The above beautiful artwork is that of a dear friend of mine Jan Taylor. Jan and I created an  inspirational card deck in 2004… and although the idea has been copied by others now, at the time it was the first deck to feature all horses. I loved Jan’s work for years and many of  the remarkable paintings she had done were of my own horses. She is also the Artist of the cover of my book Eponalisa .

Our deck is titled Whisper’s from a Horse’s Heart and has been a very gratifying project.  I receive letters from deck owners from all over the world. The many uses of it are so fun to hear about. Trainers  have a student draw a card before riding, veterinarians give the deck as  a condolence gift when a client loses a pet, spas have the deck in their waiting room and many therapists and coaches  offer cards to their clientele when beginning a session.  The most often reported use is exactly what they were created for .. a daily centering tool.. a gift to self with a sweet positive message from a horses heart to you .

The card above is called Energy and reads as follows;

At present you have immense bursts of energy flowing through you. Your thoughts and emotions have more intensity than usual. Pay attention to the flow of ideas and the impulse you are feeling. Trust in the divine, and direct the energy to your task at hand. Look at the bigger picture and allow the energy to course through you and all you do. Use special care to guide  this energy in the most positive direction possible, keeping only good thoughts in flow and creating only positive action. Accept that whatever the outcome unfolds is for the highest good of all  concerned. This is your calling at this time. The positive  energy and thoughts  you send out  into the wold will return to you tenfold.

As our Spring days grow longer and we have adjusted to our clocks being changed, the awareness of energy flow is abundant. Our horses feel it as well, while they adjust to new green shoots of grass peaking through the earth. As they shed their winter hair growth, we may want to symbolically  do the same.  Shake off Winter and emerge with new Energy in Spring !

In Synergy,

Melisa

This is proprietary information in this blog post. All information is trademarked and copyrighted to Melisa Pearce and Touched by a Horse, Inc. 2012

Sharing New Equine Thought with you

Someone asked me the other day, why it was that horses gravitate over to me in lieu of   other people when I am in a group. We were out  touring on several different farms that day and  they had observed several examples of horses coming over to me  in their paddocks or stalls when I was standing with other people chatting. It was as if the horses were singling me out in order to to connect. This is such a common occurrence for me that I long forgot to notice it  much less explain  it.

So here is what I know to be true for me.  I have  made a true peace with horses and form authentic connections from the heart easily with them. Doing this I moved away from a set of thoughts about them and developed a New Equine Thought ™  process in which  the energy between us naturally shifted. This encourages and  allows them to  “show up ” with me  and recognize me in a different way.

In my business, and as a clinician, I often quip to people that “I work for them” … not the other way around. I say it .. and I mean it sincerely. Horses trust truth and they know the energy I emanate from my being is one of honor and partnership not request or demand nor need.  Like old friends who trust each other and place no demands.

Horses read energy all the  way to the horizon  and so the fact that they come over from  the far side of a large pasture is not surprising to me. While we as humans may not  recognize a friend in a busy shopping mall or at the end of a street, horses have the ability  to ” read”  people is much more expansive way.  This is part of their very survival toolbox.

In this blog, I will be sharing with you  what I am terming New  Equine Thought ™  and how I have come through a lifetime of interaction with thousands of horses to arrive at this collection of concepts.

Many of these ideas, concepts, and exercises are in my new book to be published this year.  I would love to open a discussion from this blog in order to clearly define and express this work to assist horses.

A STEP ONE EXERCISE FOR YOU:

DISCLAIMER : I am not present with you .. It is your responsibility to keep yourself safe at all times

Enter  a pasture or large paddock with your horse or horses. Do so without a rope or halter or anything in your hands. MORE importantly  enter  without ANY mental agenda. Empty of all thoughts, plans, agendas  that involve the horses.  Do this exercise when you do not have a time constraint.  Move out into the space without moving toward the herd. Walk indirectly out into the paddock  about one third of  the distance  from fence line and stand quietly.  AGAIN .. release ALL agenda and mental thought  from your mind.  That means to be clear .. you must have NO desire for the horses to come over or look at you  or seek food or ANYTHING.They act from their own desire. This will change over time.. if they are used to you coming out to feed or catch them they are pre programmed to your agenda and will react accordingly….. this is about practicing  just going out and being with them .. which may be new for both of you .

