HORSE MANAGEMENT NEWSLETTER AND MORE!!!
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Topics in this issue:
1) Feature: Filming in Arizona with Linda Kohanov
2) Recommended products and services: Equine nutritional advice from Dr.
Thunes
3) Recommended books, videos, and CD-ROMs: Robert Vavra's musical CD, Horses
of the Wind
4) Fun and educational websites: support wild horses while searching the
internet, ready for a vacation?
5) Horsey Humor: My life as a Ralph Lauren model
6) Free item exchange

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Feature: Filming in Arizona with Linda Kohanov
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by Stormy May

Linda Kohanov is the author of two groundbreaking books about communication
with horses. When I read her first book, The Tao of Equus, in 2000 or 2001
it was hard for me to imagine first of all that someone could step so far
into the horses' world, and secondly that they would be brave enough to
share it in a published book. When her young Arabian mare, Tabula Rasa,
developed a serious stifle injury and couldn't be ridden, Linda started
spending hours with her on the ground and developed what I can only call a
true partnership based on really knowing the animal for herself.

Shortly after reading that book, and Klaus Ferdinand Hempfling's book,
Dancing with Horses, the idea for The Path of the Horse documentary was
generated in my mind. I had spent my life learning from various trainers.
They all had their own methods but in most cases, the students weren't able
to achieve the same level of synergy with horses that the teachers had. I
figured that there must be something behind the methods that was the key.
Possibly even the teachers didn't realize the true secret to their success.
I suspected that it was more about a way of being rather than what they were
doing or teaching.

I began searching for other people like Linda and Klaus whose methods
contained hints of the true secret to relationship with horses. In the
following years I found much more than what I imagined. I started out
thinking that this was a safe path but upon walking it, I now realize how
much has been demanded of me to progress every single step. More on that in
the next newsletter!

To film in Arizona, I brought a crew that consisted of my cameraman Phil, a
former Pony Club student, Sam, his mother Jeanne, and my dad, Dean. Sam,
Jeanne, Dean, and I were going to participate in a mock clinic so we could
get a deeper experience of Linda's work while being able to catch it on
film. We started out with a slide presentation of different emotions and
the messages behind them. Linda has found that for example, if we are
feeling anger, it is a message from our emotional system telling us that
some boundary has been breached. If we listen to the messages and act
appropriately, the emotion then has done its job and goes away. Next, we
progressed to working with the horses. Linda showed us how to sense the
areas where we can most effectively connect with horses...sort of like their
personal space. It made me realize how many liberties we take with horses,
invading their space just like how uncomfortable it would be if we walk up
too closely to another person without first being invited. We went through
other exercises that got us sensing more of our own bodies and how they are
influenced by proximity to other people and horses. I was excited when
Linda suggested that I do a session with her mare Tabula Rasa. What
happened with her was so subtle and beautiful that it brought tears to my
eyes. But you'll have to wait for the documentary to see.

Here are some quotes from Linda's interview:

"It took me a long time to be able to explain this to other people, or even
to have the nerve to share it with them, so I actually spent years exploring
emotion as a language and how horses dealt with it and how my own body could
pick up feelings from others at distances. And it actually was quite a lot
of trouble for me when I went back into the human world, because I could
sense when somebody was afraid even though they said they were fine and I
could sense when somebody was angry even though they said that everything
was ok and that they were happy. So I began to have a whole lot of trouble
with people who were incongruent in the same way a horse does. I actually
had trouble going to normal social occasions and parties for years because I
just felt like everybody was lying and all of a sudden I could tell. So it
took me a long time to be able to tell people what was going on, or why I
was becoming such a recluse. And they were all asking me what I was doing
with my horses and had to say that I was just hanging out with them and
learning I guess non verbal communication or how to be one with them and one
with nature, I could only talk about it in the vaguest of terms like that.
And then over the years, I began to find ways to turn my experiences into
words but there were about five years where I was absolutely speechless
while I was experiencing these things."

"I believe that all animals have a certain wisdom to teach us, and I believe
that horses have a lot to teach us in this stage of our development that
some animals maybe wouldnıt be as good at conveying to us in such an
efficient and yet heart warming and spirit expanding manner. Horses, unlike
cats and dogs and even dolphins, are completely non-predatory, so they have
a whole other psychology and way of being in the world thatıs something I
really believe we need to develop in ourselves to balance the over predatory
nature of our culture. So horses can teach us to be strong and powerful and
fast, and yet extremely sensitive and non-predatory. And I think thatıs
what we need right now, thatıs what we need to learn. Horses also are a
marvelous bridge between humanity and nature in a way that other animals
canıt quite get us to because we literally sit on their backs and they carry
us and they move our bodies. Thereıs a lot that horses have to teach us
right now that really no other animal on the face of the earth can do."

