My Blog

Old horse - New tricks: The first ride

02/11/2012 16:27:00

Old Horse - New tricks: The first Ride.

If you had told me five years ago that I would be navigating my way around the Essex countryside whilst on horseback I would have scoffed at the idea. But my retired Arabian gelding and I were now doing just that. I had been coerced into entering our first ever six mile pleasure ride, and despite having over twenty years of experience with horses, up until then I had never ridden over a long distance.

As we pulled into a large and open field strewn with horseboxes and trailers of every kind, I could feel my anxiety rise. The sun was out and the day looked promising despite the threat of rain on the horizon. Apollo (my horse) was neighing wildly in the back of the horse box as we swayed to our parking space. My partner and two young girls were laughing their way through the noise of the radio. I, on the other hand sat wondering whether the intensity of Apollo's neighing would reflect his mood for the entire six miles.

We parked the horse box safely, and I teetered over to the entry table to receive my orange competitors bib and emergency tags - Just incase I fell off my horse apparently. "Great" I thought. As I looked back toward where we had parked, the enormity of what I had set myself dawned on me. I scanned the vast, green pasture in a mix of fear and awe, the hustle and bustle of the atmosphere, contagious. An air of excitement and trepidation filled my lungs.

People from all walks of life were chatting here and there, immersing themselves in the adrenaline of endurance riding. Horses could be heard neighing and snorting; riders were being hitched up onto their mounts as they jogged along in anticipation. One lady inparticular could be heard screaming, "hey, don't do that, wait for me" as her horse pulled her across the ground with exuberance. It was organised chaos and I already knew I had caught the bug!

Finally we were off; alone in the rural landscape with far reaching views and stubble underfoot. I could not help myself but to let out a little squeal of excitement when we were far enough out of earshot. the noise of horses and humans gave way to the hum of nature. Birds could be heard gently singing their mid-summer song, a tractor in a field farther away, was rumbling in tune with Apollo's foot falls as we trotted up a gentle incline at the edge of a hedge-lined stubble field. It felt liberating; I felt free!

The ride was a mixture of stubble fields and tracks that wound through a small copse. At one point we were riding along the edge of an air field as gliders breezed by. The entire ride was calm and consistently beautiful. The sun shone, the ground was good and we both smiled the whole way. Me; my horse and a map (and lots of arrows)! I would highly recommend it and Apollo and I will definitely be pleasure riding again.

Love and light

Claire x

Long Distance Dreams

08/12/2011 23:05:00

Long Distance Dreams

I have ridden in many dressage tests and jumped over hundreds of coloured poles throughout the years, but it wasn't until Mr Apollo, my beloved Arabian x reached the grand old age of 23 this june, that I really decided what I wanted to spend the rest of his life doing.

I have always held the arabian horse in the centre of my heart for as long as I can remember. Throughout my healing career and my teenage competition days, give me an arab over a warmblood any day. They have the scope of a big horse, the heart of no horse I've ever known and the presence of royalty.

All in all, in my humble opinion they are gods gift to humans and are held in my highest regard.

As many people will be aware, the arabian horse is bred and suited to long distance riding. With stamina, length of stride and speed they are very well equipped for this job. So one day whilst hacking out trying to plod along while my 23, going on 3 year old Mr Apollo was fighting his way through my concrete hands to kick up a gear, I had a moment of clarity. Why were we fighting each other? More to the point, why was I fighting him?

I had joined the Parelli Natural Horsemanship program many years ago, but due to peer pressure and generally my ego, I hadn't played a lot with Apollo other than the level 1 stuff. He would become increasingly frustrated with our so called pottering about and so this would lead me to picking up my carrot stick and playing with him until his behaviour settled into some sort of pattern, before embarking on more months of false harmony once more.

Anyway whilst one thousand thoughts passed through my mind on this supposed quiet hack, I realised something. Throughout our whole partnership I had allowed people's opinions to matter and we had stopped having fun. I had spent so long trying to prove that my little arab could do just what the other sports horses could do that I had forgotten one fundamental thing...to ask Apollo what he wanted!

It had become so clear to me in one moment. I felt like a huge weight had been lifted from my shoulders. All Apollo wanted to do was to just be a horse! Each time I reverted back to the Parelli program and stopped schooling we began to have fun. Then the hacking (which I enjoyed so much) became so much calmer and pleasurable. So I have pledged to my Mr Apollo - my should mate, that for the remainder of our time together for however long that may be, we will have fun and throw out the rule book on tradition and go natural instead!

I have since rejoined the Parelli program and have booked up our first 5 mile pleasure ride on the 28th August. I will keep regular updates on our progress and hopefully my blogs will help to inspire people into listening to their horse and to follow their hearts. I am really looking forward to meeting new people and enjoying the countryside and the company of Mr Apollo. I know one thing for sure, and that is my horse will be enjoying himself too!

Until next time

Best wishes

Claire and Mr Apollo xx

Over protective horsie mum - When to let go of your children?

04/14/2011 21:08:00

Am I just over protective or completely nuts?

