Wednesday, September 30, 2009

Excalibur and Anna

Excalibur and Anna

This is one of several hundred shots I took of Anna Twinney and her mustang Excalibur or "X" as she fondly calls him. Anna is one of the ten authors in the Horse as Teacher book and we met this summer, post publishing, when she came to meet me at my art fair in Boulder.

Later that month I went to visit the Colorado Horse Rescue and while the director was showing me around a buckskin in a corral caught my eye from afar. I was transfixed by his presence. It turns out he belonged to Anna and she was at CHR teaching that day. X is a Spanish mustang from Wyoming and I can never seem to remember all the details.....sigh....must be a sign of age.

An internationally respected natural horsemanship clinician, animal communicator, and Reiki Master, Anna has been featured on television, writes for national and international magazines, and is the creator of the "Reach Out to Natural Horsemanship" DVD series. Formerly the Monty Roberts Learning Center's head instructor, Anna teaches people how to create genuine, trust-based partnerships with their horses. I have had the good fortune to watch her work her gentle magic during a round pen session.

Well to make a long story short I was so mesmerized by X and also the American mustangs I was itching to photograph him. Anna graciously accepted. While I have lots of great shots of X by himself I was so impressed when Anna hopped up on his back without an iota of tack I had to work on this first! Not even a neck rope!

I bet you think she has been schooling him for a while and several days a week.....WRONG! What is even more impressive is he is only three so this is a wonderful example of the willing partnership a person can have with their horse.

Take good care,
Susan
windhorseOne Studios


Sunday, September 27, 2009

Find Your Path To Authenticity: Colorado Horse Rescue - Oct 9th

Find Your Path to Authenticity

Please join me, Anna Twinney (Reach Out to Horses), and Melisa Pearce (Touched By A Horse) on October 9th at the Colorado Horse Rescue, in Longmont, from 6-9 PM. To learn more about Anna please visit her website www.reachouttohorses.com and to learn more about Melisa please visit www.touchedbyahorse.com.

We will be sharing our collective experiences on how horses have touched our lives and also speaking about our new book - Horse as Teacher: The Path to Authenticity Through Horses.

All proceeds will benefit the Colorado Horse Rescue organization! Tickets are $20 in advance and $30 at the door. Space is limited so reserve your spot today! For more info or to purchase a ticket contact Stacey Couch at info@chr.org or call 720.494.1414

I hope to see you there!

Yours in the dance,
Susan
windhorseOne Studios

Wednesday, September 16, 2009

Our Tribute To Scooter: New Found Clarity

Dear Melisa,
With the upcoming Core 4 weekend of your certification program, here is my tribute to Scooter -your beloved friend, partner and co-facilitator of "Touched By A Horse" - who so generously healed and transformed the lives of many wounded souls by providing them with the lighted torch and glimmer of hope and strength to carry on and find new beginnings and meaning in their lives.

With an agility to know when to perform, Scooter possessed the impish energy of the class clown with the ability to get down to the serious business of healing his clients

Scooter was a shining multi-faceted diamond who knew, like a sparkling prism, how to disperse, shower, and share the many colors of his light. He easily dialed into the frequency he needed and watching him do his work was certainly a miracle to behold. His passion for life was exemplary.

In my heart I know and feel there is a greater good, while not readily apparent at this time, that will bring new light into our world.

Thank you for the opportunity to photograph your horses - Scooter, QT, and Shadow. As I struggled to put words to relatively new creations of horse portraits, it was through your horses that clarity finally came to me. These are soul essence creations of our equine friends and partners and my new series Equi-esse has been born.

Yours in the dance,
Susan

About the Work
Several weeks ago I photographed three of Melisa's equine co-facilitators. With no real deadline, I was granted the grace to create Scooter, QT, and Shadow when I was inspired. It was my desire to portray them as I intuited how they would fit with Melisa's holistic approach to her therapy and also be of benefit to her clients. I sensed the magnitude of the task while knowing the right time would graciously present itself to me. I started easing into the "work" two weeks ago, the magical mystical treasure hunt began and I created my 1st portrait of a horse named QT. A new palette of rainbow colors offered themselves to the work fitting of the nature for the work of a healer.

The weekend came and I had been driven lately, with a sense of urgency, to reorganize my office/studio space. Like the tendrils of a vine in a weed infested garden I had been feeling claustrophobic and overwhelmed by piles of clutter and unfinished business. Of course with my perfectionist manner that meant all closets and files need rummaging through and reorganizing.

