Meditative Horsemanship™

The Meditative Horsemanship Training Program  requires you to commit to at least 6 months of ground work prior to the relationship moving back into the saddle. You will be learning a completely different approach to connecting with your horse while working with your horse to heal mind, body and spirit and along the way healing yourself as well.

Riding a horse in the traditional sense is akin to raping the mind, body, and spirit of this noble animal. Our modern day concept of owning a horse is much more aligned to slavery, domination, and force.

The training program is designed to help you train your mind, your body, and your spirit to align yourself with your equine partner, as opposed to forcing your will and wishes upon another sentient being. Steeped in thousands of years of proven Eastern Philosophy, you will embark on a journey towards greater self-realization and opening yourself to new levels of consciousness. Along the way, you will learn new strategies, approaches, and techniques to help heal your relationship with your horse. Over time, most of your equine’s behavior problems will dissapate, as you come to realize the most of your equine’s behavior issues lie steeped in misunderstanding his or her communications with you.

• You will become more sensitive to your equine partner’s language, and you will come to understand what your equine partner requires of you to maintain balance, joy and peace in your relationship.
• You will become better equipped to handle situations through calmness and respect, and disconnect yourself from the outcome through retraining yourself and your horse.
• You will learn how to apply the art of meditation and become able to learn to read the delicate energy system of yourself and your horse.
• You will learn how to check in with your body and your horse to decipher and heal energetic  blockages and pain bodies, enabling you to be able to heal yourself and your horse.
• You will learn how to foster mutual trust, respect, and appreciation and translate your ground work into the saddle through extensive exercises.

This work requires you to be willing to learn how to meditate or if experienced with mediation, how to work in a meditative state with your horse.

Your horse does not need to be capable of work at this time to apply to join. even if your horse cannot be ridden, or is only capable of light work, horses make ideal practice partners to help you participate in this program. Your goal is to learn how to build a deep partnership with any horse based on mutual trust and respect, without the domination tactics.

You must be willing to come to a realization that riding in today’s traditional method is purely enjoyable for one half of the partnership - the human half. Riding does not foster a true partnership based on mutual trust and respect.

Every time the human forces his will or applies force or pain to get his way - the horse loses trust in the partnership. and trust once lost is very difficult to regain. This cycle continues until the horse no longer trusts humans at all and starts to look for ways to avoid working with humans - these issues often arise in the form of physical and psychological problems. Every time you engage the horse in a forceful, negative, or painful manner, you lose ground in the relationship, until ultimately you have lost everything. At this place in time most horses are cast aside, broken down physically, emotionally, and mentally while the human goes for the next mount, and the next mount, and the next.

You must come to the realization that control is illusion - you have no control over another being, merely influence. No piece of metal, leather, or rope can successfully bind a horse to you. It requires another, deeper approach steeped in the field of energetics and understanding the subtle nuances of building a relationship not based on the faux leadership paradigm.

Some of the requirements of the program include:

• No riding of horse for 6 months, minimum.
• All work must be conducted from the ground, and at liberty.
• Willingness to meditate with horse at least 3 times per week.
• Willingness to learn breath work and yoga sutras about the science of breath control.
• Willing to be trained in Reiki or other healing path to help your horse heal.
• Willing to learn about energy, chakras, auras, and apply techniques.
• Make no money from the exploitation of the horse in training, showing, or any other endeavors.
• No use of metal on the horse at any time. No chains, no spurs, no bits. A simple rope halter and lead line.
• No use of whips or lunge lines. You must learn how to encourage and influence your horse through other means.
• Willingness to throw all old paradigms and knowledge about horses away in lieu of an open, child-like objective curiosity about the horse, his behavior, thoughts, and language.
• Objective observation of the horse at least three times a week, may coincide with meditation.
• Learn principles of sound nutrition, supplementation, and the use of flower essences and essential oils.
• Journal daily about one’s interaction with one’s horse.

Accessing the training program is a monthly charge - $49 per month, one session is taught weekly, this is equivalent to what is taught in 4 onsite training sessions at a cost of $75 per hourly session. On site workshops augment the training and I recommend attending at least 2 per year. Many of my students form meditation groups at their barns to help foster a community of learning and continual growth.

Due to increased demand, all proceeds raised through Meditative Horsemanship will go towards opening a Non-Profit rescue and rehabilitation meditation center that will support community students along their path of learning. We anticipate opening this retreat sometime in early 2011.

Applications to joining the training program will be made available shorly.