Books with Spirit – Joyfulness between horses and people

What did you think of your special treat / sneak preview hey?

Leave your comments below! jen

Which now has a name, providing it hasn’t been used anywhere else.  I think I will call it Through the Grace of my Horse.  Let me know if you’ve seen that name anywhere else, please.

I thought you would be interested in knowing a bit about my combination horse/spiritual journey to see where I am coming from and what you might be able to expect for yourself from a spiritual horsemanship course with me.

Man I used to do things the hard way – such a struggle.

By  1998, I had started my training and worked as a “healer” and knew the power of emotional healing.  But I didn’t work on my own loved ones back in those days.

I was in the Parelli instructor program and staying a Parelli instructor depended on getting my Level 3.   (From what I gather now, that is Level 4 in the new levels program.)

I was really struggling with Bobby – yep, the same Bobby that is still helping me out all these years later!

I remember going to my Rhonda, my kinesiology teacher to work on the emotional aspects of getting good with him in an attempt to get my level 3.

I went to Rhonda to work on my fear of falling.

I went to Rhonda to work on my fear of exams.

I went to Rhonda to work on my fear of failure.  (By this time I had literally tens of thousands of dollars invested in being a Parelli instructor and we were all, as a family, financially committed to that outcome.

At one stage I remember Rhonda questioning the amount of time, effort and money that I was putting into the horse side of my life journey.   It is not so surprising that she should have questioned that, because logically, I had a lot more serious things to worry about.   (My husband’s complete incapacitation from a truck accident being one of them!)

When I look back in hind sight, I see how blessed I have been to have had the possibility of personal growth through the grace of The Horse and I see how much further I have come than if I had been struggling without their support.

As well as working on myself, I took Bobby to Rhonda too, to work on his tendency to break down every time I went to video my exams.

I had his genetic pre-dispositions worked on.  I had his muscles massaged, his emotions cleared, his hormones tweaked, his chakras balanced and his spine re-aligned.

He had acupuncture, iridology, Bowen therapy, homeopathic
medicine, herbal medicine, Bach flowers, kinesiology and whatever else he tested up for.  He was even genetically blueprinted to the tune of hundreds of dollars. (That’s a technique where we reduce the vulnerability to genetic pre-dispositions.)

I jumped out of a perfectly good aeroplane in an attempt to beat my fear of falling.  (There’s a whole other story there for another day…

And I made a complete and dangerous fool out of myself trying to learn to ride a unicycle to improve my balance.

That darned thing is still out in the shed!  Anyone else want it?

I must have gone to more clinics here and in America than any other person I know.  I went to America in 1996 for the very first summer of clinics at the new ranch in Pagosa Springs with Pat and Linda Parelli.   I traipsed all over Victoria chasing learning and went as far inter-state as I could reach.   One time I remember I drove for over two days taking Bobby interstate for yet another clinic week.

With all that learning, I had horsemanship techniques coming out the wazoo.  Still do…

And Bobby STILL wasn’t giving me what I wanted and he STILL broke down in ten different ways at the drop of a hat.

In fact, not only wasn’t he giving me what I wanted (except in his liberty work, which was magnificent) he was an utter pig of a horse who resisted me at every turn. (yeah you don’t have to grab the keyboard to scold me about my attitude – I get that now!)

In frustrated fury, I eventually threw him out into the paddock and told him he was lucky that I didn’t believe in putting horses into pet food or some dog would be eating him.

(I’m cringing here now, but it gets worse…)

I told him to keep out of my way because I didn’t even want to look at him.

I have thanked God many, many times for Bobby’s courage and conviction to make a stand for this “dumb” human.  And I am not talking about dumb as in stupid (but hey if that cap fitted back then…) but dumb as in can’t speak, can’t hear.

It was two years later of barely looking at him -  I couldn’t bear the look in his eyes – before I sat on his back again.  And that was the day of the very first entries in the notebooks that I ended up calling Bobby’s Diaries – that two years later became the book of the same name. Most of you know that story so I won’t go into it again.

