Hi everyone!

As you know, Horse Sense has not, in the past, had a volunteer program but rather an general internship program due to the confidential nature of the work done at our farm. The general internship is for folks who want to learn more about what we do through volunteering a few hours/days a month in a particular semester.

We are changing up the process a bit and trying out a new interaction opportunity for folks who might be interested in what we do, but who might not have the time to intern with us. Hence our Summer Farm Days!

Three Saturdays this summer we're inviting a small group of folks to join us at the farm to help with grooming, bathing and general "spa treatments" for the horses at the Horse Sense farm. We're combining this with an introduction to Horse Sense, to Horse Behavior and Herd Psychology, and to Natural Horsemanship.

It's designed to be a time when we can hang out and care for the horses, and connect with each other as we do so.

We'll let you know how this works out for the horses, for us, and for our guests. We're looking forward to connecting with folks in our community in this way!

Happy Trails,

Shannon

Hey Everyone!

This month's topic will be on aspects of "Spring Cleaning" your business, getting ready for what is usually a busy summer season for many of us.

Elizabeth, Mike, Brenda and Lisa will all chime in from their area of specialization on ways to get your house (and barn!) in order. Today I'm going to talk a bit about some Spring Barn Chores that are regulars for us here, and might be for you, too!

Shedding: When it finally gets and stays warm enough, we begin the process of shedding out all the horses (and building lots of minis with all the leftover hair!).

Washing: We wash all the horses on the farm at least twice a year, giving them a good scrubbing! Some love it, some aren't so fond, but...hey, it's gotta be done! During that washing, we soak all that horses' grooming utensils in a tea tree oil mix to get them nice and clean, too.

Stall Art: Although our horses don't spend much time in stalls, we still pull out all the floor mats and hose 'em down, and scrub the walls free of what I affectionately call "Stall Art." You may have a Stall Artist in your barn, too. You know, the one who backs up to the wall of the stall and....voila! Stall Art!

Barn Cleaning: At this time of year, we also move all our winter equipment into storage (like any heaters we use in the barn), and bring out all our fans. As we do this, we walk through the barn and arenas looking for anything that needs repairing, making a note of it and a plan to get it done.

Hope this short list of must-do items helps you get ready for a busy summer!

Happy Trails!

Hey everyone . . .

• at the beginning of the two week class, we were instructed that change occurs outside your comfort zone, and that they would be asking us to play at the edges of our comfort zone. Hmmmm....sound like anything you've heard before? 
• a popular phrase here is "It's not about the..."(fill in the blank with whatever obstacle your horse may be facing, such as "It's not about the trailer" or "It's not about the jump"). It is, however, about the relationship, first and foremost. This reminds me of it not being about the task in EAP/EAL, but about the relationship between the horse and the client. 
• we were told that although faculty are there to assist us, they aren't here to do it for us. Sometimes, they said, they may see that dark storm cloud over our head and may deliberately pass us by, without stopping to help. It's about letting us find our own answers, or at least putting ourselves out there to try some new things before rushing for answers outside ourselves. It's also about setting us up for when we go home, and there isn't a faculty member in our back pocket to help. It's about empowerment!

Hey guys!

Well, day one of my Fluidity 1 course at the Parelli Center in Ocala Florida is behind me, and I'm just as excited as I can be!

I arrived here on Sunday morning and, for those of you on the "Where's Shannon?" hunt, that was more than 24 hours after landing from the Prescott workshop in Arizona! All my travels in the past few months have been leading up to this big getaway in February, just me and my horse for two solid weeks!

I've met folks from previous visits who came to know EAP/EAL through interaction with me, and have put a face to a name from a woman in Australia who had emailed me a while back for information on getting an EAP/EAL biz started!

I've also had time to play with Dreamer, my 12-year old Palomino, who loves water and the great big pond here, as evidenced by the mud on him in the photo. We've been playing a lot of "Me and My Shadow," and the difference in his "Horsenality" from 2006 (when I took my first course with the new Parelli format) to now is striking! He's grown a lot more confident and curious in the past two years, and I'm delighted to see him grow and flourish.

Being able to mark progression in me, in my horse and in my business during my Parelli visits is one of the things I cherish most about this time away from the farm and the business. Dreamer has come a long way, but so has Horse Sense and the field of EAP as a whole. I can't imagine where we'll all be this time next year, when I plan to be doing exactly what I'm doing tonight: sitting in my horse trailer, typing another blog to all of you! There's so much I've planned for this year to help support other EAP/EAL businesses, and for Horse Sense's growth and development. It's mind-boggling sometimes to think about the growth of Horse Sense in a few short years.

But it all begins here, whether you are at a 2-week Parelli course, or at a one-day horse expo, or in your backyard offering EAP to at-risk youth. Day by day, hour by hour, minute by minute, we're all building stronger relationships between people and horses. In the process, we get to work incredibly hard and long hours, we get stretched out of our comfort zones (just like we ask of our clients), and we get to witness the amazing growth that horses foster in our and our clients' lives.

I can't imagine being anywhere else.

All the best,

Shannon