Agape Equine

To Parents and Students of Agape:
It is with much thought and prayer I make this challenging decision. I will be "pressing pause" on teaching horse lessons for the foreseeable future. There are several reasons, one being the uncertainty of what is ahead for many small businesses. How things can change in a day! It is impossible to socially distance yourself when teaching beginner riders on horseback. Horses also need to eat regardless of if we have lessons or not. 🙂 There are multiple factors at play here, but please know it was not in our plan to stop so soon. Covid-19 threw a big wrench in the game. It also has forced people to pause and there is value in that too.

Sharing my passion with others for horses has been a dream come true and I have truly loved each and every lesson together with you! You have overcome fears, you have built your confidence, and you have learned the power of relationship with an 1,000 lb equine. That is to be celebrated! And oh how I will miss seeing so many of your faces each week! That is the hardest part for me. I want you to continue your journey of riding and have a few alternatives below on whom to contact. I could not find any Western based instructors, but here are a few options for English instruction:

Avalon Horse Farm
Lara Peterson
[email protected]

Nicole Martin:
618-406-6206

“To ride on a horse is to fly without wings.”

With love and gratitude,
--Laura

**If you have purchased a gift certificate, I will be in touch in the next week to refund. Please support small businesses in your area as much as possible to help them stay afloat, as we all recover from this strange time in history.**

Oh yes. I love my mares!

https://www.allpony.com/quizzes/

Horse & Pony Quizzes On Coat Colors, Markings, Gaits, Breeds for Kids Fun horse quizzes on coat colors, markings, gaits, grooming, breeds, etc. Get a certificate of accomplishment and compare your results in the leaderboards!

Equestrians have been practicing social distancing for a very long time. 😁😙🐴☺️

Hi friends, due to this news, we will have to postpone our re-launch this year: https://www.centralillinoisproud.com/news/state-news/all-illinois-schools-set-to-close-through-end-of-month/?utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook_WMBD&fbclid=IwAR1gCBEQvQniTvZUn6DTnQV4z7_ujAdAyX6UGakv2o6STHeBXTyha8968_8

Wash your hands, come hug a horse soon, and this too shall pass.

All Illinois schools set to close through March 30 CHICAGO (WMBD) — Gov. J.B. Pritzker on Friday announced all schools in Illinois are to close beginning Tuesday. Pritzker said schools will close to students from Tuesday through March 30 due …

Happy Birthday to Eden! We loved celebrating with you all! 🐴❤️🐴

Love this!

The old masters said your horse gives you "the first bouquet of flowers" when he releases his ribcage and blows through his nose for the first time each day. This is a sign that your riding session is heading in the right direction. How many bouquets of flowers did you get today?

Spring really is coming! The equines are starting to shed! 😂🐴

Meet The Real Life Horse That The Fictional Spirit Was Inspired By - COWGIRL Magazine The movie Spirit is very popular among cowgirls, mostly due to the lovable animated buckskin that the movie is named after. The horse that...

Curious where our name came from? My dear friend sent me this and I wanted to share it:

God's Agape Love

The Bible talks about various kinds of love. There's the Greek word "phileo," which means friendship or tender affection. Then there's "eros," which is the passionate love we feel for a lover. But there's a third kind, a higher kind of love.

"Agape" is the kind of love God has toward His Son and the human race. It's a love that sacrifices, the love that we see in John 3:16: "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son..."(NIV).

There are so many scriptures on this topic. It's really something you should sit down and study personally. Another scripture that teaches the concept of agape love is Matthew 5:44. It tells us to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us.

It's not difficult to pray for people who are good to you. But it does stretch you to pray for people who have wounded you. It's easy to hang out with your friends at church. But it's harder to seek out that person who looks like they're miserable and alone and just listen to them for awhile. That's agape love. It's sacrificing your comfort to do what's righteous.

You can "agape love' people by being patient with them, by being understanding with them, by saying something encouraging or by not saying anything when you could. As humans, we are inherently selfish, constantly asking, "What about me?' It's time to declare war on selfishness with the power of agape love.

It's time to be good and loving to people on purpose as we study and understand what scripture says about love. And let the agape love of God in you overflow to others.

