Creating healthy biomechanics and stronger partnerships through combining

natural horsemanship principles with the art of dressage...

never underestimate the potential for harmony & lightness to improve in ways you cannot yet imagine

This Month• Feedback

• Questions and Answers!

• Essay by my working student

• Ancora Imparo

Upcoming Clinics: Clinic schedule: CLICK HERE

December 19 Private Lessons at Temenos FieldsContact K2@dressagenaturally.net

December 20Open Format Workshop at Temenos FieldsContact K2@dressagenaturally.net

January 23-286 Days at Temenos Fieldsclosed to auditors

A Rider Spot Opened Up for Jan. !Contact K2@dressagenaturally.net right away if you are interested!

D E C E M B E R 2 0 0 9

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Welcome back to the Temenos...Temenos is an ancient Greek word. It refers to a sacred space that has no lim-its, where special rules apply and extra-ordinary events are free to occur.

“Doubt is not a pleasant condition, but certainty is absurd.”

~Voltaire

Auditors Welcome at De-cember Dates.

Karen Rohlf

News

Ahhh, December in Florida... I actu-ally had to zip up my jacket today! I am thoroughly enjoying all the time I have with my horses. This is the time of year when I can get some real con-sistency and their bodies can get strong.

Ovation is making some real break-throughs in his capabilities in collec-tion, and Atomic has really turned a corner in his ride-ability. Monty, well he is always his fabulous self (as long as I am worthy of him!)

I added a new feature to my website... My working student, Marj Smith went through all the past newsletters and created an Index of Topics. Now on the Newsletter Archive page you can look through an alphabetical list of topics and find the issue of the news-letter where it is discussed!

Marj also contributed to this newslet-ter. You can read about a way she ʻtrickedʼ herself into relaxing while rid-ing in connection with the reins on page 6 of this newsletter.

This monthʼs newsletter is full of your feedback and your questions an-swered. I want to thank all of you who took the time to write me such nice emails lately. It makes me so happy to know that you and your horses are enjoying what I have to share. I am certainly having a great time doing what I do!

Oh, and there are some new USA dates up for 2010 on my Clinic Schedule

Student Feedback

It's Kate, from "the forum"..... just wanted to drop a line to say that I LOVED her horsenalities answer!! [From November

2009 Newsletter] :) Tell her thank you, for putting that out there!! People underesti-mate the value of their expectations, and while I see the advantage of getting peo-ple to start thinking about how their horses are thinking, I cringe when people label and make assumptions. If I expect my horse to a 'RBI' when we do trailer loading, that is what I will get!!!~Kate

I just received my poster on Saturday, after having witnessed 4 hours of german-style dressage lessons that made me so stressed - I had thought I could work with a classical dressage trainer, but now I know that it would be a bad move for me and my horse.Receiving the poster gave me a huge sense of relief, and I'm digging into the dvd's that I received last week - so far, super!THANK YOU for your efforts - I have framed the poster and it hangs in my of-fice - I'll be studying it carefully.Happy Thanksgiving!~Susan O

Fond greetings to K1 and K2:First, the "new and improved" website is simply wonderful.  Kudos to all those who worked on it.  The site is easy to negoti-ate, organized well, and most informative.  I'm especially pleased so see Temple Grandin's books on the "More resources" page.  Her insights have en-abled me to understand to a much greater extent why my extreme RBE freaks out and needs huge amounts of desensitization and repetition to gain a semblance of confidence. For all of the materials that K1 has made available to us: the book, DVDs, newslet-ter Q & A, etc., I give you my heartfelt thanks.  As a PNH student, everything Karen teaches blends seamlessly with the Parelli priniciples so that learning re-mains fun for even the most fragile of equine egos.  By the way, I love and ap-preciate the way Karen's mind works -- in harmony with the complex reality of the horse-human relationship. Bountiful blessings during this Thanksgiv-ing season, ~Sandra M

Hi Karen,I have been a fan of yours for some time and thoroughly enjoy your newsletters and web-site. I appreciate all the knowl-edge you share so selflessly, with all of us devoted followers. I have learned vol-umes from your dvd's and newsletters and after riding all my life with little formal training, I appreciate how accessible your instruction is.

I have only ridden dressage for the past nine years and have gleaned what I know from various sources, but have done most of the training of my two horses andmyself on my own, as there are little choices in our isolated, rural community. So, you can only imagine the holes in my and my horses' training! ;0 I have no in-tention of showing (it's a good thing!) as I experienced that in my early 20's and became disillusioned with the lack of re-spect offered the horse in a quest for a ribbon. 

