Today -- a poem

Here it is the end of week 3. I won't be posting much, as I am getting ready to head back to Chicago for Lora's graduation (Yeah!) from CTS. I am looking forward to seeing many members of my family (although I will miss Kaitlyn, Luke and Susan) this weekend. This has been a busy week, and we haven't even found time to go grocery shopping, so Heidi and Kimi will have to do some foraging to get by this weekend.

One of the assignments that I am working on is a reflection piece for Rick - and I was up early (before 5am) yesterday to capture some of the thoughts that I woke up with before they were shifted out of my working memory. It is an interesting assignment, and I am not sure if it will turn out as he (or I expected). An added benefit of doing that assignment is a more macro-level reflection on all that I am experiencing here, and how it integrates with my life experiences to this point.

So, after an early morning gmail chat back home on some of these thoughts, I am working with a new medium of creativity. (Thanks, Susan, for your encouragment, and believing that I can actually write poetry.) In lieu of photos and a day-by-day report of the activities of this week, I'd just like to share this with you.

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Untitled (15 May 2008)

First time together
Uncertainty
Expectations
Electricity

Noticing the other
Sparkle in the eye
Twitch in your nose

Noticing my self
Can't catch my breath
Shiver down my spine
Flutter in my stomach

Can we touch?
What do you feel like?
How do I feel to you?

Oh, you like it? Me, too.

Can we do this again?

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Hope you all have a great weekend!

Week 3 - The honeymoon is over....

Yes, believe it or not, we are into our "second quarter" of this program. This means that we have completed 2 weeks, and have 6 to go. Seems like a watershed point, as the class is getting more familiar with each other and the routine -- and it is a routine. It doesn't feel like a vacation any more -- although that doesn't mean it is any less magical.

One of the magical moments, today, was when we were going out to the paddock to get some horses for our Equine Massage class. On the other side of the road, about 1 metre from the fence, was this little critter:His/her mother was very understanding, although they both moved toward the middle of the field as we were there. The wranglers said that the foal was born that morning, so would have been just a few hours old when this picture was taken!

After seeing this hour-old foal, we went back and worked in the round-pen with a variety of horses. This was the first day we worked "solo", so there were 14 horses in the pen at the same time. It seemed as though we had a larger percentage of "ornery" (as my Grandpa used to call 'em) horses. I was working on SuzyQ, who tried to scare my by reaching to bite me while I was working on her. After some practice, encouragement from Sara (shown here as in the midst of instruction on working on the tail) and Casey, I was able to stand my ground and not get bitten, at the same time! Sara is doing a great job of encouraging us, and also letting us learn in a very hands-on way. There isn't any one formula for what we are doing with the equine massage, so she is helping us to build our toolkit, and I expect we'll refine our selection mechanism over the next 6 weeks.

I find that my on-going challenge is to be in the process, and not get attached to outcomes. It is so cool to watch the horse stretch, or shift and adjust after I have been working on him/her. AND, this can't be the reason that I am doing this. If I wait for the external acknowledgement, then there will be days and times that I am discouraged and disappointed in myself -- which will not give a good result to the horse, either. So, I will continue to work on being present in the moment and try to improve and increase my listening.

This morning, we went to a different barn, and worked on horses that are groomed and trained for polo and show events. It was interesting to work on "different bodies" and to continue to refine the skills that we are learning in handling and massage. Sara made a good point, that all of this is "the massage". For example, when we are getting the horse's attention, and asking them to back-up, we are also inviting them to soften their neck and back. So much to learn!

Then, this afternon, we were working at Rick's place, again. When we broke into groups, our group was working with Rick in the round pen on communicating with indirect feel. Since I went first, Rick helped (in "three-legged race" style) as we got Baloo to relax and walk or stop or look, all with a rope or direct contact. Then, when Heidi was working, he also helped her, but this time it was to use this indirect feel to get Baloo to do an outside turn, and go the opposite direction. By the time our whole group went, Baloo was quite relaxed, and it was interesting to see the different things that he could/would do, all without any direct contact/touch.

After school, (and unsuccessful shopping for warm clothes for our mountain-top adventure tomorrow) we decided to go out to dinner, since both Jessica and I will be gone for our "Friday night tradition". After our experience, I have decided that the Rock Bottom Brewery is my new favourite restraunt in Loveland, CO!

