coraa: (princess tia)
[personal profile] coraa
It took me a long time to upload these, but they make me very happy. Many, many thanks to [livejournal.com profile] tcastleb for taking these pictures, and for allowing me to share them.



First, here's me taking a picture of Pandora, who I've ridden twice now and who I love tremendously:

From Horse Camp, March 2010


Then! When we did the 'communicating with horses' seminar, we worked with Khepera, a gelding who's very interactive with humans. So the rest of the pictures are me and Khepera.

Here we are, walking along. Note that I'm not touching Khepera or his tack at all; he's following along because we're in sync:

From Horse Camp, March 2010


Here's another picture of the same. You can see that I'm holding a crop, but I actually never touched him with it at all; it was just used to reinforce my 'personal space' so that he wouldn't try to bully me with his bigger size. (He was very respectful once I made it clear that I was going to be in charge.) You can see that we're in step: I've just set down on my left foot, and he's just a hairsbreadth behind me, with his own left foot almost ready to set down too.

From Horse Camp, March 2010


Here we are again, walking very calmly. When this was happening, I felt very in tune with Khepera, as though were were communicating on an extraverbal level. (Although not totally extraverbal. I did a lot of talking out loud with him: "Okay, Khepera, I'm turning right; how about you go with me?" It seemed to work quite well, partly because horses are smarter than people give them credit for, and partly because the direction-of-intention of speaking helps a lot with nonverbal communication.)

From Horse Camp, March 2010


In the next two photos, our trainer told me to send Khepera away from me. I was able to do so without ever touching him with the crop, by modeling the pace I wanted him to set and by expanding my personal space bubble. You can see how lovely he was in the trot:

From Horse Camp, March 2010


From Horse Camp, March 2010


And then Khepera and I reconnected:

From Horse Camp, March 2010


Got back into the same vibe:

From Horse Camp, March 2010


And did some more animal-ing about together:

From Horse Camp, March 2010


And when we ended, I felt really quite close to him:

From Horse Camp, March 2010




And that's what it's like to talk to a horse and really communicate with it, I guess. Addictive. Oh, hell, yes, addictive.

Date: 2010-04-18 11:20 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] jmpava.livejournal.com
OMG PONIES

(If it wasn't for this glass in the way, we would totally nom them)
Edited Date: 2010-04-18 11:21 pm (UTC)

Date: 2010-04-19 01:44 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] coraa.livejournal.com
I think if the kitties tried to eat the horses, they'd be in for an unpleasant surprise. ;)

Date: 2010-04-19 11:05 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] coneycat.livejournal.com
It would take them an unexpectedly long time...

Date: 2010-04-18 11:26 pm (UTC)

Date: 2010-04-19 01:45 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] coraa.livejournal.com
There's just something about the horses... anything that includes pictures of them comes out looking glorious.

Date: 2010-04-19 01:19 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] merriehaskell.livejournal.com
There's something about learning to control a creature so much bigger than yourself, too. Because--it's not like driving a car. You have to be in communication. The communication has to work. It IS amazing.

Date: 2010-04-19 01:46 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] coraa.livejournal.com
Yes, exactly. With a car, you can hit the brakes, and the wheels have no choice but to eventually stop. With a horse, what you have to do is ask. And hope that the horse is in sufficient communion with you to say, yes, what this small creature wants is also what I want, so let's stop....

Date: 2010-04-19 03:22 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] tcastleb.livejournal.com
Yay! Ponies! Pics! And I get to see you soon! Khep is also looking a bit more buff and athletic since he's getting rides now. And he's slightly less evil. Only slightly.

Date: 2010-04-19 04:16 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] coraa.livejournal.com
I love these pics so much, so thank you for taking them! And I'm really glad I'll get to see you again soon. :D

Yay for buff Khepera! I love that he's the (slightly less evil) evil gelding. I always imagine him with the Bond villain voice. "No, Mr. Bond, I expect you to diiiiiiie." ;)

Date: 2010-04-19 06:20 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] triath.livejournal.com
I love the giant grin on your face the entire time!

Date: 2010-04-19 08:53 am (UTC)
ext_12726: (St George)
From: [identity profile] heleninwales.livejournal.com
*sigh*

I do miss horses. You look as if you're having a great time there.

Date: 2010-04-19 11:10 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] coneycat.livejournal.com
What beautiful pictures! You guys do look like you're having the best time!

Date: 2010-04-19 07:13 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] sartorias.livejournal.com
He was so clearly talking to you!

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