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A new Adventure

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  Horsemanship Through Mindfulness My New Chapter: Finding Balance and a Farm in Axton, VA It is with great excitement that I share my new location and a new direction! Some of you may have noticed I have been off the grid for a while. For the past two and a half years, I’ve been in  Warrenton, NC , taking a much-needed sabbatical from the intensity of full-time teaching. This break gave me precious time to process and reflect on the direction I want to take at this stage of my life. The biggest news is that I've finally found a property in  Axton, VA ! It took quite a bit of time to locate the right farm, and I am currently in the satisfying process of creating a space here that feels right for me, my Mares, and, of course, Walter, my border collie. The Forever Learner Paradox As I began this new chapter, I’ve had to release a lot of expectations about who I feel I need to be. I think my biggest attribute is doing my best to be a forever learner, but ironically, I also t...
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Marigold

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                                                                                                                                                                                            Marigold My morning routine was seemingly the same. I even wrote about it in my morning gratitude journal. Yet, this morning, something felt different. As usual, I went about feeding my mares, taking in as much of nature as I possibly could along the path. What struck me as odd was the absence of geese around the pond—not one in sigh...
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For the Love of the Horse, A look in the Mirror

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                   For the Love of the Horse, A look in the Mirror For everything that is perceived as bad usually comes a lesson.  Some call that a silver lining,  a new perspective and if we are fortunate enough we will go within and become curious.  Human nature can  cause us to lash out, blame or stay in our little box of comfort and become defensive to avoid looking within.  In lieu of recent events in the horse world there has been a little of all of the above.  Only looking at one side of the equation creates bias and we lose the ability to see the larger more important picture.  In this particular case looking at our own values, morals and integrity.  We try not to judge yet it comes so easily, especially if we have spent most of our life with these incredible sentient beings trying to be the best we can be for them. We can hope that the event with this Olympian will spread more awarene...
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Holding Space vs. Sharing Space

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                                                                                      Holding Space vs Sharing Space                                                                        What does that mean?                                    Why is the understanding important when communicating with a horse?      This is one of my absolute favorite topics.  The more I learn and grow the deeper the meaning becomes of these two ways of being.  So let's rewind.  Back in early ...
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Unsolicited Advice

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                                                                             Interacting with those that don’t align with your philosophy This is a topic that comes up frequently and I will have to say I have experienced it many times in my journey.  I have had many students share their experiences with this topic.  Sometimes they just want the vocabulary to deal with the situation. They just want to be understood.   As we continue to evolve in our horsemanship journey our vocabulary will become more sophisticated.  In the early stages of learning something new we struggle to find the words to explain to others what we are doing.  I believe until we become consciously competent with something we don’t truly understand .  To understand is to observe, to f...
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Life's lessons

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                                     Another Lesson Learned         I will have to say this blog came to me very unexpected and of course in a very unexpected setting.  I happened to be out shoveling poo, yes poo, my real professional job  and realized that some recent controversy brought to my attention, has been on my mind more than it should.   It is inevitable that at some point us humans will disagree and we have a choice of agreeing to disagree or judge.   Guilty as charged, I know there have been many times in my life that I have judged others for their opinions and felt I was right in doing so.  Or should I say righteous?   I believe there is always a lesson to learn.  It took me a long time to reach a point of glass half full vs. half empty.  I'm challenged daily, challenged to understand the lesson to be learned.  The...
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Why is the Why important?

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                                                                     Why is the why so important?                                                                                          Food for Thought          This is a topic I seem to have frequently with students, my mentors and myself.  Before I dive in to this question I will first ask if you have ever said or heard any of the following.  Be honest folks, no judgement here.  I certainly have said some of them at different times in my journey. 1. I don't need arena work, I just trail ride. 2. I don'...
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