Ohhh well, I just stumbled to find this discussion…
hmmmm.
Danni this is something I was wondering about too.
I can relate to many things you all said (or written…).
Sort of ‘AND horse training’ as a vocation – thought I can’t even put the word ‘training’ in my vision of it (from some of the reasons you already mentioned) and also because how I perceive it (“this thing”)- it has no end goal (like in training – ‘to get someone trained’).
since in my vision I see it as an ongoing (never-ending) process of learning.
And in it I can’t see a trainer (teacher).
Just like the horse is the real teacher and very much determine the content or interaction so is the human ‘participant’ actually (whether he is been practicing 12 years of “horsefriendship” or just 3 months. Since any interaction can lead to new learning).
I think the key word – like you said Danny is inspiration.
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“No, I guess, I want to rather give this theme more room, in my live and in society in general (I know, that sounds big... but I don t mean it like that, maybe I rather mean my own surroundings) and make it more "normal".”
“One of my favorite words is inspiration and this is, what fits in here.
Maybe I want to just inspire and get inspired in a more daily routine.”
And I too, very much, would like that too
what brought that out for me in the past year or two is meeting with several local horse people that somehow found out about me and the horses and wanted to learn about it (it was mostly woman, one man and he stopped contact after visiting here and finding very little in common…).
Out of the people passing through here there were 2 girls, therapeutic horse riding instructors that I followed up and helped along with their transitioning to positive oriented training & interaction with horses for quite some time.
I spend many years as therapeutic riding instructor and then several years as a facilitator in equine assisted education and development programs (with no riding involved), so I had some background that could relate to their situations of working with clients and with horses and believing that there is something basically wrong in using (and or abusing) an animal for the benefit or ‘healing’ of humans. Where the animal is usually used merely as a tool.
Both these girls made good progress and I was very happy to be able to help them, with horse interaction issues and patient’s issues.
They were both qualify as CT of dogs and so the ‘positive approach’ was something that was easy for them to comprehend but the situation was still somehow about ‘using the horses’ (and making the horses useful) and even more so - working with horses that they don’t own personally – so they are not as committed to them, (different from the situation where I see my horses as my family. I will never care or need them to be ‘useful’ and I will care for them till their death).
They both wanted us to go out together and train local horse people in courses and clinics but at the end of the day it felt more about modifying horses behavior in a positive way then anything else, which is nice, not dominate and somewhat considerate to horses but not ‘the thing’ I felt i am after.
Even so, following their progress was lovely. It was another opportunity to practice openness and also understand differences. The feeling I can help with ideas, suggesting options for problem solving or just be an inspiration felt good. (And it was all done in Hebrew…
the funny thing was that I struggled with some of the verbalizing when describing horse-human-interaction as it is feeling more familiar in English).
I think it made me realize also how it is enjoyable and educating to be part of a learning progress, share knowledge
(Well somewhat similar to what i feel here at AND-land)
So at one point I was playing a bit with ‘what kind of model’ if any, that I would like to take a part of that would be more ‘learning with horses’ ‘AND horse-friendship’
I was brainstorming about all the theoretical knowledge that I would like to be available (as if this is possible, since i believe i don't event know yet what all that is and it is ever evolving and changing... but i can figure a sort of a beginning),
a scratch
https://coggle.it/diagram/549db9284607e90e0a73e381/2eb8b78a1e460d121163899d9c0ed66b95b0ba357b8e94b005b46904a036a6c0and about how this could be achieved in a non hierarchy kind of learning way, where every one is a student (and a bit a teacher too), collaborating with different people with different expertise and experiences to bring out varied body of knowledge so every one can take out whatever he needs and kind of grow together to different ends (well maybe with some basic mutual objectives regarding ethics, friendship etc …)
I was told this is way too premature here locally
And I also have these fears (a bit of what Romy said) that when things get formal (or some sort of ‘professional’) some of the fun of simply being with MY horses will be spoiled.
Spoiled even by my own expectation of ‘us’. Or the limited time left to be just family with no expectation or agenda, with no judgment or rush.
And actually a bit of all this is here… at AND
I do have one lecture day in may I agreed to take on in one of the EAL/T (equine assisted learning/therapy) schools (in one of those days I still thought this fantasy is going somewhere and that this will be a good place to encourage interest) for new group of instructors about the “human – horse bond”. Nobody seems to care actually what it will be about (and I don’t know myself yet…) I guess this will be more about how to actually SEE horses and open up to dialog.
Anyway thanks Danni for opening up this dialog – sorry I’m so late in seeing & participating in it.
I have to say I felt really good back then when reading the post you wrote
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and I said, that nor dance, painting, yoga, my job, all that isn t my "calling", to be honest. Those are wonderfull things and I love to do or teach them, but...they are not IT. She suggested, that maybe the "thing", I experience with Zermi now, is IT and that maybe, I shouldn t think, that my vocation has to nessecarily be the theme, I earn my money with and do all the time. Sometimes now, I think about that talk and I come to the conclusion, that she might have been right.