Lauren Barwick and River

Learning to do transitions without legs...

Enjoy the beauty of Casa Lusitana:

New Blogging Place

Take time to visit my other blog: http://meditationsonhorseback.blogspot.com/

Orrie Oaks Dressage in Minnesota w/Laura Sulander

WESTERN DRESSAGE or CLASSICAL DRESSAGE?
IT IS MORE THAN TACK, MORE THAN THE SHOW RING, BUT FOR THE EVERYDAY HORSE TOO.

Long time rider, Laura Sulander of Orrie Oaks Dressage, brings a quiet kindness to instruction and training horses. Horses really respond to her gentle confidence--from the tall 17.2 hand warmblood to the 14.1 hh Morgan, and owners rely on her keen ability to improve their rider awareness and sometimes to also keep the horses tuned up between riding lessons.

"Classical dressage principles and methods are proven" says Laura. "Whether it's Western tack or English, it doesn't matter. I put the horse's well-being first, with relaxation and gradual development that builds the horse in a way that makes them healthier. My own mare, Mellie, is 27 and still able to do the movements. She's happy to be ridden and it keeps her in shape--proper dressage training contributed to this."

Laura is teaching both western and classical dressage fundamentals to beginners and seasoned riders. She regularly attends clinics given by other professionals in the equine industry, including the JP Giacomini clinic Feb. 16-17, 2013 near the Twin Cities.

Contact Laura at:orrie-oaks@hotmail.com  Laura is located in West-Metro area, of Minneapolis. http://orrieoaks.com/   https://www.facebook.com/orrieoaks.lauras

http://orrieoaks.blogspot.com/

Cowboy Dressage!

Debbie Beth-Halachmy on Indy. For more videos of the Cowboy Dressage show tests, go to: http://www.youtube.com/user/CowboyDressage/videos?view=0

7 Clinics, new dvd series from Buck Brannaman

http://www.youtube.com/user/7ClinicsBB



To see all the trailers, use this link: http://www.youtube.com/user/7ClinicsBB/videos?view=0

Replays of Olympics

Once again, here is a link to various videos of equestrian events from the Olympics: http://www.nbcolympics.com/equestrian/video/browse/index.html#ox%3Drecent

From Casalusitana.com

Ranchers Help the Mustangs

Mustangs in Oklahoma---Don't miss this article about how ranchers are helping our Mustangs:
http://thepioneerwoman.com/blog/2012/05/the-wild-horses/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+thepioneerwoman+%28Confessions+of+a+Pioneer+Woman%29

Story and Photos by The Marlboro Man and wife, Ree Drummond from Confessions of A Pioneer Woman blog

Mecate Braider, Doug Krause

Light Hands Horsemanship

Sign up now, don't miss out on one of the top clinics of the year.

http://www.lighthandshorsemanship.com/reservations.htm

Happy New Year

Struggling With Unity? This is For You.

Discouraged? Remember what is truly important. Steve Jobs, Standford Address

"Remembering that I'll be dead soon is the most important tool I've ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything--all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure--these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart."

"No one wants to die. Even people who want to go to heaven don't want to die to get there. And yet death is the destination we all share. No one has ever escaped it. And that is as it should be, because Death is very likely the single best invention of Life. It is Life's change agent. It clears out the old to make way for the new. Right now the new is you, but someday not too long from now, you will gradually become the old and be cleared away."

"Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma--which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary."

Thanks to Standford University's YouTube Channel.


Note to reader of my blog: Your dreams haven't passed you by. Take the time to examine them, and your deepest heart. Only you can decide when you need to make a significant change in your life. Sometimes that means adaptation, or making peace with where you are, or making a significant change for the better. Find the courage in yourself to make choices. Not making a choice is not an option. JW

Toxic Weeds to Horses & Livestock

http://pearlsnapsponderings.wordpress.com/2011/08/17/weedy-wednesday-toxic-weeds-to-horses/

Watch the video from Horse.com identifying common poisonous weeds. Click on above link.

TIME YOUR HORSE'S VACCINATIONS

Timing your horse's vaccinations: Read article here: http://www.equisearch.com/horses_care/time-your-horses-vaccinations-for-safer-results/?utm_source=eqs&utm_medium=nl&utm_campaign=eqs

What is the HSUS up to now?

I encourage you to read the article at this link about the BLM and HSUS.

http://tntmagissues.tackntogs.com/tnt/11_TNT_08/tnt27_0811.pdf

View from

the Range

By Jesse R. Bussard

August 2011 ■ www.tackntogs.com 27

Jesse R. Bussard is a Pennsylvania cowgirl with a degree

from Pennsylvania State University in animal science.

Currently she is pursuing graduate studies in plant and soil

science at the University of Kentucky in Lexington, Ky. She

is an active advocate for agriculture through social media

and her personal blog, Pearl Snaps’ Ponderings (http://pearlsnapsponderings.

wordpress.com/).

Too good to be true?

The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS), the

largest and richest animal rights organization in the

world, recently released a report to the U.S. Bureau of Land

Management (BLM) Wild Horse and Burro Program calling

for a revision of its standard operating procedures to make

mustang gathers more humane and provide more transparent

coverage of roundups.

Though most times proposals like this

sound all well and good to the general bystander,

more times than not animal rights

groups have an ulterior motive. What does

HSUS have hiding up its sleeve with this

one?

Currently the BLM manages an approximate

38,500 wild horses and burros on federal

rangelands covering 10 Western states.