As many of my students will know, I have two daughters aged three and four, and just like mummy, they are totally smitten with horses. Apollo - my ever devoted arab of twenty three years- is ever obliging to their tedious fussing. But as he is 14.3hh and my girls are knee high to a grass hopper, I tend to have the occasional panic attack when hooves and tiny feet are mixed up in, what looks like a native trible dance whilst grooming.

As the years have progressed I have tried to involve my girls in the day to day stable duties as much as possible. From watching my little angels with clenched teeth, as they destroy my stritegically placed and leveled woodchip bedding, to squinting through fingers and gasping in horror as they pick up a hoof between them and start picking it out, because they've seen mummy doing it!

Up until now I have skillfully avoided any accidents. I have done this -acording to family opinion - by being an over proctective mum.

However, my girls now want to start riding lessons. On a pony more suited to their size. In fact it is all I hear about on the way to nursery. Each morning we pass the local riding school ponies grazing happily in their paddocks, and so I brace myself for the onslaught of 'why can't we' questions from the back seat of the car.

I used to tell myself that I would never be one of those mums that would hover over every move their children made. I was adament that I was going to let my children learn the hard way like I had when I began my life with horses, brushing them off and pushing them back on again. In truth however, I have been the absolute oposite. I am exactly that mum I swore I would never turn into. I am the mum who hovers over her daughter as she stands too close to a horses rear end. I watch myself taking over simple duties that I know my four year old is completely capable of- like filling up a water bucket! Just because I can. I hear a horse being walked onto the yard and it turns into a scene out of mission impossible, "where are the girls? Must get to the girls!" My nerves can't take it. I just can't seem to let go. Am I the only one that,try as they might, won't let their child take a little risk? But how much risk taking is too much?

My youngest daughter has just turned three. She has, like her sister, aquired her first grooming kit and all the trimmings for helping mummy at the stables. Whilst she has always been at the yard, only now is she begining to get really involved. She sits on my horse's back whilst I groom -with my spare hand teetering over her leg, ready to grab it at the slightest flinch from Mr Apollo. They have both walked around the sand school on Teddie - our family pony aged twenty seven. Bouncing around with shear joy spread across their chubby little cheeks, grinning from ear to ear. They absolutley love it, but I am just not sure that I am ready to let the girls start riding properly. Yes you are absolutley right, I am a control freak! And I am sure that if you are reading this and you are one of those people that I used to be: childless and an advocate for, 'brush em off and push em back on again,' then you will most defiantely be either, laughing aloud, or thinking quietly that I'm nuts. I would too if I were still in that same position. But if you are a mother or a father of young children like I find myself now, then I am sure you will share a little, if not a lot of my turmoil. - I really hope for my own sanity that it is the latter!

In all seriousness, when is it the right time to let children start learning to ride? In my own personal riding experience I was around six when I was plonked atop an ageing, overworked school pony, and I can vividly remeber the feeling of pure extasy at the experience. One which will never leave my memory, and for which I will be forever grateful to my parents for as it has shaped the person I am today. If I was dealing with someone elses child, I would happily push them forward in their learning. In actual fact, I find myself pushing my niece of the same age as my eldest, to do things that I would cringe at letting my own daughter do. She is turning into a real little protege. So why will I not do the same with my own girls?

I have a fear that seems to be ingrained in my being that I must protect my girls from any negative experience with horses. Which is totally absurd of course, if they never had a bad experience they would never learn the lessons of life. But try as I might I just can't bring myself to allow them the freedom to do just that, experience life with horses. Well a lesson is planned for next weekend, I just hope that I'll be able to let go of the reins when the riding school assistant tries to lead my girls away, probably a young girl herself. I feel sorry for her already. At least she'll have a hugely funny story to tell to her stable girl mates during lunch, of how, a crazed, over protective, maniac of a mother wrestled her to the ground, running, breathless into the centre of the menage in a fit of panic because she mistakingly took the manovere, 'touch your toes' as a sign that her three year old was about to take a tumble and hit the ground head first. I will remember writing this article after I've peeled the unsuspecting stable girl from the gritty sand, whilst every face in the entire yard stares at me through complete shock, horror!

Yes that will be my weekend, spent in complete anxiety and panic. Much like every day really - thank heavens for reiki, If not for that, I would propbably be smuggling an industrial sized pot of Kalms around my person practically forever!

With Love and Light and Reiki Blessings to all

Claire x

Healing Hands

Reiki as maintenance therapy for horses

01/17/2011 19:07:00

Reiki as a maintenance therapy for the horse.

Over the years I have treated many horses with reiki and it has been quite evident that when you use the words spiritual energy amongst vets a lot of them scoff at the idea. There are a lot of vets out there that welcome the idea of complementary therapies aiding their medical treatments but reiki has always been the last one out of the stall in my opinion. A few years ago I was given the opportunity to showcase the treatments in return for some physiotherapy for my horse. Unfortunately I was unable to transport my horse up to the vets practise to take him up on the offer. I could kick myself now of course. I had know idea at the opportunity I had been given at the time. Who knows I could have been working with full vet referrals by now. This is still an aim of mine - for reiki to be taken seriously as a maintenance and rehabilitation treatment. Acupuncture is now recognised and many other complementary therapies in human medicine. Reiki is much more regulated than it has been in the past with the introduction of voluntary self development. The introduction of lineage traceability is also helping to identify the core root structure of teaching back to Mikao Usui' original teachings. So we can see that it is all heading in the right direction but what do the vets actually think? If you happen to be a vet reading this then I'd love to know your opinion.

