July 2011 Newsletter

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• Q & A

• Ancora Imparo

• Discount Code for Webshop:‘ summer10 ‘

Upcoming Clinics: Clinic schedule: CLICK HERE

July 19-21 Finding the Sweet SpotVigne Farms vignefarms.comSanta Cruz, CAContact: Shelley [email protected]

July 22-25 One Spot Open!Upward Spiral (Smaller group format)Vigne Farms vignefarms.com Santa Cruz, CAContact: Shelley [email protected]

August 17-26 3 days Sweet Spot, 3 days Upward Spiral, 3 Days Advancing Private lessonsThe Mendip StudSomerset, UKContact: Stephanie Gauntemail: [email protected]

Sept. 16-17 Spots Open!2 days Focusing on Connection, Sept. 18-21 Spots Open!4 days Upward Spiral (smaller group, more private attention)Lindstrom, MNContact: Sally TaylorPhone: 612.616.2550

email: [email protected]

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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.

“Much may be done in those little shreds and patches of time which every

day produces, and which most men throw away.”

~Charles Caleb Colton

Auditors Welcome At All Clinics!

Karen Rohlf

July 2011

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From the Video Tab you can use the Search bar to type in a specific

word or topic.

On the Welcome page you will see a list of key words. The larger the word, the more videos on that subject!

New Search Tools in the ClassroomSearching for videos or topics in the D,N Video Classroom

just got easier!There are several ways to find what you are looking for.

From the Video Menu Tab you can now ac-cess an index of all video titles by month!

“I love your pictures and "formula" of the sweet spot.  It makes it easier to have a focus for the session--and it helps to problem solve.  You demystify dressage and becomes way more fun and achievable!!!”

“Karen makes a formerly complicated subject (for me!) so naturally uncomplicated!!”

“Hi Karen, Many thanks for the excellent videos which give me a visual idea of the movements and with different horses.”

“Thank you so much, Karen, for this month’s GREAT Videos! I can't wait to go back and play with it! I will now have more confi-dence in myself to help her through this! Thank you so much! This is just GREAT!”

Here’s what some people are saying about the Classroom:

dnc.dressagenaturally.net

This & ThatWell, summer is in full swing, here in Flor-ida... It is a time to play smarter, not harder. I know not everyone is experienc-ing such heat right now, but it can be dangerous, not just because you could get over heated, but there are other is-sues, such as anhidrosis (when the horses stop sweating). So we have to be quite careful not to stress their systems mentally, emotionally or physically.

When playing with or riding it becomes more important to be aware of your time and learn to become efficient in your preparation. Sometimes we can get caught in our same old patterns for warm up or doing the same exercises we like, way beyond when they have served their purpose. Now we are just doing them to be doing them. But if you arenʼt aware you will find your horse is ʻcookedʼ before you even got to the thing you really wanted to play with!

Your warm up wonʼt be the same in the summer as it is in the winter... The mus-cles are already warm, for sure, so it is more about getting their minds fresh and ready. It is also important not to over-do it because so many soft-tissue or over-exertion injuries come from being tired...

I have to find ways of keeping my horses progressing even if, between the heat and the travel, I cannot keep them as aerobically fit. I do my best to focus on keeping them in a good mental state; cu-rious and engaged.

Another tool that is often overlooked is how much can be accomplished at the walk. It is a great time to focus on the de-tails of the walk. You can do transitions in and out of it, change the temp or length of the stride, change the posture, work on flexibility, on improving the connection. Walk is an excellent gait to improve the lateral work in. It is the only gait where each leg moves independently so you have a great change to really go in deep to their suppleness, coordination and alignment!

So the heat can be a great teacher of ef-ficiency and clarity of thought! (I try to remember to love this teacher when I am covered in sweat and fly-spray!).

Golden Pheasants Standing on Right Legs.

Twice a week we do Tai Chi here with Marcel teaching me, dana and my friend, and fellow trainer, Sharon. What a great exercise to develop your balance, aware-ness, breathing, feel, connection....

Next Monthʼs Classroom Videos:

Next month the videos in the Classroom will be:

• Sweet Spot on line with Atomic... Us-ing more range to find the sweet spot you want

• Being at liberty with Natilla and Solana... A session where I talk through being at liberty with these young horses to set them up for a positive future with me!

• Connection... Monty is a teacher and schoolmaster as new D,N instructor, Breanne Peters rides him to demon-strate going from ʻwhateverʼ to con-nected!

S E Q U O I A C L U B

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Hmm, this looks a little like Tai chi, too!

Discount in Webshop:Just for you! Enter the code:

summer10 during checkout in the webshop

and get 10% off your order! The code is good until

September 1, 2011

Feedback:Hello Karen,My name is Charity and I am a Parelli professional and lifetime student... I have been studying your DVDs closely and reading your book.

