 |
Connected work improves everything you do with horses.
It takes you from a language of concepts, to sensations of feel.
|
Inside
Susan's Notes 2
What's Hot!
Holiday Special
Coming Events
"Moments" 3
by Deb Davies
World Report 4
Legacy Horses 6
Language 7
"Thank You"
FAQs
8
|
Hello Connected Riders
Looking back over this year, I am grateful to see how the people I have trained and worked with for many years, have matured in their skills and understanding, now affecting positive changes in horses and riders worldwide. I appreciate how close our team of instructors and practitioners have become, sharing their expertise and supporting each other, I am excited that we have completed a solid foundation of the work, and are now developing and documenting more advanced applications.
Peggy
Connection
"What am I seeking from my horse?
Is it freedom? Is it unity?
Or perhaps an undiscovered understanding?
I know the answer lies within
and when it makes itself known
it will be mine and his and ours alone."
Peggy Cummings
|
|
|
|
What's Hot
Holiday Special
School of Connected Riding 101 Course
Workshop for Instructors
Northwest Horse Show and Expo
"Being told you're appreciated is one of the simplest and most incredible things you can ever hear."
anonymous
|
From the desk of
Susan.
I am in deep gratitude for the hundreds of people who host, organize and attend all of the Connected Riding and related events that Peggy and our team teach every year.
All of this rich learning happens because of the volunteers who care deeply about this type of education being shared and go about the sometimes painstaking and tedious work of making the events happen. Thank you, thank you, thank you all!
Holiday Special
(see coupon below)
We are offering a $5 discount on our medium sized halters, if purchased before December 31st, 2016. See the Coupon (below) for a link to the Web store to read about the uniqueness of this halter.
Enjoy!
We are also happy to announce we have fixed our shipping issues and have lowered the shipping costs.
Upcoming Events.
School of Connected Riding Training 101
We have re-tooled our SCRT 101 course to be just a bit easier for folks to access, both time and money-wise. It is very different than a regular riding clinic type of learning, because it is much more intensive, step by step in a specific sequence.
This is designed for people who want to know why and how Connection works, and how to take it back to their horses and students and have a place to start making changes.
Oregon 101 ~ January 13-16, 2017 Limited Space
England 101 ~ 2017 ~ Let us know if you are interested.
Workshop for Riding Instructors 2.17.17 in Oregon
Riding instructors - this workshop will help you enrich your program! Two things that will be highlighting in 2017 will be a specific workshop for all riding instructors and a targeted invitation for all riders at the intermediate and advanced levels.
Instructors will learn tips for supporting your student's balance and position, among many other things.
Riders will have an opportunity to see what Connected Riding has to add to their performance. This coincides with the development of our SCRT 200 level curriculum.
March 24,25,26 Albany, Oregon
Peggy is a keynote clinician doing 3 lectures and 2 arena presentations with Diane Sept, senior CR instructor and a team of practitioners from Oregon. Look for her presentation topics in our January newsletter!
Susan
2.
|
|
|
|
|
by
Deborah
Bowerman Davies
|
|
Inspired by a discussion of Connected Riding's uniqueness, the word "notice" stood out, as in Peggy's question "What did you notice?" This is the Feldenkrais lesson for self healing, the Buddhist lesson of mindfulness, ... and this is what Debbie Davies writes so beautifully about here!
Editor
Moments.
"It is time to slow down and invite the
moment back into your riding and your life."
|
|
As I sit and write I am in awe and gratitude of the knowing that no moment is wasted. Whether a moment of doing or a moment of being, it is a moment that will not be again, and it is a moment that needs nothing more than that which it holds to be complete. This is a message we as riders, trainers and horse lovers must remember. Sometimes we just need to BE with our horses, and they need that too!
With the North American holiday of Thanksgiving upon us, I think it is appropriate to give thanks not only for that which we have and recognize ~for the season of autumn that beckons the cooler air and shorter days and all we nurture and nourish in our life~ but to give remembrance and thanks for "the moments." Each moment that makes up
|
the whole, and for many it is easy to forget the moment.
Each day working horses I am filled with the passion and desire to move forward toward my riding and training goals. I, as many of us do, recognize my imperfections, my edge in learning and growing, along with my tendency to seek perfection. It is in those moments when the goal is within reach, (when your horse can maintain throughness for those few strides in a specific gait, when the neck releases and thoracic sling lifts and that telescoping you have only read about becomes a reality to your world, when that surge of energy flows creating that reciprocal elasticity and you realize it is coming together) that we so often push a little harder, a little faster and override the integration of that moment for ourselves
Continued on page 5
|
3.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Around the World
|
|
|
Report from Modesto, CA
The magic moment in this clinic happened when we went
back to the reasons why it is critical to recognize and feel when the horses are releasing their heads and necks and pushing from behind. The group gained a renewed interest and commitment to support their horses by doing groundwork before riding, because they could see and feel the differences they made at this clinic.
|
|
Peggy is back home from
a successful
trip in Spain, Germany
and the UK.
She is also returning from
a great clinic
in California,
and a SCR 102 class
in Virginia.
|
|
Report from Germany
Sandy Weller took her final exam to become a practitioner and did a great job, welcome, Sandy!
