Päivintalli

25/06/2025

ja kun sitä tekniikkaa on hinkattu, näin alkaa runous

All the back and forth in horsemanship these days, and it’s good. Science and facts need to come to light. New ideas need ears that can hear them, as well as questioning. And ways of doing things need to be shared.

We’re moving at a fast rate right now. The internet connects us all across the world. Ideas and opinions can travel across the earth in a day. And it’s also just plain the times we’re in—for we are in a time of great change and shift, with a lot of friction and flow. Said in another way—it’s gonna be a little messy.

And so it goes during a great shifting. “What was” and its safety, consistency, and predictability doesn’t want to let go, while “what could be” can seem scary and unknown. We usually don’t seek internal challenges that feel threatening…they find us, it seems to “happen” to us. But it’s that type of challenge where the greatest opportunity is. Some long-standing ways of doing things are rooted in good horsemanship, others it’s time to move beyond from; and some new ways are here to stay, while others may fade as quickly as they arose…

So what do we do and which way do we go?

In the clinics we spend time deeply getting in touch with something very powerful inside of us. It can be a little hard to get to, can be foggy and unclear in the beginning, but once you feel it…once you truly know it…it won’t ever lie to you or let you down.

It’s YOUR intuition.

How the universe speaks specifically to YOU.

Your inner guidance system. The one that’s specific to you, your horse (or your life), and the moment you’re in. It helps you to know one very important thing…

What the moment wants.

Because what the moment wants from you may be different from one day to the next. One day you might ask your horse to try something. The next day you may think about asking the horse the same exact thing, but instead feel it’s not the time nor place for it.

What’s the difference?

The moment has changed.

Because here’s the thing—you don’t know what the answer is until you’re in the moment with the horse.

To know what the horse is thinking and feeling in any moment is to know what you should do to help them in that moment. Especially if you have “how may I serve you?” as your guiding principle with the horse. It could be about their care and what they need. It could be asking them to work hard. It could be asking nothing of them and just standing there with them. And here’s the cool thing—serving them, can be riding with them too.

There is a presence and energy within you that is connected to all and everything. And this presence talks to you. And one of the ways to know it, is this: it serves all. Not just you. When your intuition comes from this place of heart and soul, it serves all. It serves all and everything. Which includes the horse, and you.

The big work is being able to let go of the who/what/when/why/how and trust where it’s taking us. Trust we will be supported. Trust we will be safe. Let go of the story in our head of what life was supposed to be and trust where our heart leads us in the moment. And like everything, our intuition is like a muscle, something we work to strengthen for the whole of our lives, with no end to its development.

I once asked one of the wisest people I’ve ever known what to do about something very troubling to me. And this is what he said…

“I love you, brother. And you know what to do.”

To truly understand the simplicity of this statement, is to go places in life that create the most amazing experiences.

Because you do know what to do. It’s in you somewhere. But in this world, it just sometimes takes some time to get to it. That’s part of the process.

It may be scary, though.

And you’ll have to trust yourself.

But the cool thing that comes with that?

It means you trust all of life.

😊🐴🙏

22/06/2025

niimpä

Good intentions don’t counter sloppy tool handling

As the horse world shifts into intention, relationship and the more emotional side of work, we are losing one very important thing: good technique

If you want to be a musician, you have to practice your scales. This can be boring but necessary.

Once the technique is accurate, you can create art, express emotion, even break the rules and create something totally unique as many artists have.

But if you don’t learn to handle your line with care, to make sure the feel inside you is being conveyed to the horse through your body through the line, your intentions often won’t get to where you wanted them to go.

Many people relying on inner feeling are neglecting the technique, and the feeling being transmitted to the horse is poor, sloppy, confusing, even scary.

I’ve spent many hours with my teachers refining the way I hold the lead line, the flag, the lunge line, the way I pick up my reins - over and over again until it’s the right feel for what I’m trying to say. Inside me was always a good intention, but the horse can’t hear it if our technique is jarring.

Practice your scales. Be willing to take critique on the most basic things you do and take it seriously. That’s what makes riders and horse people truly great with horses - good intentions and listening to podcasts about emotionalism and spiritualism can set the tone, but then you have to get the skill to communicate that with the horse, and that requires elbow grease

20/06/2025

Tämmöistä hupaa järjesti meiän neuvokas omistaja

15/06/2025

Mikä on sitten ihanampaa kuin katsoa tyytyväisiä hevoja ja iloisia ihmisiä leppoisan kesätuulen löyhytellessä koivujen lehvistöä 🐴🌿☀️

12/06/2025

niimpä

04/06/2025

kärsivällisyyttä siis

02/06/2025

todella, jokainen on omassa kohdassa matkaansa

Ethics in horsemanship and judgement

Photo by Jessie Cardew

In our search to do right by our horses and become educated in what they need, a pitfall we can often run into is becoming judgemental to others “not on our level” or in agreement with us.

It happens earnestly- we want horses to feel good and so it can trouble us to see horses being ridden or treated poorly (we can often have different definitions of what poorly means ) or cared for in a way they don’t deserve. It can hurt us to see horses blamed for behavior that isn’t their fault.

