What are my gifts? How do we know what our gifts are? I ask myself this often when I think about my dreams. Follow your passion, follow your heart, do what makes you feel fabulous.

My horses make me feel fabulous, playing with them, feeding them, building fences for them, dragging and seeding the pasture. I love all aspects of living on the farm. I enjoy it more when I have company, but I also love it when I am home alone. But, are these my gifts? How do I turn them into a career?

Along with playing with my horses, I like to write, I like to teach,  I like to brainstorm ideas for myself and others.

Are these really my gifts?

I love helping people be the best that they can be, but they do not always like it when I do! Nobody likes to be micromanaged or held accountable. Yet, a couple weeks ago, I had no choice. A student was not following my suggestion. I called the office, the principal came and took her with him. She returned a good 10 minutes later. She was sad, near tears, but she followed the directions.

I saw her the other day, she made sure I knew who she was. I asked her if she thought I was fair. She said yes. I asked her if she would do it again. She said no. She was laughing and smiling and being friendly with me. Here, I was concerned that I had gone to far, that maybe a phase 4 for her was not in her best interest. That maybe I had ruined the relationship. Yet, as I communicated with her a few weeks later, I realized, that my instincts were right. I helped her to be the best that she can be. Even though, it did not "feel" so good earlier when we were at an impasse and I had to call in the troops for support!

Yesterday I was playing with Ollie, I have been playing with "follow my suggestion" games with him all winter, but just recently felt that it was time to play "follow a feel" games with him. We have lovely tight walking and trotting circles. My Instructor helped me find a MUCH deeper neutral recently which changed how I relate to my horses at a deeper level.  Now that I know what that feels like, I am able to go there quicker and easier. HOW INTERESTING!

Thinking!

With the "Follow the Feel" games, I played with having him follow my touch, keep the connection with my hand, don't go to fast, stay with me as I touch your nose and ask for you to go left, right, back and forward. How soft can I be? Can you, can I, can WE stay together? It has been interesting, at first he moved away from my feel, so, I slowed down and got softer. This worked. I asked for one step left, than one step right. One step back and one step forward.... I "FELT" like I was an awkward dancer at first, but than it started to feel like we were moving as one.

Am I suppose to get it off?

I came up with a new way to play this game with my savvy string. I put it over his nose and asked for him to "follow a feel" he was a hoot, we had so much fun. There was a moment in time when he wanted it off, and thought I would reward him for it.. he he he.. NO. But, I did laugh, Oh how I laughed while we played and developed our connection via the string around his muzzle. After a while we both figured out how to keep the string on and move with connection and grace at a walk and trot around the dry lot.

Dancing!

My heart was singing along with his. I strive to fill everyday with this feeling no matter what I am doing. When I don't feel this way, I question and ponder. I brainstorm and experiment with thoughts and ideas until finally I let it all go and I Dance with life.... Sometimes it feels awkward, but than, as if by magic, we connect, we dance and I feel full of grace and gratitude....

Today I was with a couple of students who were verbally battling it out. Oh my, it was a mudslinging moment! My first responsibility was to diffuse the conflict as quickly as I could. I felt that I could help the boy to stop before I could the girl, as she was the furthest from being centered. Interestingly, once I was able to help him to stop, she stopped, but he was near tears. He felt he was the one in trouble.

I said, "Oh no, she started it, I am well aware of that. You were the one I felt I could help out of the argument!" As one of the students said, "She is always angry! That is her normal tone."

I turned to her and said, "Hmmmm is that true?"

She said, "Yes!"

"Do you guys know that you are mirrors of each other?"

The whole class looked at me. I had their two eyes and ears now! So, I proceeded to say, "We get back the energy we put out. In this case you," as I turned to the girl, "put out a very negative energy in your tone." Than I turned to the boy and said, "And you returned it back to her like a reflection in the mirror, you were not in a low mood when you came to class where you?"

He said, "No, not at all!"

"See, you reflected her energy back to her."

Than I turned back to her and said, "It is like a boomerang, your energy came right back to you, do you see that?"

She said, "YES, I DO!"

I than addressed the whole class and said, "OK, so you guys learned something today, right?" They nodded. "The next time someone is upset with you, make sure you check in with yourself first to see if what you are getting from the other person is a reflection of your mood! If it is not, check to make sure you are not 'mirroring' the other person's tone and feeling!"

"If you are mirroring them, than get yourself back to center as quickly as possible. It actually might help the angry person to come back to center as well!"

I looked around the room, all of the students were looking at me with that "WOW" look on their faces. The rest of the class went so smoothly.

The girl with the angry tone, changed her ways and I made sure to let her know that I noticed the change for the positive.

Later, I ran into a long time friend, a school counselor. We chatted for a while about this moment in time. For the first time in a number of weeks, I felt like I had been guided. I was in a place to make a difference today in the lives of these kids. I love it when the UNIVERSE sets us up for success!

(First posted on Empowered Horsemanship)

The Herd Speaks

We are introducing Ruby to the herd. (Charm is the black mare, Jewel is to her left, Ollie is the bay on the other side of the fence, Ruby is the little chestnut to his right and Duke is the chestnut with his head up.)  Hawk was elsewhere nibbling on the new green grass that is just starting to appear. Right before I snapped this picture, the 5 of them were nose to nose, in a beautiful star formation.

I found it interesting, because Hawk was the one who Ollie chased, not Ruby. Ollie bit Hawk and kept him away from Ruby. It was fascinating to watch. The boys have been together for almost a year, so why would Ollie be so dominant over him now?

Today, I put them together again. The 5 of them once again met over the fence, some squealing and pawing took place before they all dispersed to nibble on the grass. Ruby stayed close to Ollie. Than all of a sudden Hawk took off running... The whole herd started to run and play together... Since, than Hawk and Ollie have been hanging out as usual. (I just missed a fabulous picture of them standing side by side.)

Hmm, seems to me that they were all just a wee bit to serious about the newest member of the herd and Hawk had to toss in a little play to lighten them all up a bit!

Could they know what is best to do in an overly serious situation?

When is the last time you listened to the herd and "PLAYED" when life got a little too serious?

                                                           PLAY! PLAY! PLAY!