This brings me to the end of today's posting -- I will be trying to post every 2-3 days, as per the majority of responses to the poll suggested that you are checking in 1-3 times/week. There is a new question posted, which can help me respond to what you'd like to hear/see here....so I look forward to getting your feedback. Yes, I am listening.....

Weekend wrap-up -- Happy Mother's Day!

This has been quite a full weekend -- and tomorrow we start Week 3. One of the things that made this weekend full (and special) was that my parents (Rich and Julie) came to Loveland to visit and we celebrated Mother's Day together. Here are a couple photos as proof: 1) Mom wrestling the steer at the Dude Ranch and 2) a "group photo" at the stables, to see many other classmates off on their afternoon trail ride (see other blogs for details on the ride. Then we headed up through Big Thompson Canyon to Estes Park for a peek around and a picnic in the town park.


On Friday, we had a full-day outdoors working with the horses at the Dude Ranch. We are learning different techniques to loosen up different parts of the horse. An interesting part of the afternoon was starting to work on the "engine" of the horse, aka the back end. This was an interesting experience, as much of my previous horse training included a strong undertone of "stay away from the back end". Therefore, there is some unlearning, as well as some curiosity about that taboo part of these magnificent animals. It takes a giggle or two to get over the batheroom humour and to get to work!

Have you looked under a horse's tail? Do you know what it feels like? Here is a different perspective on Big Daddy (as I was playing around with camera angles) and a picture that Kimi snapped while I was working on Big Daddy's "engine". And, seriously, it was quite interesting to realize how we could work with the horse to loosen up the muscles around the sacrum and sacro-iliac joint which then affected how his whole spine moved ("...the leg bone is connected to the hip bone, the hip bone is connected to the back bone, the back bone is connected to the shoulder bone....")

After class, my roommates and I continued our tradition of going out to dinner to celebrate the end of the week. In this case, we found a great "Mexican Family Restraunt - Pueblo Viejo" in Fort Collins. The restaurant was located in the Olde Town Fort Collins, CO and the food was excellent, as were the margaritas! We were in Fort Collins (about 30 minutes from Loveland) as we were planning to meet other classmates at the Sundown Saloon to watch some live bull-riding. Unfortunately, the lighting was not available to capture any pictures of the bulls or the "mutton busting". (For those of you who don't know, mutton busting is where little people "ride" sheep who are running across the arena to the to the safety of the pen. I believe it is a way to nurture the next generation of rodeo competitors.)

Fortunately, I was able to capture some of the (mechanical) bull-riding that took place later, inside of the Saloon. Both Jessica and Heidi were champions in my book, and I believe there is video Heidi's blog as proof! (Unfortunately, I didn't time the pics better to get more of the Cowgirls' faces and less of the bull's tail!) There was obvious adrenaline running when Heidi got up from the mat!

Fortunately, let me emphasize, that this was truly a "Cowboy Bar", and we have documentation that Heidi was caught up in the moment, and very appreciative, as we left the bar -- even to the wooden Cowboy who was standing at the entrance. Truly an experience of the "wild west" in 2008!
Now, on to week 3 -- let the learning continue! (Please note, I have added a new poll to the right-hand column and would love to hear what you look for on my blog.)

Happy Mother's Day -- to all of you mothers, and also those of you who can appreciate your mother!

Massage, Dressage and Music

Today was a bit different -- we were mostly watching and listening -- and counting, singing and drumming....yes, you read right. This was also the day that my camera's batteries ran out of charge, so these photo credits go to Heidi (thanks, Heidi!)

We were at a dressage barn, and got to see Sara work on some horses we hadn't seen before, as well as to watch an amazing horse, and his trainer (and rider), dance around the arena.

We spent the afternoon talking, thinking and learning about the gaits of the horse, and using percussion instruments to feel it even more. This portion of the class was taught by a local musician, Wendy Woo (http://www.wendywoo.com/) who is an amazing aucoustic guitar player (with a guitar that is conditioned with her son's peanut butter fingers) and singer. She brought along a variety of percussion instruments -- including drums, wood blocks, drumsticks and even a Playskool drum.

