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

This Month• News & New Format!

• Student Q & A

• 2 Essays from Karen

Upcoming Clinics: Clinic schedule:CLICK HERE

March 21 - 266 Days at Temenos Fieldsclosed to auditors

April 14 - 18Gold Coast, QLD, AustraliaContact: Pat Miller pmi23806@bigpond.net.au

April 22 - 26 Melbourne, VIC Australia

Contact: Pat Miller pmi23806@bigpond.net.au

April 29 - May 3 Young, NSW, AustraliaContact: Pat Miller pmi23806@bigpond.net.au

May 6 - 10 Macksville, NSW, AustraliaContact: Pat Miller pmi23806@bigpond.net.au

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

"One half of life is luck; the other half is discipline - and that's the important

half, for without discipline you wouldn't know what to

do with luck."

~Carl Zuckmeyer 1896-1977, Writer and Play-

Karen Rohlf

March 2010

Creating healthy biomechanics and stronger partnerships through combining

natural horsemanship principles with the art of dressage...

Above is photo of my new PRE filly, Natilla. She is a June 2008 baby, 

by Dominante XXIXPhoto: Dana Rasmussen

News and More

New Format!I hope you enjoy the new format for the newsletters! Turns out everyone opening the newsletters in pdf format was causing my website to exceed its bandwidth (a lovely problem). please get very curious and try clicking around to discover all the features. Put the curser at the top of the pages and other tool bars will appear. There are a cou‐ple different choices of how to view it on your screen Click on it and it will zoom in. Also look for a little icon for a printer on the right that will let you print it out to read it.

Gearing up for Australia Less than a month until I head down under! It will be a whirlwind of teaching in Queensland, North and South New South Wales and Victoria. I will miss my horses (and dog and cats) but I am really looking forward to it. I really hope that Aussie students who  aren’t participating as a riders will join us as auditors. For more information on the clinics please contact Pat Miller at: pmi23806@bigpond.net.au

Video News & IdeasI am about to do some more filming for a new DVD in the Results In Harmony Series. It won’t be out until sometime after I get back from Australia but the process is in motion!

Also... I have a new idea. Would you like more videos from me? Would you like even more videos of me with my horses, or per‐haps some excerpts from clinics or just me at home sitting down and explaining some techniques or philosophies?

I would love to get more videos to you and have started the process to offer an on‐line video classroom. I am really excited about this and look forward to sharing more with all of you! This will likely not be up and run‐ning until July. 

Another Fun 6 Days at Temenos Fields.My returning 6 Day group met again first week of March. The weather went form cold and 30 mph winds, to sunny and 70’s. This month we got on a drill team kick, and in just a few days, they put together and performed a 12 minute 8‐woman drill team. We were able to get this accomplished in addition to our regular dressagey exercises by putting in lots of practice without the horses.

Putting drills together isn’t an easy or smooth endeavor, but everyone did it with such great focus and positive attitudes, it made it fun.

I think one thing that everyone learned is how it puts a purpose to the communica‐tions and precision of dressage. Its got to be a 10 meter circle or you are going to crash! Nothing like a little peer pressure!  You can view the drill on youtube by clicking here.

10 week IntensiveMany of you have already heard about my new 10 week Dressage, Naturally Intensive. If you haven’t, please click here for all the info.

Response has been really positive, and par‐ticipants will be chosen from the applicants on April 1. 

More good news: Stay tuned because it looks like I will be adding another 10 week course in Spring 2011. I am really excited to get some longer time with students and their horses... The possibilities are endless!

Face Book, Youtube and Twitter My twitter name is: KarenRohlf. Don’t worry, It’s a fun place to drop little pearls of wisdom, or thoughts. With only 140 characters, it is a little like writing a haiku! I also have gotten into the habit of actually posting on my per‐sonal Face Book page and Dressage Natu‐rally Fan page... Thank you to all my ‘friends’ and fans that have waited patiently for me to figure all this out.

New videos on youtube, too... soon they will be on my website, but until then, click Here and Here , Here, and Here!

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This may look like a chaotic moment, but it is the middle of a move we nick-named “The Slice”

Two Questions from a student: 1. Feeding2. Different Training Methods

HI Karen

2 questions:

This is just a question about the feed you give your horses (I got this info from your newsletter).  Iʼm never sure what to give my horses and we longer have anyone who is really knowledgeable in my area anymore.  The performance equine feed you give, this looks like a powder sup-plement right?  Is that all you give in addi-tion to hay (so no grain or anything like that).  Right now..I feed my horses hay and a vitamin and mineral pelleted feed (Purina Equilizer).  My horses are doing dressage about 4 times weekly.  I try to stay away from grains or high carbohy-drate feed due to its effect on hoof wall separation etc.   Any advice you have would be good although I know you are not a feed expert.

