Horse Vision

A  brief perspective, a little history on Lola and horse vision…

Let’s get history done quickly – Always wanted a horse, couldn’t have one as a child, got to ride a few times raising me up into total bliss on each horse encounter! Finally, in my 20’s, on my own, and I got to ride – all I knew was that I wanted to fly, so over the fences I went … always me, not always the horse. Took a few spills, some not so good over the years, but always keeping that try in me because I just knew the horses were keeping their try, even though my attempts were short on the communication. I finally found my own horse, Summer, in 1996, an 18 year old ex-endurance National Show Horse. I was in for the rides of my life! Summer and I worked it out, finally, and she taught me from the beginning something I already intuited, that horses have their own individual spirits, their own emotions and fears and loves, their own minds, and can speak to you if you listen.

Horses have been an integral part of my life since Summer, and sharing what I have learned about horses with others has been the most fulfilling part of living with these amazing beings. In the process of learning to communicate with Summer, I was fortunate to have many human mentors and teachers who were to inspire me with their philosophies about the nature of the horse. And most remarkably, the horses I’ve loved have themselves been a surprising element of this mentoring as they truly have the most to share with us about who we are.

The horses of Silver Fiddle Ranch have offered me an amazing opportunity for experiential learning, or learning by exploring. I think of my time with my horses as a living classroom. Within this classroom these horses and I have explored the nature of wisdom, creativity, intuition and emotional agility. Horses are such emotional beings. They are wise, sensitive and mindful with the ability to respond to their environment in the blink of an eye. I have found that those most subtle thoughts or movements by me can provoke behaviors in them that give me information about myself. And through watching closely, trusting my own intuition, I can see the positive impacts in my life through the relationships I’ve built with these amazing animal friends.

I see horses as a reflection of myself. Horses have shown me who I am in all of my emotional states. They affirm my most profound intuitive insights, mirroring back my emotions and conflicted feelings so that I can learn and grow within myself. Through all of our miscommunications, the trust that they still find for me gives me the opportunity to become a more loving and compassionate person.

Common elements that I find in the human mentors and teachers with whom I work are their fine ability to focus, to not go into the school room (round pen or arena) with conflicted emotions. These fine people have an ability to see the horse from wherever the horse is at any particular moment. This is what has been called, from the horse’s point of view, to allow the horse to be where it is at that moment and to trust that the horse will figure out what you are asking if you take the time to listen. To see the world from another’s point of view is how we develop compassion, learn to grow in our own spirituality and learn to understand and manage our conflicted emotions. Learning to see the world from the horse’s point of view helps us to see other people’s points of view, to be less reactive, to focus and to think. Lessons from both these teachers and the horses who respond so beautifully to these teachers requests has helped me to transcend mundane conflicts and see the interrelated nature of our world.

The experiential programs that I will offer at Silver Fiddle Ranch will draw on this sentient knowledge that is inherent to all of nature. And through the horse’s eyes, we will explore wisdom, creativity, intuition and emotional agility; make powerful shifts in our relationships, work, self-awareness and personal leadership skills; connect with our life’s purpose through building the trust to discover our authentic power; and unlock our hearts so that compassion, peace and the possibility of transformation are there for us to take into our world.