Prayer Starter: Lord, Your powerful agape love is amazing. Empower me as I declare war on selfishness and make a decision to, on purpose, live a life of agape love.

“For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.”
‭‭John‬ ‭3:16‬ ‭NLT‬‬

My kind of Super Bowl Sunday! Cricket and Luna did great for us.

This made my evening. 🙂

We are all looking forward to spring here and lessons to start again, horses included. ☺️☺️

Great visual! https://horseandriderbooks.wordpress.com/2016/03/30/rule-your-ride-with-your-visual-powerline/?fbclid=IwAR3qqQjyPuLw0YIJ0hoBdprG7he322g9nsE1yu1LY8ryBb75IUDyHgkxANg

Rule Your Ride with Your Visual Powerline In WHEN TWO SPINES ALIGN: DRESSAGE DYNAMICS author Beth Baumert explains the four physical “Powerlines”—Vertical, Connecting, Spiraling, and Visual—that she says enable us t…

Leasing is a great alternative as well, parents. :D http://hannahebroaddus.com/10-reasons-your-teenage-daughter-should-own-a-horse/?fbclid=IwAR2jD1aqvR0WyZiO3O0xKXploTnQsrM0rwyhf7lN2WgTgzlAbsXVutdnJt8

10 Reasons Your Teenage Daughter Should Own a Horse I believe that for all of the challenges, there’s far more benefits, many that you may not even know about yet. A horse could mold your daughter into the person you’d be proud to see her grow into. To all of the parents who are weighing the pros and cons of horse ownership, here’s why I would ...

Are you a 50 or 60 something horse guy/girl at heart who has been away from your passion for awhile? Life happens and now you have more time for what you enjoyed! I will be offering a program this Spring exactly for you! It’s never too late to start again. 😊Message my page directly to learn more.

History worth observing.

Yoga for riders to improve our position and balance, love this!

[Free Yoga for Riders] Improve Your Balance, Breathing and Postural Awareness Integrate mind and body to improve strength, flexibility and body awareness with Yoga for Riders

Cow wrangling our rogue cow who frequently escapes! Success and some smiles along the way! 😆

This is how I want our lesson horses to feel about students and work. ❤️🙌🏻 I don’t want them to dread and avoid humans. It takes time and intentional effort to build that relationship.

Researcher: Horses Are "Emotional Sponges" – The Horse A group of Welsh mares with limited past human interactions exhibited signs of stress and relaxation in response to respective "angry" and "joyful" human facial expressions and sounds.

Good stuff!

THE OUTLINE - TRAIN YOUR EYE
Whichever discipline you practice, you're aiming to achieve balance through strength and lift. But how do we achieve this and what does it look like?

This diagram created by Naomi Tavian, perfectly illustrates extension and flexion. Study this diagram and look at your own photos, train your eye to see the forces acting on the horse's body.

One thing I notice is that in the diagram, there is no bridle. This is because technically speaking you don't need any bit or bitless bridle to achieve it. Lift does not come from the head, just as it also doesn't come from the hind. Lift of the thorax is achieved purely through the thoracic sling, which is made up of pectoral muscles and the Serratus ventralis cervical & thoarcis muscles. The croup will naturally tuck under to support the lift (balance), creating the perfect 'outline'. As the horse becomes stronger, they will raise the poll to be the highest point to full collection (not shown in diagram).

How we strengthen these thoracic muscles correctly comes from a combination of exercises including extension and stretching (both on the ground first and then ridden). Just pulling on the reins and driving with the leg is not the way forward (pun intended). Training for strength and flexibility doesn't come from endless trotted circles, it comes from a proper plan, understanding of the horse and good management to ensure a horse is in the right place to start such a journey.

What is wrong with this picture?
Answer: Nothing!

Each winter we get many calls from people concerned after seeing horses with snow on their backs. If you see snow building up on a horse’s back or rump, you are looking at proof that body heat is not escaping through the hair to melt the snow, and their coat is keeping them properly insulated. Also, the best way for a horse to stay warm is by eating! You can also see in this photo that the horse has access to a shelter, but is choosing to stay out in the snow and eat 🙂

Photo credit: University of Minnesota

Stay in your own lane. :)