Oh man, the forgivingness of him… I still cry with gratitude now even thinking of it.  Waiting all that time for me – maybe for me to grow enough to find my way back to him.

Breathe jen…

The combination of my continuing development as a “healer” and my work with Bobby writing Bobby’s Diaries, led me to a big dummy spit some years later.  And I mean a real dummy spit.  The only thing missing was the actual dummy hitting the ground as I stamped on it in temper.  I actually went through all the actions –
foot on ground – stamping.

I was sooo… over doing things the hard way.  Sooo… over struggling.  I no longer believed that we had to struggle to feel good.  Our old Prime Minister’s  “life wasn’t meant to be easy” quote was firmly relegated to the garbage bin where it belonged. (For you Aussie’s reading this, that was Malcolm Fraser.   Can you believe that?  He actually had a whole generation of people thinking life wasn’t meant to be easy!)

Life WAS meant to be easy…
It CAN be easy…

… And God or the universe or whatever name you want to give to that wonderful all knowing, all encompassing, bigger than us, “Being” out there – set up a bunch of circumstances in front of me that when I understood and worked at it – made it possible for me to end my struggle and brought me to the peace of mind and happiness and sheer aliveness that I experience as routine today.

Some of that I wrote about in Zen Connection with Horses.  The journey since that book has been even more accelerated.

Yes I am getting to the point of the story!

So here I have been blessed (and worked hard too) to have this unique combination of excellent horse skills and techniques and deep spirituality – by the grace of a horse – to bring me to a place where my WHOLE life is affected beautifully.

It’s that ability to find peace of mind and happiness easily, that I want to bring to you with this unique course. 

Although this 6 month course is based around horses – with the combination of practical down to earth horsemanship and deep spirituality – you can expect not only good horsemanship – and a feeling of confidence and capability at whatever level you are working at – but you can expect a complete flow through into other aspects of your life as well.

You can see why this course is not going to be for everyone.  Not everyone is up for peace of mind and happiness.  Crikey!  Just kidding!  That’s not the reason at all!

It’s because the spiritual nature of this intimate course is not everyone’s cup of tea.  Well, I did wake you up there, though, didn’t I, with that naughty crack?

Here’s the catch…

Because this is a spiritual course and a whole bunch of people are quite rightly NOT going to be interested in hearing me go on and on about it, I want to get a list of everyone who is potentially interested in doing this course if it pans out to be everything I think it will be.

So here is what I am asking you to do

I am making a list of everyone potentially interested in getting in at the start of all this, so that I only email interested people from now on.

And please, please, please keep leaving your comments in the comments section below or email me privately.

As before, anyone who is contributing to the development of these programs with suggestions in comments and emails, can have a free 15 minute Skype or phone  lesson with me.  It will give you a chance to feel how amazing and effective that connection is – even by distance.

The feedback from the free lessons that have already happened is fabulous!

Click here to keep getting emails about the spiritual horsemanship course.

If enough people actually get on this list, then I’ll go ahead and develop this program.

If there’s not enough interest, no worries, I’ll stick to the lesson program developed BY nervous people and nervous riders FOR nervous people and nervous riders.  That’s an earth changing event in its own right and is sooo… special.

It and The Six Keys to Happiness with Your Horse will be going ahead anyway!  (That’s getting excitedly close to the finish line!)

Keep on doin’ a little dance of joy!      jenny

I am in an almost constant state of excitement here.  Things go from exciting to VERY exciting and then to EXTREMELY exciting and then back again to merely exciting.  And very occasionally crappy until I figure it out (doesn’t take long these days) and then quickly back to excitement again.

How lucky am I?

One of the exciting things that is happening is that we are in the middle of building a new website dedicated to the completely free gift lessons  The Six Keys to Happiness with Your Horse and the new internet based lesson program developed BY nervous people and horses FOR nervous people and horses.

