New Horizons

How exciting, it looks like my long held dream of running a Natural Horse Centre may “actually be happening”!!!

For those if you who have been aware of my work you will know that this has been a long time coming. But as with all great things the time and the place must be right for things become a reality.

I first publisised my plans for a Natural Liver Yard in 2005 on my first website www.naturalhorsemanagement.com

Well 5 years later and it seems the time is right!

I am going for the 3rd site meeting today to finalise plans for the first phase of action to get this baby off the ground!!
There is quite a bit of preparation to be done before it’s ready for horses.

Needless to say though it’s got it all, including some fantastic permanant tracks for an extensive paddock paradise system and ample space for all other manner of horsey projects. It’s also very well located with direct access to 6000 acres of national park riding!

Holy moly I can hardly wait!

Watch this space ! I can say no more.

Waiting for the Ferry

Well here I am sat in a que finally ready to get the car ferry over to the Isle of Wight.
I left home at 5.30 this morning so I could check all the horses in my care (8 at the moment) and make the 2 hour drive to Portsmouth to catch the 8.30 ferry. But low and behold there was traffic on the M25. I don’t know why the sat nav sent me that way, and I dont know why I listened to it. It’s 20 miles shorter along the south coast road, and there’s always traffic on the M25, especially at that time in the morning.
But hey ho here I am at last waiting to catch the 10am, which is a much more civilised time. But with winter coming the working day is shorter so the earlier boat I can catch the better.

This whole week has been manic. I shall be glad when Sunday gets here.

I’m not looking forward to the crossing, it’s been stormy and will probably be choppy :0( !

Here she comes, better go…….

Back from Denmark

What a great trip!
It was fantastic to spend time with all the new people coming through the AANHCP training programme.
People from Spain, Germany, Czech Republic, Italy, Denmark and Scotland, quite an international effort really to get our message out there.
I feel very proud to be part of it all.

I was in Denmark to attend a 3 day continuing education workshop run by none other than Jaime Jackson who came all the way over from California with his lovely wife Jill who I thoroughly enjoyed meeting.
The course was held at fellow CP and AANHCP Field Instructor Louise Bach – Hollers farm near Copenhagen.
It’s a great facility owned and run by her and her family.
The Paddock Paradise system is brilliant with lots of areas for the horses to explore. They are always on the move. Walking, trotting, flat out galloping from here to there checking out their home range and establishing their ever evolving social structure.

Jaime touched on many facinating topics both hoof and horse related during the jam packed 3 days but one that has really got me thinking is the subject of “Relevant Dominance”.
I plan to write a paper on it when I’ve plotted all I want to say, but the basics are that horses live in an Alfa / Beta social system of leaders and followers. They suss out in a second if you are Alfa or Beta. As trimmers we should asume an Alfa position over both the horse and the situation in general.
In the week or so that I’ve been home I’ve been practising my new position as trusted Alfa and much to my amazement the horses settle much faster and stay focused on the job at hand.
I must add that I believe there are several ways to embody an Alfa role and choosing the right way depends of course on the horse.
…………more later.

Howdy

Hey great, ok so we’re finally up and running!
I’ll be using this space kind of as a diary so I can share my thoughts and findings in real time. So much happens that it’s easy to forget it all (well it is for me anyway!)
I hope to be able to share news from the field as I go.

For now my most exciting news is preparing for Denmark.
I have been invited to start training as a Field Instructor for the AANHCP! This is something I’ve wanted to do for years.

I whole heartedly believe in this organisation and having the opportunity to become more part of it is really exciting.
As a field instructor I will be able to offer mentorship days for students coming through the training programme.

I’ll be away from Aug 5th -10th but will have my phone with me. I’m looking forward to my first international blog!

Alicia

Testing 1 2

Ahh but does it work from my phone?

Blog no.1

Ok I think I have finally found a blog application where I can update from my phone! hurrah! and it actually looks good! even bigger hurrah!

I have now written 5 Blog no.1′s in 5 different programs and about ready to write a Blog no.2 so watch this space!

Bye for now ~ Alicia