Horses and Politics

What on earth does
politics have to do with horses? Well, let's take a look at what
politics does to humans and then see how politics works in the equine
world.

In a feral herd of horses or any large herd of horses there is going
to
be disagreements between members of the herd. As I said in my
previous
post, each horse is an individual. Aside from that the larger picture
holds a social order in the equine world to which each member of the
herd strongly adheres, unlike what our own social order has come to
be.

There is the alpha mare. The one mare who looks out for ALL the
others.
The Queen, you might call her. Generally, she's not one with whom the
others will cozy up and make nice. She has a job to do and will not
be
bothered by others. If someone does bother her he or she is quickly
reminded of just with whom he's dealing! A swift kick or a bite on
the
shoulder with little warning. This alpha mare retains her position
until another mare dukes it out with her and wins the battle. The two
can become extremely physical about it and irrepairable injuries
might
arise as a result.

Now the main herd is broken into smaller family groups or sub groups
each wtih its own Lead mare. This lead mare is CHOSEN to be the lead
mare by the others. Her position is a very important one within the
family sub group ... she is the nurturer, the sentry, the teacher,
the
fixer, the peace keeper, ... (hey Moms ... sound familiar?) Her
demeanor is consistent in attitude (little PMS from this gal!)... she
teaches the herd social order with encouragement and humor/play. The
others look to her for their safety, their "feel-good", their very
lives.

This is the position in the herd that we humans would like to assume.

Now, a little bit more ... also, within the sub groups, are other
mares, a stallion and generally several youngsters. These immature
youngsters are the ones who are lower in the social ranking and are
just learning the ropes. They fight for social position ...
physically,
with the lowest members doing the most fighting. As they mature they
find their places out in their bachelor bands (if stallions) and then
in their own families as they seek out to establish them about 7
years
of age or so.

There are some horses who remain low in the social order throughout
their lives. This is evidenced by their constant physical attempts
to "overthrow" the next up in line. It is also evidenced by the
feeling
one gets while around them of watching a bully in a schoolyard. This
behavior is based on fear - the fear of losing.

While some horses will mature and find their niche comfortably,
assuming their positions in the social rule (remember, I said Lead
Mares are "chosen" simply because of their demeanors) ... utilizing
their confident assertiveness in their roles in order to keep the
peace, the other ones who are bullying their way through the herd use
aggressiveness to assert themselves. (see the human correlation yet?)

Alphas are aggressive; Low rankers are aggressive. Aggression is born
from fear.

The "higher ups" and the Lead mare are assertive. Assertiveness is
born
from confidence and maturity (not age-related maturity but personal,
life maturity - wisdom. Some are wiser than others even though
decades
younger while some might think/wish they were wiser but resort to
sneaky games and passive aggressiveness that belie their outer
appearances. )

A very quick lesson in equine social order that can easily be
transferred to human social order.

Are you a true leader or are you an alpha or lower ranking herd
member?

How can one learn to be a leader? How can one learn thoughtful
assertiveness instead of reactionary aggressiveness?

Watch your horses with the intent to learn from them. Watch the
leader's roles in the herd. Watch and FEEL the demeanors, the intent,
the physical actions, the subtle conversations between two or more
horses.

And then, transfer those findings to yourself, your loved ones,
our 'supposed' leaders *ahem* in the political world ... and you'll
gain a whole lot of insight into not only equine behavior but human,
as well.

Choose our next Leader carefully.

Have a great day, Folks!

Elephants who can Paint!

The morning of her first art class, Sao, a 35-year-old female Asian elephant, picks up a paintbrush with the tip of her trunk and tentatively places it in her mouth. Crouching at her feet, Theung, her mahout (trainer), gently guides her trunk back toward a blank sheet of paper laid out on the ground. "Euughhaa, euughhaa," he says, by way of encouragement. Sao swishes her tail, flaps her ears, and casually tosses the paintbrush to the ground. "Gep! gep!" ("Pick it up!"), Theung commands. Sao stretches out her trunk to retrieve the brush, and delicately touches it to the paper at her feet. She hesitates for a moment, as her breath rushes out the end of her trunk with a soft whooshing sound. Then, holding her trunk straight, she takes a tiny step backward, slowly dragging the paint-loaded brush across the surface of the paper and leaving behind a brilliant streak of cobalt blue. "Geng mark!" ("Well done!"), Theung says, smiling with satisfaction at what can only be described as a moment of artistic breakthrough. For the next several hours, Sao and Theung turn out one masterpiece after another in a focused frenzy of interspecies collaboration.

Click on title to see video and learn more! INCREDIBLE!