Interesting how compromise becomes acceptable when humans compete. I know that is not true of all horsemen/women, but often enough. I love the process of training; of watching a young horse develop, both in their understand-ing and in their physical abilities, intheir own time, without the pressure of a show on the horizon. Your intro dvd brought me to tears, every time I watched it. You put into expression, form and func-tion everything I felt in my heart. Thank you for opening me up to your way and allowing me to learn a new way of being with my horses.   ~Susan H

Dear Karen,I'm a devoted student of Anja Holst and Parelli, and so grateful to your interpreta-tion of dressage.

Please keep writing, making DVD's, and helping us progress with your approach.I would like you to address how to re-enter showing at training level utilizing PNH and your approach.

Competing successfully without having to utilize the severe approaches I've seen lately (3-year olds being forced to collect) would be great.Bravo to you - you are very inspiring. Susan O

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Feedback plus Question About Padded Halter

Q. Hello there, I have to start by saying how wonderful your materials and that it has transformed how I interact with my horse. Your playing with posture dvds have been so much fun. I was blown away to see the difference in Monty when you lead with your arm versus your leg. It's fantastic I have been sharing it with all my friends. As a parelli student and work-ing toward becoming an equine massage therapist, I know how important posture is. Bravo on your demonstration of it and giving us permission to play with it. You are a fantastic teacher and I hope to ride with you someday :)

The reason I am contacting you is, I as looking through your site and noticed a picture of you with Monty and he has a rope halter on, but it looks to have padding over the entire nose band in-cluding the knots of the nose band. I use Parelli rope halters, but I feel as my connection with my horse gets better that the knots are too much, and I wanted to offer a softer but still connected feel. Can you tell me where you acquired this halter or how you made it if perhaps you made it yourself?

Thank you again for your wonderful pro-gram and knowledge you have to offer. I look forward to your reply. ~Nikole F

A. Hi Nikole,

Thanks for your email and all the nice words...

You are very observant.. Yes I do have a halter that I added some padding to. It is just a regular Parelli halter, and then I had this funny thin padding that came with a package I received. I thought, hmmm, this would work nicely, because as you have noticed with your horses.... sometimes those knots are a little sharp for horses that are very sensitive, and as long as they have excellent self carriage in gen-eral (established through Freestyle) I want my horses to feel happy to hold hands with me... sometimes those knots

feel like holding hands with sharp finger-nails!

So yes, with Monty, and other horses at the right moment, I play with the padded noseband.  You have to be careful though, because the down side is it is very comfy to lean on... and we never want that. So you want self-carriage, ex-cellent yields, trust, and respect of the reins, then self carriage during riding in connection. As with any tool, you need to know when to and when not to use it.

I made it myself with the padding and some gorilla glue, so at this point I can't tell you where to find a similar one. I will let you know if I come up with something to offer!

Thanks, Nicole, and let me know how it goes!

My Best, Karen

Two Questions about finding help from Dressage Instructors:

Q1. Hello Karen,

I just read through your website and thought to myself   "How can I find a Dressage trainer that is Natural friendly".   I so much want to continue learning dressage, but now that I have my own horse, I find myself not wanting to

compromise the relationship & trust that we have been developing only to have a non natural trainer teach me dressage.

I've been studying Parelli for three years. I eventually hope to do some lower level eventing with him after we gain more un-derstanding of each other.

So, Where do I go?  I live in SW Pennsyl-vania and don't know a single natural friendly English trainer. Would you hap-pen to have any contacts in this area that you could direct me?  I would be ever grateful.

Keep up the great work of helping to bridge dressage with the naturalworld.

Regards,Joan D, Pittsburgh PA

Q2. Hi Karen,

I met you in Ca. at a clinic you did in Cot-tonwood,Ca. in 2006. I have since been taking dressage lessons from a local woman where I live in Santa Cruz,Ca..She has a parelli background but doesmore of the German style training when it comes to dressage. My ques-tion to you is there anything I need to be careful of when it comes to training with her and the German style of dres-sage? at one point the Crank nose piece came up and I said no. I love parelli and how it has helped me with my five horses. I have two arabs, one Polish,and one Egyptian that I am learning on.

My goal is to enter a schooling show to see how I like showing. I am 54 yrs old today, though I don't feel it,thanks to my horses they will keep me forever young.

Recently I have noticed that a lot of Par-elli students are studying dressage. I have learned how important it is for your horses over all well being,though I find it hard sometimes, I like what it is doing to my horses topline and how they seem to like it as well. I enjoy working with my trainer though I think we have disagreed on certain methods in the past, she

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does however allow me to ride in parelli bridle with a loose ringsnaffle.

