Guiding Thoughts.....

I was nineteen when I first encountered Warmblood horses and dressage. The beauty and strength of these horses captured me. I spent some time learning dressage, trained with some influential trainers and entered some competitions. We did ok, but my heart was never really into the competition. My true love was for the natural beauty of these horses and I found that each time I went to a competition, even if we scored well I would feel disappointed. It wasn't until much later in my life I would understand what this all meant..

I have been breeding foals for just over 20 years. Early on, I fell in love with the Hanoverian and the Oldenburg horses from Germany. These horses have such amazing natural beauty and strength and most importantly lovely gentle minds. Over time we have become quite different to most studs, as we don't just sell horses. We embark on a life journey with the new owner and their Ribbleton baby. We only breed a few foals a year and where each one ends up is so important to us. It often surprises people to learn that our breeding motivation is not about competition or human success with horses, it’s about creating an environment where the horse and it’s human can learn to bring out the best in each other by focusing on the horses happiness as the primary goal.

A new baby is born. My role is to ensure that this baby has a voice. I need to create an environment where this baby can learn to embrace humans as a friend and helper for their future.

Watching our horses move and play is a most wonderful sight. Their natural ability to collect their bodies, to perform passage, to hold a levade and other airs above the ground, to canter voltes and much more is all done with a beauty and pride that comes from within. With my horses help, the intimate connection between the mind and body started to become more evident to me. Simply put, if we don’t feel happy, we will not dance! I started to see that that whenever a horse submitted to the pressure of a human when being trained, whether subtle or overt, their self-esteem seemed to diminish. We can all look at these natural movements freely given, versus those we see under humans control and see the difference. Even when I show photos or video to the untrained eye, someone who is not even into horses they are very quick to choose the horse using it body of it’s own free choice as the beautiful one. I now understood why I was not really happy competing and training my horses – I was not able to achieve the natural beauty that these wonderful horses have inside. You simply can’t “teach” happiness and joy – it must come from within. I was determined to find a way to be with my horses and share in this natural beauty. So I was left asking myself so many questions, some of which you may relate to:
Why do we do it this way?
Is there another way out there?
How do I know my horse is happy?
Why does she always do that?
How does my relationship on the ground affect that when I am riding?
I know my horse has her own mind, but what does she really think of me!!!

My journey continued in looking for a different way.

Thank you Ribbleton Foxy Lady for keeping me on my search for a better way to be with horses. You are my Master Teacher it just took me a while to realise.!

It was a huge WOW when I found Imke Spilker’s book Empowered Horses. Here was what I had been searching for, for so many years! I thought it might be useful to take 3 paragraphs from this wonderful book and provide some of our examples of how this way of thinking can be utilized for our horses. This book tells a story, this book will take you on a journey. These words below are quite a way into the book but I hope that with our examples you will begin to understand just a little more of how you can help your horses be great for your horses. “A horse that follows commands out of obedience to the person or from fear of “correction” – even when these are not evident at the moment – will never be able to find a deeper self-improving reason for them on his own. He will never truly derive benefit from the exercises he performs because he never experiments with and explores these movement patterns for himself. He does not further develop these patterns independently, he is not really aware of what he is doing. What is achieved by this kind of “following orders” is actually the opposite of conscious movement. It is subjugation by an external element, namely, the rider.”
Exert from book Empowered Horses by Imke Spilker Ribbleton Foxy Lady has a great story to tell about finding a deeper self-improving reason to face her fear! Foxy is the leader of her small herd. She is an excellent leader, because she is very careful. It would be unlikely that Foxy would lead her herd into a dangerous situation. Foxy is always ready to take her herd away to safety. To be able to do this, Foxy keeps her energy close to the surface. To be able to take off in a moments notice requires her mind and body to be ready to react. The reality is that on our 5 acres, there is not that much that is very dangerous. I can help Foxy to become the master of her energy. To become braver and stronger. To "collect" all of this amazing energy she has and allow her to reason with herself as to how she will use it - not necessarily to just escape from a perceived threat. There is a scary place on our property for Foxy, it's in one corner of our sand arena. This creates an opportunity to help Foxy master her fear and becoming stronger through doing it. Many people would use the method of "approach & retreat" until they made it to the corner. Yes, this would most likely get Foxy to the corner and may start to desensitise her to this corner, but how can this be helping Foxy for Foxy? If Foxy is not making the decisions about the corner, then how can she understand how this can help her? If she arrives at the corner for herself, then she will become braver and stronger for herself and she will most definitely like that she has conquered her fear! Foxy becomes stronger than the fear in the corner - the corner has become Foxy's Power Place. The flow on effects have been astonishing. Foxy's sense of calm and control is beautiful to see. I have now seen her look for so many opportunities to place her body in a powerful stance and collect her energy. She looks so proud and powerful and it feels like she could take on the world!

