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This new title by Anna Blake is her best yet!
Folks who are friends with me on Facebook (if you're not, send me a request here) know that I quote Anna Blake - A LOT. So I am thrilled to announce that I have Horse. Woman. Poems from Our Lives here on the shelves at HoofPrints. This softcover book is just 108 pages, but it might as well be a million, for all the wisdom contained therein. As with her books, Anna's poetry is short on words and long on meaning.
Anna also has a special online group; The Relaxed and Forward Barn, where she answers individual questions, shares videos, comments on other folks' shared videos, and more. So many of the members (myself included) are engaged in perpetual struggle; trying to unlearn and leave behind all the conventional training we were taught that now looks a whole lot more like bullying than partnership.
This new book speaks to that struggle, is profound and encouraging - in actionable ways. Like this: "Continue to cue cleanly, clearly, and consistently. The other word for that is honesty. It's a profound relief to just say what you mean. No longer biting your tongue, soon confidence seeps in because honesty just feels good. Nice correction, give yourself a pat. Most women have known enough confident asshats that confidence has gotten a bad name.
Redefine confidence is a sense of positive well-being based in honesty. Set about demonstrating that for your horse. Know that training a horse to have confidence, to feel peace and acceptance, is the resolution for every problem he will ever encounter. Leadership is giving a feeling of safety. Correct your stiff contradictions and anxiety about not being good enough. Recognize you're passing it on to your horse, causing the behaviors you want to correct in him. Discipline yourself to accept your shortcomings and promise to do better. Love yourself as much as you love horses.
Your horse doesn't care if you're always right; he just wants to trust himself through your partnership. Your confidence is his confidence. Train that."
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