Later in the evening I thought I would go to bed but the calling to create leaked into my consciousness. Miffed, I sat at my photographic files wondering why and what I should work on when all I really wanted to do was climb into bed with the chilly fresh mountain breeze cleansing my body and thoughts as I drifted off into sleep. But no....there I was sitting in the dark at my computer and I revisited the file called "Melisa".

Back and forth, on cruise control, I culled through the image files. I had left Scooter for last, starting first with a head portrait of QT and the another head portrait of Shadow. I had erroneously felt that Scooter, with his roany chestnut coat would be more challenging for me. Back and forth I went through his pictures, warmly remembering the events of that day. Occasionally thoughts penetrated my mind wondering which one might appeal to Melisa; they were quickly overridden by the freedom she was allowing me to choose what called to me.

There was a beautiful head shot that reflected the soul essence of Scooter. Perfect I thought. This will complete a trilogy of head shots and then I would move into full body and or action shots of all the horses. I sensed the body shots would require a deeper level of connection that I was not feeling in that moment. But then I heard "Do something different". You have a mastery with the head shots. By now I had come to life as I often do during the process of creating. Never mind that it was already well past 11 pm for I was in my essence and I loved it.

Back on my treasure hunt I went and I instantly knew what I was guided to work on. With a heavy sigh I assessed the image in front of me. Much work needed to be done to bring Scooter into the magical space where so many of my horses exist; a landscape privileged to the horses and Shamans. Sensing again the residual denseness of my busy day I wondered if I was up for the task at this hour. The heaviness of my hand soon lightened and I was transported with Scooter into the realm of the unknown.

I was right there with him as I unknowingly created his new home at the time he was leaving his earthly home. There was a sense of joy and elation as I finished up the piece.

Sunday morning dawned and as coffee was brewing, I opened my email to read the header "Scooter has died". In shock and sadness, with the encouragement of Brad, I shared my creation with Melisa, realizing the universal connectedness of all species we all share. A short time later I pulled the "Sorrow" card from the "Whispers From A Horse's Heart " inspirational card deck. Ugh, how inspirational I said to myself.

It was only later in that day, upon reflection, that I realized that to be fully alive and human we must experience all the polarities of our emotions and in creating Scooter's crossing I did indeed feel both joy and sorrow in a twelve hour span.

I have drawn much insipration and clarity from the loss of Scooter and I am unsure how it will feel to go to the barn but I know a piece of Scooter lives on in all of those who were blessed to be touched by this horse.

Thursday, September 10, 2009

Our Tribute to Scooter: A Great Friend

So here it is...the second tribute of three. Three is a special number for Melisa as well as myself. Also special to the Touched By A Horse certification program is Peggy M, one of our coaches who keeps us on track and holds a space for us at our "Core" training sessions while we learn, laugh, and cry. Scooter was our teacher who patiently (and sometimes not so patiently!) gave himself to us so that we could learn to become interns. Peggy and her husband Bob, also a TBAH team member, have become like friends and family to many of us in the program.

From Peggy:

Scooter was playful and serious at once. He was gentle and bold. A tease who stirred humor in my core, easing me into my personal Work. I knew that he knew my Being – often better than I. And I trusted his Knowing. Thus he became my friend, my teacher and my healer.

Scooter moved in the world with purpose. He was always ready to do the Work and “got his nose out of joint” when instead of him one of his herd mates was chosen to do a piece of healing with a client. He always wanted to be a part of the action!

His energy held me and gifted me with knowing how we beings are all connected. Everyone in his Presence became more aware of their oneness. And all who are blessed by Scooter’s life walk in the world with more purpose, holding space anew for all beings.

Scooter showed up in the world with an open and full heart. His spirit and energy are within me always -- to guide, to bring smiles and to inspire me to walk in the world moment to moment with abundant love and gratitude.

You will be missed by the herd Scooter but we know you will be always be watching over us and guiding us.

Wednesday, September 9, 2009

Our Tribute to Scooter: A One in a Million Horse





Recently I shared a blog about the fun and excitement of photographing the horses at Melisa P's Lil Bit North Ranch with my friend Molly. I asked her to be a guest blogger and share a bit about her experiences with Scooter since she met him last fall at a retreat for women and was able to experience the magical and powerful therapeutic healing from him...she was "Touched by a Horse".