 Second question, you recommended in your book to read “Twisted Truths of Modern Dressage” by Philippe Karl. I have since devoured that book many times and watch the DVD series that goes with it. This is the method I use mainly with my horses (along with Parelli stuff).  I notice that your method is different.  You donʼt seem to raise the hand like he does to relax the jaw and his focus is really on balance through combi-nations of lateral movements etc.  What are your thoughts on Philippeʼs method and is what you do more similar to the German method. 

P.S. your training program looks amazing and if I was closer Iʼd sign up in a second.Thanks,Kyla. 

Hi Kyla,Great questions. First re: the feeding. The Platinum is of the same philosophy as the equilizer. I feed Platinum and hay. I sprinkle in a handful of a textured feed just to give the platinum something to stick to... A couple horses get an addi-tional rice bran fat supplement if they need additional calories. I was just par-

ticularly impressed with the quality of the Platinum ingredients. I have been able to take horses off of their hoof and gluco-samine supplements since feeding it! I agree with your thoughts about keeping carbs low... and grains are a pretty un-natural feed for a horse. my pastures are good enough to supply free choice grass for half the year, during the other half I do buy hay, and keep it free choice, or as close to that as possible depending on the size of the belly of the horse ;-). I think this is the most natural system for their biology...

Re: Philippe Karl, I think he is a true mas-ter and certainly has proven his abilities. I think there are many really wise things in his book and the way he teaches.

With that said, no one system is perfect unless it is a system that is ready to em-brace all systems, horses, situations. This is a common source of confusion for stu-dents... how to reconcile all the different ʻsystemsʼ and styles. It is important to stand back and get a good perspective on any system. There are causes and ef-fects, tools and their uses.... And the most important part of any system is its princi-ples.

My advice is this: First... observe the re-sults of the system. Some will be elimi-nated because you wonʼt like the end point of the system. So you observe them, note the cause and effect in play... then choose not to use it. There may be several examples of end-results that you love. Excellent biomechanics are excel-lent biomechanics... Harmony is harmony, and there are as many different ways to get there as there are different individual horse and rider combinations.

Among the systems that have the same goal in mind, and can repeatedly, effec-tively achieve their goal there will be dif-ferences in the order of the ingredients they develop, and the priority they give to different qualities at different stages dur-ing the training.

Also differing may be the type of horse used. Different breeds have different characteristics that often have shaped the training program over time. Different cultures/attitudes of the humans also ef-fect the style of the system.

At a certain point, Philippe Karl (PK) puts a priority on the mouth, reins and some particular communications there to set them up for his next steps. I for sure have used similar communications when nec-essary... it is a certain technique to cause a certain effect.... but of course my sys-tem would be a little different because I start in the halter, and get other things working before talking to the mouth....

I would not call my system German. By German perhaps you mean that the prior-ity is often strong forward energy as the top priority. French system, German sys-tem... humans love to put things in neat boxes as an easy way to reference some-thing very complex, but that label can be-come a limitation. PK talks a lot about the mouth communications, but for sure he has forward energy as a very important ingredient. With the baroque horses he rides, that energy is more accessible, where the relaxation through the neck, back are trickier to achieve, so he has that as a higher priority to establish com-munication about.

ʻGerman styleʼ techniques may empha-size forward energy first, but for sure bal-ance is a key ingredient. Warmbloods tend to be harder to motivate, and are more naturally able to move through their backs and fill a contact, so it makes sense the more German style may put energy conversations at a higher priority earlier.

If you found 5 trainers who you respected and loved their results... gave them each the same horse, there would be some similarities in what they saw and what they agreed needed to be developed in order to arrive at their similar goal. But if you observed those trainers with that same horse, I would bet you would see 5 different systems in play. The difference would be in what quality they developed first, second, third and so on.

This is what has intrigued me. I was so fortunate to have followed a system from one mentor for enough years and with enough horses, that I could see the benefit of having a system; a methodical program. But I also learned that every system has its own limitations, its particu-lar issues that canʼt be solved easily with in it.

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My interest is in observing the cause and effect of different systems... When I observe a trainer I admire, or who is able to produce qualities I like, I watch closely to see what exercises they choose to do with the horse at a given moment. It is about having enough tools in your tool box and recognizing when to use which one.

If you were to watch me with 10 differ-ent horses, with some you may think I do a more german style, some a more PK style, some more NH foundation focus.... With some others some funny things no one else does.... Every horse is a different style, and so my technique must be able to adapt. I don't just train warmbloods, or ba-roque horses, I train everything... and not every horse is the same or coming from the same starting point.

