General

Human and Horse Diagram

A tribute ceremony by the trail riders for Art Gayton

January 2011

Natural Connection in Riding – an article by Roby Hamershlag

Uri Peleg from Moshav Ramot is an unconventional person, and as such, his way of training horses is also very unconventional.

The Meaning of the Concept “Natural Connection” in Working with Post-Trauma Individuals Through Horses within the Atulaf Association

The space created between person and person, and between person and horse, is the essence of our project called Natural Connection. A group of 10 veterans, volunteers, and participants ride horses together in nature. Something happens during the ride, sitting under a tree, enjoying the scenery, and strengthening the bond between them. Ultimately, the group becomes a family. The Natural Connection Project is part of the “Rope Couple” project of the Atalef foundation. The project provides support to veterans struggling with PTSD. The group is divided into pairs, a veteran and a volunteer. These pairs will continue to support each other for years to come. The understanding that the trauma is not personal or familial, but rather a wound in the fabric of Israeli society as a whole, is a fundamental principle of the project. We all have a responsibility as a society to achieve healing and rehabilitation. This is for the sake of the unity and wholeness of the nation. In order to continue our activities for years to come, we need your support, especially during the complex and challenging times that the State of Israel is facing today. Key points: The project provides a unique opportunity for veterans to connect with nature, horses, and each other. The group setting creates a supportive and understanding environment. The project helps veterans to heal from PTSD and build stronger relationships. Your support is needed to continue the project and help more veterans. How you can help: Donate to the project. Volunteer your time. Spread the word about the project. Thank you for your support!

A Diagram That Taught Me the Structural Similarity Between the Horse and the Human as a Basis for Natural Connection

Ahead of the upcoming videos, some of which will deal with how we create a steering style that is characteristic and suitable for trail riding—as opposed to the steering commonly used in the competitive world—I am presenting here a diagram that has taught me a great deal about horses and their response to the points we press on different parts of their body in order to receive a desired reaction, in steering for example.

The steering I propose is steering with direct rein pulls, and consequently also the placement of the legs in positions different from those commonly used in the Western or English worlds, which will cause the horse to move its shoulders following its head in a turn or side movement, to the right or to the left. And this through our hands and our legs. (I will show this in the upcoming videos.)

This steering will solve countless problems that arise from steering using “neck reining” on the trail, in all its forms—a technique that is characteristic of and copied from the competitive riding arena.

As preparation for the next videos, I am publishing here a diagram of a human skeleton inside a horse, which has taught me so much about the absolute similarity between the horse’s responses to pressure points on its body and our own responses to identical pressure points on our bodies.