Fun at the pasture

I think I am having as much fun and good time at the pasture as my horse! And for a change I wanted to share pictures.

Pretty bushes.

I've been working on a place to go back to our training. First step is to remove the rocks and make it comfy for the feet. One rock at a time ... I will get there!

This will be my Parelli playground#1

More flower here and there.

Happy herd.

 Happy Finale.

Well this one we don't want to keep it. It's what we call here fireweek aka Madagascar Ragwort. It's considered invasive and toxic to horses.
Important fact:

• Each flower can produce 150 seeds, each plant can produce 30,000 seeds per year that spread by wind, hiking boots, vehicles or by animals when moved from infested to non-infested areas. As you can imagine it's hard to control!
• Toxic to livestock when eaten, it causes slow growth, illness, liver-malfunction and even death in severe cases. Very scary. The good thing is that horses won't eat it but still not very reassuring to know it's there so little by little I help my friend to "clean" the pasture. 

One bag at a time ...

 Love the peace of being a horse gazing on the slope of Maui.

New Pasture

Finale with her new herd

Last week my mare changed home. From a dirt paddock she went to a 18 acres pasture with lots of grass, trees and other horses. Before the move I was very worried. Scared of the separation from her herd, scared of the trip even if it was only a mile, scared of the integration to the new herd.

But everything went really well and smooth. She was ready and deep inside I knew it. 

Enjoying plenty of grass

It's been a week now and I love this place. I feel so grateful that my friend offered me to put her with his horses. She is thrilling over there. 

The pasture has the shape of a horse shoe:) with different elevation, different terrain. There is flat part but also hills and rocks to make it more fun. There is different type of grass (don't know them all yet), bushes and trees. It's beautiful and very peaceful. 

She has been integrated to the herd. She made friend with the gelding and her best friend seems to be Emma the mule.

Finale and her new boyfriend Ehu:)

My Parelli coach came to check it out and she said it was a great place to play with a horse. There is endless possibilities. Level 2, here I come:)

Yes Finale, all this space for you!

But what I like about this week is that I could witness my mare being a horse: choosing carefully which grass to it, testing with her lips, being very careful where she was walking, measuring every steps, communicate with her peers to find her place, following her new friends to discover the area, figuring out where the new noises were coming from, analyzing the environment. I could see her thinking. It was very moving to me and I wish every horse could get that. 

A little walk outside the comfort zone.

I took my mare for a walk outside our usual path today. Fifi is a Right Brain Introvert in the Parelli language. In other word, she tends to be more on the fearful and nervous side, can be reactive, spooky and very emotional. Everything new or just different is a challenge in itself. Even going from working in the round pen to the arena made her nervous!

I love the look on her face saying something like "Are you really sure you want to go that way? I think I see something over there.... maybe we should go back".
It's not too bad on the photo. A few minutes later she got actually scared of the "something over there" that was actually a horse grazing and did a little dance on the spot. The good thing is that after that it only take her a minute or so to relax and chew and lick (secretly of course).
But at least we can go now. Before she wouldn't even want to walk there.
Love my Fifi:)

Rainy day, cookie day

Thanks to the weather, I had some time today at home to be able to cook some horse cookies.

All very good ingredients, organic, no sugar or molasses, herbs to improve joint health.

It smelled so good and they taste really good too.

Let's see tomorrow what Finale has to say about that:)

Ouch! Finale has a cut.

A few days ago I found my mare with a cut on her front leg. The cut didn't look too bad and the swelling was really mild so I didn't even mind cold hosing it and just cleaned the cut.

Second Day

The following day as you can see the swelling was more serious. It was pretty close to the cut. This time I used cold water for 10 minutes although I don't believe in icing when it's not right after it happens. Swelling is a natural reaction, it's there for something and I think we shouldn't always interfere with the body natural healing process. I cleaned the wound with Betadine and used Sore No-More on the swelling. Third day was pretty much the same with the swelling going down and being around the knee. It was huge. I let her out to graze and walk.

Fourth Day

This is the Fourth day and already better. I cleaned the leg with Castile soap and water, Sore No-More around the knee and a long walk with snack break.
Today it was very clean with no more swelling. All back to normal:)

I really like Sore No-More. It's a natural herbal liniment with cooling properties. It contains arnica, rosemary, lavender. It's very good on sore muscles, it reduces pain and inflammation, stimulates blood flow, loosens muscle and tendon. I even use it on myself sometimes, that's how much I like it:) I use the gelotion. I love the smell and the feeling. A must have in every grooming kit or even every bathroom;)

Equine Nutrition Course

I am starting a 5 weeks online course on Equine Nutrition (and so excited about it). It's time for me to go further on the subject as I want to understand and I want what is best for my horses. In Ayurveda, food plays an important role in promoting health and is therefore considered medicine. I read somewhere Let Your Food Be Your Medicine and I will even say Let Your Food Be Your Medicine And Not The Problem. Today people feeds grains, molasses, all kind of unnatural things for horses. Why? What are the other options for a complete and balance diet? I am not sure this course will bring me answers but at least it will make me think and research.

