Hello All,

For my recent school project at Goddard I have decided to try my hand at photography. Obviously the only thing worth taking photos of are my beautiful girls…

Thought you all might enjoy seeing some of these.

EmmySaoirse In Motion

Saoirse and Maggie

Emmy Dark and Dirty

Emmy and Saoirse Fading into White....

The architect Frank Lloyd Wright coined the phrase “organic architecture.” Today we may think of organic architecture as a structure made from organic or “green” materials but Wright meant something different. “Determining form by the way of the nature of the materials…” Wright believed that architecture should not stand out or interrupt nature, but be constructed in such a manner to appear as if it was molded straight from the earth and belonged in its chosen setting. Wright’s goal was to create a structure that would compliment and flourish in nature and not destroy or diminish it. In a similar way, humans can combine with the horse to become stronger, wilder, more beautiful as a whole than either parts were alone and neither damage or destroy the horse.

We have approached the horse in the past much in the way some architects approach the construction of a building. Alter/ignore the landscape and build something new. As humans, we sometimes forge blindly ahead, making changes and imposing our desires onto anything we come across. It can be argued that humans evolved to effect, influence, and change our environment in order to further our own development. This “programming,” unfortunately, can sometimes lead us to thoughtless and uncoordinated actions.

We are powerful beings; we have only to look around at our earth to see the immense impact we have had on the world. As our species grows, often we start to look at other creatures on this planet in terms of how “they” will fit in with “us.” Although this has become something of a necessity in terms of preserving the life and land of the earth in an ever-changing world, it can also be a path of thoughtlessness, especially when we forget to look at creatures other than ourselves as unique and important in their own right.

In order for Frank Lloyd Wright to create the beautiful and harmonious buildings that he did, he had to first observe the landscape, the essence of his environment. During the construction of his masterpiece Falling Water in 1934, he spent numerous hours walking in the forest and wading in the river of the site that eventually became incorporated into that magnificent home. Instead of replacing what nature had already constructed, Wright enhanced what was already there.

Horses, As They Are

In this way we should approach many of our endeavors, and especially when being with horses. So much of what we call “horsemanship” is essentially the dissection and removal of the horse’s innate and powerful nature. We are drawn to horses for their mystique, their power, their beauty, yet through our “training” we, step- by-step, dismantle the horse’s wild soul, replacing it with something hollow and lifeless.

We are both attracted to and afraid of nature. The power of the ocean, the swiftness of the wind, the scorching of the sun, and the darkness of the forest excites us, yet within that excitement is a sense of fear, a lack of control and influence that makes us uneasy. We struggle with this in nature because we struggle with it in ourselves. We are aware of the dark, nameless power inside of us which we experience as both electrifying and deadly.

Our immediate reaction to this fear is to deny it, to control and contain it with all of our abilities. So as we approach the horse, aware of its great power and ability, we struggle to both obtain and destroy it.

We may learn to allow nature, both that of the horse and of ourselves, to flourish. We may accept and incorporate the power within us, allowing the force of the oceans, the winds, the sun, and the darkness to surge throughout our beings without destroying us. In this way we can become one with the horse by encouraging and complimenting his nature instead of destroying it.

If we step outside our doors with the eye of Frank Lloyd Wright, seeing the world for what it is and how we can enhance or become part of what is already there, we will become less critical of ourselves and others for what is innately part of us. We will grow more observant, more aware of beauty within and without, allowing ourselves to become whole and creative with all things.

Emmy Observing Her Surroundings

Happy New Year Everyone.

I wanted to write a quick post and give you an update on the upcoming projects to keep an eye out for.  I am currently in the process of launching my own website for my emerging practice as a Equine Facilitated Human Growth Practitioner. I will post the URL here on the Freedom’s Choice blog as soon as the website is up and ready.  Also writing on ‘the book’ is progressing fabulously with this January taking me into the realm of digital photography and editing.

Saoirse and Emmy are doing wonderfully.  Our sessions together could not be better, and they are proving to be wonderful teachers for my friends and clients.

Joan and I have put a pause on filming during these cold winter weeks but will begin again fresh when spring starts to arrive.

Thanks again to all of you who read the blog and support Joan’s and my purpose.  May this New Year bring success and fulfillment to all.