LYME DISEASE and LEDUM Homeopathy

The posted link is to Dr. Stephen Tobin's original letter concerning treating LYME DISEASE with LEDUM 1M Homeopathy treatment.

The article can be found here: LYME DISEASE & HOMEOPATHY

Composting Manure

Don't know what to do with the 10 tons of manure that your horse puts out annually? Great article from the MA Extension on composting manure. Read this doc here:
COMPOSTING MANURE

EXCELLENT WEBSITE !!!

Just wanted to post this link:

http://www.ridingart.com/balance.htm

This is an EXCELLENT website depicting balance ... movement of the horse and balance of the rider.

Definitely a MUST SEE!

An answer to a post concerning "bargy" horse:
Here's a bit of a hint - its always the "low men on the totem pole" who physically fight for position in the herd. In other words, the leaders will "assume" the position just by their demeanors and the other horses will "choose" that horse for his/her leader. As long as we puny humans continue to "fight" with the horse we place ourselves low, low, low in the hierarchial ranks of the herd. Not where we want to be cause that's where we get hurt. The horse is being bargy because he's learned he CAN be ... that he is higher ranking and he doesn't HAVE to be respectful. It's not about the whip or the bat or the chain or the halter - its about the demeanor and the attitude. BE the lead horse. BE higher ranking. Make yourself BIG and say to him "exCUSE ME! I do NOT like to be pushed around!" and then work on his hind-end a bit (hind end disengagments) until he's soft and compliant with his head down a bit and he's BLINKING ... and, possibly chewing. Then let him relax, think on things for a moment or two and return him to where you first started. Then, assertively ask him to walk WITH you politely. No can do? He's barging again? Repeat the same scenario above. Absolutely NO fighting with him. No shanking, no aggressive attitude or actions ... as the Dog Whisperer would say ..."Calm Assertiveness". If he barges through you again let him run into the end of the rope and stand firm so he'll HAVE to swing his hindend around to face you. Then work your hind end disengagements again. Wait, once again, for the blinking and the head lowering. Then calmly go back to where you started once again and say, "Come on, we'll try this again." Ask him to FOLLOW you back to your original start place. If he gets too close on your heels GET BIG AGAIN and say exCUSE ME! You are TOO CLOSE! and back him up with ASSERTIVENESS; not aggressiveness. Let him think on it for a few then repeat request. It is YOUR ATTITUDE that is going to change his thinking. Not your physical prowess. That does diddly-squat except to challenge him to furher fighting with you. BE his leader. BE assertive. BE calm. BE expectant that he IS going to move and respect you. Take as long as it takes and always approach him with the assertive, leader attitude. Then ... have fun teaching this to his owner! It's not about the horse! --Gwen

Guard Your Heart

OK, so I'm a bit slow and Pollyannish and it ONLY took me 56 years to see something clearly that horses have had a handle on since the beginning of time. It's about TRUST. T-R-U-S-T. Trust.

My Mom used to tell me, "Gwen, stop wearing your heart on your sleeve!" and I'd try, like crazy, to tuck the thing away but never could quite get the hang of it. I'd meet someone new and voila ... the heart came jumping to life on my sleeve once again and usually, only to be bumped and bruised and sometimes scarred for life. With traumatic happenings that tore into my heart, breaking it into more pieces, I'd manage to stuff it back where it belonged but then there it hid, quivering, trembling, waiting for the next round where its called out, once again to wait on my sleeve, only to take on a few punches here and there and maybe another rendering blow. All of my 56 years I've lived like this with this heart of mine. It's funny cause my motto for PENZANCE is, "It's all about what's in your heart and how you use it." and while I can easily translate that with my life with horses, I've never gotten the hang of it with humans.

This morning, while mucking the frozen, round balls of manure left on the virgin white snow I was thinking of a recent violation that occured here at PENZANCE. Somehow, Dorian's 'voice' came piercing into my heart and it was if a lightbulb came on (yeah, yeah .. that ole "light bulb experience") Dorian, clear as a bell said, "Well haven't you learned yet from us? WE don't "automatically" trust anyone. We're prey animals and we CAN'T trust everyone! Those humans around us have to EARN our trust and even when they display all the right "moves", we can still see into their hearts for honesty and maintain our guard. Come on, Gwen. 45 years with horses and you haven't learned to guard your heart - your trust!? Have you learned nothing from us along the way?" Jeepers creepers ... out of the mouths of babes ... errrrr, horses. The truth of the matter he's absolutely RIGHT! Here I've gone along the journey teaching others about horses and their trust and how we have to earn their trust and I haven't even learned the lesson myself.

