Lara Pieret's Gift of The Horse

03/09/2024

After a very wet winter, it’s time to get my horses fit again!

21/07/2024

I’ve made it a bit of a practice to meet the horse that shows up. I’ve learnt to do what I hope will best serve the horse on any particular day, regardless of what we did the day before. It’s not a super goal oriented way of approaching horses, but if I think about it, my goal is to have a deep relationship with my horses and to be always working on that above anything else. It may look like not a whole lot is going on, and the way I do things may certainly frustrate super goal focused folks.

I’ve also learnt that I have to have balance …. That a good relationship between any two beings also requires a little bit of maybe trail and error and figuring out what works and what doesn’t for that particular pairing. With horses, they need exercise, they need to be able to move. So I like to think that investing in the horse’s wellbeing is part of what we owe to the horse - to keep him well, and fit and mentally curious (without worrying him).

Most exercising of horses creates tension because it’s not very natural to him. So if we can exercise him keeping him relaxed and trusting of us and what we are asking… that would be the ultimate.

I think the line is very fine, but that’s a good thing. Being with horses and training them I believe is an extremely delicate art of observing, noticing, asking, observing, changing and reflection. And to have an attitude of humbleness and allowing ourselves to be taught by the situation. Horses give us the training we need to be better humans. How we show up to the horse that shows up, is really the lesson.

12/07/2024

During the last few months I have reflected a lot on calmness. For a long while I focused a lot on my own inner state when with horses and more so now that I understand how to be aware and observe myself, I have been more aware of subtle states of tension in horses, that perhaps go beyond the obvious fixed-eyed stiffness that would communicate stress. Many teachings say to work through stress - that movement can help horses to settle. That may be true, but what I have experienced is that helping horses to be calm when they are still, seems to be more effective. And the pause between the movements, seems to carry through to movement. Perhaps the more time we "give" to the pauses in between the better. Then we can learn to be really present in being before doing.

INVITING MARA TO TEA

It is extremely valuable to begin to cultivate the practice of becoming the observer of our thoughts. Experiencing strong emotions and thoughts is normal, especially during such strange and uncertain times, but if we take the time to remind ourselves - again and again if need be - that what we think, is not who we are, we will live a far more peaceful inner life.

Eckhart Tolle reminds us: “You are the sky. The clouds are what happens, what comes and goes.”

Often and especially when we are around horses, we want to squash down any feelings that come up because we believe that we need to show up to the horse in perfect calmness and mindfulness. From my experience, we can only reach this beautiful state of calmness, when we truly decide to embrace what is up for us. This means honouring our thoughts, feelings and emotions and then when we are ready, gracefully letting them go, as if they were clouds in the sky of who we are. Sometimes the clouds may be pretty dark and gloomy, heavy with bad weather and storminess. Other times they may be light and fluffy, and we would hardly notice them unless we had taken the time to. When we are with horses, it is never a good idea to ignore what is going on inside of us, even though we have been taught to “never let the horse know you are scared”. This is a fundamentally flawed teaching – the horse always knows, often times before we do. So, we might as well sit down with our feelings and our horses and get comfortable. If we are feeling nervous, scared, anxious, depressed, desperate, tired, exhausted let us just sit and be with what is. Often, we want to work through troubles, by carrying on and pushing through. We become manic and stressed and no better off.

There is a wonderful Buddhist teaching called “Inviting Mara to Tea” and this teaching has been a very powerful reminder to me, when I am in times of overwhelm or stress. Mara, according to this Buddhist story was a Demon God who harassed the Buddha before his enlightenment and instead of chasing Mara away, the Buddha invited him to tea saying “I see you Mara.” What the story symbolizes is that if we approach our fears, worries and anxieties with compassion towards ourselves, we will not be disturbed by them.

Just as the Buddha was not disturbed by Mara, we too can invite our troubles to tea with the intention of observing them. We know that we are not Mara, we are not our troubles, fears or our anxieties. Knowing and embodying this with all our hearts, we can truly see Mara for who he is. Simply a visitor on the path of our enlightenment.

Mara continued to visit the Buddha throughout his path and each time, the Buddha invited Mara for tea. On our paths, there will be many Maras. Many troubles, worries, doubts and anxieties.

If we learn to observe our troubles with a certain warmth and compassion towards ourselves, we will have a deeper appreciation for the richness of human life, and we will not be in resistance to the many experiences that this life brings us. Our resistance to what is, is a great cause of inner turmoil. And if we can let go to this, there will be great relief.

Having a compassionate heart towards oneself, is the first step towards being compassionate to others. In order to be compassionate we have to seek to understand.

