Hi all! Well it has and continues to be a whirlwind time at FDH and Ohana Farm. If you haven’t been following us on Facebook, Here is what has been going on:

• The Indoor and main barn have been undergoing complete renovation. We are about a third of the way through. Improvements include a new sky lit bright roof, new arena footing, new stalls, a wash stall with hot and cold water, a tack room, and best of all, a Bathroom! Yay!
• We have started improving paddocks with an eye on horses living as holistically as possible.
• We have been getting horses in that are in need of what we do best, The FDH Whole approach to health and training. This includes Holistic care and horse keeping, Self Selection, and my System of Liberty, Ground, Mounted and Natural Response Training.

First of all I want to give a shout out to North Brookfield and the neighboring towns. Everyone has been so nice, supportive and welcoming! Everyone is excited for the changes and activity at the farm. I really like it here!

Mercury and Oliver’s new friend Dean has just moved in with them and they are getting along great! Mercury says he loves hanging out with Oliver but, he likes to horse around with a bigger guy too. Oliver says he likes Dean because he is an easy going guy. Their new little herd is peaceful and balanced.

newest member of our Ohana!

Dean has just been introduced to Self Selection and boy does he like Barley Grass! He has been taking a lot daily so he is detoxing and re-balancing himself by selecting what he needs in the super nutrition in Barley Grass provides. He also has been drinking a bucket of Peppermint essential  oil water, Chamomile, a tiny bit of Devil’s Claw and Dandelion root.

Mya came in last week also. Mya is an appendix quarter horse mare that I have known for a long time. I met her a few years ago as a branded “Naughty” mare who had a laundry list of issues. I instantly knew she was a good horse who needed help. Mya’s people have stood by her during her long and sometimes very difficult rehabilitation. She is one of the more complex cases I have dealt with health wise. I had to practice a lot of Horse Listening™ to figure out what was her true character and what was pain, trauma and poor training. She exemplifies what happens to a horse that comes to a place like Ohana farm and gets what she truly needs. She was at a more traditional boarding facility, but due to her special rehabbing needs, she was not doing well. She has been here for a week and looks like a different horse already. Her eye has changed, her demeanor is more happy and pleasant (she was known for being quite ear pinny and nippy prior) Her defensive behavior has diminished simple by giving her a more natural life and diet. She also feels understood here and part of the FDH Ohana. I find this alone helps horses heal. It is interesting to me that people do not consider that a horse takes in our negative or positive thoughts about them. If we go around saying that horse is this way or that, we perpetuate negative or positive energy around them. At Ohana farm all horses are perfect as they are and understood. They can feel this.

When Mya arrived I put her in what I call the Welcome paddock. It is in the center of everything. It allows the horses to see where they are and get comfortable. i want the horses to be outside immediately so they can stretch and de-stress from any anxiety the moving or change of routine might cause. They get their Slow feeder full of quality hay and whatever Self Selection they may want. I noticed that Mya wanted her usual Peppermint essential oil in a bucket of water, She took several small quantities of herbs Including Golden seal and Barley Grass. She did not take a lot which was good.

I will keep you posted on the horses progress as they go. I like to keep journals on each horse and evaluate every 30 days how the Whole horse is. One of the other Unique features that is in plans at Ohana farm is what I call Medicinal Meadow. Since this farm will be the first official Self Selection farm, We will be cultivating our own healing herbs right here. We already have Mint, Echinacea, Burdock, Chamomile, Golden rod, Dandelion and others growing.

In other news (as if there’s not enough!) Check out Horse&Rider UK for the first of a 4 part series about the FDH Liberty, Ground ,Mounted Training Progression Click the link here to buy or view. http://bit.ly/HROct14  (Photo courtesy or Horse&RiderUK Magazine)

For those of you who are interested, I am looking for candidates for my Mentor Working student program. This program is an on farm program. Contact me for more details. There has been a lot of interest in this program and questions about an online version. I will have two versions. One will be online. You should look at the Mentor program if you think you may want to be an Equine professional (not necessarily a trainer). If you would like to learn the FDH approach, you might consider the online program. I will keep you posted on when that program will be available. In the meantime there are clinics coming up in September and October and I see you Oz and NZed!

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