-Em

Emma and I often talk together about this life path we currently share and the wonder of it.  We feel blessed to have one another in what would otherwise frequently feel like a lonely, isolated journey for us individually.

Emma’s journey is to understand and follow an approach to horsemanship that is based on a strong spiritual relationship with her horses; a connection that employs no force, no restraints, no punishment, no physical or emotional pain for either horse or human. Emma’s desire is to rejoice in the innate beauty of this powerful equine shaman who can teach her the glory of relationship with animals and, therefore, with humans.  Because traditional horsemanship and people in the horse industry typically endorse such activities as horseback riding, jumping, dressage, racing, polo, etc., and the incumbent force associated with these sports, Emma finds herself mostly alone in her equine pursuits.  She must seek out and travel to the few mentors available who share and practice her horsemanship beliefs to help her grow in her relationship with her horses, Freedom (aka Saoirs - Seer-sha) and Emmy.  She has been fortunate in this pursuit to find wonderfully spiritual teachers.

My journey is to be able to create and share meaningful stories through filmmaking.  This comes at a time in my life when nearly all of my peers are looking upon retirement as the next phase of their lives.  I am 60 years old.  Shouldn’t I also be thinking about relaxing into my senior years?  My role model was a mother who was still teaching piano when she died in a car accident at the age of 92 - really!  As a result, I see at least 30 more years within which to pursue my bliss!  So, about 18 months ago, I discovered the joy of storytelling through film in a video class at the Computer Career Institute at Johns Hopkins University.  I created Crabtowne Productions http://www.crabtowne.com/ last year, and following the making of my first short film “My Friend Joan: A Conversation,” I began working with Emma on “Freedom’s Choice.”  http://www.freedomschoicethemovie.com/ She and her horses are a joy to be around!  I must, however, walk this new path without daily professional partners to support me.  Everything I need to learn, I must seek out on my own.  Like Emma, I have been blessed in finding what I need thus far, and along with Emma, we are moving forward in this new and exciting venture…together.

Last night I finished reading The Horses of Proud Spirit, a true story by Melanie Sue Bowles, founder and owner, along with her husband Jim, of the Poud Spirit Horse Sanctuary in Mena, Arkansas.  http://www.horsesofproudspirit.com 

What beautiful, soulful, and heart-touching stories unfold as Melanie reveals the spiritual path she and these horses follow to Proud Spirit.  I did not want the book to end!  Thank Goodness there is a sequel, Hoof Prints:  More Stores from Proud Spirit, which I can’t wait to read! 

I can strongly recommend The Horses of Proud Spirit to everyone who loves animals.  http://www.horsesofproudspirit.com/books.html  Treat yourself!

Some Nights, hearing her outside

I think that she is to earth

What I am to her,

Belonging.

-Linda Hogan

            We are directly connected to nature.  We came out of nature, evolving like the rest of our animal relations out of and into the earth.  We depend on nature to survive, to give us oxygen to breath, food to feast upon, and space to live.  In this was we are part of it. 

            We are also reflected by nature.  Through observing the natural world, witnessing death and birth, violence and compassion, intimacy and independence, and all that lies between we see ourselves in nature.  All that takes place in the world of the animals and plants takes place in our human world.  In a way all of nature is inside of us.

            The Celts believed that our soul is expressed in nature. That all which dwells in the natural world is part of us and we are part of it.

            “Try this the next time some natural scene of beauty or power pulls you towards it. It might be a radiant sun-set, the stars on a vary clear, cold night, a great expanse of beach with waves rolling over mossy stones. Close your eyes and continue to see the scene, and realize that the pull it has on you is coming from within you as much as from without” (Cowan, 4).

            If we are from nature, reflected in nature, and of nature then we are always connected to the earth and to one another.  We are never alone. We are always whole.

            As we have continued to evolve we have stepped further and further away from nature.  Our dependency upon nature becomes more obscure, many of us are not surrounded by wilderness anymore, and we forget that we are not alone. 

            Many of us search for a path to lead us back to a feeling of wholeness.  We are separated from nature. Separated from ourselves and separated from one another. 

            One way in which we can begin to know ourselves again is through contacting nature.  Being with animals, being with horses, is a direct connection with nature.  The horse is an example of nature in all her spender: Powerful, compassionate, wild, and wise the horse can lead us back to our oneness with nature. 

