Three weeks of dashing between countries and counties

On way from Lodz, Poland to London, UK...the commute with a view :) I am not a big fan of flying but could stare at cloudscapes for hours...the ones on this flight reminded me of  heaps of semi-melted marshmallows floating on top of a giant mug of milky hot chocolate! 

The last three weeks were a whirlwind of travel, organisation, emotions and restlessness. You know how we are told by "experts" to have a good rest when we feel tired to re-charge and avoid fatigue? Well that is all good for when we do feel tired. I often feel betrayed by my own lack of self-preservation which allows me to work for insane number of hours per day and carry on each step on some inexplicable source of energy. Then, as if all of a sudden realising that it was a mistake, I come crashing with the sofa, laptop and a cup of tea as the only places and activities that seem remotely possible.

The clinic in Poland went really well. Seeing the riders develop their relationship with the horses and that in turn letting them achieve better results in training is what I enjoyed the most during the weekend. I do believe that to teach an animal anything at all, we must get into its brain, it must understand, comprehend the task in a way that allows it to follow instruction with as little physical and mental resistance possible.

Photo from clinic at Stajnia Sabat, near Warsaw, Poland. I used this picture in the last Aspire's newsletter, love that quote!

If you struggle repeatedly with a training issue with your horse, double and triple check he understands the question. So many times we focus on resolving problems with exercises and equipment instead of finding a different way of approaching the subject in the first place. Even though I've been working with horses for over 20 years and I can see signs of their intelligence every day, I am not so sure about efficacy of training methods that suppose human-like intelligence in an equine. In fact, I consider it quite offensive to the horse ;)
Let's say, young wolves learn about hierarchy by many herd behaviours including eating certain parts of an animal they hunted and killed. They don't sit in a classroom and learn about history of canis lupus genes.

Same horses. Their learning process is different to ours and it is the trainer's/rider's duty to either learn it from someone or discover it from behavioural signs the horse gives. The moment we train horses' physical attributes without treating them like people, or dogs, or children, but like the species they are, we get content animals happy to work with us. It's fascinating to observe how athletic abilities improve with mental coherence.

My lovely cousin, Karolina, who works so hard on regaining trust and build a good relationship with Krater whom she has on loan and who has various unpleasant training experiences behind him . They've made a huge progress together in the last year :) 

More pictures from Poland HERE. My clinics in Poland are a great way for me to visit my family which is both wonderful and a little sad. I enjoy every moment and savour it and go ahead quite happily but there is always this element of sadness in goodbyes which underlines the price one sometimes has to pay for pursuing path less travelled.

My beautiful little niece enjoying some pressies :) She's such a character already despite only being around for 3 years ;) 

Meet Tymon, my fab little nephew, 10 months old and I've only seen him handful of times...

The time pass so quickly when I am there. Between coffees and window shopping with my mum, joking around with my brother, driving about and chatting with my dad, dinners and evenings with my aunt, cousins and grandparents before I knew it I was back in the clouds.

My book for the flight - a gift from my Aunt - fantastic read, click this sentence  to see the English version. 

A couple of days at home with Rick with few lessons with regular clients fitted in and then back on the road again - this time to North Yorkshire. There is an interesting mix of clients that sign up for my clinics there from professionals working in the industry, through to teenagers eventing at lower levels, inquisitive adult riders to happy hackers and (a first this time) children.

Several regular riders who I have seen previously signed up this time too and that's probably what I enjoy the most - seeing riders change and progress over time, helping them find some more answers to various training questions, come up with exercises that awaken body awareness and make schooling more effective, chatting through issues. I had Ceri (Pure Essence Photography) taking pictures at this clinic and you can see the full set on Aspire blog HERE.

Very clever 3 year old TB off the track. Starting in-hand work here, learning to walk on a circle. He's got an amazing attitude and willingness to work. 

Now I am back and having a few quieter days to get back into the swing of things and give my body a little rest. I need to upload all the videos I took from both clinics which takes a while on a not so fast internet connection! So far I managed almost all Poland videos so now I have a set from Yorkshire to do.