Well....it is with a deep sense of sadness and loss that Melisa and Touched by a Horse unexpectedly lost Scooter in the wee hours of Sunday morning. She told me it was love at first sight when she saw first laid eyes on Scooter, immediately purchasing him to become her world class reining partner and then future co-facilitator of their very important healing work. People travel from all over the country to experience Melisa's work.

This is the first of a trilogy of blogs that we are dedicating to Scooter, a horse who has touched the heart and influenced many of our lives.

Dear Melisa,

It sounds so flat -but I will miss Scooter so much. It is hard to think of working in the arena without him there. Scooter was my first horse-healer, my patient "horse body language" teacher, and my first catch, bridle and lead horse. He was the first real horse I ever got to love thanks to you. He will always be my horse-angel anchor, my inspiration and the foundation for all the speaking, writing and personal equine supported work I will ever do in this world. Because of Scooter and you, Melisa, I can fully engage in the realm of horse supported coaching. He helped me transmute personal pain into forgiveness in one remarkable healing session, he made me laugh when he knocked on his stall when he wanted to "work", he made me smile when he snuffled and nibbled on my hair, he amazed and delighted me when he did his chakra clearing work, and he never, ever let me drift from the present moment when I was with him. He reinforced my now ingrained pattern of grounding myself before entering his safe, wonderful bubble of energy, always responding by coming to me when I went in his stall to ask if he "wanted to go to work for Mom". I treasure all the moments you allowed me to be with him. I will never forget Scooter's kindness, his mischevious nibbling of clothing, those great yawns of release, his smiling at all those 13 year old girls, and his noises of joy at the short bursts of amazing speed I got to witness at the photo shoot with Susan. He steadied me and gave me the confidence to proceed with the Certification Program as I built upon my seemingly hopeless zero horse knowledge. Through Spirit and his picture, he gave me the name of my business which is how I will forever think of him....with Unbridled Gratitude. The only way I can honor his memory is to do the best work I can and to tell the most people I can about the miracles of human/horse healing. I feel a call to action from his passing and renewed confidence to go on with the support of his guiding spirit. I am sure he crossed over in his prime to be the great Recruiter of Healing Horses and Willing Human Participants--who better to know just what and who you need for your work? I feel he will be our spirit guide to being in just the right place at the right time always for the connections with horses and humans who will help us take this work to the world.

I'm sending you Love and Light and great Gratitude for caring for and sharing Scooter with me and so many others. His passing brings us all to a new beginning of sorts, a space to take a deep breath and go forward with a clear vision of what a necessary gift this work will be to the world.

Molly


Sunday, September 6, 2009

Meet the New Addition to the Herd!



Meet Syche's Sweet Serenade aka Seri. She is a new addition to my herd and is such a doll baby! She has already seen a bit of the world for her young age and these pics were taken at her Oldenburg inspection a couple of weeks ago. I just love the little braids!

I was looking at a 1/2 sister to Zephyr who was down in Texas. She was also a sweet little thing but a bit far awawy. Little Seri lived only a few miles down the road from me and she had the pinto thing going that I just love.

She has two heart shaped patches - one near her girth and the other on her neck. One for Kairos and one for Zephyr, although I have to tell you that they were not to pleased when we brought her home. Worse yet was little Scooter who just seemed to glare at her when he wasn't trying to bite her through the fence.

Just wait Scooter, she is almost as big as you already!




Thursday, September 3, 2009

Touched By A Horse: QT's Portrait

I just wanted to take a moment and thank everybody for adopting my artwork for your homes or businesses last month! My horses love finding appreciating homes where folks dote on them....and they don't eat much! HA! LOL!! :)

Well... I finally was able to start working on this piece of QT for Melisa Pearce and her Touched By A Horse biz at good ole Lil Bit North Ranch. This is actually a side of QT I have never experienced except through the lens of my camera. He is often busy doing experiential round pen work with his clients. He is a great horse to use if people need to better their leadership, communication, and assertion skills. He just loves to run circles around them with his cute little nose rudely pointing away from them! To connect with QT you must first gain his respect.

QT has such amazing presence and energy. He certainly caught my eye the first time I saw him. Perhaps it is the look of eagles that he has in his eye.

Take good care and until next time.......
Susan
windhorseOne Studios