            We are connected to the horse.  We both came out of nature, evolving to live and grow on the earth.  We have depended on the horse, as our civilization developed the horse carried us over mountains, through great battles, and helped us cultivate our agricultural and spiritual practices.  We are reflected by the horse.  Every movement with our body, thought of our mind, feeling of our heart is sensed and interpreted by the horse, showing us who we really are.

            As we have continued to evolve the horse has become forgotten. No longer a necessity it has been degraded and underappreciated, used in pleasure and competition, the magnificence, wild nature of the horse is reduced and discarded.

            By learning to honor the nature in the horse, we can learn to honor that nature in us.  By cultivating a relationship with a horse we may learn to be authentic and whole with ourselves, with our fellow beings, and with nature. 

You will grow, laugh, cry

And we will celebrate each change you live.

You will grow strong like the horses of your past.

You will grow strong like the horses of your birth.

-Luci Tapahonso

Bibliography

Cowan, Tom. Yearning for the Wind: Celtic Reflections on Nature and the Soul.

Museum of American Indian. Song for the Horse Nation; Horses in Native American Cultures

I recently spent a beautiful afternoon in the pasture interviewing Emma about her horses, Freedom and Emmy.  It was the first time we had tried to record a formal interview in that open environment and that would include the horses in the footage.

I came all prepared with my questions, my checklists, and what seemed like tons of gear that had to be hauled from the car through the extensive stables, across the paddock, and up a hill in the pasture where the horses like to graze.  My friend and photographer, Debbie McArthur, was with Emma and me and graciously took some very nice photos of our adventure.

Below are some of those photos.  I will be posting a video clip of our experience as soon as I can get it completed.  In the clip you will see that Emma’s horses have a mind of their own

As some of you may know I have been enrolled in Goddard College’s Individualized BA program for the last three years.  My work thus far has been completely centered around my life with the horses, using this interest as a platform to approach culture, history, science, communication, spirituality, and human behavior.  I have now embarked on my senior year, which in the Goddard curriculum centers around a specific “senior project”. 

For this senior project I have decided to focus on a thesis topic;  Why are we as humans in this present time facing a way of life which is often disconnected from our authentic selves and from nature?  What are the components of this problem and how can horses lead us to a more integrated life?  

The parts of this exploration, other then writing and reading, will be a photography book (yes, I’m going to try and struggle through photography) with photos of my horses accompanied by 1 to 5 page essays dealing with the topics of history, equine anatomy, mythology, and other aspects of the human horse relationship.  My hope with this book is to create something that makes my work over the last two (soon to be three) years accessible to the reader.  No one is going to sit down and read a 100 page thesis, right?  So lets combine the power of imagery with the written word and see if we can inspire readers to think.

The other component of my senior project, with the hope that we can reach viewers in a gentle, inspiring, and hopefully thought provoking way, is the documentary film at who’s blog you are now reading this post.

Horses are powerful, both in their physical manifestations and as symbols. I invite you to continue on this path with me to see how deeply we can dive into the transformative magic of the horse.

Hello Blog Readers!

It has been a long time sense my last entry and Joan did a nice job of updating you to our latest projects on her last post.  

I am currently in Denmark attending a compact schooling course with horse specialist, and as I’m learning, life specialist, Klaus Ferdinand Hempfling (http://www.hempfling.com/).  I arrived here on the 5th of September and will continue here for a three week period until the 28th of Sept.  

My fellow students and I (about 25, all women except for one) just finished out first section of the course titled “Spiritual Awareness” and will continue in the next weeks to cover “Body Awareness,” “The Art of Lunging,” and “The Art of Riding.”  

Klaus is an extremely gifted story teller, weaving the tales of mythology, history, and spiritual essence of our ancestors into a compelling explanation for “the way things are.”  He deals with why we struggle with horses, with our daily lives, and with our own goals and development.  He teaches about “being,” coming back to nature, and cultivating an authentic self through honesty and the pursuit of knowledge.  This course already has been, and I am confident will continue to be, a life altering experience.

I will be writing another work packet for Goddard College (the first of my now senior semester) on this course experience and will be sure to post it when it is finished so that you the readers can get a better sense of where this journey is taking my horses and I.

Thanks for reading and please feel free to comment and ask questions!

Here is a YouTube clip of portions of the most recent interview I conducted with Emma.

Emma on YouTube