HORSING AROUND BY TRIANA ELAN
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HORSING AROUND BY TRIANA ELAN |
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Related pagesIsland Star Equestrian Center Web site This Week's Horsing Around column Previous columns |
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Experiencing Harmony With Horses
This is going to take a couple of columns to share. In October of 2000, I was working for a trade journal reviewing books. One of my colleagues gave me a manuscript that was still in the galleys (registration marks, no cover, editing marks still intact) called Yoga For Equestrians by Linda Benedik and Veronica Wirth. I had planned on the usual rapid-read that a reviewer must conduct in order to get the reviews finished by the deadline, but this manuscript had me riveted. It was thoroughly researched and well presented, focusing on relaxation, balance and breathing in preparation for riding the horse. After a few emails with the main author Linda Benedik, I knew I'd found something special. Two years to the month later, Linda came to Orcas Island for a week, sponsored by Island Star. Maryland-born and now living in the mountains above Los Angeles with her husband, three horses and two cats, Linda was immediately lulled by the islands' gentle slopes and friendly weather. She rested for her first couple of days, then got down to work conducting individual lessons using her coaching method called Harmony With Horses. The method combines Linda's unique skills of yoga, voice and breath control, visualization and relaxed focus. An accomplished thirty-year dressage rider, Linda was raised with classical riding as well as classical voice training. She is a mezzo-soprano and favors sacred music in languages such as Latin and Gaelic. She also has a raucous side, and has formed several rock bands for whom she wrote the music! Her incredible diction, voice and method of communication with horse and rider combine to make a riding lesson with Linda an experience waxing darned spiritual!
First, Linda assesses the horse, allowing it to introduce itself in its individual way. She listens to the rider's experiences and concerns with the horse, asks questions while massaging the neck of the horse and quickly getting an idea of how willing the horse is to relax. Then the rider mounts and the hard work begins...at a standstill! The work involves learning how to properly breathe. Linda explains that most of her clients are women, and as women we are trained by our society to move or not move in certain ways that translate into the saddle. By riding in a way unnatural to our true capacity to move and therefore translating that stress to the horse, both horse and rider have a less than optimum partnership. Breathing is essential, and all too often riders hold their breath, subtly tensing up and sending the stress signals to their mount.
A student of Linda's may have to close their eyes and trust her to keep a potentially unruly horse still until centered balance is established. An amazing thing is that the moment the rider is centered, the horse's head comes down and it relaxes to the point of falling asleep during this part of the lesson. Certain stretching exercises follow breathing, and this varies from rider to rider. In these photographs, Carol Padelford and young Tika Thorson are portrayed in various stages of balance and breathing. To be continued...
© 2002 Island Star |
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