Saturday, December 26, 2009



“I found yoga through my pursuit to better improve my seat connection. In 2007 I changed my main horse from a gaited horse to a trotting horse. She had a big trot and I found that I could not sit the trot! After tens if not a hundred hours in the saddle, I was finally able to sit the trot. However, I found I still was not riding with my horse, I was not fluid in my movement, it was almost as if I was in my horse’s way. As I began to learn and understand the mechanics of how to ride with more fluidity I found that my mind was registering the “how” but my body was not necessarily executing.

I realized that yet again it was about me and that I needed to unlock movement within my own body. I spent over a year doing strength and balancing training and made improvement but I still was not harmonious with my horse. A friend suggested I try yoga and finally I took a Vinyasa Flow yoga class and I knew instantly that this was the answer. I love Vinyasa Flow yoga because it is a challenging practice, lots of movement so you get cardio as well as core and strength such as quadriceps, shoulder, bicep, and tricep, and additionally get balance, stability, spine strengthening and hip openers etc…. I was so sure that this was the key to facilitate my fluidity that I decided to deepen my practice and I enrolled and completed an intense 9 week Teacher’s Training course at Core Power Yoga in Minneapolis. I was on the mat at least 5x/week and by the 4th week I started to see my body unlock, energy began to flow more readily and my movement with my horse became more harmonious. She and I have taken the harmony further by my engagement of breath. How light can I be by just using breath to ask my horse to engage with me or slow or stop. It is fabulous! The use of Ujjayi breath has also given me the ability to minimize anxiety and tension I may be experiencing in my body and enabling me to better focus my mind when I am under pressure.
I now can feel of and move with my horse and it is acknowledged from the positive feedback I receive from her! When we are together and unified, it is a beautiful feeling. I am both thrilled and honored to be able to share this DVD series to students of self improvement around the globe. I want others to have what I have with my horse and feel the joy when you are truly united with your partner.”