Any advice you could give me would be appreciated. Thanks for your time. ~JonnaA. Hi Jonna,Great question. I had another very similar question from someone else today!

I want to give you a well thought out an-swer, and I will be able to get to that in the next day or two... but for now: It is important to be able to ask questions and there is nothing wrong with asking 'why?' regarding any technique or equipment a trainer wants to use.For example:the trainer wants to put on a tight noseband:

You: “Why?”

Trainer: “To keep the mouth shut.”

You: “Why would the mouth open?” Trainer: “Because of resistance.” You: “Why is there resistance?”

Trainer: “Because the horse is not re-specting the aids, not balanced, not un-derstanding, impulsive....etc.”

You: “Then I think I should practice to im-prove those points so he doesn't feel the need to open his mouth.”

This is a common issue, and above is an example of my logic.... I want to remove the causes of the problem, not they symptom. I also think once you know a trainer and what they are looking for, it is up to you and your horse, as a team, to prepare yourselves (using all your NH strategies) so you can arrive to your les-sons ready for dressage! If the horse is going well... they won't ask for a nose-band or anything else.

Everyone is trying to create the same thing.... a nice horse who is cooperative, calm and eager!

If you use your NH skills to show up with that horse... they won't care what he is wearing!

Make sure your teacher explains what he or she want to see... not just aids, but what result they want to see from the horse (not saying: "more leg" instead, saying: "more energy" for example).

In my book, in Part Three, Essays For Success there is a chapter called: Utilize Available Resources, Including How to Get Help From a Dressage Profes-sional (Page 178). In this section I talk about what to look for in an instructor or trainer. I recommend taking a look at that. I canʼt be everywhere but I donʼt want my students to feel that they have to go it alone without getting feedback from oth-ers... Just choose wisely, listen to your horse and trust your instincts!!

I hope this helps for now... please let me know how it goes, and feel free to ask even more questions as they come up.My best,Karen

Free, Stretching Walk

Q. Hello Karen

I received your lengthening dvd. WOW!! It is great. I can tell thoughstraight away my horse's stretch is not where it needs to be. Our ground work is coming along.. he is stretching more and more. He stretches pretty easily at the trot, but he is nowhere near as relaxed and forward and stretching as Ovation at the walk. How can I help him when I am on him??I seem to can get him to relax and stretch doing the circle game, stretch at the trot when I am riding, but the walk I am really struggling with. When I see you and ovation, I see what I need to shoot for- but do not know how toget there. Help??

Yevette

A. Hi Yevette,Well, don't worry, the walk is the hardest gait to improve (and the easiest one to mess-up!)Because the walk has no air-time, often when we ask for 'more' at the walk, the horse doesn't know what to do and can often shorten the stride. If we ask the horse for more energy, they often trot, but if we let them just slug along, nothing happens! Plus, walk is what we do when we are not doing anything, so often it is a difficult gait to get their attention at.

The key to a good walk is relaxation.... and to not over ride it.Ovation starts out very unmotivated, so the first step is to gosomewhere.... A good walk around the field or on a trail does wonders over trying to ask him directly to improve his gait. The other key is that if you do ask for an energetic response... that something does happen! If you feel like you have to use a strong leg, or a constant leg aid to coax him forward, that tension may be enough to tighten the walk. So as with most things, you must get the energy and relaxation balanced just right.

If the horse understands how to stretch sometimes.. the rest will come... Try not to obsess about it... maybe he needs to play more with being up and energetic... or to play with transitions... then every now and then see if he wants to stretch...

Unfortunately the list of what can cause things to go wrong is linger that what we can do to make things improve, but it sounds like you are looking for the right qualities... you will find it! Just maybe not in the order you expectedI hope this helps!And I am so glad you like the DVDs!My Best,Karen

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photo: Dana Rasmussen

Why Use Bits if You Can Do It Without?

Q.Thanks for all of the wonderful informa-tion!  I do have a question that perhaps you can address some time in the future.  Why, if collection can ultimately be achieved without any bit at all, do I see all dressage horses with 2 bits and sets of reins on them?~Paula  

A. Hi Paula,Great question! I think of bits as tools of refinement... meaning they should take something that is already working... And help it be even better. The same way that a sharpened pencil creates a finer, clearer, more precise line.

And just like a sharpened pencil, if you press too hard, it breaks and leaves an ugly scar on the page. Bits are an excel-lent precise tool when used properly. If too much pressure is applied, the system breaks and it is just force... nothing beau-tiful or artful.