I spent 2 days with some of the German Connected Riding riding team members, some of whom have been riding together weekly in preparation for a video taping session planned for June 2017. It was fun to watch them doing a little surprise ride for me! It is very gratifying to see the horses and riders becoming more adept at maintaining connection in their work.
I also taught a SCRT 102 course with practitioner Anja Goertzen assisting, and it was inspiring to see how deeply the group absorbed the work!
Photos
Top:
Sandy Weller (New CR Practitioner)
Middle:
Carlita Picard on Roxie
Anja Goertzen on Gobi
Relana Beck on Juri
Next:
From left to right:
Sabine Hartwich on Kvistur (icelandic)
Petra Sackschewski on Jumper (warmblood stallion)
Steffi Sackschewski on Lavanda(PRE mare)
Steffi Schleupen onWindesi (warmblood gelding
Bottom
:
Report from the Culpepper, VA
Connected Riding 102 course
I am very excited about the group in Culpepper as four of the participants primarily work with gaited horses. All of the participants are very focused and dedicated to their learning. The gaited horse industry is huge In the US and can benefit from our work.
Diane Sept Joined me again this year and she was a great support.
From Left to Right:
Julia Seda, Robin Goebel, Joe London, Dana Allen, Russell Terry
|
|
|
Report from the U.K.
Lesson day.
(Cat Wilton, Kay Giblet, Fiona, Claire Marr and Claire Lee)
I treasure how diligent these women are in progressing with their Connected work, although they only have lessons with me twice a year. Their dedication and enthusiasm is contagious.
Cat will be hosting a May Clinic 12-15, 2017.
Report from Wales - at Trealy Farm
From "first day of horse jitters," to the 3
rd day of quiet integration and progression of learning, I am always amazed at how quickly the Connected work takes affect.
We were hosted in a lovely new arena, had a group of keen auditors, and it was great having Cat Wilton assisting me.
We were the first to use the brand new indoor arena and it is one of the nicest I have taught in. The footing and the sound system are fabulous!
Our host were great and the food was superb. Thank you to Katherine Harberd for all her hard work to make this happen!
Katherine will be hosting a May Clinic 19-22, 2017.
Report from Spain
Melin Farriols, our solo practitioner in Spain, and I did some video work for marketing purposes and spent time working with her 4 PRE (Pura Raza España) stallions. We are working together to build a Connected Riding presence in Spain.
Upcoming Course, Clinic Ride in Spain 2017 ~ Please contact us if you are interested in joining us.
Continue to check Peggy's calendar for location and sign up details, coming soon.
4.
|
|
|
|
Moments
(Continued from page 3.)
and our horse. Suddenly when all the information you have gleaned from the Connected Riding lessons and clinics you have attended finally make sense, I ask you, in that moment do you enjoy, experience or even recognize the moment?
In my experience as a rider, trainer and Connected Riding Instructor, I have observed many a student ~myself included~ missing the moment as we anxiously search for the next. Our perfectionism and laser focus, all good qualities at times if we recognize them for what they are, take over and before we recognize it, we are already asking our horse for the next piece, the next stride the next level of connection. For more....
It is time to slow down and invite the moment back into your riding and your life. In doing so, you will notice how much more your horse is able and willing to offer. Slow down, allow your horse the privilege of experiencing his or her moment so they can integrate and access those vital pieces or neurological information that are part of the change. Even if you are not there yet, they will help you discover your moment and relish in it.
I wish you all in North America a thankful Thanksgiving, filled with gratitude and observation of all the precious moments. For those outside of North America, I still wish you a thankful Thanksgiving, as each day we say to our horses, "thanks for giving."
Deborah Bowerman Davies
Connected Riding Instructor, Owner of Equine Self Expression, Clinician, Trainer and Certified Body Worker
|
|
|
|
|
The Legacy Horses
Fancy spent six weeks at Karen Cheeke's farm in Corvallis. During that time she got some bodywork, teeth floating, and a new set of shoes. Karen had stepped up
Fancy's ground work and was ready to increase her ridden work. This photo got the attention of a dressage trainer friend of Karen's who came to meet Fancy. This trainer has had many successes incorporating older horses into her school program, and at least a couple students already have eyes for this gem of a mare. Fancy will find her own special person. We will keep you posted.
|
|
Fancy.
Fancy has
a wonderful new
home!
|
|
6.
|
 |
|
The Language of Connection
"Because I had learned by rote instruction, instead of feel, I didn't truly understand what was "correct." "I just had to find a way to translate that learning from a language of concepts into sensations of feel that connect you to your horse. And I did." PC
Defining words and phrases is critical to the understanding of the work. This month our phrase is "Thank You."
Thank You
Traditional instruction for forward movement is "squeeze your legs and push with your seat," or "Kick-em." This usually jams the rider's hips and makes them "dead weight" on the back of the horse. So, when an instructor asks you for more forward activity, it's time to get back to basics.
The Connected translation is:
Release, rotate, connect, come on, thank you.
"
Thank You
is the slow release, 'melting' on the reins which allows the horse time to respond and the rider time to observe and feel whether the horse is coming through.
Move your pelvis into neutral, breathe, rotate slightly, connect with your horse through the reins, tell him to "come on" with the alternating motion of ta-daa and then slowly release the reins back to the original pressure, and say "
Thank you
" for his efforts by allowing the movement forward (not bracing against it).
7.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