So, my wish for you is that you take the time to observe and understand your troubles. Know that they are not you, but that they are Maras on the path to your enlightenment, come to disturb you, but only if you allow them to. Sit with your troubles with compassion towards yourself and feel the difference to your inner being.

Namaste and thank you for being here ###

Lara

29/06/2024

The full body workout riding a swinging pony on the way home!

26/06/2024

Gift of The Horse Students: Creating Connection with Horses

Almost all of our problems with horses, can be solved when we deepen our connection with them, when we invest in the relationship and when we change the way we see things.

If you are having a problem with your horse, have you considered that it might not be a training problem, it might be a relationship problem?

Building and improving the relationship with our horses is easy, wonderful and can be absolutely life changing. All it takes is slowing down time, embracing patience and learning to see things from the horse's point of view.

I have spent many years on this wonderful journey and I can say that nothing makes my heart happier than the bond and love my horses and I share together. (It wasn't always this way!!).

I am able to now begin to take on some in person Gift of The Horse students. Sessions will be all about relationship, connection, patience and noticing what we may be bringing to the table (anxiety, expectations, stress vs calmness, partnership, safety).

We will look at the uniqueness of each horse human partnership, establishing a starting point and beginning from there. Then, once we have connection and relationship, we will move onto groundwork, then to riding, all with the philosophy of deepening connection as the only goal. Sessions will go according to the timeline of the horse.

If you are interested in becoming a Gift of The Horse student I will be able to take students in the Western Cape area for in person sessions and virtual lessons can be arranged for anyone who is not local.

I am also happy to take in person group sessions. As well as anyone who would like to spectate a session with the permission of the participating student.

If you do not own a horse and would still be interested in sessions, please let me know, as Vari and Twilight can fill in. (They are the teachers anyway!).

If you in general struggle with anxiety, stress, depression, nervousness, restlessness, self doubt, fatigue, lack of motivation or life purpose and you don't have horses or know much about them, you can also connect with me and we can work with the horses with meditation, body awareness, calmness, mindful walking and re- connection to nature.

To enquire further please send me a direct message, I am here to help you and your horse live your best life and it will be my honour to serve you ######

Lara

23/06/2024

I do believe the very best thing about you, is that we get to hang out. Just enjoying the winter sunshine together. I’m so glad I get to be your human.

21/06/2024

I believe the purpose of a horse is not to make you look good on the outside, but to make you take a good look on the inside.

At yourself, your life and your mind.

To look deeply at yourself and ask "what do I need to change?"

This goes for working with horses, but also working with life. So often we are against what is and there is no flow and we feel stuck and sticky. Working with what is, unsticks you. Accepting the situation helps to free it to change.

21/06/2024

A truly special horse will teach you all you need to know.

Step 1: Make the horse special.

Step 2: Repeat step 1.

27/08/2023

In the quiet places of my mind, I always find you, waiting patiently for me 💙

The Gift of The Horse Mindfulness Practice will soon be available on the website www.thegiftofthehorse.com with loads of beautiful notes, journaling exercises, videos and meditations. I hope to see you there 🖤

24/08/2023

🖤 a little poem I wrote 🖤

LAST NIGHT I DREAMT OF HORSES

Last night I dreamt of horses
Calling on the breeze
Black wings took me flying
Over deep and darkened seas

Last night, I felt the Earth
Her heartbeat in my chest
The soft and deeply quiet
Of my troubles laid to rest

Last night I dreamt of horses
Taking me away
To meet my weary soul
Along the path that leads the way

Last night, I touched the sky
Her stardust fields above
And wondered when and if I die
Would I still get to love?

Last night I dreamt of horses
Walking me to sleep
I felt their whisper speaking
All the answers that I seek

Last night I dreamt of horses
Watching over me
Last night I dreamt of horses
Forever and always, here with me.

• Lara Pieret •

19/08/2023

🖤

🌿The Universe will take care of the rest🌿

“Go out into the world and serve and don’t worry about what happens next.

Be kind, spread love, spread light and serve without expectation.

The Universe will take care of the rest.

We will be blessed as we need to be.

It may surprise us! It may make us laugh out loud or cry!

But it will matter greatly

And we will understand that to serve another is a wonderful gift to give and a wonderful blessing to receive.”

~The Gift of The Horse

19/08/2023

🖤 here is a little poem I wrote while I walked in the field tonight 🖤

17/08/2023

Routines and Repetitions • A New Blog Post is up at www.thegiftofthehorse.com - let me know what you think!

https://www.thegiftofthehorse.com/post/routines-and-repetition

Twilight used to have a real issue allowing me clean his feet. He would dance around, grab his foot out of my hand, paw the ground and even try to walk off on three legs. He would also drop his shoulder while I would be holding up that leg. A few years back I resolved the issue with loads of patienc...