I wanted to send you a big thank you for your research and making your personal knowledge sooo transparent and acces-sible !! Attached is a picture of my amaz-ing partner Parker and I this week after about 2 weeks of playing with your con-cepts.... I think it was the nicest "feel" I've ever experienced with him.... Please know that you have helped us so much and touched our journey!

Thank you again! ~Charity2 Star Licensed Parelli Professional

Hi Karen,I wanted to thank you for all putting to-gether such a great source of information. I'm a Parelli student and have to admit I never "got" the whole dressage thing. The way you explain in simple language is so refreshing and down to earth!

Arrogance doesn't have to be associated with dressage. Quality, integrity and a natural approach how wonderful!

So thanks again. ~Linda S

Q: Hi, I am new to Dressage and trying to learn as much as possible.  I recently took in a clinic at a local barn and even thought I really enjoyed the clinic I noticed some-thing that made me just question the barn.     

All the horses had their mouths strapped shut and I was just wondering what the reasoning for it was?   All the horses in the clinic were quite advanced, not sure if that has anything to do with it or not.   

I'm sure it's not a natural horsemanship barn that I was at, but it has left me quite confused on what the purpose of the strap around the mouth is for. 

Thanks for any info you may have Lisa

Question:A: Hi Lisa, Re: The nosebands.... a correctly fit cavesson (room for 2 finger's width mini-mum, and with no dropped noseband part) can be to prevent the bit from sliding through the mouth in the unfortunate event that pressure must be put on just one rein for too long... it is the same rea-son why western or people who ride with no noseband may use a lip strap.

The rationale for a dropped or tight nose-band is usually something like: 'to prevent the horse from opening his mouth to evade the bit"

My philosophy is that if the horse is sup-posed to be licking and chewing the bit and so to strap it shut is in conflict with that. But of course we don't want a horse that is gaping his mouth trying to avoid the bit.... But in my philosophy, if the horse wants to do this, then it is a valu-able piece of information that tells me about his balance, trust of my hands or thoughts about what is happening.... and as a trainer, then I want to know this!

We want a softly closed mouth with a re-laxed jaw that can move... and we want the truth! A horse that is trying to avoid the bit by opening his mouth is still trying to do so even with a noseband tight.... it just makes it so most people can't see the mouth open and so they can pretend all is well instead of letting the horse 'speak' and tell them that something is wrong with the moment or the training and thus having the opportunity to make it better.

Unfortunately it has become the 'normal' equipment so most people don't even

question it.... The dressage bridles come with the crank or flash noseband and that is what everyone wears so it 'must be the right tool.'...  So not every student who wears this bridle has a bad intention, but they still don't realize they are cheating themselves and their horses of something better.

So good for you for asking the question! I hope this answer helps!  ~Karen

Recommendation:David Lichman has a series of podcasts that is grow-ing. Check them out by going to his website. If you register with your email, you will be alerted when new podcasts are up on the site. I have been a guest on a couple of the ones already in his library, and we just recorded a couple new ones that will be out sometime in the near fu-ture!

New Assistant:I am happy to have a new assistant here in the Te-menos, Marcel Dou Roig. Some of you may know him from Dancing With Horses, and some of you may know him as a guest presenter in my courses here at the Temenos, and some of you may know him from the Video Classroom!

In addition to assisting me with taking care of the horses, he is teaching Dana and I Tai Chi. We are working on some clinics to do with him here in the fall, so stay tuned for that, and meanwhile you can check out his new website (still a work in progress but you can get a good idea).

He has a unique and varied expertise that gives him great ability to increase our skills of body awareness (and much more).

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

“I donʼt have time”. We can all re-late to this. We have all said it. “There just isnʼt enough time”. But time is a funny thing. It can slow down, it can speed up, it can stand still. You may be thinking: “not really, these are just figures of speech, just reports of what it feels like sometimes, but it is not real-ity”. And you may be right, but I also know that whatever your brain thinks is true... is true for you.

A long time ago I realized that there would NEVER be the time

or the money to do some of the things I wanted to do. BUT if I just went ahead and did them anyway, somehow it would work out! I realized that the Universe was not going to come up to me and say: “Hey Karen, hereʼs a block of time and some money to go to something!”

Years ago I saw an organized trip in Utah that was a week of moun-tain biking in Canyon-lands Na-tional Park. At the time I was work-ing as hard as I possibly could for as many hours as I possibly could and I barely was paying the bills each month. I knew I didnʼt have the time or the money for the trip. I also knew I really wanted to do it, I felt it in my heart... so I booked

the trip. I booked it for a date sev-eral months away, put down a small deposit and made it happen.