I look at it a lot like I look at Religion. I would describe myself as Spiritual, but not Religious. I learn from the teach-ings and teachers that religions were created around... But I donʼt limit my-self to any one particular label. That is also why I called my training tech-nique: Dressage, Naturally... and not: The Rohlf Method or something like that. I hope that the most important part of learning my system is that stu-dents learn the cause and effect of different exercises, and learn to see the horse in this moment and act ap-propriately for him, using all knowl-edge form NH and dressage in gen-eral. I am happy to be a teacher that strives to teach that... And I hope my students never limit themselves to only what I can do.

I hope this makes some sort of sense!Feel free to ask more!

My Best, ~Karen

PS: I have had several people trek down from Ontario with their horses so don't discount this possibility! ;-)

“When They Give Us Their Minds & Bodies...”

Since returning to natural with horses I have had the honor of feeling many horses open themselves to me in such amazing ways. That is one of the pur-poses of a foundation... To create a ready, willing and able partner; a partner that says ʻyesʼ to any of the basic com-munications. We strive to show these willing partners that life is good, that they can trust us. That even if we challenge them, there is always an answer they can give easily, and that we are worthy of their trust.

Horses, by nature, protect themselves. They protect themselves mentally, emo-tionally and physically. We, as their hu-man partners, do our best to open them mentally, emotionally and physically. In openness there is strength, but there is vulnerability... Ahh one of those para-doxes! (Whenever I notice a paradox I pay attention... It means there is some-thing important going on.)

This may be hard to hear, but many of us are more comfortable when we have a problem to solve; a scared horse, a

bracey horse, an unmotivated horse... A horse that the previous owner messed up. We find comfort in having a problem to deal with. After all, who hasnʼt been humbled by being with a horse that is doing everything we ask... And we still arenʼt getting the result we want.

Creating a willing partner is only one part of the journey. The next step is what to do with this willing partner! Havenʼt we all also met the horse who gave himself only to be violated, even if unintention-ally?

A story: In my clinics I often teach the Basic Alignment Exercise that causes horses to let loose and stretch. In two clinics in a row I met 2 horses that gave me the same lesson. In each case their experiences with their former owners had been less than ideal, but they were

now with excellent human partners.

In each case we were playing online, and the horses were very responsive and were doing the exercise but were still somehow holding back and not letting loose. Instead they were carrying a pos-ture of brace and defensiveness, even though right now there was no reason for it. They were soooo close, so I took the horse to try it myself. Within a few laps of a really gentle (but effective) version of the exercise the horse suddenly pinned his ears and charged me, teeth bared, but even sooner than I could flinch he jumped back out, snorted shook his head and stretched beautifully!

I stood there a bit stunned for a moment as we both processed. But it was over, from then on the horse stretched freely, while breathing and blowing.

In the very next clinic another horse did the SAME thing! It caused me to really look at that exercise from the horseʼs point of view and I realized that although I was creating a posture of power, balance and freedom... It was also a posture of vulnerability. It was like these horses were saying to me: “Look... I am about to give you my body and you BETTER NOT violate my trust here!”

I got the message.

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Photos on this and next page by: Dana Rasmussen (www.Danarasmussen.com)

I guess my point is that there is a transi-tion. At some point we have fixed the problems... Or as I like to put it: We are out of the negative and now are in a place where we can really create something positive. This is the place where you and your horse understand each other and are partners. This is a wonderful place, but again a paradox is present. It is a place of strength but also of vulner-ability. We must really do right by them when they are this open.

This wonderful open moment is one where we can feel immensely proud, or immensely insecure or humble. In this state, anything that isnʼt going well is a result of our own riding or communication skills. If our horse does everything we want, then it is only our own errors if something isnʼt working. Some people love this moment. It is a moment to ʻup your gameʼ as a rider; to educate yourself to know exactly what is healthy or un-healthy to ask a horse to do, to get crea-tive and inspired... To finally be able to improve your riding not just your fixing and repairing skills... Or to simply exhale and enjoy!

For some people this is an internally scary place. It is more comfortable to hide behind our horseʼs problems, issues, or character-flaws. We need to make really

sure we arenʼt subconsciously going in and creating problems.

No matter how advanced a rider you are, we need to notice when the issues stop being mostly about what the horse needs to learn and become more about what we need to learn to go to the next level. Be-lieve it or not, humans sometime subcon-sciously, inadvertently cause problems in order to have them to fix, or they donʼt fully realize that the issue is not due to the horseʼs lack of understanding or will-ingness.

