now Dreamer is feeling much better.

04/05/2021

I’m learning about the power of crystals and now have these bracelets from Evolve Mala

Including:
-Moonstone (balance, promotes stability + inspiration)
-Clear Quartz (harmony, emits powerful healing energy)
-Pink Aventurine (prosperity, good fortune)
-Amethyst (soothing, washes away anxiety + opens the mind to new ideas and positive thinking)
-Tiger’s Eye (confidence, helps manifest courage to take action facing adversity)
-Fluorite (stability, inspires order during chaotic times + represents calm)
-Lava Stone (grounding, promotes stability + the resolve needed to persevere through challenging times)
-Sodalite (inspiration, strengthen one’s intuition + helps guide its wearer to the right decision)
-Snow Quartz (balance, promotes tranquil energies + clarity)
-Hematite (grounding, strong protective quality + promotes good vibes)

10/04/2021

Sometimes the hardest thing about riding is getting on. But once you do, it’s freedom.

Today Alan's Legacy was ridden for the first time in awhile. He was feeling fresh, which isn’t unexpected given Thoroughbreds are used to regular work. He was also distracted and trying to get away with anything he could. Once Nikki got on, he was a bit better but he knows how to get her anxious when he doesn’t want to work so he did just that - twist his head from side to side and turn into a giraffe.

While it wasn’t a scheduled lesson, instructor Kate jumped in and gave her some mini exercises that were aimed to calm Nikki’s anxiety and make their human/rider relationship stronger. The pair were told to stand quietly as Kate moved away from them. Alan wanted to follow and kept “giraffe-ing” but Nikki found her inner “Enforcer” (a term of their other instructor Lynn). She used a deep growling voice, strong legs and half-halts to keep Alan in place. While it was only a short lesson, it went very well and was a great way to help with anxiety!

Give it a try next time and let us know how it goes!

03/04/2021

Do you get more nervous if it’s been awhile since you’ve ridden? How do you overcome those nerves?

21/03/2021

Alan has always been fearful of crossing over obstacles. It goes back to his natural instincts that exposing his belly will be dangerous. Humans can also feel this way, as when our chests are suddenly constricted with anxiety, that is actually a thousand-year-old instinct to fight or flight. Watch our Founder and Namesake work together on Alan’s fear in this video from yesterday!

18/03/2021

Throwback Thursday: oftentimes that thing you’re staring at with fear isn’t what it seems. It might just be a kind soul whose favorite thing is to give you candy and cookies!

17/03/2021

How do you overcome a fall? Sometimes it can leave you with anxiety baggage or even full on PTSD. But remember how much you love riding your horse, take a deep breath and get back on. You’ll be so thankful you were so brave!

Check out Megan + JoJo, who had a nasty incident the other day.

“So, I hesitated to post this. But I feel I should. (Thanks to Kim Williams for capturing this mess on my camera 😆). When you choose to love a horse and learn to ride, you’re a choosing an inherently risky sport. Please wear a helmet. Anything can happen. Your horse can spook, have an attitude, or feel excited about wind. My horse is young and green and with only a year of retraining and I am a somewhat inexperienced rider. We’re both going to make plenty of mistakes. I’m sure this won’t be my last fall. I choose not to look at this as a failure, but as an opportunity to learn from. I love my horse and I love riding and I’ll be back on as soon as I’m a bit less sore lol.

“I got back on briefly (thankfully with the assistance of my trainer Lynn Stokking) because my horse shouldn’t think me going off is the appropriate way to end a ride or stop doing work haha.”

Good job Megan + JoJo, and thank you for letting us share your story!