This is about YOU being with YOU … not  them. It is a first step  to letting go of your human agenda  to  “get things done” with your horses.It is about you getting in touch with yourself  … before  doing so with them.

Repeat this exercise a few  times  over a week or two and log and observe what happens.

AN AFTER NOTE/TIP

To be clear … I do have agenda for my horses at other times. Naturally, I move them from paddock to paddock or groom them or even ride or need to do shots or worming etc.  I am NOT saying this is the way 100 % of the time and so I am being careful not to be MIS understood here in this blog.  As I develop the blog it is my intention to assist those people who desire a mutual emotional closeness with their horses in a natural and mutually respectful way.

In Synergy

Melisa

As we begin this New Year  I feel people searching for hope and happiness. Numerologer Elizabeth Summers,  (www.elizabethsummers.com), who is a dear friend of mine, reminds us that 2 plus 1 plus 2  of the year 2012  ..adds up to a 5.  The number Five  is all about change and flexibility. In other words .. Go with the Flow!

Sounds like a perfect year to have as many interactions with horses as you can .. cause as well all know .. they are happiest when we do .  Stand a the edge of a paddock .. no rope in your hands.. feel the ground under your feet. Breathe fully and continue just to focus on  the feel of the ground under your feet .. ( instead of your watch! ) . Your horses will feel you ” arrive “  in your body .. and they tune into you !

So here is to our having a wonderful year ….

Not listening  to the media or the news ( if something big happens everyone will tell you ! )

Instead listen to yourself .. trust your quiet self .. turn down the noise of 2011 and

go with  your OWN flow this year !

In Synergy

Melisa

Hello all!

Our Equine Gestalt Coaching Method  program has two more graduates now ! It is a wild and wonderful ride as these students come into our training program seeking a new career with their love of horses. As they move through the eighteen months to two years of intensive training we truly get to know one another. Each student capitalizes on their life experience and previous life  focus to create  their own adaptation of our model.

These two are no exception. Please check out Terri Mongait  from California.  Her website is  www. hearts2horses.com  and her newest program is called Begin Again.  Terri is specializing in working with families of head injury patients and the head injury patients after rehab . Why ? Because of her own experience from a horse wreck …. angels on duty she is fully recovered and now serving this population.

Our other Jan 2011 grad,  is Devon Combs from Colorado. You can learn a lot about her business by tuning into her website  www. beyondthearena.com.  Devon’s passion and wonderful equine expertise is devoted to teens  in life development and working with  those  who struggle with  eating disorders.

Our program has 45 students form all over the US and Canada becoming certified in our Equine Gestalt Coaching Method  for healing humans through horses.  Each student is so unique and  I LOVE working with them. We just completed an intensive CORE  training weekend in Arizona and now I am headed back to Colorado in the morning.  I feel  full of hope and excitement for all of our students as they are pursuing their new career pathway.

ALSO new to our  program are MAC ( a 6 year old APHA western pleasure horse) AND 2 year old Ahbainn ( Gypsy Vanner Gelding ). These handsome new fellas are just getting settled in and prepared for our 2011 season .. waiting to meet all of you !

In Synergy

Melisa

PS If you would like a packet mailed to you about our program feel free to email your address to our office and we will mail it to you !    office@touchedbyahorse.com

Hello All!

I am finally able  to wind down after a whirlwind, fun and productive 2010! My final days of my work year has been some of the most fulfilling for sure. I wanted to bring your attention to a couple of facilities which caught my attention .. and my heart. But first, allow me to digress into a brief NLP lesson.

Words have so much meaning behind them .. sometimes when we least expect it. The word  help is used quite a bit … when perhaps we mean assist. “Help” may  exude that you intend to do it for them .. while assist honors that they are competent and working on achieving it but need a push. My grandpa used to say.. “If you are ever asked to help move a piano .. don’t be the jerk who picks up the stool! ” Anyway, the following two facilities  do not need your help .. but would be grateful for your assistance!

