HORSE MANAGEMENT NEWSLETTER AND MORE!!!
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Topics in this issue:
1) Feature: Filming in Denmark with Klaus Ferdinand Hempfling
2) Recommended products and services: Riding simulator
3) Recommended books, videos, and CD-ROMs: Beautiful Jim Key
4) Horsey Humor: Fifty Ways to..
5) Free item exchange

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Feature: Filming in Denmark with Klaus Ferdinand Hempfling
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by Stormy May

It's been many years since I first read Klaus Ferdinand Hempfling's book
"Dancing with Horses". The seductive pictures of man and horse in perfect
step with each other on the ground and in the saddle opened my eyes to doing
things in new ways. The book wasn't an instruction manual as much as a
different perspective.

When I started planning the Path of the Horse documentary in 2003, Klaus was
on the top of my list of people to interview. When I tried to contact him I
was met with polite refusals. As the years went by I continued with my
vision and early this year, when it looked like the documentary was going to
happen for sure, Klaus invited me to audit a clinic of his in Belgium. In
May I went to Belgium and saw yet another level of working with horses that
Klaus has tapped into. We arranged to meet up at a clinic at his home on
the Danish island of Lyĝ in September to film for the documentary.

As the date got closer I was madly arranging flights, passports, equipment
and other travel plans for myself and two camera operators to take the trip
to Denmark. The day before we were scheduled to leave, my main cameraman,
Phil, who I've been working with since 2003, threw his back out and was
unable to move. Too late to make other plans, Adele, my second camera
operator and I left with two cameras. Up until then I hadn't bothered to
learn how to use the camera, but on the long flight to Denmark I read the
manual over and over with the camera on my lap.

Upon arrival in Copenhagen we quickly figured out how to get the train to
the city center and then a short walk to the hotel where we would catch up
on sleep until the journey by bus, train, ferry, (and nearly a tractor!) to
get to Klaus's began. Amazingly enough, it all went by without a hitch and
shortly we found ourselves on the windy little island of Lyĝ, known for its
druid burial mounds, small size (6km across), and friendly people.

We were treated as guests as we tried our best to blend in with the rest of
the clinic (despite the fact that we had two big video cameras and were the
only Americans, from California, the land of Hollywood no less!). Klaus was
very supportive of the project and gave us two great interviews in addition
to the filming of the clinic itself.

One of Klaus's main topics was about finding 100% and being 100%. When a
person is 100%, they are "inside of themselves" which means that they are
being fully authentic in that moment. What Klaus sees is that horses can
very quickly judge whether a person is 100% or not. If a person is 20%, 50%
or even 99%, as he says, the horse will not connect in a positive way with
the person. The horse doesn't distinguish gray areas, he just shows if the
person is 100% or not in any moment.

Of course everybody will have to wait until the documentary comes out to see
what went on but the following are a few excerpts from the interviews.
Klaus speaks very understandable English but I have edited his word choices
for clarity in the written medium.

"What is the job of the horse, this is something which is very important and
this is something which is according to my perspective tremendously
misjudged. The horse has the job to distinguish between black and white and
not half, or gray, but black and white. Since the horse has this job, he
will necessarily, automatically give information to everybody who is acting
at 20%, 50% or 99% 'you are failing at the moment, you are not reaching the
point, you are not breaking through right now'. He will be giving this
information all the time. If you are opening the door of the stable, the
horse is coming, the horse is pushing, the horse is not there, the horse is
pulling, the horse wants to go to the left, you want to go to the right
means that the horse is always giving this person the idea, 'youıre not
enough'. What is the picture for the person? Finally after weeks, months,
or years of hearing, 'I am not enough' there is a big danger.

"The horseıs role in the togetherness with human beings is not to train
them, the position of the horses is to mirror them for a moment and say
'this is where you are, this is how I see you without any compromise because
I'm always honest, Iım always reacting the way I have to react out of my
natural roots'.

"So the difficult point has been to understand how vulnerable in reality the
relationship between people and horses is in the normal horse world because
they are being confronted with this absolutely strict judge which a horse
is. It means that they are receiving all the time the signals and the signs
and the comments from the horse, 'you are not where I am, you are not in my
world, I am not with you'. And this means that being with the horses for
somebody who is not in a sufficient way experienced is somehow to be hurt
from the horse, often physically, beating, kicking, biting, but spiritually,
mentally being hurt all the time by somebody who is there saying 'you are
not enough'. So this means coming to the horse world for me was a world
which was full of wounds, full of frustration, full of sadness, for sure on
the side of the horses, but also very much on the side of the human beings.

