ways of being with horses from KFH's What Horses Reveal book

appellativo

I am going to cut and paste part of KFH's book What Horses Reveal. It is excellent, a true study about how to be with a horse. This is from page 44-45.

Is it all a question of power?

I have compared my way of being with horses to the original life of a shepherd. He leads and assumes responsibility without relying on his own potential strength. (Who leads? is the shepherd following the sheep who are following the grass? my words.) Abel was the first original shepherd in the canon of images in the bible. Cain powerfully changed his piece of the earth and saw himself as having developed so much power.....Abel and cain are in fact one person. The murder plays itself out witthin a single individual and is symbolic....

(he talks about the sacrifice of the material is better in Gods eyes as it allows the spirit to rise. versus the sacrifice of the fruits/seeds that Cain gave, which was like a renouncing of the spirit, which God looks upon disfavorably.)

Two forms of power.

This image, puts human generated and managed power and diminished purely materialistic thinknig on one level, just as connected, harmounious existence within the laws of creations, is on a level with the spirit or soul. And this brings us to the ancient symbol of the horse. The horse symbolizes these two types of existence, as well as the two forms of power. Both reside in the horse, and both ways of being are possible with horses.....

the mere rider is on the path of external power, and therefore on the path of disruption of his soul!
All the old writings warn against devoting yourself to horses without being tested first. According to the Bible it was strongly forbidden for the israelites, the shepherds, to be with horses. King solomon was the first to bestride a horse, because he was a king of wisdom. Only when a person possesses spirit and soul, in other words true wisdom, can he with with a horse in such a way that turning and leading are not forced or strained by external forceful aids, but rather can be experienced together as an interplay of creation.....

Those who build only upon their purely human power will, in the end, only come to undesireable results with horses, even if they are not totally defeated by the problem. But horses....show us more than clearly the true cause of Chaos (earlier stated in the book as the arrogance of man made visible.)

(end of excerpt)

I just thought that was really cool. I was thinking of how I can improve myself in light of the situation with the horse at the stable I board at plowing people over. Are we to dominate her? How can people who interact with her restore harmony? What would people have to change in themselves that she would no longer feel the need to do this? Is her behavior simply a reflection of her perception of the world of how humans treat her? So much to think about. What I got from this exerpt is that dominance is out and harmony is in, however you can achieve it.

jackspark

Very timely for me Erin, I just finished watching his DVD Dancing with Horses. It was my first exposure to him and boy was I blown away. I knew quickly that I would have to read some of his stuff........here it is! When you're ready........amazing how things work isn't it?

appellativo

pretty cool how that works out! I need to buy that DVD. I could watch it over and over and over....it really demonstrates the state of mind and body that we need to exemplify to be effective with horses. Not to mention that really touching last segment with the scared white stallion.

The What Horses Reveal book is really excellent. Coupled with the above mentioned DVD, you could really get somewhere, I think.

If I ever have the chance to go to a clinic of his, I'd just die to learn how to work a horse at liberty to use himself like you see in some of his youtube videos/books etc!

hkfarms

I just checked out his Dancing with Horses book from the library and am amazed at the pictures. One night I started watching videos of him on youtube and was watching every one I could find for like two hours. I want to buy his dvd also.

AlythLong

I must be the odd one out!! I haven't seen his dvds but I did read one of his books - Dancing With Horses - and found it very airy fairy and unrealistic!! And for your post Erin that is very deep, way beyond what I want or can think about at this time. I have always thought Cain and Abel were brothers. That is what I was taught anyway. To think of them as one person.....well.......

Alyth

cynthia peterson

I have his book from years ago (Dancing With Horses) It really didn't have any real "meat" to it, more a general "what amazing things he is doing and what it possible" type stuff. And I would LOVE to be that good with horses.

I also have his VHS (that's how long I have had it,...VHS) that pretty much is the same as that book (one stallion scene was kinda' not necessarily)

I also seen his new interviews on HorsesForLife internet magizine. He is deep for sure. I tend to be many times too.... but I feel few will be able to follow his ramblings.

appellativo

It's very abstract, his way. it is more a way of being than a way of doing.

Alyth, on the Cain and Abel thing, they very well may have been brothers...but it IS very interesting to think of a little mini-battle like what he described going on in each of us. so much learning is figurative, anyways!

For those who think he is 'deep' or abstract or airy fairy,....I can't really disagree....but there IS stuff to be learned, either way! :D The world is not only consisting of the five senses and that which you can touch

jackspark

imagele

bit

I like how horses respond to this guy, and really watch his body language, not so much his verbage. I mean, think about trying to read True Unity. How do you put into words something that has no words? You have to experience it, and then to describe it to someone else? snort. I know I can't. Skiing, I was better at the verbage, but that's because I spent 30 years learning how. Mostly, folks learned by watching a demo. You could really dig a big hole trying to explain something that just had to be felt. I had all kinds of tricks to get them to feel it. You can't learn how to ski by reading a book. You can't even get an idea of what it feels like, by reading a book. Not really. So I watch how his body moves, and how the horse responds. I love the utubes he has out describing horsenalities.

appellativo

I will admit, when he talks about RECOGNIZING the horse....and with all those horse personality types, and a lot of times the physical descriptions seem to bleed into each other....that I don't know if I'll ever be able to RECOGNIZE a horse and know his way of relating to the different horses in the most appropriate way....that's why I would like to go to one of his clinics. I hope I get to some day??