I was invited to do a keynote  speech at a fundraiser  the Friday evening  after Thanksgiving for Zuma Rescue Ranch in Littleton, Colorado.  Anna Twinney from Reach out to Horses spoke first, about  the language of the horse and her natural horse training methods. Anna has worked with the wild horses and is  a great practitioner  to see and learn from if you get the chance. The room held about 60 people seated around after a wine and cheese reception with a little mix and mingle . It was Anna’s and my way to invite our local following and  as they bought tickets it raised money for  the non profit, Zuma.

Zuma is the converted private facility of Jodi and Paul. After years as a professional Sport Horse Facility  and when their daughter was a young adult they decided to follow a deeper life purpose. A life purpose that would shape shift the 146 acre luxury farm into a rescue horse haven welcoming horses who were abandoned, starved, injured or in desperate straights. The horses  came to heal and find a safe place to regain trust and often much needed health.  As if this was not enough, the industrious couple with the big hearts not only wanted to extend this offer to the horses but also as Non Profit  Zuma opened its doors to teens in the foster care system.

80% of foster care teens end up in prison. Often as lost and needy as the horses are ..their teen counterparts are as well. Zuma offers a safe place for them to come and experience  contact with the horses. Build  friendships with the horses and  have them as mutual confidants to each others pain. There are over 6,000 foster care kids in Colorado alone … only a small percentage are in Zuma’s program .. why ? Because of funding. Jodi and Paul put everything from their own income into the operation and raise about 50 thousand a year additionally to keep the doors open as is. It  takes about 800 dollars per month to support a horse and a foster child duo for all their needs.

Again this is ASSISTANCE that is asked for ..what can you do ?

1)  a check .. address is on their site  www.zumarescueranch.com

2) Volunteer on a REGULAR basis  for barn chores .. clean stalls , feed , fence build etc.

3) WHO do you know who you could ask for a larger donation from  for the Zuma organization ? Do you know a CEO ?  or  could you start and sponsor a 10 K ?  Or  hold a bake sale ?

4) Can you donate HAY ? Or pellets? or grain??

The following day, I was asked by Demaris  to join her at Hearts and Horses to work with the teens sent their from a residential program called  Turning Point.  From 10 to noon, 14 teen boys  joined us to draw a card from my deck ( they do this each session and love the cards  which warmed my heart ). They made cookies for the horses at Zuma and we went out to the arena  to work with mare  called Miss Holly . The girls then came over at 1 until 3 to repeat the process. Demaris bless her heart meets with these kids every month ..  for free..just because she sees the vast need for these great kids to get back on track!It is also a NARHA center.

Again this is a  non profit center  doing a great job .. and does not need your help .. they are surviving but are limited in scope because they DO need your assistance as above ..

Volunteerism, feed, a check, or  a benefactor ….

These are just two of the organizations that need our attention ..and are pairing

ponies in need with kids in need ..

Please ASSIST if you can …

IN Synergy

Melisa

www. heartsandhorses.org

Hello!

I am bringing a wonderful and busy 2010 Season to a close this month. Due to our weather here in Boulder Colorado  I pull their shoes now, watch them grow winter coats and play in the snow! It has been a fruitful and very interesting 8 months of  workshops and private clients coming here to the ranch for which I remain grateful.  The horses on the Healing Team  have exhibited their incredible ability to understand, bring comfort, emotionally heal and entertain everyone who has visited.

We have welcomed a new member to the herd .. Rua Prionsa.. a 6 month old red and white Gypsy Vanner colt. He has been here about a month now and stolen many a heart .. including  my own.  This winter, as I watch him shoot up in size,  he will be my project for sure.   We are  bidding adieu’  to one of  our Equine Healing Team, Somethin, 8 year old American Paint Mare, who is moving six hours south to Durango, Colorado. She  is being welcomed and will be treasured by two of my apprentices  who revere her  ability to do this work with humans and she will certainly will give them a great start in their own practice when certified.