For more information about the Path of the Horse documentary go to:
www.stormymay.com .

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: Equine nutritional advice
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from Peggy Holcomb

If you are the guardian of an equine friend, I am sending you this link in
case you might find it useful.

Dr. Clair (formerly "Spackman") Thunes is a researcher at UC Davis and holds
a doctorate in animal science/nutrition. (Some of you know her as a Pony
Club graduate and/or Pony Club instructor.)

Recently, we enlisted her services on behalf of my daughter's equine friend,
Sebastian. Dr. Thunes is very thorough and I'd recommend her to anyone who
is concerned about their equine partner's overall health and well-being.

http://equilibrateequine.com

Stormy's note: Clair is a wealth of information and a great resource for
equine nutrition, I highly recommend her! Be sure to subscribe to her free
nutritional newsletter at the bottom of her webpage.

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Recommended books, videos, and CD-ROMs!
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Robert Vavra's Horses of the Wind audio CD

This is the first audio CD that I've recommended in this newsletter.
Something perhaps for the holidays, or to listen to any time you want to
immerse yourself in horse-land even if you are far away from the sounds of
the barn. The CD contains music that sounds like a mix between classical
and soundtrack music overlayed with nature sounds and plenty of beautiful
horse sounds ranging from galloping hoofbeats to courting stallions and
whinnying babies. It's very cool when listened to with headphones. We
played it while driving to and from Linda Kohanov's and the cameraman Phil
thought we were all pretty nuts. My one warning is donıt play this around
your horse, he will be very distracted trying to figure out where the other
horses are!

Hear samples and order here:

http://www.equivision.net/music/page2.html

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Fun and educational websites
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Now it's possible to support a good cause every time you do an internet
search, how cool is that? Try it out now, type in: www.goodsearch.com and
then in the box that says, "Who do you Goodsearch for?" type in "Return to
Freedom" (without the quotes) and then click "verify". Return to Freedom is
a non-profit wild horse sanctuary in Lompoc, California. It's home to over
200 wild horses who would otherwise have gone to slaughter. It's that easy,
every time you do a search through Goodsearch, Return to Freedom benefits!
You can also easily add the Goodsearch search engine to your internet
toolbar, there are instructions right on the page.

To further support Return to Freedom you can do your regular internet
shopping either through Goodsearch (click on the shopping tab from the main
page) or through iGive.com . When you go to iGive.com and register Return
to Freedom as your chosen charity, they immediately get a $5.00 donation as
well as a portion of whatever you spend while shopping.

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Ready for a vacation from your vacation? Here are several companies that
offer equine based holiday trips ranging from dude ranches to palace to
palace rides in India:

www.ridingworld.com

www.bchorsevacations.com

www.horse-riding-guide.com

horseworlddata.com/vacat.html

www.DestinationEquus.com

www.DaufuskieIslandResort.com

www.equiberia.es

www.hondoo.com

www.infohorse.com/vacations.asp

www.horsevacations.net

www.naturalhorsetraining.com/HorseVacations.html

a quick internet search on goodsearch.com will yield many more places
offering trips!

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Horsey humor: My life as a Ralph Lauren model
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as found at: http://jmatt.net/ElecEq/ralphlauren.html

Ralph Lauren and the Glamorous Equestrian Lifestyle

So. I was in the mall the other day, and was noticing a display of Ralph
Lauren clothing that was accented by some well-placed English saddles, polo
mallets, and even a few photogenic straw bales (you have never seen such
glowingly clean straw in your entire life). There were some posters on the
walls between the racks that showed impeccably dressed ladies and gentleman,
lounging in a palatial and equally spotless stable, or leading a perfectly
groomed mount through the tall grass. There were mock hunt coats, mock
breeches, and even mock boots. Depicting and selling the life and times of
the horsey set isn't exactly new territory for Ralph Lauren, but the
sentiment here is clear: "Ah the life and times of the horsey set. Country
life, palatial estates, glowing, well-groomed mounts-glamour, personified."