The website is probably less than a week off ready to rock and roll.  Woo hoo!!!

I feel like I ahve a whole heap of balls in the air at the same time.  Each one important and exciting.  And I am not prepared to drop any of them!  Wait ’til you see what we’ve got coming for you!  Watch this space!

I am laughing at all the exclamation marks.  lol,  jenny

I have a vision of this new program being the most exciting development in the horse world since Noah’s Ark.

Just kidding really, or at least I am kidding a little bit – but I do believe that this program is going to bring an all around happiness to vast numbers of people and horses.

Because feeling GOOD is what happens when you understand and deal with and get rid of fear.

All the people on my personal contact list have had the opportunity to contribute to the development of this program and I decided to make it possible for new people looking at this website to be a part of this excitement too.

Also, anyone who was thinking of answering my original email, but hasn’t got around to it yet, can take this opportunity.

We have over 70 lessons planned now and are still adding content to this awesome new internet based program that is being developed BY nervous riders and horses FOR nervous riders and horses.

We all want our horse to love us, so can you imagine anything more exciting than a program to support nervous riders and nervous horses that is specifically developed to bring happiness to the people and horses?

Click here for that email and there’s a cool freebie at the end for answering my questions – no matter how briefly you answer them!  People are just loving that freebie!

This Sunday at 10am UK / 5pm Perth / 7pm Sydney time we have Mark Mottershead from Horseconscious interviewing me and two other holistic health experts on the topic “Nuture and heal your horse with love – five holistic health experts explain how and why fear in horses is so damaging.”

Hmmm, you noticed that too did you?   I said three experts, Mark said five.   Thats’s because the calls have been split into two different time zones with me talking on the one that is happening at 7.00pm Sydney time.

This is a BIG topic and a “don’t want to miss this” for horse people generally. The other two experts on my call are Kim McMuldrow from England and Rosie Bason also from OZ.

Click here to listen to the call.  You can click on this link now if you like and register questions for the event.  I will follow Mark up to find out IF and how you can listen to the call after the event. and post any changes to this post.

Sounds like it’s gonna’ be fun!

I jokingly said to a friend today, “How can we ‘sex up’ posture?”  That’s a marketing term for making something fire up people’s imaginations. 

We laughed at that, but man, I am serious.  How can I communicate how amazingly wonderful effortlessly powerful posture is?

I mean to say, when I talk about posture you probably think it’s that stand up straight, sit up straight, chest out, army kind of thing – which it absolutely IS NOT. 

So here goes – can I sex up / fire up your imagination about the real deal – really effortlessly powerful posture? 

How would you like to sit there like a centaur when something untoward happens and (God forbid), your horse leaps off the ground like one friend’s horse did recently?

He told me that he sat there and smiled because he felt sooo… secure in the saddle.  

And the way your horse moves underneath you…   I just stopped typing and threw my hands up in the air, but I guess you couldn’t see that! 

When we are in effortlessly powerful posture, our horse can carry us effortlessly and powerfully too and above all happily.  You have really got to experience the movement of that to understand what a HUGE deal it is.
 
I am so excited about this because I have figured out a way to communicate this posture for horse riders in a way that gets it into your muscle memory REALLY FAST.

And you don’t even bring your horse.  In fact, that’s why this becomes second nature so quickly, because you don’t have the pressure of working with a live horse, with all their own stuff happening at the same time.

I was going to explain in great detail what we do on this one day effortlessly powerful posture workshop – but I don’t think I need to – I’ve sexed it up!  (Though you can (smiling) give me a yell if you want that detailed information.)

I have scheduled two Saturdays now – July 30th and August 6th.  I am also running this workshop every Thursday for a while.  Cost is $150 for the day.

10.00 am to 4.00 pm approximately, includes an organic lunch. 

There are only three or four people in each workshop and because of those limits, it won’t be too long before there is a waiting list for this one – IT’S THAT GOOD!

