I Appreciate

The last opportunity I had to write, I said I would tell you what I am FOR, and asked you what you prefer, like, advocate, are "for." I believe you could learn much about me from my preferences. You may conclude I am inspiring, or abnormal (I do hope so!). I do not concern myself with how others view me unless they are a horse, so you may keep your opinion to yourself, or if you enjoy what I advocate, join me in creating more! In reading my "likes," however, you will learn much more about yourself, reflected in this jotting. This may be the first time in your life you have begun to ponder your preferences in this way. Many of us prefer to notice, even list, the things and events throughout our day that we do not like. Instead, let's start our next co-creation; and I would appreciate your comments at the end, or over here on Facebook, underneath the pink rose. 

I love Planet Earth. I have an thesis of reasons why. Another time, perhaps!

I love the ocean. Water. Ice. Waterfalls! Clouds, snow, forests, plants, jungles. I'm for the bush. Diversity. I appreciate the countering of negativity that all species other than my own offer. I admire nature. Awe.

Wings of Life by Louis Schwartzberg

I could, and have lived, in many places, but I choose to live in Serpentine, Western Australia. This is the highest praise for a location I can offer. I'm for Serpentine because it meets my needs, and on the outskirts of a city, is not difficult for people and horses to visit. I'm definitely for Heartland. My home, and home to not only my herd, but much wildlife, from dung beetles (I'm definitely for dung beetles!) to Ibis (who eat the dung beetles). I interact with my local village and my country in a way that creates only experiences I wish to receive, for example I do not break the laws of the State I live in, so I'm for the law; until it proves to be an ass. I love colour, so I'm all for painting your house the colours of the rainbow, and I did! I'm for rural living, growing vegetables, edible plants and accepting evolution. I plant trees, nurture soil, minimise chemicals and I'm even kind to some weeds!

A Heartland rose in October, grown for their beauty,
scent & because the horses,
Robert Smith Rabbit, and wild birds love to eat them.

I am for the positives changes that my predecessors created for me to now enjoy. People like Boudicca, Marie Curie, Jane Goodall and Alice Walker; I am for diversity, racial and sexual equality, freedom from dogma. I am for people to have experiences and relationships, and be permitted to have any negative experience they may choose, so that they may learn from it and make alternative choices, just like the rest of us!


I'm for fun. For singing even if you think you can't, dancing like no one is watching, art, creativity, comedy and play. I deliberately share the things I like that moved me, to spread the feeling.

Close to my heart, and I have felt this way since birth, is equality with other animals. I don't eat animals, I share the planet with them. I'm for contributors and I'm for children - Masters every one. 


This brings me to my joy, my passion, my calling - Horses, teaching and learning. I am for others to feel good too. I'm for passion!

I'm for a natural approach to animals, and I believe in sharing this attitude with as many people as possible, to effect lasting change and transformation. I'm for riding horses with their permission, free of discomfort, comfortable tack. I'm for barefoot and bit-less horses. I'm for friendship, partnership, reverence and appreciation. I'm for listening to the horse, valuing her opinion. I'm for bodywork. I'm for nutrition delivered in a bio-available way to grazing, free-range horses. I'm for a horse as a member of your family, for her lifetime, cared for in old age. I'm for foals spending as long as they need with their mother, co-parenting young horses, noticing who their friends are, play-dates and sleepovers, holidays on large tracts of land, exposure to a herd and rocks and bodies of water like a river or the sea. 

Bachelor Boy & I at Naval Base Horse Beach, January 2006

I commend people reaching for joy, consciously finding their way back to who they are, their heart. Rediscovering their guidance. I'm for the horses of these people, who are challenged alongside their human. I'm for compassion.

I'm for reviewing my preferences every moment, and changing my mind. 

And I'm for resonance. If you find me, are vibrating at a similar frequency to our herd here at Heartland, I'm for you. XJ

“That night he dreamt of horses in a field on a high plain where the spring rains had brought up the grass and the wildflowers out of the ground and the flowers ran all blue and yellow far as the eye could see and in the dream he was among the horses running and in the dream he himself could run with the horses and they coursed the young mares and fillies over the plain where their rich bay and their rich chestnut colors shone in the sun and the young colts ran with their dams and trampled down the flowers in a haze of pollen that hung in the sun like powdered gold and they ran he and the horses out along the high mesas where the ground resounded under their running hooves and they flowed and changed and ran and their manes and tails blew off of them like spume and there was nothing else at all in that high world and they moved all of them in a resonance that was like a music among them and they were none of them afraid neither horse nor colt nor mare and they ran in that resonance which is the world itself and which cannot be spoken but only praised.” 