BLM is responsible for not only management

of the range where the mustang herds

reside but also maintaining a sustainable

population of wild horses and burros. Currently

these populations of wild horses and

burros are at unsustainable levels on many

ranges and therefore require some form of population control.

If not controlled, populations could reach levels that

would not be able to be maintained on the current amounts

of rangeland available, leading to starvation, disease, and

increased environmental degradation from overgrazing of

rangelands.

In the report, HSUS calls for installation of real-time cameras

on helicopters, traps, corrals, and holding facilities to

allow BLM offi cials and others to be able to better directly

observe gatherings and also act as an evaluation tool to improving

existing operating procedures. These video cameras

would also increase transparency to the public by providing

remote live-streaming video available online. In addition

to improved transparency, HSUS would also like to see the

BLM establish basic minimum standards for conducting

gather operations.

I can agree with HSUS on its first two requests of BLM.

Both are reasonable suggestions and issues that BLM cur-

rently does need to address. Where I become skeptical is on

the third recommendation. HSUS strongly recommends that

BLM work in partnership with them to conduct their Capture,

Treat, and Release programs to inoculate the appropriate ratios

of mares in wild horse and burro herds at the most effective

time of the year, thereby optimizing to the greatest extent

possible the benefi ts of using the contraceptive

vaccine Porcine Zona Pellucida (PZP) as a method

of population control.

Here’s where things get real interesting (wait

for it)…the patent holder of the PZP vaccine is

none other than HSUS.

This all leads me to wonder if the true motive

and intent behind HSUS’s report to BLM is

none other than that of profit. One dose of PZP

can run as high as $500. To vaccinate just 20,000

horses would require a whopping $10 million of

taxpayer dollars. Is this really a wise use of our

money? Surely there are other alternatives for

population control that the BLM might consider

such as alternative contraceptives, predator

management, spaying, and/or gelding.

The last thing our government needs to be doing is funding

the lobbying efforts of an animal righs group.

Currently, the BLM is also reviewing another report of the

agency’s wild horse and burro program conducted by the National

Academy of Sciences/National Research Council (NAS/

NRC). NAS/NRC is a non-profit group that advises government

agencies on scientific issues. I would hope that BLM will take

all commentary and options into consideration and not jump

on the HSUS bandwagon just yet.

Sometime the offer really can be too good to be true.

LUSITANOS ON FOCUS

A truly fabulous photo shoot, including some stills, of the elegant and powerful Lusitano horse.

Brent Graef on Energy, Intent, and FEEL

Glad to see there is so much interest in a discussion of "energy, intent, and feel".  It's nice to know there are so many folks who are wanting to take their horsemanship to a deeper place.

Figuring out how to use your energy in a productive manner takes a lot of work.  It's a very deep subject, and one that is hard to teach, because you can't see it.  But you can feel it... and so can the horses.Learning how to channel your energy is difficult... but such an integral part of fine horsemanship.

Most people would say that I'm very good at using my energy.... with horses or people.  (It's much easier for me with horses.)In my mind, I am merely beginning to scratch the surface.

To me, it's not about where I place my body when working on the ground, or which direction my toes are pointing.  It's not about cues or release.  It's not about claiming space that the horse occupies.  When riding, it's not about where I look or what game I'm playing in my head.

It goes much deeper than that!  Tom Dorrance talked about "horsemanship can be so deep that it's almost spiritual".  I'm beginning to get a glimpse of what I think he meant by that.

I'm not "making" the horse do whatever I'm wanting him to do.  I'm not really even "asking" the horse to do it.

"We" are doing it. I figure that as soon as I take the lead rope, we are one animal.  As soon as I step into the stirrup, we are one animal.  "We" are doing this together,

Just because a horse knows what you want him to do, doesn't mean he'll do it immediately.  I like Bill Dorrance's words "I like to try to make the right thing OBVIOUS."I try to see if I'm blocking the horse, then get out of his way... open the door so he can find his way through more easily.

This is very difficult to put into words... especially in writing!Much easier to show in person.  Sometimes at our Young Horse Class, we'll spend extra time trying to help folks understand working with energy after class at our home.  You can't see it, but you can sure feel it... down the lead rope or the reins, or in the air.  It takes a lot of effort, a lot of sensitivity.

"Intent"  -- is much more than just "I'm going to get my horse to do this thing".  Whether by thinking it in words or pictures, or by playing little games in your head.  YES we need to be VERY clear in our mind what it is we are going to be doing with our horse... but it goes MUCH deeper than that!

"Feel"  --  is much more than just the touch on the lead, reins, etc.  It goes WAY deeper.

This horsemanship journey we are on is a very personal journey... it can go as deep as you want to take it.  Or it can be as shallow as you want it to be.  It's your journey.

I've had some glimpses of what can be, and am working toward getting there consistently. I try to open some of those doors to help folks see the possibilities.  It takes a lot of work... a lot of inner peace... before you can really start.
Hopefully some of ya'll that are interested in going deeper will be at a clinic with me this summer.  We can do some hands-on, and go to some much deeper conversations after class.

I'll be looking forward to it!

For the horse,

Brent Graef

BUCK Award winning movie at Sun Dance Festival

Click on this link: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Buck-The-Film/175055519187765?sk=app_173693799353052

to find out how to request your local theater's showing of the movie BUCK !


Fabulous movie for the whole family. It touches on more than horse training, but becoming a better person, a better parent and friend.