Phone 0417 863394 to join in the most useful time you have ever not spent with your horse!  Or jenny@bookswithspirit. com take out the space in the email address.

Here’s some comments from people who have done this newly developed workshop:

Angela said:    The one day posture training with Jenny was Fun and informative!

I learnt an easier, simpler way of being in the saddle and going with the horse rather than against him.

Practising the riding position on the ground has put me in correct posture thus helping ease my lower back pain that I have had for over a year to disappear.

Steve said: 

Thanks once again to Jenny’s insightfulness and help, I have had an exciting step forward into connecting with my horses while on them. That illusive optimal position in the saddle that doesn’t inhibit your horse or place unnecessary stress on him.

Over many decades dressage exponents have been concerned with aids the rider gives that are in conflict with one another. That is, competing for the horse’s response and confusing him at the one time. Can you imagine how frustrating that would be to the horse?

This conflict can be as simple as the stiff lower back pushing the seat bones against the horse’s forward motion. So do you want to improve your position? Try this refreshing and helpful perspective that gives a whole new dimension to an effective independent seat.

Valezka said:      I just wanted to let you know that although I havent ridden yet I have been more aware of my core when I walk and how that affects the horses when we are companion walking and even when I am asking for something.

It has an effect on my feelings too, for instance if I am not centered in my body and aware of that core position the way I ask for something has less power and attraction therefore less positive response to it.

When I realize and step in and engage, the horses really focus and there is a better and more positive energy to my request and they are happier to comply. 

I notice that Bluey the pony who has massive anxiety about many things, responds instantly and we make the mind connection straight away with him doing what is asked without any anxiety and quickly. 

The same is true when taking territory and leading from behind.  I don’t feel anxious either, which is a big deal.  You probably already knew this.  So I have been using it mostly during feed times when the anxiety level between Bluey and I was very high and am having some stunnning results.

Jenny again:  I too have noticed and been exploring the effect of effortlessly powerful posture when I am just around my horses, specially at feed time when I have a herd of twelve horses all individually having something to eat from the bucket in my arms. 

The powerful posture somehow gives me access to a a stronger mental and emotional place.  It goes with the mind connection and comfort zone work brilliantly.  Well expressed Valezka!

Maybe I should think up another word for it that doesn’t sound so boring, because I and everyone who has done it,  have been blown away by the power and results of this one day workshop which I am running on Saturday 30th July 2011 and another on the following Saturday 6th August 2011.

I help you find a riding position that is so powerful that I cannot pull or push you out of the saddle with all my weight.  And it is effortless for you to stay there – effortlessly powerful posture. 

Imagine how safe you could be if something unexpected were to happen with your horse and you were in this effortlessly powerful posture?

For those of you who want to ride the dance, maybe even a piaffe or passage, imagine that when you engaged the power of your pelvis, that your horse  copied you in the dance and gave you a glorious feeling of power underneath you.

Well, the combination of working the comfort zone and good riding  posture will give it to you.

This stiff old’ ish lady got that with her arthritic and old’ ish horse.  Wooo hooo!!  Yes I am talking about Bobby and me - I am a woman of a certain age these days and after all these years he is a horse of a certain age too…   

Hey, I started to list everything that we do in this workshop and it sounds so blah!  How can something so wonderful sound Blah? 

We work on finding that magical place of effortlessly powerful posture on the ground and in the relaxed saddle of the vaulting horse we call “Magic”.

We use “Magic” to get rid of fright imprints from old falls that has led to people getting their confidence back and have even produced a number of “miracles” of healing of old injuries. 

We use the no pressure approach of good old “Magic” again, to understand and work on whatever is in the road of safety and happiness with our horse.

I expect this to be the best $150 you have ever spent on your horse and your horse won’t even be here… 

Dates:  Every Thursday for a while and on the two Saturdays 3th July and 6th August 2011.   email me for more details jenny@bookswithspirit. com.  Take out the space when yoiu email me – it’s there to stop the web spiders from picking the address up. 