"We have to realize that in former times, it was not allowed for everybody
to be with horses, it was only allowed for very special people to be with
horses, according to their wisdom. Looking back into these former times,
people needed a lot beforehand to be with a horse. If these kinds of self
knowledge, self awareness, awareness of your body, awareness of your energy,
and more things, if these kinds of structures were not established inside of
a person in the right way, they would not suggest to bring this person
together with a horse because the horse in this moment has the job to
explain very clearly, 'youıre not succeeding, you're not doing enough,
youıre not reaching the point, and I have to show you this, I have to show
this by being aggressive, being away, not reacting to you, running over you,
not recognizing you'. How to show this to a person is the most difficult
point you can imagine, itıs not a question of one day to another day, itıs
not a question of one year, itıs a question of a big part of a human beingıs
life.

"If you start to learn to play the guitar, the first day you will learn two
or three notes and they sound nice, and the next week you can play a short
song and after one year, youıre starting to play some nice songs at a party
with friends, it means under normal circumstances we have to take care that
what weıre doing is increasing energy, is increasing trust and is increasing
self knowledge in a positive way. In the world of horses this is not the
case, in the world of the horses you will realize frustration and negative
feelings are the daily bread people are going to eat. So what Iım doing is
parallel with the wisdom of our forefathers. Be with the horse when youıre
controlled, either you have a big package of life experience beforehand so
you can recognize 'this is why I'm doing what Iım doing' or be led by
somebody who can push you over the borderline who can give you the feeling
of 'now youıre breaking though', 'now you can do it', 'come back, say whatıs
happened, feel what happened try it again', 'try it on your own', but being
controlled in this way, being protected against this judgment of the horse.
The horse is the judge, not the trainer. The horse is the partner if you
have been breaking through (to 100%). The horse is not a toy, the horse is
not a companion if you aren't breaking through yet, at least if youıre alone
with the horse.

"The joy of the horses is this joy of life, joy of energy. How do we get
it? According to my perspective, joy for the animal can only be harvested
if you are able to recognize the horseıs path. It means according to my
philosophy looking back to the old Europeans, occidental meditation
structures, each being has itıs own destiny path, life path. And the next
step is quite difficult to find out with human beings, but with horses, the
next step is very easy to recognize and to see, at least for me it looks
like itıs easy and simple. So this is very important to come towards the
horse and find out what is the next step on the journey, on the path of
destiny for this particular horse. And then when you are going to lead the
horse towards himself, towards his original next step, pouf, then heıs
grounded, heıs inside of his world, and heıs realizing that you are
understanding him, you can read inside of him like in a book. Then he can
connect, communication is possible, the horse is opening and together with
you as a person, as a partner, youıre following the track of the horse, and
this means to increase all the energy which is already inside of the horse.
I canıt bring energy to the horse, I only can demonstrate my joy of life, I
can demonstrate my energy, and can recognize and can bring some memories to
the horse of how it has been when you have been in your energy."

For more information about the Path of the Horse documentary go to:
www.stormymay.com . Next month: Filming with Alexander Nevzorov in Russia

For those people interested in being part of a discussion group about the
Path of the Horse documentary and putting these principles into action in
your own life, send a blank email to:

pathofthehorse-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

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Recommended products and services: Riding simulator
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So how do we learn to ride or stay in shape if we don't want to spend hours
pounding on the backs of our friends? How about a riding simulator?
Definitely take a look at this, you might not believe it.

http://racewood.com/

http://www.ridingsimulator.co.uk/simulator.html

This simulator does walk, trot and canter. It seems like the only drawback
is that you have to kick it to make it go and pull the reins to make it
stop, not good habits to learn! If you're in Northern California, I hear
that Colleen Reid has one at her Equine Sports Complex in the Sacramento
area and offers lessons on it. Check it out and let me know how your ride
goes.

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Recommended books, videos, and CD-ROMs! Beautiful Jim Key
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Beautiful Jim Key: The Lost History of the World's Smartest Horse by Mim
Rivas

Beautiful Jim Key was a horse who lived in the early 1900s and made a name
for himself as an "educated" horse trained with patience and kindness.
Although the book in my opinion gets bogged down with too many details about
the time period, the parts about Jim Key himself and his "trainer" Dr.
William Key give lots of good fodder for discovering what all of our horses
may be capable of.

Could you imagine a horse who spells, calculates, and even has his own
political opinions? Read the book and decide for yourself.

