Another year, another wonderful intensive course with Sabine & Dan Birmann in Germany. It was a beautiful course, and I learned a lot from each horse and person there.

Most horses in the course had a history of previous conventional training, forcing them to develop protective strategies, such as running away, checking out, or refusing to participate by no longer moving forward. Each pair worked together throughout the course to help the horses realize that they could open up to their owners, and learn to trust that their strategies were no longer necessary. The horses were respected for who they were, their needs were perceived and met, and they could be themselves as they were born to be - proud, energetic, and powerful.

The Icelandic Gelding is traumatized due to a long history of conventional training using some brutal methods in an attempt to make him rideable. His character is that of a fighter, and a true knight, and he refused to let himself be broken by these experiences. His strategies were either running away, i.e. taking off while being ridden outside, or refusing in the arena by moving as slowly as possible. Over the course of the week, with a clear, calm, and sensitive approach by his owner, he was able to let go of some of his trauma, and in the end was able to be stopped using weight cues only while riding outside.

The palomino mare had a history of parelli horsemanship, and although she enjoyed spending time with her owner and going outside on rides, she appeared surpressed and subdued due to this training experience in her early life. Her owner encouraged her to move forward freely, allowing her to express herself, without falling into the strategy of "I'll just do my work." Towards the end, this mare was also able to begin to process some of these experiences, and became more and more lively as a result.

The white Trakhener mare and her owner had not been together for long, but had built a positive relationship already. Her owners task was also to allow the energy to flow during ground work, letting the mare move forward freely. They also discovered how fun riding outside together can be!

The bay gelding had a long life of being a school horse before he came to his current owner. His owner had visited several courses before this one where they had processed a lot of his trauma together. Here, he showed his true colors as a real gentleman of high rank, and even gave his owner the gift of riding freely in the arena.

The bay mare was raised in a Being with horses family, and her owner had never interacted with horses in a conventional way. They showed us all how beautiful and flowing groundwork and riding can be if you don't know any other way.

The chestnut mare is a highly sensitive horse with a history of severe neglect. Her owners task was to provide her with a calm and clear framework, within which she was able to be as energetic and powerful as she wanted. Together they were also able to slowly begin riding outside together, and solidified their relationship within the arena through groundwork.