Two of my students are now certified .. Heather Kirby, Virginia and Marie Del Marle in Denver. Both  of these women excelled in the program and I am proud to have certified them in my Equine Gestalt Coaching Method. On their heels and wrapping up are two more apprentices.. Devon Combs Denver and Terri Mongait, California.  These  students all have unique talents  and bring excitement to their chosen area of expertise.

More students have joined the Touched by a Horse Certification  program this October and again we will open our doors to a few more select students in January 2011. It is an 18 month intensive curriculum combined with hands on work here at our facility and around the US. Many of our students live  out of state and because of the tele seminar approach  they  can study and excel and then come here for our CORE hands on workshops for their practicum.  I look forward to  opening an international track in 2011 too !

For now … winding down on site here at the Ranch  .. I think I will pull my own shoes and play in the snow too!

Melisa

Great to be back home!

Pleased to report  I found some very unusual gift items at Market. They will be so fun to add to the store. May I request ? If along the way any of you have discovered cool unusual gift  .. what I call “Equinalia” items please turn me onto  the source.  Send me an email about the artist or the manufacturer and what you like about it Melisa@touchedbyahorse.com

After returning  home,  I held a workshop with 18 wonderful psychotherapists who all work together in a combined practice. They have been together for  over 18 years doing mission driven work and wanted to see the Equine partnership work that I do .. and teach. It was a magical day that not only provided them with a super understanding about how  horses do this remarkable work .. but also delighted me in watching my Healing Team  honor being in the presence of a large  group of humans who are mission driven healers! They literally ” sang” for several minutes during our closing circle.

During  the closing a woman asked me … Are these “trick horses”?  She was so in awe of their claire-sentient responses all day.  I responded no .. that these are a herd of horses who live “in love” … they live in a unique bubble of spiritual love.    My love and appreciation for them and the remarkable work they allow me to be a part of and partner with me to  accomplish. My families love for them and Kelly’s  my staff person (and good friend) who tends to their feeding and turn out. The abounding love and  true depth of understanding my Certification students and coaches have for them as it is they  who work with them, learn from them  and witness their work, and each one of those humans each  pours love  onto them.  The deep respect and love all my clients pour onto them in Gratitude and including  the loving vibration of my Touched by a Horse Community  on the net send to them! They never witness or experience anything directed to them but love and respect for  the unique  journey they lead me through as we express together to the world the  calling of the horse on this planet.

Are they trick horses ? No .. they are loved horses ..who are truly seen for the wonders that horses truly are .. everywhere.

Whew .. I just finished up with 19 students from our Certification Program  at the Ranch. It was wonderful to see some of them ready to wrap up with NEW careers breaking out and other new students just beginning to see how they will be able to create their own pathway to a career with horses.. a career that will heal humans in the process using our Equine Gestalt Coaching Method tm .

It was a fast four days  with some incredible experiences with the healing team of horses we are blessed to have in my life.  Our newest Gypsy Vanner will be arriving in a week or so .  This is a breed who I am certain are connected to the fairy realm:)  They are like  story book horses in their behavior and so very very bright when it comes to reading humans!

Tonight as I write this I am in Las Vegas for a four day Gift Show at the Market.  I wanted to seek out some NEW gift items for horse lovers to add to our store on our ranch … at our expos this fall and online for everyone! I adore finding what is new, unusual, and not seen in any stores. I find things  for those of us who adore anything  horsey for our homes, kids and selves. AND I have already found some really cool things…met some terrific people and have very sore feet LOL !

Thanks for blogging  with me ..I look forward to discussing more and more about our cutting edge work  with the horses and sharing it with all of you !

Welcome to our new website which has been a true labor of love. Working with experts, James Schwartz and Valerie Young of Horse Connection magazine fame, was truly an experience of ESP.

You know .. Easy Simple and Painless! That is true .. I used the words new website and painless in the same sentence. Please let me know what you think about  the site. I would love to hear your reviews!