The autumn has truly arrived in London home counties. It's chilly albeit still sunny at times with equal amounts of rain and rainbow :) I am not too bothered about the change of seasons, quite looking forward to it. So many things to reflect on, think about, make plans - perfect filler for dark, winter evenings.
This year is very much a transition year from all the training back to teaching and re-building the Aspire programmes and although I am very much in-the-present kind of person, I also have started to tentatively look at next year. There will be a lot of make-or-break situations in 2015 and I am anxiously awaiting the challenges.
But for now, I do like sitting here with my laptop, writing, reading and just feeling grateful for all the fabulous opportunities I have experienced so far :)

Night time blogging, receiving goodies, filming tutorials etc

I am not sure why that is but I do enjoy writing on here late in the evenings or at night time as it happens right now. It has always been like this ever since starting this blog. At the beginning, it was mostly due to the fact I would be back home after 10pm or 11pm and by the time I had some dinner it was bed time. It seemed rather unfair to have no other life-time than travelling and working so I extended my "days" by writing.
The funny thing about writing a blog (and if you write one or write a diary of sort please do let me know if you feel the same) is that it becomes a big part of your life and not writing about the daily happenings somehow feels as if they didn't happen. Now I made it sound a bit like an obsessive Facebook posting where if you didn't post a photo on Facebook from your holidays then you may have never actually been on one but it's not quite like this. I have written more posts on here that have stayed as drafts and never been read by anyone but me than those that are published - writing organises the chaos of thoughts in my head.

Hugs for my wonderful Mum - she is the best :) 

Thankfully the last week since I wrote had been a good one, nothing too backward have happened (to which I am quite used to since most good things come with a damn wrapping of difficulties) and so the delusional optimism has been happily spreading its wings. To my delight, my dearest Mum sent me a little parcel with some clothes and a magazine which for a nomad living on one suitcase does feel like the biggest shopping trip of the century ;) Thank you Mum!

[My Mum asked me what "selfies" were so I explained it was basically trying to fit yourself into the camera view balancing said camera with one hand. Now that she knows she wants me to send many of those - sigh]

Now, on a more serious front, the new yard continues to develop and I am really looking forward to working out from it very soon.
I have some interesting new guest bloggers who will write a series of posts on Aspire blog which I am very much looking forward to also. One is Science Supplements who will write a series of educational posts about health of competition horses (also older horses and grassroots horses) and a young journalist - Alice-Rose Brown, who is building her writing portfolio and will share thoughts of her battle with confidence. If you are interested in either, do check out the links :)

I am also preparing Aspire's next Newsletter which will go out on the 14th. One part of it will be a little video tutorial which I filmed with the help of one my lovely clients and which will be simply a video reply to a question by another rider who trains with me during Aspire clinics.

Sneaky peak at the video frames - can you guess what was the rider's question? 

Many more tutorials coming up once the new base is fully up and running! Sadly, my trusty, wonderful Panasonic camcorder died of unknown disease and I am currently left with my old iPhone and it's limited quality. Hopefully the content will be good enough for the viewers to forgive the form.

Now I better hit the pillows, it's 01:25 at this very moment and I need to be up at 7:30. I wonder if it rains and hurricanes tomorrow as eagerly as it did today!

In Memory Of My Grandfather

My dad phoned tonight to pass the sad news. I guess we expect the elderly loved ones to leave us sooner or later and yet it still comes as a shock. My brother and I grew up very close to my grandparents. And now he's gone...

Hurry up 

Hurry up to love people, they pass away so fast 
Only shoes and silent telephone remains 
Only what is trivial lags like a cow 
The most important is so beautiful that occurs suddenly 
Afterwards natural silence therefore unbearable 
Like purity born straightforward from distress 
When we think about someone, remaining without them 

Don't be sure that you still have time, because certai

nty is vague
It takes away compassion like any joy
It comes simultaneously with pathos and humour
Like two passions still weaker than one
They go away fast like thrush falling silent in July
Like sound a bit awkward or emotionless bow
To see decently they close their eyes
Though greater risk is to be born than to die
We still love too little and always too late

Don't write about it often but once and forever
and you will be like a dolphin gentle and powerful

Hurry up to love people, they pass away so fast
And those who perish, not always return
And we never know talking about love,
Is the first the last, or is the last the first?

