Books with Spirit – Joyfulness between horses and people

Here is a lovely poem for those who enjoyed following Gulliver’s journey from the horse with the dead eyes, to one with a blossoming personality.  Anne says that she wrote the poem spontaneously.  

Anne:  “Yesterday I had a major breakthrough with Gulliver and the poem just came from how the experience felt.  He felt safe to interact and particpated wholely.  Even sharing territory was different, if he had been a cat he would have curled up in my lap and gone to sleep.”

My eyes shine brighter each day.

My fear melts away

As I connect closer and closer

To the newness of my present moments

Emerged from tension

I see you, I look to you

I am with you

I am no longer afraid

I am soft

My feet touch the ground lightly

My step rhythmic

I am aware

I look to you

I see you, I want to follow

Then we walk together

I am joyfully being in my present moments.

You are obviously doing a lovely job on each other Anne!

I read a wonderful piece on leadership that surprisingly came  from my  “Daily OM Horoscope”.  It applies to leadership with horses as much as it applies to leadership with humans.  I have put the Daily OM quotes in italics for the discussion.

Click here for the rest of this blog.

Whether you are into natural horsemanship or not – even if the idea of natural horsemanship makes you cringe -  the Friendly Game, the rhythmic advance and retreat method of getting your horse comfortable with routine things that they might think are either scarey or uncomfortable, is probably one of the best things that you can do with your horse.

Click here for the rest of the blog about how to get that powerful improvement.

Peace on earth in our lifetime … Peace of mind and happiness as a normal thing, accessible to anyone, that would be great wouldn’t it?

I have decided to gift a copy of Pathway to Heaven to everyone who reads the email or listens to my book promotion about the Next Top Spiritual Author competition, as a taste  of the advanced version of my new book “The Magic Questions – a path to happiness and peace of mind”.  So email me at jenny@bookswithspirit. (add .com when you put that address in.) if you would like a copy of that book.

I gained a dramtic amount of weight when I stopped smoking – 5 kgs in 5 months and it didn’t stop there.  For some time now, I have stopped worrying about it, knowing that I already had some of the answers and that I would find the rest in due time. 

I knew that dieting was absolutely NOT the answer because from my healing work I knew that every time we feel deprived (even when we are not hungry) our brain signals our body to lay in fat cells.  Then our body proceeds to signal us to fill up those fat cells and then we are really combating craving even bigger the next time.  That’s the weight loss / weight gain round about.

Well someone else has written the book that I would have written when I had found the last couple of answers.  It’s called the Gabriel Method and it is the best and healthiest weight loss book / program that I have ever come across. 

The Gabriel Method is not a diet, so it bypasses the weight loss / weight gain roundabout.  He talks about all the things that throw the “fat switch” on and teaches us how to change those and then throw the “thin switch” on instead.  And because you are doing it right for your body, your skin shrinks with you!  Click here to go look at his book.

I am seriously impressed…

Well, I’ve got to tell you, I am as surprised as anything I have ever been surprised about. For those of you who have read Zen Connection with Horses, you might remember our racehorse, Desert Moon (aka Sunny) as being a horse who fights when she is afraid. (You know, there are horses who run when they are afraid, horses who freeze and horses who fight.)  Click here for another article about horses’s who freeze when they are afraid.

Well, it turns out that the fight reflex was not genetic like I thought it was.  It was imprinted into her by humans who cornered her – trapped her in a small space when she was young (a foal by the feel of it). 

It is such a normal thing for us humans to do, I have done it dozens and dozens of times myself in the old days before I knew a different way.  You get the horse in a corner where they can’t get out and catch them when they give up.

Click here to read the rest of this story with its surprise ending.

Here’s an amazing story from a reader, that she tells  so matter of factly, that I wonder if she even realises how big and how beautiful it is.  I can only imagine the care and dedication that has gone into and continues’s to go into the care of Indiano.

Dear Jenny

I have found your Zen Communication e-book and Bobby’s Diaries absolutely wonderful.

I have a beautiful 6 Year old Andalusian gelding called Indiano who, sadly, went blind 18 months ago after somehow suffering a ruptured spleen whilst out in his pasture one day – possibly from a kick? – or fell on a stone? – anyway, due to heavy internal bleeding he shunted the blood supply back from his eyes to save his vital organs and starved his optic nerve of oxygen, resulting in total blindness. 

However his temperament is outstanding and he copes marvellously – so laid back about everything – and now is even able to live out in a small pasture again with a group of four other gentle geldings.

With the help of a more experienced rider/trainer he has been ridden again, by him and then by me. Since that trainer moved away I have had really good help with clicker training from an animal behaviourist and help from a local classical riding instructor and owners of my livery yard, but I have also had to spend a lot more time working on my own with Indiano which I’ve found quite challenging.

Click here for the rest of this beautiful story.

For those who read about the start of Gulliver’s transformation, in February this year, here is an update on how he is going.  For those who would like to read the first email from Anne about Gulliver, it is in the February archives or go to “Readers Letters” on the right hand side of this page.

Anne:    Gulliver continues to improve.  He looks the picture of health.  Finally he stopped mutilating his tail and backside caused by the heavy pinworm infestation that he had had for quite some time.  I know almost nothing about this boy’s history.

He enjoys playing focussing games with the gym ball and the beach umbrella.  I worked with Alexandra Kurland in 2003 in New York, so clicker training has been part of my approach for a while.  It helped him stay present and in his body in the beginning of our connection.

I have found your Zen approach wonderful for allowing the release of so much accumulated stress. (That is the approach in Zen Connection with Horses) Learning to learn is one great thing.  Learning to release emotion and see Gulliver understand that he can do that is just beautiful to watch and feel.

Then he didn’t have to try and control himself because he did not have anymore the big volcano of emotion to hold down.  It puts a whole new focus on emotional control.  When such a shut down horse comes out, there is so much buried emotion and trash to release. (Me: Do those of you reading this post, realise what a big deal this is?  The volcano of emotion of this traumatised horse simply isn’t there any more… Well done Anne, congratulations to both of you!)

Gulliver still has his moments – and those moments are awful energetically. 

However, I see the eyes blink, soften, look and understand.  From a kinesiology perspective (Anne is a kinesiologist) he is talking to himself internally and showing understanding to me externally.  (Anne’s emphasis here)

This is different from the beginning when he first started to come out from behind those dark dead eyes.

The other breakthrough is that now he will CHEW when he is moving.  Before he would only do this once he had stop.

We are getting an ongoing connection.

Hey, when I get the look of “I am with you, let’s dance”, he is a real star.

I appreciate having a deeper way to experience this connection.

Regards,  Anne

I have seriously enjoyed reading about Gulliver’s journey with Anne.  Congratulations to both of them.  And I look forward to the next installment!

You don’t need a problem horse to get beautiful results from the book and audio lesson set Zen Connection with Horses – but when you do have a problem,  it is seriously wonderful to watch these horses release their old pain and bloom. Click here to go to the bookshop with my personal “love this book or get your money back” guarantee.