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Wild Heart Adventures

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Wild Heart Adventures

A space to let go of who you think you “should” be and embrace who you were meant to be.

08/18/2023

A Dawn On Me Moment

I love this picture so much. I don’t know who took it or where it came from so I can’t give photo credit.

This horse is jumping a jump that is ON FIRE and he is looking at the camera as if to say “look how special and fabulous I am”. To me that is incredible. His person taught him that, showed him that he could do big and incredible things without fear and anxiety.

I spent a lot of years in competition on my horses. I was very performance driven, expecting my horses to validate me and my worth depended on how the competition went. I lost my way, I lost myself.

Then I was what I call “ship wrecked” a few years ago and I went completely the opposite direction. I quit competing, turned all my horses out to pasture to live a “natural” life, and when I did engage with them, I had no boundaries, no leadership. I didn’t want to be a bully, I worried that anything I did was bad for them. I listened when people said making horses compete was terrible. I lost my way, I lost myself.

Then I started really listening to my horses. REALLY STARTED LISTENING to what THEY were saying. THEIR input. They missed me. They wanted to be with me. They wanted to be in relationship with me. Just a much more balanced version of me. A me that understood what Brene Brown means when she says “Do not shrink, do not puff up, just stand your sacred ground”.

My sacred ground means that the relationship with my horses is real, and messy, and I ask them to do things that they wouldn’t do naturally, like barrel racing, but I now use it as a platform to show them how amazing they are. I listen to them and care deeply about how they feel about what I am asking them to do. It doesn’t come down to me not asking things of them, it’s about how they feel about what I am asking. I want my horses to look like the one in the picture. Confident, self assured, showing off a bit because I have told them in every way possible how simply incredible they are and they believe me.

It’s in the balance of the two ways that I found myself, I found my way. Isn’t that the path in life, period?

07/11/2023

A Dawn On Me Moment

I have come to realize that I carry a certain amount of fear in my body at all times when I am riding my horses and especially when I am performing. Once I realized this, I asked myself, why? Why do you carry this fear? Where does it come from?

In my case, the fear I carry is deep and was planted a long time ago. When I first started riding and barrel racing, I wanted to do well. I was surrounded by people that had been riding their whole lives and were very “handy”. I wanted to be this, so I worked hard and took lessons and again, like I said, was blessed to be surrounded with great horse people. The problem was, I didn’t give myself the opportunity to move through the steps with as much time and grace as was needed. I sped thru them. I moved on from step one too soon. I moved to step two before I had become confident and secure at step one, and kept doing this thru all the steps. When you move on too soon, you will always carry a level of fear and anxiety about that step, which then carries thru all the steps. Your heart knows that you aren’t ready to move on, that you are not confident about the current step, but you tell yourself, outside influences tell you, your competitiveness tells you, you compare yourself to others and that tells you, step up - move on - get on with it - and so you do. The anxiety and fear stay in your body, in your heart. It’s always there and creates a way of being that you don’t even realize.

It’s the same way with our horses. When we move on to the next step too soon, before they are completely confident and secure at the current step, they will always carry anxiety about it. Barrel racing is a great example of this. Because it is a speed event we tend to step it up to a speed that neither ourselves or our horses are ready for, so therefore, we both carry anxiety instead of confidence, fear instead of joy.

There is nothing wrong with pushing yourself out of your comfort zone, but you need to do it with a great deal of love and kindness for yourself and your horses. You need to not let outside influences tell you where you should be. Only your heart should be telling you where you should be. Your heart is always right, so listen closely to it.

01/13/2023

Our new labyrinth is in such a perfect spot. No matter which way you turn the view is beautiful.

11/24/2022

“Life is an opportunity to practice horsemanship”. ~Mark Rashid

09/01/2022

‘A DAWN ON ME MOMENT’
I would like to have a relationship where my horse chooses to be with me. In order for this to happen I must be a safe place. I now realize that being a safe place means accessing all the parts of myself. Sometimes being soft and fuzzy but sometimes being a warrior. Sometimes being the one who follows but sometimes standing up to lead. If they’re looking for reassurance let them come in but if they’re looking to be a bully set a boundary. This means being aware enough to understand what they need, and what I need in any given moment. Isn’t this the same with our human relationships as well?

08/15/2022

‘A DAWN ON ME MOMENT’
I notice that a question that gets asked and talked about a lot in the world of horses is “How do I keep myself from getting so nervous that I, in turn, get my horse so nervous?” I have asked myself this question a lot as well, and I believe that the answer lies not so much in what we do at the competition, event, trail ride . . . but more in what we do every day. I also hear a lot of people say that when they go into compete or participate, they “leave their brain at the gate” or freeze up and they can’t remember anything that they were supposed to do.
Well this is completely normal and everybody does it because when your adrenaline gets pumping, your sympathetic nervous system kicks in and your brain shuts down and you just react. You don’t rise to the occasion, you drop to your level of training. You have to start off practicing controlling your emotions your thoughts and your energy as a daily practice. Then start practicing them when you’re stressed at work, in an argument, or when life gets hard, so then when you enter the gate for competition, start on your trail ride, take a lesson . . . you will be prepared to control your energy your emotions and your thoughts because that’s what you’ve practiced every day. You don’t get good at something by practicing it only when you really need it.

Photo courtesy of Lisa Buck

05/20/2022

I have been riding horses since I was 10 years old and training barrel horses for 28 years. I have been blessed by God with incredible horses and amazing people that have helped, and continue to help me learn, grow and become the best version of myself. Wild Heart Adventures was born as a place to share and experience those “aha” moments. You know, those moments that speak to your soul and change you forever? I call these moments, ‘Dawn On Me’ moments. Pun very much intended 😂 Stay tuned!!
Dawn

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Patagonia, AZ
85624

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