Jan Twardowski

RIP Grandad :((((((

Poland

My Dad travels a lot with work and I just got these photos from him; taken yesterday. They have about -25C tonight. So stunning...





...and yet so impractical...
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Back from holidays - my family, friends & the World Cup Eventing Final in Strzegom, Poland

If I was religious I would say: "God forbid I should go to any heaven where there is no family, friends and horses"......slightly amended by Me but originally by R.B. Cunningham Graham

There is so much to tell I almost don't know where to start. For some, holidays are to lie down on the beach and read a book. For others it's a search for a thrill.

For me, at this moment in time, holidays are about seeing my beloved family and treat myself to the rare time when we can all just spend some time together. It's great to keep busy, great to go for adventure trips but there is a certain art to being with people you can just be still with. When there is no effort involved in keeping the holiday going, when you can chat or just sit together and yet it feels right.

The last week was exactly that. Quality time.

I invited a very special friend of mine to come along and we had so much fun. I did a lot of translating which left me mixing the two languages completely. As a result I would speak to my parents in English and my friend in Polish ;) I think we managed somehow just fine and I hope she enjoyed the whole trip as much as I did.

After a day at my parents' house we set off to Strzegom which is a good 4 hours drive away. My brother, his girlfriend and Poker the dog joined us on the second day. There was a bit of a dilemma as to what to do with Poker as we stayed at a 3* hotel rather than a B&B but that was sorted...by smuggling Poker into the hotel room!

Pic.: View from our hotel room

We wondered whether we would be discovered as there was apparently a CCTV in the hotel but all went smoothly. The ideas of how to get the dog out of the hotel the next morning (ranging from creating a sling from bed sheets to descent him out of the window, packing him into the biggest suitcase to plainly advising anybody who enquired that the dog had only came in to use a toilet) provided us with an hour of uncontrollable laughter

Here is a PART 1 of a picture story of those several days with some very important people in my life.

MORE SOON!

I've been putting away writing this post because I always feel so incredibly emotional just after coming back, this time especially so, and I had such fantastic time that I didn't want to sound grim.

It's doubly emotional for two reasons. My granddad was told he either has an operation or he is being given a year to live. The problem is he has had two strokes already and sedating him is not a very real option...he's awaiting more tests.

Then there is Poker whom I found on the street as a few weeks old puppy in 1997 and had him for a couple of years before giving him to my brother when I left home to go to Uni. My brother is crazy about this dog. And Poker is ill. They got diagnosis today after doing x-rays. He's got cancer which has already spread to multiple organs and the newest growth is very close to his lungs.

Many people would say, hey it's just a dog, but you know what, it's not only that. In this fury creature there are 12 years of family life. The laughter, the joys, the tears. Memories.

It's just heartbreaking to know I'm not very likely to cuddle his cheeky face ever again.

But don't get me wrong. It was a fabulous week. It's only emotional because it was so special. And because I miss them all so much.

Mum and Dad's cycling trip to Ojcow National Park,Poland

Here are a few pics from my parents' cycling trip to Ojcow National Park, Poland. They are both passionate cyclists and spend most weekends 'in the saddle' ;) This was one of their longer trips and they've just came back. Got to laugh at my mum's cycling socks ;))) Dad is the first on the right on the pic.

My dear brother just sent me some pics from his holiday in Egypt, so while I am working hard he is...

It's Mother's Day Tomorrow

Tomorrow is Mother's Day in Poland and I wish I could give my dear mum a big hug and take her for some yummy lunch but instead she will have to make do with some long-distance wishes. 

Pic. above: My lovely Mum on her and Dad's latest cycling trip last week. 

We've been chatting today and she passed a super news to me: our FEI Eventing World Cup Final tickets for all three days arrived today! Yay :) Roll on August, I can't wait to see my parents and my naughty brother and experience some holidaying ;)

Event's timetable: http://www.worldcupstrzegom.pl/en/timetable-.html