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Welcome to the January 2012 Newsletter!

Quote of the Month:

“Adopt the pace of nature: her secret is patience.”

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Upcoming Clinics:

April 1-66 Days in TemenosOcala, FL (Full)with Karen RohlfGuest Auditors Only

April 26-294 Days in TemenosOcala, FLwith Karen RohlfContact: info@dressagenaturally.net

March 23-25Georgetown, KYSweet Spottaught by:Shelby Humerobertelliott@bellsouth.net

June 2-4Gilroy, CASweet Spottaught by: Shelby Humeshelleycandelario@yahoo.com

“Creating stronger partnerships and

healthy biomechanics by

combining the principles of

natural horsemanship with the art of

dressage.”

Karen Rohlf

January 2012

What is a ‘Temenos’?

Temenos is an ancient Greek word. It refers to a sacred space that has no limits, where

special rules apply and extra-ordinary events

are free to occur.

Happy New Year! In this issue: • Questions from students, and answers from me• The Equestrian Whisperer• Discounts for D,N students from Proryders.com• Ancora Imparo - Being Effectively Soft

Dressagenaturally.net

New 4 day clinicin the Temenos!

April 26-29

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I like the Ansur Excel, but how long can I ride in it?

Q&

A

Hi KarenI sat in an [Ansur] Excel while at the equine affaire this year and liked it verymuch. I am looking into trying one on my Lusitano mare.  I did get acomment from my trainer that I wanted to run by you.  She mentioned thatthe saddles are good if your horse likes them, but only if you limit yourrides to an hour in length.  That is typically fine , but the clinics Itake often have us on horseback for several hours.  Do youfind issue with the treeless not dispersing the weight for the longerrides?

Thanks in advance for your time.  I also want to thank you for thepositive effect your help had on my progress.  It really helpedme find better ways to merge my dressage knowledge with my much newerknowledge of PNH.  I am looking forward to riding with Shelby in June andhopefully with you again.:-).Donna

Hi Donna,

A treed saddle will distribute the pressure more evenly over the back thana treeless saddle...

but if a treed saddle is rigid, so unless fitted really well, there ismore risk of it restricting and bumping into your horse.

With either type of saddle, riding can be the key... poor posture of thehorse will effect his back as much or more.

Also what you are doing is as important as what he is wearing. (I can ridehorses all day doing dressage, with no pain... but if I go on a slow trailride, or sit around on my horse my seat bones will be in pain... I believeit is the same for the horses. If they are  moving and tension-free, atreeless is just fine... (I have never been a fan of parking or justsitting on my horse for long periods of time, so I don't need equipmentthat supports that)

Nothing will be perfect! So we must do our best to find the right thingfor our particular situations, selves, and horse.

For me, a treeless saddle, on a horse ridden in a healthy way is betterfor me than a treed saddle that will not expand and change with a horse'sbody on a daily, weekly, monthly, yearly basis.

I think the Excel offers more support than the Classic, for sure.

Perhaps there is a way that you can still gain all the benefits of theclinics, but still honor your horse's back by finding the moments to geton and off during those particular clinic moments! this way you can stillenjoy the nice feeling of the treeless saddle during the other work!

Cheers,Karen

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What to do when the neck either goes straight up or curls to his chest?

Q&

A

Following is a question from a student, asked in the Student Forum for the D,N Video Classroom. It is regarding a video in the D,N Video Classroom. I rode a Friesian who carried his head straight up with a tight back in the November

Classroom, and taught his owner on him in the December Classroom. I thought Susan’s comments, questions and my answer that I gave her in The

Forum could also help other people!

This was a really great segment for me, I am riding a Friesian now and he has many of the same issues as the one in the video.  When he is feeling unconfident he will take on that posture, head straight up, and rush forward without out being very balanced.  However, he is more likely to suck back and curl under/over-flex than just power forward with his head up like the horse in the video.  As soon as I ask for connection with the reins he puts his chin on his chest practically, which makes me very upset.  My natural inclination when this happens is to relax the tension on the reins and push him forward which  eventually brings his head up, but then we are in a contracted frame, like the horse in the video. 

After watching this video, I have been asking him for a few steps sideways every time we lose a good connection with the reins to encourage him to push forward into the connection and stretch down on the bridle.  [[In the video I focus on Basic Alignment exercise... See pages 64-72 in the D,N book]] This has been fairly successful, although sometimes he gets a little stuck (sideways is not his best direction).  However, it has improved as we have practiced this exercise the last 2 rides. 

But when I had my lesson with my trainer she wants me to keep the reins very short and make him uncomfortable in that position so that it encourages him to push forward on the reins.  This does not seem to be creating a positive connection with the reins (I think maybe this type of training taught him to curl under in the first place?  But I don’t know because I just started riding him in August.)  And then I get confused because my trainer tells me he is not stretching, he is just dumping on the forehand.   

