I can honestly say that the 4 in 1 Equine Shampoo is one of the best such products I've used since I bought horses with a lot of "chrome" that required a lot of "elbow grease" to keep white. Last week I gave good ol' Zip a quick once-over bath, and I can honestly say that even in cold water (it was a very hot day, do don't feel sorry for the boy), and even in a very cursory effort, this Equine Shampoo got his whites white and made his bay sparkle. Very nice! Nice fragrance, too. Not overly-perfumy or chemical-smelling, just pleasant.
This is Zip, post-bath:
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Zip's blindingly-white chrome trim |
So, thanks again, Aspire, for the samples and the chance to share your excellent products with my readers.
Now, on to today's topic.....
Character Education and Educating Characters
I'd put the "feelings" level at 9 out of 10 for this little guy who just found out he won't be allowed to drive the tractor after all. Bummer. |
T
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here is some very cool stuff in my Character Education In-Service notes, and this
is a part to which everyone can relate.
Maurice Elias of Rutgers gave us quite a little speech about Social and
Emotional Learning (google CASEL:
Collaboration to Advance Social and Emotional Learning). He explained that emotion-laden skills must
be taught differently.
Really? It’s
not just my imagination that asking my equine of choice to brave the raging rapids (to me it’s a puddle in the
driveway, but what do I know about fear?) is a little farther up the training
spectrum than asking him to turn to the left on cue? Huh!
Guess I’m smarter than I thought.
I think it's pretty much a universal given now that we don't want to ride or train when we're emotionally on edge because we transfer that panicky feeling to the horse, which is never good. So making sure we're on an even keel before we approach the situation is key. Want to discover what, in your environs, sparks a
heavy emotional response from you or your human student? Check for these “Feeling Fingerprints”:
1. Throbbing
head2. Dry mouth
3. Grinding teeth
4. Tight fists
5. Teary eyes
6. Bad taste (that’s the oral one, not the Wal Mart leggings you’re schooling in)
7. Nervous laugh
8. Sweaty palms
9. Tingling nose
10. Clenched jaw
11. Fluttering heart
12. “Butterflies”
13. Frequent bathroom stops
14. Shaky legs
[Rereading that list, I had an overwhelming urge to
call my doctor for a valium scrip. Seems
as if at any given moment, I’m hosting at least three of those.]
It’s not always possible for an observer to see when
someone else is experiencing butterflies, but a handshake—the kind where you
hold the other person’s hand until they look at you a little funny—will definitely
give you a clue to the sweaty palms, rapid pulse, tight fists, and shaky legs
part. And once our subject is mounted,
some of the other fingerprints will show themselves. Horses react to tension with tension, so when
Puffer Boy suddenly tenses up and pricks his ears back, you might want to suggest
a quick relaxation exercise. If it looks
like Puffer is going to blow, dismounting first is a good plan.
Deep Relaxation can be accomplished thusly:
·
Stand (or sit, or lie down depending on
just how close to panic/fainting you are), arms at your sides, eyes closed, and
breathe deeply three times. Innnnnnn…..hold
a sec….outtttttt. · Starting with your toes, focus every bit of your attention on them and clench those little buggers as hard as you can, hold for a count of five, then release.
· Repeat the clench-release moving up the leg muscles to the hips and abdomen.
· Move your attention outward to the fingers and do the same thing, one muscle gropu at a time, moving up the arms to the shoulders.
· Raise your shoulders as high as you can, hold, release.
· Twist your head gently from one side to the other, concentrating on breathing the tension out of your neck as you do that.
· End with the “lion” pose: Open eyes, mouth, nostrils…raise eyebrows...splay fingers as wide as they'll go...hope nobody's watching….hold for 5, then release.
· Three more deep breaths like you started with should leave you ready for a nap and mostly free of tension.
· Get back on your horse.
· Okay, go find your horse first, then get back on him. Wake him if you have to. He’ll likely be as calm as you are since he got an unexpected time out.
Next time I’ll explain what skills you and your horse need to learn to be emotionally sound.
Namaste.
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