Musings on a Snowy Day

Well, New England has done it again ... bamboozled us all. Last week was gorgeous with sunshine, warm temps and dreams of blooming perennials and prolifate organic vegetables in between blissful games and rides; today it is freezing and we're in the midst of a blizzard. Even the horses have had enough. Don't want to stay out in it; don't want to be inside. They're vascillating between their sheds and the wind with tossing heads, short gallops around with hooves in the air. My 3 year old just displayed the most awesome "airs above the ground"! My thought at that moment was, "Gee, how the heck can I put that to a liberty cue?" *grin* But, we'll work on it AFTER her manners are absolutely impeccable and she's not so young and silly. And, after the weather has warmed back up again!

This time indoors this weekend will allow me to do some more musing on things. Since I've left the indoor where I was working (sort of) I've again become more acutely aware of my goals for Penzance Horses. In as much as the trainer at "the other barn" proclaimed to be more "natural" I realized even more so that "natural horsemanship" isn't about the "method" or the "tool", the carrot stick, the halter, the tack and equipment used or not ... Horsemanship really IS just what Penzance's motto speaks ... "It's all about what's in your heart and how you use it." One can "speak" with his or her tongue about 'natural horsemanship' but if that person isn't harboring that thought in his or her heart then the words are empty. The humans who are led to Penzance come with either a slate that needs to be entirely erased and they're more than willing to do the erasing or people who are clean slates, just starting out. Our horsemanship isn't something that humans *do*; it's something that humans LIVE, in their hearts, in their minds, in their very souls and spirits.

People who "dabble" in 'natural horsemanship' tend to "dabble" in life. Focus always changing, beliefs always changing, hearts that are not cemented in the foundation of certainty. Unless their hearts are securely founded in the 'way of life' such as is found at Penzance one cannot know WHO one is! Discovering one's self, though, is a journey but when people lose track of the path and refuse to go one way or the other they're stuck in that fork ... vascillating between left or right or middle road or another path altogether. Someone's voice, maybe even his own inner voice, may lead them down one path where the light becomes dimmer the deeper along the road one travels; then another voice may lead them back to take the other fork in the road where the dimness is not so apparent but neither is the clarity of light. Either way, unless one finds THE path that is right for them, for their horses, then the heart remains stuck in one place. Life becomes robotic and stagnant.

The one TRUE voice and path belongs to the horse, himself. When we open our hearts and minds and spirits to the horse's way then we journey on paths that illuminate our entire lives. One cannot meld into the horse's heart and being without melding completely into God's heart and being. Anything else, anything less than a complete melding, is just a tease of hope.

It is my hope that anyone who is led to Penzance will learn to follow the path that God and His horses introduce to him. It is my prayer that one who comes and stays will learn how to hear the voice of the horse ... and of God. Their voices are mighty! Their voices are whispers of the lighted journey that each one of us must choose to complete our hopes. Anything less, any other voices, are shouts of muted noise and only cause confusion. Confusion is not of God. Confusion is not of Horse. Confusion is not of Life. Life lived fully, completely, with whole heart is all encompassing and unshakeable. This I've learned from the Horse. It is my goal that the Penzance Horse will lead many to Truth this season. It is my goal that my own heart will continue to follow the path that God and Horse have shown me, and continue to patiently show me, and I will not listen to others. It is my hope, my desire and my goal that Penzance will live up to its name of definition - God's Holy Headland; A place for spiritual growth.

And now, back to the white stuff. Reality ... shoveling driveways, breaking ice in water buckets and ensuring that the horses are warm and dry with plenty of fresh, sweet hay.