Mark Rashid Clinic

Mario and I had a fabooluss time at the Mark Rashid clinic in Arroyo Grande over the weekend/early this week!

But first, a bird story. The other night, in prep for trailering horses to the clinic, I peaked inside my trailer to make sure all was in order. To my horror, I saw THREE dead adult birds!! They had apparently been accidentally trapped in the trailer when I closed the windows before one of the rain storms. The birds like to build nests inside trailers, so I imagine they were in there looking for nesting spots. I can't believe that THREE birds were all inside at the same time, and I was singularly responsible for their deaths. I felt so horrible, I couldn't stop crying -- imagining them scared and trapped, hungry, thirsty... ugh! It's awful! ... Mario was cleaning the corral when I found them, and he saw me crying with black streaks of mascara running down my face. He very kindly removed them from the trailer and buried them nearby, which was so sweet of him!!

A couple of nights later, exausted from trying to catch up with trimming, bills, errands, etc and preparing for the upcoming clinic, I arrived at the barn to give the horses their supplements and head home to finish the laundry and pack. I really didn't want to talk to anyone or be held up in any way. But no, here comes a client... nicely, to give me a check for having trimmed her horse... But then, alas, she starts telling me about this poor, injured pigeon that has been hanging out in her horse's barn. UGH! I tried plugging my ears but it was too late... he's been there for days, doesn't seem to be able to fly or perch... the barn dogs will surely kill it... Aggghhh! It's karma, I have to save this pigeon! He was big and very pretty, and didn't put up much fight as I awkwardly scooped him up and put him inside a big bucket. His left leg appeared unusable and he was using his wing for balance as he tried to "walk". He rode home quietly in my car as I imagined how Mario was going to respond to me bringing home an injured pigeon the night before Easter/we were supposed to leave/we had 10,000 things to do. On the way I called my friend and fellow trimmer, Miranda, whose mom does wild life rehab and rescue. Bliss... she tells me "I know just the person for you to call! She lives in Ventura and specializes in pigeons!" A few phone calls and a 1/2 hour later, and little "Jerry" (the client named him) was on his way to her caring home. She determined he had a broken leg, but his wings were fine and she felt he would be rehabilitated and able to return to normal pigeon life in the wild. :) !! I still feel horrible about the poor birds that perished inside my trailer, but I felt soooo good that I saved little Jerry's life.

The clinic was great! I've been to several of his clinics over the last 8 years or so, starting with Miss Faith before she was even under saddle yet. I also took Jordan to his clinics, and have audited a handful as well. I always feel better about horsemanship after being around Mark. I call it being "rebooted" by him. He has no idea he does this for me, I suspect, but he absolutely does. He has this sort of eastern philosophy approach to life and horses, and life with horses, and it creates a zen like approach to horsemanship. Breathing, core balance, intent, and moving energy. When my friend Anita (who has hosted Mark almost every year for about a decade now) told me Mark was coming to her area this April, I had the stroke of brilliance (if I do say so) to sign MARIO up for a clinic with him. My client Jill, who owns Bucky, agreed to let Mario take him to the clinic. We also trailered up my client Lisa, with her horse Pal.

Lisa and her horse Pal

Anita's beautiful living room

We stayed at Anita's house and as usual that was heavenly. She lives on a gorgeous 50 acre parcel in Arroyo Grande, by Lopez Lake... the stars at night, the amazing views from every window, the quiet natural beauty... ahhh. The dogs loved it too!!

Mario hand walked Bucky every day on Anita's track,

and the dogs happily accompanied them

Pugs in the lupines

Mark worked with Mario on his breathing, asking and ending each movement softly, using his core, and being clear in his intent. You could see the change in Mario as the lessons progressed, he became more one with the horse, they moved together, they "went" together as Mark says. It was cool for me to watch Mario riding in a clinic - as weird as it was for me to be there and NOT be in the clinic myself!!

Mark and Mario... cowboys...

Interesting change of roles, too, as I helped him but also tried to stay out of his way and not be overly in his face. I was so proud of him, and excited to be there with him. On the last day he did some in-hand work relating to hoof trimming horse handling. That was interesting as it confirmed so much of what we do! Finally doing things right on our own - ha! It also helped us refine our approach - to slow down, to breath, to be clear. As I suspected the whole event went way too fast! Before we knew it we were loaded up and heading home...

I'll end this with a quote from Mark, which I really loved.

"Either you're in it for the horse, or you're not".