It was a goood day to be inside, since periodically, there were downpours which we heard falling on the roof. Of course, it also meant that I was able to convince Laura to let me borrow her (very cool looking) felt hat, which I tried out to see if it seemed was too hot to wear. Of course, not a good comparison for being outside on a hot, sunny day in July!

Hopefully the sun will shine tomorrow -- or maybe we'll see a rainbow......

Listen, listen, listen, listen.....

I know that I said I wouldn't post tonight, but I woke up early this morning with Sara's words resonating in my head, "...listen, listen, listen. Go home and write that 250 times....." Well, I am not sure if she meant it, but I haven't done it...and I thought I might do it here (copy and paste would be a wonderful tool, even if I typed it 10 times and copied 25 times.)

Instead, I am going to post some pictures that haven't been up, yet, from the last 12 days, and encourage you to consider what you hear, or how you would relate the picture to listening. Don't worry, there aren't any right answers other than the ones you come up with. (Note: I am posting these without captions, so as to not influence your listening.)

Ahhh massage bliss....

It is Tuesday night, and I was the first official recipient of our apartment's "Massage Schedule". I received a 90 minute relaxation massage from Heidi. I am quite relaxed which is why I decided to write this blog post, so I could share the bliss. :) (I'd post a picture of my post-massage hair, but I wouldn't want to take over Jess' role in posting incriminating pictures of me.)

The past three days have been quite interesting.....Sunday, we hosted the class potluck. It was quite fun to have 12 people (including us) gathered in our apartment to eat things a delicious as homemade salsa, bruscetta, salmon ball, veggie noodle soup, tuna-rice-Gouda-veggie salad, veggie lasagne, turkey curry, Reese's ice cream pie drinks and spinach salad (which came a bit late so was enjoyed for lunch the next day). Of course, the potluck wrapped up with a fashion show of the new boots from Saturday, and Heidi showing people how to access the blogs. Overall, a nice opportunity to connect outside of talking about horses' clavicles (or not), intrinsic muscles, target markets and being on our the leading learning edge regarding equine massage.

Monday was a day of Anatomy and Equine Massage, it was great to be back working with the horses. They seem to really appreciate us being there -- and I really appreciate them, too. This week we are learning techniques that free up parts of the horse to help him (mostly geldings, it seems) move better. It is fun to watch the reactions we get, as the horse stands (most of the time) and we are working on them. Here is an image of Partner flipping his tounge around as Laura worked on his shoulder. She and I worked on Richochette first, who was very friendly but hard to keep his attention, at first, and then Partner -- who was really ready for a massage!

Today we continued working with the horses, and practicing these and other techniques to free up the front end. Although we didn't get to work on as many horses, it was great to have Sarah and Casey's feedback as we were doing the work. This picture that Heidi of me working on Pawnee shows how we are working all around the horse's front end. Gradually, are putting techniques into our "tool box" so that we can use them at appropriate times on appropriate clients (horses.) After the massage, when they got back to their paddock, most of the horses practiced good self-care, by drinking lots of water. :) This picture just seemed so peaceful and relaxed -- for both the horses and the therapists.

In the afternoon, we worked with Rick at his ranch, and continued to work on ground work. We are using both direct and indirect feel, and he showed us some of the work that he is doing with one of his horses -- to ask him to step on the first step, but not the second. Rick is really an excellent horseman and teacher. It is great when he shares parts of his experience as it relates to the content that we are also studying. He seems to walk the talk about learning -- as both a teacher and a learner, with people and with horses.

Tomorrow I may not post, as there won't be many pictures -- we will be in the classroom for both morning and afternoon. That will give us a break from the sunscreen slathering, and time to think and learn about lots of other interesting things. In the meantime, I have been thinking alot about the phrase, "...the release is the reward...." That is what I keep in mind as I handle many different horses, and am trying to get better at consider the horse's perspective, and reward him for doing what I ask, before he goes on to the next thought. Are there times and places that this applies to you? How and when? I'd love to read your responses!

(By the way, thanks for voting in the poll! If you haven't voted, it is open for a few more days!)

Learning to come

Today was the beginning for Week 2 -- Anatomy and Massage classes. Beautiful day and lots of learning. My head is full with all of this new information, need to sleep instead of blog. Will post reflections and some photos in a day or two.

Don't forget to vote in my poll, so I get a sense of how often you are looking for new content. :)