In reading what I have written I wonder if it is a bit too psychological and rambley. But perhaps you will allow me this ram-ble.

It is such a gift to have a horse open to us. It is the first priority. From there, take yourself to the next level and seek knowl-edgeable experience to guide you, as well as a strong imagination. Trust your gut instincts along the way and do your best to not violate the vulnerabil-ity your horse has offered you. In it there is strength and power beyond measure. Also donʼt be afraid to be hum-bled by an amazing horse.

Often I feel like I can train my horses to be better at being ridden, than I am at riding them! Itʼs what I like to call: a lovely problem. In this place we can have our ʻbeginnerʼs mindʼ

In the words of Lao Tzu:

Existence having born themAnd fitness bred them,

While matter varied their formsAnd breath empowered them,

All created things render, to the existence and fitness they depend on,

An obedienceNot commanded but of course.

And since this is the way existence bears issue

And fitness raises, attends,Shelters feeds, protects

Do you likewise:Be parent, not possessor

Attendant, not master,Be concerned not with obedience but

with benefit,And you are at the core of living.

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Donʼt forget to visit the webshop!

The Big Picture Poster: has been getting rave reviews. See the whole Picture, from foundation to advanced in one view! Great for the barn. It is made from a material that wonʼt rip and can be washed... No laminating or framing necessary.

Reins: Black rope with leather attachment to the bit. They look dressage, but feel natural. They are flying out just as fast as I can make them!

Book/DVD set: The ʻmother-shipʼ of all Dressage, Naturally information

DVD Series: The Results in Harmony DVD series currently has 5 DVDs. Takes a single topic and looks more in depth.

Timing Is Everything

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The timing of our aids, the timing of our release, the timing of our phases... all have a huge impact on the results we get. But another timing that is equally important is the timing of ‘what day do we ask’ . Or which month or even which year. The phrase: ‘Choose your battles’ comes to mind.

Atomic and I have had an interesting and challenging relationship. He is super dominant with aggressive tendencies. He has really required me to think about leadership versus dominance. I cannot try to dominate him. I have seen how he handles 1200 pound creatures who try it! And there is often fear behind it.

His development was coming along really well... But there was one version of freestyle that I know I had been avoiding: Bridleless.

A year or so ago I tried it and I got myself stuck. It was a good day to do it, all the pre‐flight checks checked out and I took the halter off. Immediately the nice sweet horse changed. He wouldn’t take a step in any direc‐tion and instead bit at my legs. I even had trouble getting off him because I thought he would grab me!

I did manage to get off and after licking and chewing for a bit I decided that it wasn’t about him not under‐standing things, (I had been riding him without using the reins), but that he knew when they were gone. He knew when he had one up on me, or something like that. It was a leadership issue. So I put that task on the back burner, but kept the problem in the front of my mind. 

How could I, in every other circumstance, increase my leadership with him, so it could carry over into bridle‐less? Life went on. I didn’t do bridelless. David Lichman came for a visit this past fall and I consulted him. He agreed it was not a lack of ability, understanding, or fear. It was dominance. He knew when the ropes were not there and it made a difference. He gave me the idea to play with him around food. (Atomic is pretty terri‐torial about food) in order to gain hierarchy points, online, riding, liberty, freestyle... Then perhaps I could do bridle‐less. We made progress and I did go bridleless in the round pen once with David there supporting, but when David left, I stopped doing it. It just didn’t feel right somehow, or at least I wasn’t comfortable doing it.

More time passed and one day, out of the blue,  I found myself thinking about bridleless with Atomic, and it was connected with a warm, happy feeling. I have learned to listen to these sorts of messages, as they often come from an inner wisdom, or from the heart, or from the horse... Without needing to understand the source, I have learned to value the message. We prepared and next thing you know, there we were.... walk, trotting and cantering around the arena. And except for one minor testing, (photo upper left), he allowed me to lead him, and he was willing to sign up as a partner in the exercise. 

You can never rewind the tape and go back in time, but I can’t help but wonder what it would have been like if I had decided that day I got stuck on him, that that HAD to be the time to resolve it? Maybe I would have succeeded, maybe it would have been a big fight. I was glad my ego didn’t make me go head to head with him then. It felt good for me to wait. Even the ‘right’ exercise can be ‘wrong’ if the time is wrong. Now, after just 3 bridleless rides, he feels like a horse who I had been doing bridle‐less with for a year.

There is the essence of the problem, and the way it manifests. The essence was leadership. At that time, it manifested the most in bridleless. But that didn’t mean I had to solve it there. It reminded me, again, to use all the savvies, all the tools. If you cure the essence of the issue, it will filter through everything...

All in good time.