My mother also taught me to be polite and sensitive to others and "put your foot in the other's shoe" which, yes, I treasure those teachings. However, there must be a balance. My husband swings the other way. (No, no, no .. that's not what I mean at all!) ... he, being a Vietnam Veteran, learned how to build walls around his heart that an entire infantry couldn't break through! I and our children and grandchildren have managed to get a good glimpse into the interior of his heart but any breach of trust and zip - that gap where we get a glimpse now and then, closes right up again. Then, we struggle to reopen and crawl inside for just a moment or two again. We've seen the inside, though, and know that its made of gold. It seems such a shame that the glorious glimmer and shine of that gold stays hidden for so long, though. After 35 years of marriage and partnership with this man I know that the gold inside glows only for his family and those who have EARNED the view! Needless to say, between him and me, the balance somehow stays pretty stable. On our own, though, apart from one another, those trust levels swing wildly from side to side and its virtually impossible to stabalize either one of us. But, together we're both golden.

In as much as I sometimes feel that equine blood runs through my own veins I've yet to meet a horse who wears his heart on his sleeve. Horses are, inheritantly, mistrustful and well should they be. Anyone at all could be the next chef and decide to have Equine du Jour as the dinner menu. So, those other horses and humans who THINK they're trustworth will always get the 3rd degree. THE TEST! I always ace the equine test but man, I can't render the test to other humans to save my own heart. It seems there's a little gene inside of me that runs autonomously and instantly says, "Oh! What a nice person!" and only after my heart is torn to shreds will I give up and realize that possibly there really ISN'T the "good" inside the other that I thought there was. It hurts. It makes my heart scream and it assaults my senses like nothing else. It renders my gut to a level where it wildly functions all on its own under no control and my mind just whirls round and round and round trying desperately to figure out "what went wrong".

Dorian asked me today, "Haven't you figured it out yet, Gwen? You haven't been listening very closely." And yet, I thought I WAS doing pretty well at it. But, as I said, back to the last happening I guess my heart can still be fooled unmercifully.

I should KNOW that when a person is ALWAYS happy and ALWAYS with a nice smile or a positive attitude that its not real. Can't be real. Can't be true or honest. Life just doesn't pass things along to us that way. Yes, Life is Good ... but at times its not. We can be, *should* feel grateful for our blessings but as humans we don't always feel that way and our countenance generally display that distaste, that negativity that is weaving with ugly threads into our lives. Now, had I been honestly vigilant then I would have seen that the horses were warning me. I would have seen the caution and the hesitancy of the horse in his or her attitude. But, if I did see it and recognize it for a fleeting moment I tossed the thought away, blaming myself for being paranoid or mistrustful. But, my heart had been dancing on my sleeve for too long and rejoicing in the thought that there really just might be a truly honest and positive human being left in the world. My faith in *humanity* was being restored, or so I thought.

Now, I grew up in the era of a handshake or verbal agreement being as solid and meaningful as the dotting of the i's and the crossing of the t's on a written contract. I should know that if someone prefaces a statement or question with, "well, since we didn't have a written contract" that the volumous, dishonest defecation was about to begin. But, the world has changed and with it, so have humans. I grew up in the era of those who did for others just for the sake of doing for others! This society has become such a self-centered society that the few who do for others just "because" are few and far between. It was displayed to me, quite obviously and "in my face" that there's always an ulterior motive - one that is selfishly motivated. The horses tell us that. The horses see right through into the human heart and KNOW the plans that human has even if the face is smiling. Dorian always knows. He's the master of deception and control issues. He can spot deception from 5 big paddocks away and will simply refuse to be a part of it. He's tall enough to simply "say no" by just raising his head away from the halter and the human is left on tippy toes trying like crazy to reach his face to force it down to a more attainable position (which is impossible). He's smart and oh, so wise. He gives no aggressive fight, he might walk away (and with his long legs he can walk alot faster than any 2-legged human can) ... he simply and quietly says "No. Ummmm, I don't think so. Not today, thank you." He's not mean, he's not reactive, he's not frantic about it. He just raises his head out of reach or turns and walks away. He KNOWS ... How do horses DO that !?!?! How do they KNOW when someone is deceitful and less than honest?

"Ahhhhhh, Gwen! You still have much to learn from us!" soothes Dorian. "Try to tuck your heart away for a few moments long enough to listen and not argue with us. We know because our lives depend on that knowing. We know because our hearts are big and even though we are very forgiving we don't ever forget. That's how we live. That's how we stay alive. Listen, Gwen. Shut your piehole and watch us. Listen to us. Look inside our hearts and feel the beat of honesty and truth. There is still much to learn."