Wednesday, September 22, 2010

Horses have so much to teach us...

Today we had a group out to discover what horses can teach us about being effective leaders, learners, communicators, and managers. CentrePoint Non-Profit Management have developed a six month mentorship program for Executive Directors in the non-profit sector who have been in their roles for less than 18 months. We have found that folks can learn a lot about their roles by understanding how effective horse trainers interact with different horses. Akin to people, horses have different personalities and aptitudes. Effective horse trainers will identify these traits in the individual horse, and adjust themselves in order to bring out the brilliance in every horse. They are constantly observing the horse, looking for resistance, and then rating how much to ask of a horse and how much pressure can be applied in order to push past the resistance to promote learning and cooperative interaction.

Never stop learning!
Tovie and the "Boys"

Monday, September 13, 2010

Wild Horse Rescue

My friends, Tim and Linda, had a beautiful experience over the summer that I thought worth sharing with you. They were out for a quad ride near their property in Sundre, when they came across a very young wild foal that had been abandoned by its mother and its herd. It was badly injured and near death. If you click here, you can read their incredible story, along with the very happy ending.

Here is a photo of Lucky & Linda enjoying one of the few days of sunshine we had this summer.

















You may remember Tim and Linda's painful experience last summer when they acquired their first horse and it unexpectedly died the day they got it home. Since then, Tim and Linda have purchased two beautiful mares, Miakoda, Barbie, and now their herd is complete with their little wildy, Lucky.

Miakoda and Barbie.

















Linda and Tim are enjoying their beautiful herd more than they ever could have imagined.

Let's hope for a warm Indian Summer!
Tovie