16/08/2023

Predictability and Patterns • New Blog up on the website

I am discovering more and more how horses thrive when we are very predictable with them. Predictability builds confidence, consistency, trust and connection. How can we become more predictable? By following patterns. Patterns in our own behaviour, routines, habits, the order in which we do things an...

15/08/2023

The Gift of The Horse Guidebook is for sale on my website as an ebook 🙂

A wonderful world lies waiting for us, beyond our minds, judgements and stories. This is the story of how Vari showed me this world, and I hope that by reading this, you will see that your horse is waiting to show you too.

🖤

A wonderful world lies waiting for us, beyond our minds, judgements and stories. This is the story of how Vari showed me this world, and I hope that by reading this, you will see that your horse is ready to show you too.

11/08/2023

A new post is up on the blog 💙💙

Download the Spaces by Wix app and join “Thegiftofthehorse” to read “Predictability and Patterns”. You’ll also be able to leave comments, get notified about new posts and more.

30/07/2023

The Privilege of Getting Older

= carrots and sunsets 🌅

30/07/2023

Lead Ropes and Relaxation

30/07/2023

New Blog Post:
Calmness, Patterns and Feeling Good.

Following on from the little podcast episode earlier this week, I wrote down a few notes on the 3 ingredients that I really love to lean on when I’m with my horses... and in life.

Being very particular about my patterns is quite new to me, and I really feel a deeper sense of ease because I know what I’m doing and why I’m doing it.

Ever get to the stables and think... “Well, what should we work on today?” ...and waste time and brain power going back and forth? I tend to see my horses at the end of the day, so I certainly don’t have any time or brain power (or daylight) to waste!

I’ve kept the below super quick and to the point (can you tell I’m working on myself?!) and my hope is that this may be helpful. The website is undergoing a little overhaul as I want to write about what I’m learning and working on now so it is a little lean on content. My hope is to have a weekly blog, video and podcast.... let’s see how we go!

Join the Spaces by Wix app to read this blog and stay updated on the go.

26/07/2023

26/07/2023

Calmness, patterns and feeling good.

A new episode is up on the Pod :)

In this episode I chat about how I find calmness when I’m with my horses, how I create certainty through my predictable patterns (routines) and how I make sure that both my horses and I feel good before, during and especially after our sessions.

If you’re new here, please subscribe to the pod :) 💗💗

Lara chats about three key ingredients to a good life with horses.

11/07/2022

Hey Friends,

Back in December 2021 I started the amazing journey of learning to become a barefoot trimmer for my horses. This was something that I always wanted to learn, mostly to be really empowered to know how to best serve my horses. I have had so many wonderful barefoot trimmers who have been amazing and always were dedicated to my horse's hoof care, but I really wanted to learn to do this myself. Part of what I have learnt is all about thrush. Yikes. And through learning that ACV works like a bomb to combat thrush, I also discovered its other amazing benefits:

- it can support better digestion
- it aids in the absorption of minerals
- balance the acid/alkaline ratio
- it is a natural insect repellent
- it can be used to make your own fly spray
- can be beneficial to manage intestinal worms
- and - when applied to the hooves it can clear out thrush.
- improves bone and joint mobility
- prevents enteroliths (intestinal stones) from forming.

For thrush in hooves - dilute the ACV with water and if you'd like add some tea tree oil to the mix.
For injesting - add to feed with a I part ACV to 5 parts water. You can also add it to their water bucket, but make sure they have the option of having ACV free water too, in case they don't like the ACV and won't drink their water.

I made a little video on our new YouTube channel below to show how I use ACV. If you decide to give it a try, be sure to choose a brand that is raw and organic and contains "the mother".

######
Lara

ACV can offer a range of health benefits for horses when injected or applied topically to the hooves.

07/07/2022

What we feed our horses in day video is up on our new Youtube channel The Gift of The Horse! I will go into more detail and breakdown the nutritional value of each ingredient in upcoming videos :)

We feed our horses lucern (alfalfa), teff, speedi-beet, oats, sunflower seeds and we are trying out the Activ Equine Supplement range of flaxseed oil, garlic...

07/07/2022

Hi Friends,

I have started a YouTube Channel called "The Gift of The Horse" - where I will be loading up some cool new videos, mostly in vlog style and with some educational content - such as the video below! It will cover a more broad range of topics - things that I am learning - and I do hope you will take a look, hopefully subscribe and let me know what you think of my new content. I will be building up this channel slowly and steadily and I would love to have you join me :)

Lara ###

In this video I explain my own observations of my thoroughbred horse with high/low syndrome vs my pony who does not have high/low syndrome. We look at their ...