Tag Archives: connection

I’ve Never Had a Connection Like That Before…

Connection has become a buzz word in the horse community, but looking at all the interviews and taglines that use the word, I wonder: what exactly are we all talking about? I don’t think we all mean the same thing when we talk about connection. I can’t be totally sure though because as I waited for it through even hour long podcasts… I have never yet heard it defined.

Behind the Scenes at HH: New Videos + Fall Clinic!

I’m changing things up a bit this fall! I’ve been working on some new YouTube videos that share the heart of my horsemanship journey—real, honest, and imperfect in all the right ways. Plus, our last clinic of the year is coming up soon in Warm Springs, VA, and I’d love for you to be part of it.

Mind the Gap

We get a concept or see something is possible before we have the ability to do it in practice. This is a gap between what we want to do and what we can do. We become more able to replicate what we want to see, and that’s good. However while this is happening, during the closing of the gap between, the understanding begins to creep up with new possibility and we push the bar farther out of what we want to do — always beyond what we are capable of. This is how we keep growing. However, if you’re not careful, you’ll get discouraged because you know what you want to see and it isn’t what is happening.

Death and Resurrection

As the event drew near, I realized the larger the investment, the more pressure to produce a favorable outcome builds. What is the point of doing this if it isn’t to ride over the finish line? Most of us know on some level this is not the whole truth. Still, it is a struggle for the goal driven to not only believe there is more to life than a favorable outcome, but to live (and ride) in the peace that larger reality brings.

A Beast of a Test

I might have noticed some warning bells when ride morning was so unusually warm and humid. The last time I was at this ride it was in the 40s at the start! I noticed within a mile that Khaleesi was not her usual “on fire” self. I knew she wanted to run with the pack, but she felt heavy and clearly unable to fly up the mountains like she has in years past. We were riding through thick humid air from the starting line, and her lack of energy concerned me from very early on.

Path to Vermont Series: Training V Testing

I remember hearing the advice to ride the race the same way I trained at home. At the time it made sense and was my strategy for many years, until I was trying to level up from 50 mile events to the single-day 100 miler… Today, I dedicate roughly 80% of my training efforts toward low intensity workouts, which are often referred to as zone 2 training. When an athlete spends a significant amount of time in this low intensity zone, the body becomes more adept at burning fat for fuel and builds endurance with minimal muscle fatigue.

The Live Wild Beating Heart

God has a sense of humor and loves me, so he didn’t give me a solid riding mount. I already had one of those. I got the learning horse and I got it big. I brought home an enigma that catalyzed an epic adventure I would probably not have agreed to had I seen it coming. Of course that’s the best kind, and the more steps I take into the wild, the more I realize this is the only kind of life I want to be engaged in…

Path to Vermont Series: Change the way you think

It’s amazing how many endurance miles Khaleesi and I have completed without her having a forward thought. I suppose that reveals how much one can force a horse through on sheer willpower and drive. Early on, I learned a lot about driving horses around. No, I don’t mean in a truck! I mean the energy or force applied to make a horse move away from pressure. To ride any horse on the most basic level, you have to communicate effectively that a horse go forward, and have the horse do so in response. In my experience, most people approach this by driving the horse. The reason this is such a common approach is probably because it is so effective. Yet, I have since learned you can drive a horse forward without the horse having a forward thought, and this is actually a problem!

What we don’t say: RESPECT

Something occurred to me as I read through the ad copy, target written to sell me something. I noticed a few buzz topics, words I remember having a certain weight in past years, and as I read, I pondered: I haven’t had a conversation about some of these things in quite a while. In fact, is it my imagination, or are they missing in the horse community I’ve settled into?