The general make up of every living thing is energy, as reiki practitioners this is the fundamental principle to treatment. Becoming one with another's energy and aiding the flow of ki to wash away debris (see the page What is reiki - on my website for more in depth explanation) is what aids the physical and mental body. However there are very few scientific studies to support the practitioners knowledge. Maybe this would support our claims. For me personally I would ask any vet to have a reiki treatment for themselves just to feel the benefits. Only then can a person really understand the value of reiki. I have seen the benefits and the results with my own two eyes in people as well as horses. The energy which is picked up through the hands is then validated with the evidence from the horses owner/guardian every time a treatment takes place. The horses physical appearance can change from alert and sometimes wired expression, to calm and relaxed, with eyes half closed. With this in mind surely this is evidence for vets to promote the therapy as a relaxation treatment for those that need help with behavioural and emotional issues with their horses to helping a veteran horse come to terms with failing health. I have treated horses from foals to veterans and every one has benefited in some way from their treatments. I am undergoing a constant self development program to aid my practice, including equine anatomy and physiology study and I hope to go on to include equine massage to my skills. Like me there are many Reiki Practitioners that are striving to better themselves for the good of their clients and their practice. So come on vets give us Reiki Practitioners a serious chance and see us in action before you push reiki aside!

If you are a Reiki Practitioner, or work within the veterinary field - even a vet - I would love to hear your comments and opinions. Why not send me a comment or even a question!

Claire Hodder

Healing Hands

www.healinghands-reiki.co.uk

Learning Reiki

10/09/2010 22:17:00

Learning Reiki

Learning how to integrate the system of reiki into your life is a journey of personal discovery. the first step onto your spiritual path is to find a Reiki Teacher that you feel is compatible with your own nature and personality. There are indeed many Master/Teachers that are practising reiki on a daily basis but how do we choose the right one? Doing lots of research first and foremost is the key to knowing whether you would like to remain true to the teachings of Mikao Usui, or maybe incorporate something from the west into your practice. Although there are many branches of reiki, it must be said that whichever branch of reiki you end up learning with reiki is the foundation for all of them. Mikao Usui is the founder of the system of reiki and what ever else is added on to the principle teachings can only help to enhance the foundation. There are schools of reiki and there are independent Reiki/Practitioners. It is all down to personal preference. It might be worth considering that whom ever you do your training with you must make sure that you can follow the lineage right the way back to Usui Mikao himself. You will need to be able to do this if you would like to practice professionally at some point, and most associations will need to have this before you can become a member also. Most independent reiki practitioners would be happy to give you their lineage when asked so don't be afraid to ask this when deciding on your reiki teacher.

Asking questions~

Don't be afraid to ask questions. After all you will be spending what could be a few days with this person and possibly a lot more after the course in the way of support. In my experience as a student as well as practising reiki teacher, most reiki teachers are extremely happy to talk about reiki. We talk reiki, eat, sleep and live reiki so are genuinely happy to come forward and promote the huge benefits that reiki has given our lives and the visible benefits that we have seen it give others in their lives also. I know that I personally am happy to share my reiki experiences with potential students and anyone else that will listen frankly! You will usually know within the first few moments of speaking to the reiki teacher whether or not they are the right person to teach you. Do they have the same values as you? can you relate to parts of their way of living do they share the same interests and philosophy's as you? Do you have the same way of thinking as they do? While it is important for you to find the right teacher, it is also very important for us teachers to be compatible with our potential students. So do not be offended if a questionnaire is sent in the post to you to fill out return to them . (This is how my first reiki teacher vetted me and I completely got why she did it). Because learning reiki is so personal you must feel comfortable in the company of your teacher. Sometimes a reiki attunemtent can be an emotional experience so it is important that you can allow that release to go on knowing that you are in a safe environment.

But having said all this, and despite trawling the internet and quizzing endless lists of potential teachers, what learning reiki is all about is the experience of energy and the intention behind it.

What reiki is not~

Reiki is not about reading endless essays, books and articles.

Reiki is not being able to talk reiki day in and day out but never actually practising it.

Reiki is not a quick fix or a cure.

What reiki is ~

Reiki is an energetic practice and therefore needs to be practised. Reiki is a system that is practised daily. When we practice reiki on a daily basis it starts to change our way of thinking. What we may have once found frustrating and inconceivable, suddenly becomes easier to dea lwith. When practicing reiki the little things that may have bugged us before start to become insignificant in the grand scheme of things. Reiki helps us to see the wider picture and to put our own life's purpose into perspective.

If you intend to find the right teacher, then you will find the right one for you at the time you need their style of teaching.

What I suppose I am trying to say is; do your ground research on reiki and it's teachers but ultimately reiki is your practise once you have been attuned. The journey starts with you, so trust your instincts and go with your intuition. Just go for it you will not regret becoming attuned to reiki!