Naturally, this is a very difficult horse to rebalance because he just avoids the rein aid and I am not quite skilled enough to do it just with my body.  I think maybe my trainer is more concerned with him tracking up and taking more powerful steps and I am much more interested in getting the connection with the reins right first.  I mean if he can only track up and use his back when he is extremely over-flexed, than we are not doing it right anyway, correct? 

Please don’t think that I am using a lot of pressure on the reins, he starts to curl as soon as he feels the rein at all, going behind the bit so there is nothing in my hand at all.  By the time I find him again he is so behind the vertical that I worry it is harming him.  And of course I can’t see what the horse is doing with his back legs when I am on him, so I really can’t evaluate the situation well.   If anyone has had a similar experience and has any suggestions please let me know.  My plan is to continue with Karen’s exercise, asking him to stretch forward towards the bit and see if we can get that a little more consistent, and maybe try alternating 2 or 3 steps asking for a little lateral movement and then as soon as we get the good connection with the reins asking for forward:  sideways, forward, sideways, forward until we start to get balance and power?

~Susan

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The answer to: What to do when the neck either goes straight up or curls to his chest?

Q&

A

Hi Susan,

When horses curl behind and avoid the contact, that can be one of the most difficult things to change... not to depress you, just be gentle with yourself if you wonder why you can't fix it so easily!

One strategy can be to not allow the horse to avoid the contact, so if they curl, you keep taking up the slack until they try a different idea... but I would use this last, not first.... Because, as you said: It is too easy for the horse to think you want him to curl more... Until he gets desperate and pushes forward... but I don't want my horse to feel desperate!  (Its kind of like if you were sailing and there was no wind filling up the sail.... You wouldn’t try to get pressure in your sail by pulling the sail backwards! )

And some horses can actually curl and get heavy there! That is really no fun! Good news: It IS correctable. I had a horse in training once that had a bad habit of this... He was a huge warmblood with a long back, short flexible neck... he would get his chin on his chest and just GO.... yikes! I got him when he was 12 with lots of bad postural habits.... and he ended up doing Grand Prix with his junior owner!

The key, as usual, is to make sure all the other communication is working well... lateral work, impulsion transitions, etc, in a more freestyle way... lots of Basic Alignment exercises online and riding to create a strong desire to stretch.... On top of that make sure he can hold hands with the reins (search for any video about connection with the reins). 'milking the rein' (aka 'fluid rein') can really help just to show him he does not need to hide from the contact.

Once you have some stretchability freestyle then you can take the slack out of the reins... and yes, if he hides I think you will need to continue to take the slack out.... but only to the point where you just find him... and at the same time you are talking to his body to find what he needs to trigger the stretch reflex again... the body creates the stretch... the hands just constantly prove to him that even though they are there he can still stretch. If you just talk to his mouth to get him to stretch then it will likely feel like he is stretching from his head going down, instead of from his back releasing and his neck being confident about your hands... If he learns to just pull down then he may indeed, just be plopping on the forehand. One way to know, is to use transitions... Keep his body functioning! (Instead of just focusing on where his head is.)

Another thing to focus on would be flexibility... small circles at the walk with bend... perhaps even more bend than ultimately ideal... as long as you frequently change direction... the purpose is to create stretch on one side, then the other (i.e.: when bending left, the right side must stretch) often when going from one direction to the other of these small circles there will be a moment where the horse asks to stretch. Ooh, also try some moving massage with him from the ground!

It can be tricky.... and you sometimes need to be creative... but just keep remembering: the stretch comes from the body of the horse... the reins can only show the connection and be friendly.... play in the Sweet Spot... Somewhere there is a combination of energy, balance and relaxation where he will find the sweet spot that causes him to feel like stretching!

Let us know how it goes!! Karen

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The Equestrian Whisperer?

I still get so many people asking about the riding pants I wear. They are called Sonnenreiters (A German company) but are available in the USA exclusively through Proryders.com.

Gabriele Meyer, the owner of Proryders has extended a 10% discount to all my students and all you have to do is mention my name!

I tried to carry these myself in my webshop, but with sizing, returns, etc I just found it easier to leave it to the clothing professionals. I was so happy when Gabriele extended this offer to you!

She said to let you know that: “All they need to do is mention your name during check out. I will manually apply the discount (my shop can't do that automatically, so they should not worry). Or they can call me (650-726-4234) if that seems easier :-)! ”

10% discount at Proryders.com for Dressage, Naturally students!

Ok, all you horse-whisperers out there... Thereʼs a new horse in town!Has your horse recently seemed to ʻhave your numberʼ? Is he pushing all your buttons? Dana and I ʻfoundʼ this special report about a new guru who is teaching the horses how to human-whisperer.

Check out this video Of the Equestrian Whisperer

My friend, Glenn Stewart of The Horse Ranch (and half of Team Canada along with Jonathan Field at the 2012 Road To The Horse) is an excellent resource for foundation. He recently wrote this article that I enjoyed, so I am passing it on to you! It is called:

Does Your Horse Seek Your Approval?

