2012 COURSES ARE ON THE WEB!!!!

[avril]

He, everyone, we have a couple of free spaces for the courses in August. There is a place on August 3rd Foundation Course and also on the two day 1718th. Let us know if you would like to take one.

[nellie]

Yipee! I'm booked in one of the spare places, how happy am I? ;D!

[em]

Hey Helen

So so so excited we are on same course it will be so so great to see you x x

ps will Avril get a word in tee hee hee x

[nellie]

Hi Em,

I doubt it very much ;D! But I do feel that Avril will probably have a way of shutting us up... anyone who was at the BBQ and heard some of Avril's stories will know what I mean !

See you soon!

H x

[em]

oh my ohmy oh ok my the weekend cant come quick enough ... its the 2 daaaaaaaaay connect with your horse course... I feel so excited... I am soooooo lucky I am sharing a tent with helen... we have a night light gas stove and porta loo all sorted... so thats all the boring stuff sorted... we can concentrate on the course during the day and then at night discuss it in great detail I am sure.... I am going to take my zen cards with me which are just amazing if you have a query or issue you want clarifying or some insight... I use them a lot and they are quite an eye opener....... ooh lots to catch up on

clearly as you can see I have not been out for ages!!! ;D

[sarah]

Hope you have a wonderful time - I would love to be there with you.

Cant wait to hear all about it. ;D

Best wishes,
Sarah. xx

[angelac]

Wishing you both a brilliant time ;D
Like Sarah I too would just love to be there
Please please tell us all about it
Angela xx
PS I was very interested in the mention of the cards.
Although different I have a Linda Kohanov book with cards and often think it would be fun to do them with MSc pals .
Enjoy !!!!!

[em]

ooh Angela is it the horse cards you have... because they are amazing and incredibly insightful if you use them in the right way... let me know x x x x x

[angelac]

It is the horse cards Em.
I have done them a little myself, but what fun it would be to do them with MSC pals esp if you know more about how to best use them.
Hopefully one day in the not too distant future
Angela xx

[angelac]

Thanks for putting the latest pics up.
Lovely to get a little peek ;D
So looking forward to hearing all about it
Glad the weather is being kind !!
Angela

[angelac]

Love the extra pics.
All the horses are looking great and Bryn looks much more relaxed than earlier in the year. He's stunning in the looks dept too.
I so hope to do this course one day
Angela

[avril]

The last course of the season was a great success. We would like to thank all of you who have joined us in the beautiful Kent countryside to explore the horse/human dynamic from a NH perspective and look forward to seeing you again in 2013. One of the attendees, Dawn Perkins, is currently unable to post about her experience on Friday and asked if I could do so. It gives me great pleasure to share her thoughts on what she got out of the day.........


Once again, the gods smiled on Avril and her team and last Friday turned out to be a beautiful, sunny - if slightly chilly - day. I and the other attendees were met and warmly greeted by Avril and Annie and we were introduced to Michael (busy in the kitchen on tea and coffee duty) and Gabriel. I had been a little apprehensive but was immediately put at ease by the relaxed atmosphere. I couldn't have wished for nicer, warmer company on the course and would like to belatedly thank Judith for so kindly inviting me to work with Holly, the beautiful mare whom she now owns, on the feet moving exercise.

The day encompassed various aspects of leadership and gentle, non-threatening ways of working with horses, using body language to show them what we wanted them to do. Interesting observations were gradually drawn out of us. For instance, Sophie made some observations about things which, in thirty years of being around horses, no-one had ever pointed out before. Judith told us about her two motherless Shetland foals and how, almost instinctively, she had been able to calm and reassure them by using horse body language and simply spending time "hanging out" with them.



Thank you so much for making us feel so welcome and relaxed. Thanks, too, to Michael for the absolutely delicious food - if I'd been in a restaurant, it would have been exactly what I would have ordered (and probably wouldn't have been half as good!).

It was strange that you mentioned about thanking the horses because it is something I have always done. I was actually thanking Bryn in his stable when you had moved on to Holly with the rest of the group. I was thanking him for his forbearance during my three hundred ham-fisted attempts to get him to accept the bit! He is such a lovely horse. He put his lip up to my nose and mouth and nuzzled me a bit, so I am hoping that was his way of saying all was forgiven!

Things started to fall into place as we were driving home. One thing which stood out was when you asked which horse we were drawn to. All three were absolutely lovely, so there was nothing to choose between them in terms of likeability. My immediate instinct was to say Bryn but because he is such a sensitive soul, I didn't think I would be good enough or sensitive enough to "read" him.

Thank you for giving us time and space to absorb things, instead of pushing on to get things done and ticked off. I'm not very good "in the spotlight" and tend to freeze a bit. I amazed myself by actually accepting your invitation to drive Fergus in the round pen! Of course, the credit goes to Fergus, who is now clearly an old pro and did his very best to puzzle out what I was asking him to do!


All in all, under Avril's direction - and fuelled by Michael's delicious lunch - the day seemed to bring out responses and to stimulate thought and to direct them towards creating better harmony between human and horse. As we said, we could have done with a week! However, the day, as guided and directed by Avril, reinforced above all else that "less is more" and that lots of frantic activity and "getting things done" is not good for the relationship between horse and human and that time spent just hanging out, as Judith has already been doing with her foals", is time well spent. Time spent hanging out but at the same time remembering Avril's advice and guidance about reminding horses of their boundaries is time even better spent!

[angelac]

I'm so glad you made it onto a course Dawn and thank you for your super account of the day.
I do so like to read all about the course days, as well as looking at the pics on facebook.
All the better that I have met most of the horses involved. Sadly, not Holly who looks divine !!!
Have started my course fund in the hope that I will make it down again in 2013 !!!!!
Angela

[em]

Oh dawn

I am so thrilled for you that you have got yourself on a course... and thank you so much for the update.. its sounds like it was an incredible day... I love reading the updates like Angela .. and it does make you desperate for the next year to come so the new round of courses are ready for attendees! hey maybe we can get on one together

Avril i think you and your team deserve a good rest and a pat on the back sounds like it has been another successful year of courses .. we;ll done everyone from us humans and I am certain our horsey companions are grateful you are helping us understand them! ;D

[Dawn Perkins]

Thanks, Angela and Em! I was lucky to have done the course with such lovely people and I hope I will be able to hear how they have each got on with finding their perfect equine partners and, in the case of Judith, building her relationship with the lovely Holly.

I forgot to mention that Val pointed out that, when working with other herd animals, such as sheep (as also with chickens, ducks, etc.), your movements and body language have to be very subtle or they panic and go off in different directions and yet, as Avril drew out of us, that principle is so often not applied by those working with horses.

I hope that Avril will now be able (Howie permitting) to take a well-earned break!

Dawn Perkins