- Cormac McCarthy, All the Pretty Horses 

I'm for horses...

I smile as I recall a man I once knew, who often said to people like I once was (opinionated, enquiring, searching for the best way, the right way), 

"When I want your opinion I'll give it to you." 

I can't say that having opinions or searching for the rightness of everything has been a peaceful path. Some time in the past couple of years I started to consider the value of my opinions, it started with a quote told me by a good friend. 

"An opinion is a need of the ego." 

I appreciate the human ego, I spend time watching it, and learning about it. Enough time to have opinioned (Ha-ha!) that my ego is not helped by pandering to its' needs, and so I started to watch for the judgements I made every hour of every day. I pondered the value of each conclusion I came to. For example, In noting the lack of understanding between a person interacting with their horse, and concluding the person to be ignorant and the horse to need pity - how was I contributing to the experience of the three of us, and even socially, as an Earthling? The unravelling of my life-learned ego-habit began...

Assessing for "Australian Natural Horsemanship" Sinnington Manor, Yorkshire Feb. 2003

I defer to my intention; that I am a part of the evolution of this planet, reaching for more love, more compassion. If I judge a person negatively, as in this example, I am negatively focussed. If I pity the horse, likewise. I render myself helpless, or worse, superior, apart from the two. At odds. Compelled to make things "better" - do it the way I know from my experiences to be more valuable than your way. I would interfere from a position of negativity. Extract the fun. Add some insult. I am a good teacher, however I detected the opportunity to become extraordinary, were I to alter my position from the negative toward the positive. 

Some years prior my friend making this comment, I had been teaching professionally in the field of Natural Horsemanship, and active on several Internet Forums since the late 1990's.

The Powerbook, my connection to the rest of the World since 1999, still overworked here in 2006 but ably assisted by Jason.
I believe his approach to my Internet activities holds a message, just one I am wilfully ignorant of at this time. 

I enjoyed much of the debates on forums, but on balance, the feelings I experienced the most during, and post discussion, were negative, and so I left all forums. 

The recipient of thrown tomato's (saved from a salad supper at the nearby pub).
Belstone Stocks, Dartmoor, July 2003

   

I had not considered holding an opinion about a way to be with horses, ways to behave and teach, ways to not behave nor teach, to be a cause for concern to me until that quote was proffered to me by my friend. 

I observed my judgements occurring each day, and noted the effect of the situation, I came to see that my experience was always negative as a result. I also noted that the person with whom I interacted had a negative experience too. A negative experience is sufficient reason to move away from the apparent cause; Perhaps some people I no longer see drifted thus? 

Amongst my aspirations is the desire to have more positive experiences, or at least find a way to view the ones we could define negatively, in a positive way. I have learned that the greatest assistance one can ever be to another is to be authentically strong, loving and positively focussed. I exist to be a participant on this Earth. I love to teach, to help. Perhaps I could view the lack of understanding between the person and their horse differently? Drop my opinion, try a positively focussed one? 

There was a time when I stood in an arena, shaking with fear and frustration, tearful and distressed. My mare, at the other end of the leadrope, likewise. We could not look at each other, and a spectator called for her to be shot. An amazing story, that I will share in future writings - do remind me! Suffice to say, Cedar and I lacked understanding at that time. Today we are as connected as twins. My belief is that those moments of disharmony (once viewed as despair; I'm looking for more positively focussed thoughts for my memories!) were integral to me reaching for and finding the relationship we have now. 

Cedar pregnant, me about to marry. November 2005

What if I repel the person with my negative opinion? What if I reflect to them every negative self-opinion they may hold? What if I emit to the horse my woe at his life, so it feels woeful? What if I acknowledge the potential for an extraordinary relationship to evolve between the two, like mine with Cedar? What if I look at both with appreciation and love, rather than judgement and pity? Open my heart to them both so that they may sense my offer of guidance? Who does not wish for unconditional support while they navigate through life experiences?

Simon Sinek on Twitter

I like this quote, shared on Twitter recently which I retweeted. Considering what you are FOR is positively focussed. A beautified opinion.

This project, The Heart of Horsemanship, is positively focussed.

What are YOU for?

Note; This post took days to write in my spare time, a most enjoyable experience, but I have heavily edited the writing as my intention is for each post to be short; more readable! My stories around opinions, and everything hinted at in this post, are numerous! I will share each story over time with the same intent, always illustrated with photographs as well as words and feelings. I will share with you the stories you most want to hear, if you let me know what they are. Meanwhile, my next post will share some of what I am FOR. Subscribe or "Like" us on Facebook, or "follow" us on Twitter for notices about new posts.