So we had travelled to this little island, by plane, train, bus and ferry, to spend four weeks with the Horse Master….
I haven’t mentioned his name yet – – – and it’s best to make up a name…. let’s call him Kert ….
We had a little house about a kilometre’s walk from the school. Our fourth housemate, Barb – also an Aussie – met us there. We all soon settled in and had lots of fun telling our stories.
The next morning we headed up to the school to meet everyone. Wow! There were people from US, UK, Canada, Germany, Belgium, Holland, Spain etc etc. Ages ranged from early 20s to people in their 70s, with probably the majority in their twenties. About five people had brought horses.
We were to meet Kert in the arena. I was wondering where his horses were. I hadn’t seen any.
There were ‘assistants’ there, running around getting things organised…. the arena was raked again, ropes and whips were organised…. and finally Kert entered the room….there was a hush from the crowd. Here was the man who had appeared on many videos and written books – now standing before us!
He was very charming, welcomed us all – and acknowledged the large Australian contingent. He then brought in a chestnut horse – one he had been working with – I think it was an Arab. He said this horse had been very difficult. He had his rope and long dressage whip….and he also filled his pocket with carrots – the assistants were furiously chopping!
So…carrots!!!! That didn’t seem very magical!! Still, he explained he treats a horse like a friend… of course he would offer them something nice…
He wandered around the arena, talking to us…. the talk was very uplifting – about how you have to be so aware of your body and your mind when working with horses…how you need to take things slowly – you need to watch the horse carefully..
As he was talking, he seemed to be effortlessly making changes in the horse. He would move it away with the whip – send it around on a circle and use the pose I had often seen in his videos and books while lungeing – …..then he would also give it some carrots occasionally.
He ended the session, still talking to us, while having the horse in sync with him, moving forward or back – as he did. Wow! That was something!
After lunch we moved to the classroom. Our topics for the four weeks were to be spiritual awareness, body awareness, myths and folklore – symbols and meanings, simulations, communication and watching demonstrations. There was going to be a lot to take in!
We spent many days listening to Kert talk about ‘the horse’ and what it meant. Some of these talks were really interesting, others were confusing…
We did exercises each day – these were great for our bodies. We also did meditations and grounding. I started to feel more centered and balanced – and calmer. This was great! Sometimes Kert took us through these exercises and other times his assistants did
.
However, while many things were good – there were some things happening that I was uneasy about…that I questioned.. and others in the group were also questioning….
This was to be the theme for the next four weeks…there was a major battle going on in my mind… what side would win?
COMING UP! THE MASTER – INSPIRATION VS UNEASINESS
IF YOU ARE NEW TO THIS STORY, PLEASE START AT THE BEGINNING HERE – Part 1 – An Introduction
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