In my system and logic, I want the body and mind of the horse to be balanced, I use a halter and am able to create every-thing. When this is true, then the horse and I are ready to use a tool of refine-ment. A bit is very precise at showing the horse exactly where the head should be. This becomes more important with very precise maneuvers such as lateral work, or upper level standards of precision. It can do the horse a favor by being so clear and precise.

The idea is that if you have a wonderful harmony and connection with the horse in the halter, can you still have this wonder-ful trust and connection even with a metal tool in their mouth? So the logic contin-ues: at a higher level, can you keep a harmony and trust even with a double bridle in their mouth? you have to see the bit as a positive tool of communication in order for this logic to apply... Not to see it as a tool of control and force.

As far as the double bridle: There are two bits, the snaffle and the curb. These two bits have separate communications. The snaffle talks to the horse about lateral positions and is more comfortable for the horse to reach into and establish a con-nection with. The curb is a leverage bit that talks directly about poll flexion. It is nice to think that you can separate these two communications so the horse.

This is the dream. The reality is that many people use the snaffle because they canʼt imagine riding with no bit, and they go to the double bridle to fix the problems of lack of control they experience in the snaffle, in order to get the higher maneu-vers done.

But donʼt confuse what many people wrongly do with the ideology. I have noth-ing against the proper use of tools of clear communication. I went on a quest of seeing what I could do with no bit and in doing so have realized how much I donʼt need a bit. But I do ride in one also, be-cause it is an honor to have a horse allow me in their mouth. I have nothing against the double bridle, either and would say it would be a testament to my training that my horse trusts my hands so much that he is still wonderful and soft and bold (the same as he is with the halter) even with two bits in his mouth...

My horses just feel so good in the halter that I donʼt often feel like I need more... And I enjoy being an example of what is possible with this.

I hope this helps! ~Karen

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Photos top to bottom: Peggy Finnerty Terri Miller Dana Rasmussen

Separating My Brain and Reins

How I tricked myself into getting rid of tension while riding in

connection with the reins.

by Marj Smith

My process of disconnecting my brain from my reins. When I arrived at Te-menos fields as Karen’s new working student I was given the opportunity to ride one of Karen’s wonderful horses named Jedi. At first he and I did not seem to mesh. I was pushing all the wrong buttons, over riding him, not sure what I was asking or how to ask. I would worry about his emotions and distracted state of being and would forget I was supposed to be riding and not baby sitting.

So began my mission on how to ride this horse and communicate what I wanted effectively in an efficient time frame. My instinct was to talk to his head. My answer always seemed to come from the reins, picking them up, pulling them back, and constricting my arms. Karen was very clear that this wasn’t the answer, but my brain just couldn’t stop my body from us-ing those reins. Now, this is a horse that has a great deal of training and understanding but I was speaking some other language. As time went on I discovered that Jedi was a multi

national western pleasure champion. I thought hold on I know how to ride western show horses and I wasn’t rid-ing him like a western horse in my mind or body. (Really I am not sure what I was doing at the time.)

As this experiment started to unfold Karen sent me on the freestyle mis-sion and told me what Bre (the work-ing student who rode him previously) had done with him using freestyle and the round pen. So I headed out to check it out. I had a few body discov-eries but still need more time to ex-plore. Then one day I was on my quest to freestyle communication and the idea came to me again ride him as if I were riding western... Something we both understood. I was in an area where normally he would be highly distracted and making me distracted worrying about what he was worry-ing about. I focused all my energy on body position and blocked every thing other then that out. Then it happened, we were in perfect har-mony and communication. We were balanced; every foot fall was exact and every transition was precise.

That is all I need to feel and my quest expanded from freestyle to contact. I knew from then on: if he and I could feel in harmony without reins then we had to be able to do it with con-tact. The days Karen said we looked good, were the days that I would think to just ride him like he is west-ern. To my brain ‘riding western’ meant that everything comes from the seat. I also took all the little seeds that Karen had been planting along the way about dressage, movement, en-ergy, balance, state of preparedness, and molded them into my “western” feeling of riding. So in the end I just had to find a way to disconnect my brain from my reins.

Note from Karen: This is a great example of a rider searching for a way to get her body to do what she wants. Marj showed great curiosity in trying to figure out what to do. Many riders see a horse in a dressage frame, on short reins, and even unconsciously think that the frame is created by the reins. When Marj tried to use the reins, everything would just get tense and contracted. We made sure Marj didn’t need to use the reins for control (hence sending her on the Freestyle mission). From there, it was up to Marj to figure out a way to allow her body to hold the reins without using them... She knew she shouldn’t but her body kept doing it anyway! It made sense to her to use the concept of ‘riding western’ because she knew she could ride from her seat when riding western. She used that (something that worked well) to help her with something that wasn’t work-ing well (the riding in connection with the reins). This is what helped her to continue to feel the Freestyle inside the Finesse, and the relaxa-tion inside the energy.