Course Summary
This course will cover many aspects of equine nutrition ranging from anatomy and physiology of the gastrointestinal tract to dietary management of horses/ponies affected with nutrition-related disorders. This course is designed to provide knowledge of equine digestion and nutrition for those with an interest in this area. The anatomy and physiology of the equine alimentary canal will be studied to provide students with a detailed understanding of the equine digestive system. Nutrient sources for horses will be discussed, with emphasis placed on the health and welfare issues surrounding the inclusion of various types of feedstuffs in equine diets. Students will also discuss recommendations on rations for horses and ponies performing various activities and will be able to make recommendations on rations for horses and ponies in health and disease.

Parelli Program, the first months

Why Parelli?

First of all it happens that my horse has already been through the Parelli program and that's how I met my instructor. As she knew the horse, she offered me an introductory class. But what made me choose to continue with Parelli and not another natural horsemanship school is that it talks to me. I like how the program is designed, there is steps or levels, there is goals. It's clear. I don't have a problem with the business appearance of it, of the very expensive material and all. I think it's like how you choose your yoga teacher or Yoga "style". It's personal, it's a connection.

On Thursday October the 24th 2013 I had my first Parelli training class and first Parelli experience. We did it in the backyard. I loved it right away. It was like finding what I was always looking for to BE with horses: a relation based on trust and respect. My instructor, Tricia, introduced me to the basics and the first games. I feel blessed that the horse I have has already some training and I am really able to learn from her. Very fast I realized that actually she is my teacher. The class went well. Without an hesitation I asked Tricia if she would like to give me another class and she said yes:) She gave me a DVD that would help to review what we did and to get familiar with the vocabulary and the program.

November has been a discovery month. I watched the DVD a couple of time, did some short practices from what I could remember. I felt very clumsy sometime and Finale was very patient with me. I checked the website also and by mid November I was sure it was what I wanted to do. I wanted to go through the program, getting lessons, learning, practicing Parelli. So for my birthday I ordered the educational kit and schedule my next lesson.

The second class was on November 23rd. I was so excited about it! This time we went to the arena which was way better in terms of focus. Now that I knew a little better what I was doing, Tricia showed me the games in more details. I was able to see how a deeper relationship could take place.

December is when it really started. There is no more doubts or questions about Parelli (if there ever was!). First step was about building a relation with Finale. I spent a lot of time with her, grooming, taking care, just being there for her and with her. The goal was to be committed to us, to have this special bond and to let her know that she is very special to me.

A few pointer for December:

• I received my kit with ropes, carrot stick, DVDs.
• I tried to practice in the arena 3 times a week and slowly got use to the games, the equipment, the communication.
• I realized that I have to slow down when I practice with Finale and take time to integrate.
• I have to be aware of my posture, my energy. I may not know what I do but Finale sees everything:)
• I started to have some fun in the arena. It's a new way to work with the horse or should I say play with the horse. 
• I also started to have a glimpse of a beautiful and sweet connection with Finale.
• It's very important to be consistent. I need to stick to my schedule. It reminds me the path of Yoga: Practice, discipline, commitment, detachment.

I started to practice the circling game. It went pretty well for a few sessions but I had to step back as I lost the backing up in the process. When Tricia came for my third class on December 21st it was broken and we spent the class to review the basics. After one month of progress I had to go back to the very basic and I discovered that actually it is totally fine with me. 

I spent the end of the month practicing the backward motion with the Porcupine, Driving and Yoyo game. Slowly getting it back.

The practice teaches me a lot at a personal level and I realize that the training is going to ask me to work on myself too before even asking something to my horse!

Natural Horsemanship, a beginning.

What could be the place of Natural Horsemanship in Equine Ayurveda? I don't have the answer yet but what I know is that I've been introduced to the Parelli program and I felt in love with it. It's obvious for me that there is no equine health without a healthy relationship with the horse. Horses are sensitive creature and how we are with them or around them impact how they feel.

So I decided to go further on the path of Natural Horsemanship and become a Parelli student along with my horse that for now looks more like the Parelli instructor. I will share my experience through this blog as a part of "The Path". Hope you won't see it as a digression. And who knows maybe I will come to an Ayurvedic Horsemanship method some day :) Ayurveda is a way of life, we should never forget.

Update and News #1

I think the time has come to do an update on my work and project as Ayurveda and Equine Health Care is reaching a new level. I've been offered a position of ranch manager this summer at Ohana Ranch of Maui. I now have thirty two horses of all ages and sizes under my care.

The owner and I are sharing the same vision of a holistic ranch which represents a great opportunity to bring Ayurveda at every level of horse management and care. This includes not only the bodywork but nutrition, lifestyle (work, training, routines), exercises, body care, to name a few. Ayurveda has so much to offer!

I've started to introduce some of my herbs formula and oils at the ranch but there is two domains of study and application I would like to focus on. They are:

• the hormonal cycles in mares
• the appropriate nutrition and feeding routines.

Very exciting!

So as I deepen my work in Ayurveda for horses, I decided to create a Facebook page that goes with this blog where I will share anything around the subject. Follow the link to check and like!!!! https://www.facebook.com/EquineAyurveda

I also decided to turn this blog into a website (at least the address for now). The official address is now: www.equineayurveda.com.

Please visit the FB page and like it!