That may sound extravagant, but it is not... The plan worked out be-cause I am pretty conservative with money... If I put down even a small deposit on something I will do what ever it takes to not lose it! And somehow it worked. I made the time, I made adjustments so I had the money. When I looked at what really needed to be done to make it happen I realized that I was willing to do that.

So this is not about being frivo-lous. it is about being realistic. If I had said: “I really want a yacht” and I really looked at what would

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Ancora Imparo

“Clocks slay time... Time is dead as long as it is being ticked off by little wheels; only when the clock stops does time come to life.” — Charles Caleb Colton

be required to actually make that happen, I probably would see that in fact, I really didnʼt want a yacht if getting a yacht meant the long list of things I would have to give up or change or do. So right away I can change from thinking: “Oh, I really want a yacht but I just donʼt have the time or money” to think-ing: “you know, right now, all things considered, I really donʼt want a yacht!” (or maybe my answer would be: “you know, I really DO want a yacht and there is no way I can get into one doing what I am doing now, working where I work now, so its time to change my life!”

This is supposed to be an essay about time, not money, but for many of us time IS money. They are both commodities that seem concrete and inflexible, but in real-ity they are extremely subjective and ephemeral. Things that cost a lot of money can be useless and things that cost nothing can be ex-tremely expensive. Things can in-crease in their value and price until they become ultimately expensive in which case they are priceless.

Time speeds up when you are having fun until it is so much fun that it stands still.

You can work for years to become an overnight success.

In a crisis, time seems to slow down, yet people will later report how their entire life changed in one instant.

So am I saying that whatever I dream that I want I can have? Well, yes I do believe that. The key is to listen to what you really want! Letʼs take another example, with

something that doesnʼt require money, but just time:I would like to clean out my office from top to bottom and update its organization. That could be taken as fact. I could also easily say that I donʼt have time right now to do it. If you followed me around you could also take that as a fact. I stay pretty busy!

But it is not a fact. There is the time to do it. I just donʼt want to do it! To do it right now would mean I would have to get up earlier, stay up later, not do something else for a day or two that I am already do-ing. I would have to sit down and mentally change gears and have to think about a lot of things I donʼt feel like thinking about.

So, you may be thinking: “yes, this is just semantics, this is what I mean when I say I donʼt have time”. But in my experience, it FEELS very different to tell myself that I donʼt have time to do some-thing, versus when I admit to my-self that I am choosing not to do something.

“I would really love to clean my of-fice but I simply donʼt have the time.” Makes me into a bit of a vic-tim. “If I was presented with time, I would do it, but everything else I do takes all my time away from me so, alas, I cannot do the things I want... big sigh”

“I would like to clean my office but I really donʼt feel like doing it right now.” or “I need to clean my office but it is not a priority at this point.” Is closer to the truth, puts me in the position of power over my own circumstances, and allows me to hear myself make that choice.

Sometimes when I phrase it differ-ently I end up realizing that I actu-ally DO have the time, I am simply avoiding something uncomfort-able, procrastinating, or I am being just plain lazy. Nothing wrong with that, just seems better to own it!

Why do I bring this up? Because I hear the phrase: “I would love to ____ but I donʼt have time” a LOT. I hear myself think it and I hear my students lament over it. See if you can catch yourself the next time you hear yourself saying it; see if you can pause and re-phrase it in a more truthful and empowering way... Just a game to play, but it could have some interesting re-sults. If you can own that you are making choices not to do something, then it will make it more possible to make a choice to do something.

Is there anything you have been wanting to do for your horsemanship journey that you think

you do not have time for?

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I am proud to introduce Shelby Hume and Breanne Peters as the first new clinicians endorsed to teach the Finding The Sweet Spot of Healthy Biomechanics 3-Day clinic. The curriculum is set by me in a tried and true format to learn the first and most important steps in finding physical harmony while preserving and enhancing the mental and emotional harmony.

I am so excited to add these two individuals to the Dressage, Naturally Team!

Shelby and Bre will be available for clinics beginning in August, 2011. Shelby will be available within the United States and

Bre will be available in Canada. For information about clinics with Bre or Shelby, please contact Sally Taylor at:

[email protected]

Endorsed Dressage, Naturally Clinicians

Breanne Peters & Shelby Hume

My traveling clinic schedule is filled for 2011 and is filling up fast for 2012... And I simply canʼt be all the places that I would love to be.

Sending Bre and Shelby is the next best thing. If you are curious about Dressage, Naturally, have wanted to have a clinic with me, but I am not available, or you want to prepare for a clinic with me in the future... Breanne and Shelby are great options!

It has been so wonderful to see all the inter-est already! I know you all will love them!