For me, as her teacher, when she had those good moments and I would say: ‘that looks great!’ she would answer “I feel like I am riding western!” I thought: ‘well, it doesn’t look like western to me, but if that’s what you need to think in order to look this good then who am I to say that’s wrong?!’

So, just as the DVDs # 3 and 4 Play-ing with Posture, emphasize: Be crea-tive and be curious in exploring your own possibilities to gain awareness and control of your body and mind!

6 Copyright 2009, Temenos Fields, Inc December

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Instructional PosterThis 24 x 36 poster reminds you of the Big Picture of Dressage, Naturally in a single glance. The reality of horsemanship is that we are in many stages at any given time. That is why simple recipes only work to a point. We need to have the big picture of where we are and where we are going. I designed this poster so from across the room, you could see how the whole process fits together, and you can come up close and read through the ample text to get more detailed checkpoints regarding the qualities and skills that are important for each stage.

I am really excited about this. It reflects the way my brain organizes and processes information when I want to learn something. I am really proud of this and hope you find it as useful as I dream you will. It is printed on material that is water and tear resistant, too so it will hold up to being posted in a barn, and will still look good in your home!

Developing Lengthenings DVDThis DVD is about Developing Lengthenings. Ovation re-turns to show you his first attempts at lengthenings. I will discuss the necessary ingredients and how I prepare them. Then once again, you will watch an entire session (with minimal editing). The entire time I am narrating while I am riding. Lengthenings are all about building potential energy. The skills learned in developing this movement will set you up for success for powerful movements and true collection later.

New Hats and Visors.New design on new hats and visors. The visors are organic cotton and the hats are bamboo, a material desired for its wicking and antimicrobial properties as well as it be-ing a sustainable resource.

10% Discount in Webshop through Dec.31st!

Enter code: DN09Spcl during checkout

Gift Certificates are available. Look in product menu on Shop page. Amounts

are customizable.

“Ancora Imparo” is what Michelangelo is quoted to have said upon completion of the Sistine Chapel masterpiece... It translates: “I am still learning.”

I thought exploring the unknown was an ap-propriate topic as we finish one year and be-gin another. Who knows what 2010 will bring? The quote above, as well as the one I have on the cover page: “Doubt is not a pleasant condition, but certainty is absurd.” (Voltaire) may make some of you uncomfort-able. Humans tend to want the security of certainty. We look for rules, and find comfort in knowing what is the ʻright thing to doʼ. We need to know what is the ʻrightʼ or ʻwrongʼ technique. Chat forums are thick with pas-sionate opinions on who is correct, who is incorrect... All looking for ʻtheʼ answer.

In horses as with life... Itʼs never that simple! As I mentioned in the October 2009 Newslet-ter: It is more valuable that the system serves the student, than it is for the student to serve the system. It may seem like a subtle distinc-tion... But imagine that there is nothing that you must achieve beyond your own dream for yourself.

Of course, you may find a person or several people who are models that closely approxi-mated the same dream that you have, and you may be able to learn from them. If you are really lucky they are great teachers and can serve you by helping you to learn what you want to know; gaining from their experience. It would be silly to not diligently learn from oth-ers who have gone before you.

...As long as you remember that you are not limited by these footprints you follow. The people we admire the most werenʼt the ones who copied someone else well, instead we admire the innovators. You are the innovator of your life and your experience.

Perhaps you donʼt even have to be limited by your own view of yourself! How often do you think: “I canʼt do this”, “Iʼm not good enough”? I believe that although we may know a lot about ourselves, we donʼt know everything. At least I hope I donʼt know everything about myself... I want to believe that there is more in me than even I can imagine. Have you ever had the feeling of surprising even yourself with something you did? I love that feeling!

So for this next year, perhaps renew a com-mitment to not worry about right or wrong, good or bad, but instead focus on your dream for yourself... Being aware of the cause and effect of what you do that creates your experi-ence.

Know that confusion is just something wonder-ful about to be discovered. Be resourceful, find teachers who can help you create your dream, then take it even further. Gallop forward freely into the mist and mystery of the new day. ~K1

Don’t look back! The key to freedom is to think forward!

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“The only thing that makes life possible is permanent, intolerable uncertainty; not knowing what comes next.”

                    ~Ursula K. LeGuin

Ancora Imparo...