My girlfriend, Debra Easton took her 5 year OTTB, Cedar, to his first dressage show yesterday. She texted me asking if I could do a reading on him because he was acting like a lunatic. I couldn't do it right away but got to it soon enough and then tried calling her. She didn't answer because she was riding. Then she texted back: "RIGHT before you called he totally settled down very suddenly!!! It was amazing." Then I texted: "That's when I finished the reading. That's great." She responded: "I figured! It was incredible. He just changed. Totally." So here is the reading for you read. I find it quite moving. Cedar is a very sweet horse as you will see...
Hi Cedar: It’s Katherine, Debbie asked me to connect with you because you are out of sorts. Is that ok?
~Yeah, ok yah, uh huh.
Why are you upset?
This is a big change, I don’t know what is going on, where am I? ~The other horses are upset too, it’s contagious.
Easy boy, you are at a dressage show. Debbie is going to ride you for the next four days. You will do walk, trot, canter, circles and lines. You know your job really well.
~Haaaa, what a relief. I just didn’t know, so I was getting anxious.
No worries, it’s a show so you get to show a judge how beautiful you are and how you have been so dedicated to your practice.
~Yes I am very proud. I am very strong and smart. I have learned so much. I want to show how special I am. I want to make Debbie proud too.
Yes and remember that she loves you very much and you are very special to her because you are calm and keep her safe.
~Yes I will protect her. I love her and want to keep her safe. I want to make her happy and proud. I will collect myself and be very strong in my core so she can have fun and feel how strong I am. And graceful too.
That will make her so happy. Thank you Cedar.
~Yes. I am happy.

Teddy and I had a great time at our local West Kootenay Derby last month. We had our best dressage test yet. He was very forward and responsive to my aids. I was very accurate with my lines and circles. Our cross country run was fun as it always is with Teddy. He lights up on the cross country field. He was very impressed by the ditch, the third obstacle of sixteen. He massively over jumped it, which was unexpected because we schooled the course a couple of times two days prior. It makes for a great photo! Photo credit: Debra Easton.

In mid-May, I took Teddy for an eventing clinic in Johvale. I had heard a lot about the place from the Pony Club kids. After every trip, the kids would tell stories of their ponies bucking them off and running for home. The location is high up on a mountain range. This clinic had 125 horses participating and the weather was cold and stormy. This is the perfect receipt for horses to be fresh and spirited. Teddy and I had a fun time despite the uncomfortable conditions, and now I have a story to tell. Teddy for the first time in 8 years tried to dismount me with consecutive bucks and crow hops on the way towards our group after a jump. I managed to stay on! My coach gave me a lot of support when I got home as I had to reset my nervous system after this harrowing experience. I won't post the video of Teddy going bronco as it's not helpful for me to watch it again. But here are couple of fun photos showing the beauty of the place. 

 I learned a lot at the Leohona Rowland Clinic the weekend of April 7. As Teddy and I are both very chill and calm we tend to be slow to get going. I have to change my personality to get him active and forward. I am working on being busy and bossy so he learns to be snappy and move his feet on cue.  One technique I learned was to rein back and pop him into the canter. Here is a video showing the lesson. He is doing really well in his training in the last couple of weeks, we are both getting sharper. I am learning to put the aids on more quickly and he is learning to respond within 3 seconds. ​

I had a beautiful energy healing with Kim Conard last week (www.essentialbalancehealing.ca/) . Here is the story that came from the session, which shows the power of distance healing and energy work. She really tuned into my energy patterns, with made me feel refreshed, optimistic and rejuvenated. 

"As soon as I close my eyes to tune into Katherine I am taken to a vision of her standing in a clearing in a forest, it is twilight and wind is swirling around her. She appears lost, frustrated and confused. She sits on the ground and begins to gently weep into her hands. I go to walk towards her and one of my spirit guides appears and stops me. She places her hand to her lips to motion to me to be quiet and watch. We continue to watch in silence, she continues to gently weep. Then a white horse with blue eyes begins to emerge from the forest, he approaches Katherine gently and calmly. At first he simply stands beside her and waits for her to be done crying, and once this release has completed she lifts her head to see him. He bows his head to hers and they connect with one another’s third eye. They sit together like this for some time, her hands placed on his face and both their eyes closed. I can feel her heart chakra opening and the love that is pouring in from him. He is offering her heart a healing. The wind begins to settle, and the stars begin to sparkle above… it feels like the storm has passed. It also feels like this is her sanctuary, being alone in the forest. The frustration, confusion, anger subsides and a beautiful peace returns to her, the essence of love that she moves from and is guided be returns. 
My guide places her hand on my shoulder and nods, letting me know that now I may approach both of you. Katherine jumps on the horses back and takes my hand to join her, we begin to ride through the forest towards the peak of a gently slopped mountain. It is not a Rocky Mountain as much as a hilly mountain, I hear the words Mt.Loki and know that is who we are upon. Once we are at the top we stand together breathing in the crisp night air, we feel strong, centred. I feel the same essence in you that I sense within me. That we are here because we can handle adversity, it does not deter us from our paths, instead it encourages us to become more loving, to have more capacity to assist, to offer us more inspiration. These are the times we came to be in, and we can/will already have endured and grown from our life experiences. 

The sun begins to rise and as grandfather sun begins to touch upon the feet of Katherine she lies on the earth below."

Teddy and I had a really fun Derby on our own soil in mid-June. The barn we board at hosted the event in collaboration with the neighbouring barn. It was a huge success with 55 riders. It was a big push to get the grounds ready, I enjoyed weeding the arena and straightening the edges so it looked sharp for the dressage tests. 

Teddy and I struggled for the dressage component. It was too rushed and he was not collected. But I am inspired to work on our dressage after a lesson this weekend with the coach I bought him from 8 years ago. Apparently they got top marks in dressage and would get eliminating in the jumping rounds. Is this the same horse? It made me realize that it's my attitude towards dressage that is bringing us down, not his build or conformation. 

Tomorrow we are going to Kelowna for another Derby. It's going to be hot!

I just attended my first clinic of the year with my daughter. It was the first time I hauled both horses and it was a good test run because the Trail Horseman's Grounds is only 45 min away from the barn. The horses were amazing. It was very wet weather for the entire clinic. We worked on getting the horses bending and yielding to our leg aids so they are supple and maneuverable. The first day we did flat work by doing various bending lines and turns in walk, trot and canter. The second day we did bending lines over small jumps and on the third day we did a full jumping course over bigger jumps. If the horses are bending and supple longitudinally and laterally they are adjustable and easy to balance in between the jumps. This makes jumping feel secure as a rider on the approach and the horses are responsive to rebalancing with half halts on the landing to prepare for the next jump.