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Horsey humor: Fifty Ways to..
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annoy your pasture-mates and slaves

These gems of wisdom contributed by Rudy, with some assistance from his
slave, Christina Clark.

1. A stick with a few dead leaves on it can make very scary noises. Take
advantage of this fact.
2. Plastic bags can also be quite scary to other horses.
3. So can large pieces of rubber.
4. Well, Ok, pretty much anything can appear frightful when held in the
mouth and shaken. It is very fun to chase around other horses using this
knowledge.
5. Other horses also seem to be quite scared of loud noises. A hoof
against metal works quite well.
6. Coughing loudly behind an unsuspecting horse can also be quite
effective.
7. Most horses do not know what to think when you stand on your hind legs
for more than 5 seconds at a time.
8. Most horses also do not know what to think when you climb into the
salt feeder.
9. Or the grain feeder.
10. Neither do most people.
11. Any open object is meant to be climbed into. Never mind the size of
the object in comparison to your size.
12. Also never mind that the object may be harder to exit than it was to
enter.
13. Trailers are more fun to get into than they are to get out of. Do not
consider this fact when entering the trailer; but strongly consider it when
asked to get out.
14. Horse hair bears a striking resemblance to grass.
15. So does people hair.
16. All objects have the potential to be edible. Much taste-testing and
chewing is required to discover this potential.
17. Other horses make interesting noises when you nip them.
18. especially when you nip them on the butt.
19. esepecially when the horse you are nipping is a female.
20. People make interesting noises when your place your foot on theirs
21. People also make interesting noises when you buck while they are
sitting on your back.
22. The higher the buck, the louder the noise.
23. If you possess a large, hangy down thing, then you *are* a stallion,
no matter what the vet did to you.
24. Be sure everyone *knows* that you are a stallion.
25. Mares find stallions very attractive. Remind them of this as often as
possible. Ignore any rude remarks, or respond with one of the above
techniques for regaining control of the herd.
26. Food was meant to be eaten and water was meant to be drunk.
27. Nothing can change this fact. The more barriers in the way, the more
number 26 applies.
28. Water is also meant to be splashed in.
29. and rolled in.
30. These acts are more fun when someone is sitting on your back.
31. If something is fun without an audience, it is twice as fun with an
audience.
32. the larger the audience, the greater the fun.
33. one word: flatulence.
34. bits were made to be chewed on. They were *not* made as a device to
control you.
35. Ditto with halters.
36. and leadropes.
37. "Good boy!" should be music to the ears. Respond to this phrase with
pricked ears and a happy face. This phrase always applies to you.
38. Come to think of it, "good boy" is the *only* phrase that always
applies to you.
39. "No" does not apply to you. Ever. Neither does "naughty" or any
similarly negative phrase.
40. Be sure your slave knows that these phrases do not apply to you and
you do not appreciate any negative attitudes.
41. "Whoa" applies to you when you are tired of moving.
42. "Giddyup" applies when you are tired of standing.
43. Under opposite circumstances, each can easily be misinterpretted as
the other.
44. In fact, most phrases can easily be misinterpretted to you liking.
45. Rules were meant to be broken.
46. Unless they are rules that you wrote.
47. Then they should be applied as often as possible.
48. In as many different circumstances as possible.
49. As long as possible
50. Possibilities are endless.

Rudy (Pondering why he is the herd outcast)

From: http://jmatt.net/ElecEq/humor.html

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Free item exchange
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**FREE**FREE**FREE**

<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>

Submit your free horse-related items or services here. If you or your club
has items they are willing to pass along to a new family, this is a great
place to list them. Listings can come from any part of the country, or even
overseas!

Free items may include but are not limited to:

riding clothes
rally equipment
horse-related games and toys
tack and training equipment
blankets, wraps, halters
books or magazines
horse-related artwork
and of course...horses and ponies!

The recipient may be expected to handle any shipping costs.

Please provide a phone and/or email contact with each listing. Items will
be listed in the next HM Newsletter and will not be renewed unless an
additional email is sent asking for the listing to be continued.

So...clean out your tackroom and make room for more stuff!

To submit your items, simply reply to this email or write to:
stormy@... .

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Call for submissions
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Help make this newsletter the best it can be. Do you have any issues you'd
like to see addressed here? How about ideas for recommended products, books,
or videos? Want to submit your own article, or a question for the questions
and answers section? Send them to: stormy@... and I'll keep a log
of topics and articles for upcoming issues.