Or ring me on 03 56110558 or 0417 863394

What is it that is so special about the horse-human partnership/s that you most admire?  What is it that you Just Say YES! to?

This connection and communication course will give you and your horse a whopping boost in the things that count most for you and your horse in your own horse-human partnership. 

You already know how to read your horse, you already have a connection and you already communicate together. 

For most of you reading this though, the communication and the connection are in your sub-conscious mind where you only use it sometimes.  We help you bring the communication and connection to your conscious mind – where you can use it all the time.  

When you learn how to use that connection and communication consciously and deliberately, you can get to wherever it is that you want to be with your horse – oh so much more easily. 

In this short course, we cover the physical ways that your horse communicates – the body language that you can see with your eyes.  Then we cover the mental and emotional ways that your horse communicates with you that is such an eye opener.   

It doesn’t matter what you do with a horse or how you ride, to find this connection and communication useful.   You might just want to be a confident rider with a confident horse.  You might ride English, western or natural or pony club.  You might be an advanced rider or an absolute beginner.  

This communication and connection happens before you even put a halter on.  Bring your horse or use one of ours.  The first day is here at Tanjil South, Saturday 27^th March.  Cost $130.   Each person bring something for the group to share for a convivial lunch together.

Ring me on 03 5160 1481 or email jenny@bookswithspirit. com (take out the space when you email me!) for bookings or more information.

I’ve been doing alternative therapies for 14 years now and I have more than 15 different healing modalities that I use in my healing work, yet I still marvel at the power of Bowen muscle therapy.    

The very gentle and non invasive Bowen ‘moves’ put a vibration in the muscle that releases muscle spasm and resets the brain to muscle connection for optimum muscle operation.  Bowen is an excellent modality for the clearing away of muscular-skeletal problems in horses. 

In this Bowen course, I’ve added the precision of the pendulum to prioritise the Bowen ‘moves’, which makes the original excellent Bowen work seriously more powerful.  I’ve also added horse communication as I consider it an essential healing tool for anybody who is working with horses.  The combination gives you a healing course guaranteed to knock your socks off.

To see a horse with a simple and common condition like a sore back get such quick and easy relief is such a buzz.  

I also have many, many stories of amazing healing that has taken place with Bowen muscle therapy, some of them bordering on the miraculous – long term lamenesses gone, muscles moving freely, muscle spasms released, bones sliding back into place, colic turned off like throwing a light switch, a dog who had been paraplegic for 3 months walking again.  But the best story that I have about the power of this healing modality is about one of my students.

Click here to read that story and other details about courses learning Bowen muscle therapy for horses.

We have two 3 day Bowen courses coming up – one here at Tanjil South in Victoria, Australia from Saturday 14th to Monday 16th October and another in New Zealand at Wainuiomata 28th, 29th and 30th Novmember 2009

We have been told that horses are bad for the Australian environment – to the extent that riding horses is forbidden in many parks in Australia.

Of course, there’s no doubt that hard footed animals are responsible for a large part of the degradation of the land here in Australia.

Well, the good news is, that horses and cattle can also play a significant part in saving the environment.  Well-managed native pasture sequesters more carbon than trees do.  And sequestering carbon is what governments to environmentalists are trying to do at the moment.

…Graeme Hand, agricultural scientist and CEO of STIPA, the native grass company, is going to spend a day telling us how we can regenerate native pasture using horses to do it… 

This one day course is taking place here at Tanjil South on the 9^th October.  Graeme has very generously given us the day at a fixed rate plus $20 each for the notes, which will mean that the cost of the day, divided up amongst ourselves will come in under $100 each..  The more people that come, the less the cost.

I’ve had a taste of what Graeme has to offer us and I’m very excited to be learning more.  He’s a great speaker, interesting and had me on the edge of my seat making sure that I didn’t miss a thing.  Tell every horse person you know about this one!

Phone me, Jenny on 03 5160 1481 to book.  Bring something for lunch to share.