Ribbleton Foxy Lady’s Power Place. I can shake the branches overhead, whip the fence, climb on top of the fences – but nothing can crush the strength and power of Foxy Lady!!

“Because it is in his nature to strive for harmonious relationships a horse will, as a rule, do what we demand of him insofar as he possibly can. But when exercises are dire in that spirit, their deeper sense and purpose will always remain incomprehensible to the horse. Collection as obedience remains an empty form. A broken horse forever remains a subordinate riding animal and, under human domination, will never find his true power. He will never become the creature of our wildest dreams, a marvelous, powerful, exuberantly happy presence, bubbling over with the joy of living.”
Exert from book Empowered Horses by Imke Spilker

Ribbleton Weltango’s obedience. Weltango would score well in the “submission” mark of a dressage test. She will do what ever she is asked and tries hard to please. In this photo her eyes are so empty and her movement is so flat. Why would she behave any other way? She is a long way from bubbling over with the joy of living.

“A horse that has been schooled on a mental level responds to the concentration of his human partner in a totally new way. He no longer protects or pulls away the body part in question (“Help! I know I will get hurt, I have to watch out, I have to get away!”). Rather, he too focuses his awareness there. It is no longer threatening when the person concentrates. The horse does not feel he has to flee to safely just because the person takes “aim” – with human partner likewise and focuses his awareness in the same area. This directed awareness unlocks the horse’s enormous potential power. He learns to develop himself, to school his body, and to consciously collect himself.”
Exert from book Empowered Horses by Imke Spilker Ribbleton Weltango is an extremely generous and gentle mare. She holds a supportive role in the herd and is always looking for how she can assist others. It’s no surprise that “Tango” would be extremely obedient with humans, always trying to please and get it right. Tango is very calm of mind. She is able to collect her energy and hold it – often she doesn’t release her energy, it just dissipates. Maybe I can help Tango to use her energy for herself in movement? Maybe I can help Tango to think about herself and feel wonderful about her own body? The contrast in the above image of movement caused by obedience versus the below image of Tango’s own conscious movement of her own body with my role just a supportive one speaks for itself!

Ribbleton Weltango’s conscious movement. Weltango’s collection in this image is so beautiful. She is moving for herself, she is feeling the power of her body for herself. My role is to support her.

We control every part of our horse’s lives. We control where they live, who they share space with, what they eat and what happens in their day. We "use" them for our own pleasures. We talk about being in a partnership with the horse, but does the horse really have a choice? A partnership is made up of two willing participants. In this world of human control the horse has lost it's sense of freedom. This is our reality. What if we could give back just a little of the horses natural sense of power and freedom? What if we could help a horse feel good about it's body and mind? What if our goal was to give 100% back to the horse - for the horse? How would it feel to be that horse? How amazing would it be to provide this gift! Who can help us understand how to achieve this wonderful dream? Where can we search for a teacher to show us the way? Our teacher is right here. Who knows himself better than the one we are discussing - our horse! Every horse is a communicative horse. If you are able to accept your horse as your Master Teacher then all you ever have to do - again and again - is ask your horse.... Thank you to Imke Spilker for showing us this path with our horses. The reward we feel in helping our horses to feel great about themselves is a reward far greater than prizes and ribbons. It is a reward that touches our hearts, because we have touched our horse’s hearts. Are you ready to consider that your horse may be your best teacher? I am happy to help start you on this journey and share my learning’s from my own teachers – my horses and my human mentor Imke Spilker. Ribbleton Foxy Lady’s Clinic. Teaching humans is serious business! Paulette Evans
ribbleton@ribbletonwarmbloods.com.au
www.ribbletonwarmbloods.com.au References
• www.kommunikativepferde.de/start-en-2.html
• The book Empowered Horses – Learning their way through independence, self-confidence and creative play by Imke Spilker

 

Paulette

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