But the line is so easily crossed from earnest interest for the horse into disdain for others.

And a harsh and very important reality about people that I have had my teachers drill into me:
You cannot help people and make them feel attacked at the same time.

Obviously I am not blameless. I struggle as well to see what appears to me as disregard for the horse.

But as I work on teaching better, and being a better horse person myself, I learn more how to keep people from putting their guard up so they can hear. And sometimes they don’t need to hear, just see and be near. And sometimes they need to be exposed for a while without pressure.

Some people might need to be called out. But we need to make sure it’s not from a place of superiority

And to be frank, who am I? I need help all the time. I have had my teachers save my own horses from me so many times. I can help, and I know some things, but I am not some savior.

People can find what they need when they are ready. The message has to be true and steady, but without ego and pretense and judgment.

And we have to really check ourselves here - are we actually trying to help, or showboat our knowledge ? And who are we to judge, when we once were on the “other side” too (and probably still are)?

27/05/2025

Aina tulee hetkiä, kun heppailu ei ole niin kivaa - ja usein ihan hevosesta riippumattomista syistä. Mikä tietty on tylsää hevoselle. Joten sellaisella hetkellä, jos voisin keskittyä johonkin ihanaan hevosessa, sen silmäripsiin tai rauhalliseen hengitykseen tai upeaan väriin, ja säilöä tunteen aivoihini ja kehooni? Tätä voisi kokeilla, josko talven jäätikköahdistus ja pimeät aamut alkaisi haalistua?

Aivot suhtautuvat hyviin ja onnellisiin kokemuksiin kuin upouusi teflonpannu – ne luiskahtavat pois. Onnen hetket eivät tallennu itsestään, koska niillä ei ole suurta merkitystä elossa selviytymisemme kannalta. Hyviä hetkiä kannattaakin tallentaa tietoisesti mieleen, jotta niistä pääsee nauttimaan pidempään. Näin se tapahtuu: https://hidastaelamaa.fi/2025/05/kun-huomaat-pienenkin-hyvan-asian-tee-nain-aivotutkijan-ohjeet-muuttavat-kokemuksesi-elamasta/

23/05/2025

Perusasiat, ne ohittamattomat elämän kulmakivet ❤
Miltä sinusta tuntuisi lukea vaikkapa tätä päivitystä, jos osa aakkosista puuttuisi? Oiso os elpa i jouuisio arilemn?

After finishing a recent 4 day clinic, I was chatting to the participants near the arena. I wanted to explain one particular lesson to them which had made me feel quite frustrated. I said "if you don't own a mint, don't throw your money away". I'll explain why I said this.

There had been a young gelding on the clinic, probably somewhere between 1 and 2 years old. He was always looking for somewhere to go, fidgeting. He would push on people too. A busy mind.

Within 60mins, I had him standing softly and quietly. He was easily interruptible and aware of us and himself. He clearly had a settled mind.

This horse had had a series of sessions with a liberty trainer, once a week. I am pretty sure the sessions had been mostly about movement and direction rather than putting the horse into the right, soft, learning, frame of mind.

I explained to the owner that before we direct a horse at liberty, especially when we start changing directions and speed transitions, we have to put a very good basic foundation on the horse so that instead of just running around taking photos, it can understand what we will need to do around it. I’m guessing the trainer thought that this was not their priority.

The owner knew the red flags but just wasn’t sure how to fix them. That's totally understandable. She should have been able to ask the trainer though to address them.

I don't believe this horse had any problems. He was a very clever and fairly easy to adjust.

I think the choice of education was a bad one, and was more the problem.

Should trainers just do their training and not acknowledge how the horse is coping with it all? I don't think they have a right to - they should be getting paid to help horses be better, not get them good at their speciality but nothing else.

We, as horse owners, also need to reflect on what we are providing for our horse. Does that education benefit them? Have I invested enough into their foundational education?

If I could persuade every horse owner to appreciate that a good foundation is a minimal requirement before any other agendas, I truly believe most horses would progress so much better in whatever discipline they ended up in.

There are some basic essentials that we shouldn't bypass when handling and training young horses:

>> to have a quiet and stable mind that is easily interruptible

>> to trust and follow a lead rope thoroughly

>> to not be frightened of our energy or presence

>> to create the right balance of caution and curiosity

>> to be comfortable in their space and for them to be aware of our space

>> to be okay with being touched and handled all over the body without any signs of freeze

I see so many horses that are doing things on the ground or under saddle yet they don’t have these basics.

And we wonder why they’re struggling.

The above list is basic - there's more levels to it - but I encourage every one of you to look at this list again and really check to see if your horse can do these. If they can't, fixing these may end up helping with some of the other things you are working on. They are simple to address.

Good liberty is okay. Unfortunately I only see bad liberty: liberty that reduces the horses ability to have these basic foundational requirements.

Please, everybody when you choose to invest your money into your horse make sure the education is something that will set your horse up for life. Not for movement.

22/05/2025

Niimpä, meidän ihmisten mittarit ovat itseämme varten.....