Excuse me one second.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

Phew! OK, I feel better now. While I will admit that there is a certain
amount of money involved in horses, what most people fail to realize is that
we nutty horse people spend whatever we have, on the horses, and that
country life is far more dirt, sweat, bug, and hard labor intensive than is
ever seen in the Ralph Lauren catalog. Take the Ralph Lauren catalog, drag
it through the mud, and leave it out the elements for a few days, and then
you'll have a closer idea to what most horse people's lifestyle is truly
like. Rather than the spotless country frocks, and (horrors) white pants of
Ralph's world, most horse folk are usually found in "barn clothes". This is
the euphemism that we use for "clothes most people would be embarrassed to
give away to the Good Will." In the summertime, barn clothes are usually
some kind of cut-off shorts, usually stained, usually with holes, and
usually of a style and color that could kindly be referred to as "out." The
t-shirt or tank top usually has a matching set of stains and rips, and often
carries the logo from some long forgotten competition or adventure.

In the wintertime, we often look like stained abominable snowman. You know
those days when non-horse folk sit inside their houses, watching the snow
fall and wind howl, and say, "t'aint fit for man nor beast." Well, those are
the days we still have to go out and feed and muck and look after our
horses. If you really are a fashionista of the barn set, your preferred
winter outfit doubtless includes some item manufactured by the Carhart
company (I have the overalls), which keep you warm and dry in the worst
weather, but are as attractive and fashionable as industrial tarp. On days
when the Carharts seem too heavy, jeans (with long underwear visible under
the rips),sweatshirts, ski hat, gloves-basically think "suburban hobo" and
you have the look we are going for.

And as far as the glamorous activities of country life, well, they are too
numerous to mention. There's nothing more glamorous than spending a day knee
deep in the manure pile (because it needs to be shifted), sweating it out
for several hours on horseback in the blazing sun (because that left lead
canter needs to be better), and then having your arms lengthened because the
yearling had his first good look at the neighbors dog while you were walking
him down to the field.

Or there is the mowing and weed eating which tends to stain your shins an
especially attractive tint of green that makes it look like you've massacred
an alien horde. Or how about the "healthy glow" you get from dragging the
ring-the resultant dust gives you a nice "tan" without the use of messy
creams or lotions!

At the end of a given Saturday, rather than martinis with the beautiful
people down at the hunt club, I usually only have the strength to ring up
for pizza and watch Trading Spaces (trying to get ideas of ways to make my
neglected house look better without actually putting any money into it).

But what about showing? That must be glamorous right? All the hunt coats and
polished boots and braided manes. Indeed, what could be more glamorous than
that? Well, after getting up at 4:00am, bathing the horse (which of course
transfers all the dirt and loose hair on to you),cleaning all the tack and
equipment (which gets you covered in polish, soap, and Brasso), braiding,
loading horse and all equipment in to the trailer, driving several hours to
the middle of nowhere, unloading, wiping off, tacking up, and getting on,
well, by 9:00am you look like something the cat ate, threw up, and then
dragged in.

Funny, of all the equestrian archetypes I've seen in old Ralphie boy's
catalogs, I don't remember the Girl With Black Shoe Polish on Her Nose, Dirt
On Her Legs, A Stain of Unknown Origin on Her T-Shirt, and Hair Crusted Out
In Several Directions By Sweat and Helmet Head. If they did feature that
doyenne in a photo shoot, instead of the usual sultry expression, her face
might register mild nausea from having just swallowed a braiding band. Or
possibly a bug.

Without question, the most glamorous week of my life took place early in
1995. I was living with a roommate on a farm of 15 horses in small town, on
a dirt road, in what is pretty much the middle of nowhere Virginia. For
those of you who didn't live on the eastern seaboard in 1996, you may have
forgotten we had a significant blizzard here. Our house, barn, road,
driveway, everything was covered with feet, and feet, and feet of snow. We
had drifts that were 8-10 feet high, and we were trapped on our farm for 9
days before the National Guard was able to get the blowers in to free us.
Now, we were hardly the only ones trapped by the storm, yet when everyone
else was lounging by the fire, or playing in the snow, my roommate and I
were slogging through hip-deep snow back and forth from the barn several
times a day, to bring hay, chip ice off the water buckets, and hand walk the
horses up and down the aisle to help keep their guts moving as the drifts
had trapped them in the barn. We were cold and wet for 9 days. But our
horses all came through the experience healthy and happy, and to us that was
all that mattered.

So Ralph, I'm waiting for the call-my horses and I are ready for your next
snapshot of country life.

Maryland, USA

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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.