I added a 4 Day clinic in the Temenos April 26-29. This clinic will be limited to 8 participants. Each participant can bring one free guest auditor. No other outside auditors. This is a great opportunity for new students to get some private time in the Temenos. The small group format allows for individual attention. Contact info@dressagenaturally.net for more info. Basic prerequisites required

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The Art of Dressage, Naturally...Bring the Sweet Spot with you with prints, tote bags, and mugs! Artwork by Karen.

DRESSAGENAT

URALLY

Dec

emb

er 2

011

Items on sale: Poster $39 regularly $49 SiMoN tool for learning lateral work $50 regularly $59" TShirts as low as $12

Web Shop

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Effectively Soft

“The right word may be effective, but no word was ever as effective as a rightly timed pause.” ~Mark Twain

ANCORAIMPARO

There is never one answer to help you become the leader you want to be with your horse. There are as many answers as there are combinations of horses and humans. This is why it is so important to become as aware as possible of who you are and who your horse is.... and remaining curious because that is constantly changing!

Even when you are confident in knowing who you and your horse are, as you progress, your dynamic may change (hopefully it is improving). In training there will always be moments where the comfortable status quo is broken. There is a quote by Maya Angelou that says: “Effective action is always unjust.” Which I hope isnʼt really true, but what is true is that we may feel that way in some moments!

I will assume that most of my readers have a goal to be soft with their horses. What I have experienced in many students (and in myself too) is that sometimes ʻsoftnessʼ is really ineffectiveness in disguise. ʻSoftʼ absolutely can be effective... Especially if you are practicing ʻdoing less soonerʼ... But how many of us have experienced ourselves trying so hard to be soft, that we one day realize that we are not so effective... And that can lead to a hard lesson.

I consider myself a fairly effective horsewoman. But my character does not enjoy conflict, and I can have a heightened sense of empathy (at least towards animals) ;-) so sometimes I find myself allowing some ineffectiveness in order to ʻkeep the peaceʼ. Except in the end it does the opposite. It can lead to frustration for me, confusion for the horse. and having to reinforce something they would have done better sooner if I had just been clearer and more effective!

True ʻsoftʼ moments come from knowing I can be effective. The effective moments come from knowing how to be soft (as Mark Twain said above). I watch my individual horses in the herd and watch how they treat each other. It helps me know where I can go with them. Ovation is a ʻclose talkerʼ. He just barges up to any horse and bites them as if it is a hand-shake to him. He is also relentlessly annoying to any creature that will let him. They have to tell him so many times to move away!

“Ancora Imparo” is what Michelangelo

said after completing the Sistine Chapel.

It means: “I am still learning”

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Effectively Soft, continued

“The right word may be effective, but no word was ever as effective as a rightly timed pause.” ~Mark Twain

ANCORAIMPARO

This helps me to know what I need to be like with him and to not feel too bad about it, even if it is not my style. Things go better when I am blunt and clear. Once we have that going, he can have some room to wiggle and play.

Jedi (pictured above) is delicate, sensitive and cooperative. He loves attention. He likes to hang with the leaders and he knows how to get out of the way. It is easy to be his leader because he relaxes when he doesnʼt have to think. He is like a person who will never form a committee on his own, but he will be the first to sign up and will have lots of great ideas to contribute and let you take credit for! I need to give him tasks but I have to be careful to appreciate the enthusiasm he brings to the table; to thank him for all he offers... But he really does want me to be clear... When he is confused he gets tense, distracted and nervous.

Atomic (pictured on previous page) is my big challenge. He is a leader and he wants everyone out of his way. He is NOT happy when challenged. He can also be scared so I have to be always cautious that I am not creating more fear with him when I exert my leadership. But I have observed his style of leadership and it is quick, non-negotiable and physical. He is a little scrapper. I donʼt want to fight with him, but I have to make sure I can be faster, less negotiable and be able to move his body if I need to. Sometimes I feel like if he gets me thinking too much he has already outsmarted me! The more I act on my instincts in the split second of the moment, the better we do together and the more truly soft moments we have. His expression softens and he shows me his warm, fuzzy side... Yet I am sure Atomic would agree with Maya Angelouʼs quote in many moments.

I guess what I am trying to say is that in our quest for softness we canʼt forget that it is effectiveness that will get us there. Effective doesnʼt have to be harsh or strong... It has to be what ever it has to be. As much as necessary, as little as possible. Choose a strategy and be effective. Place your pauses well. If you are ineffective, look at yourself and ask yourself: “Why am I being ineffective?” Answer honestly. Is it because you are scared, or unsure of what you are looking for, or because you feel bad asking for it, or because your horse says he doesnʼt feel like doing it and you donʼt want to force him? Take a good look at how you answer... Then do something to make it better... And you will be on your way to becoming more effective... and therefore soft.