NEVZOROV HAUTE ECOLE 2010 Workshops

with International Representative, Maurizio Patti

"Every single moment shared with a horse is a moment of growing and learning. We should only allow horses to teach us all there is to know".          Maurizio Patti

2010 NHE Workshops series report

by Sascha Day

Coming to Australia

From the moment the idea was given birth and the question was raised, “Will you come to Australia to share the NHE message with us?” Maurizio’s answer has always and simply been, Yes.

Very little to nothing else about it was discussed. In fact, apart from letting Maurizio know when his first flight to Australia was, we discussed very little about the how’s, when’s or where’s of the workshops.

There was no need for any more discussion. We both instinctively knew that the intention behind his visit, a deep wish for horses and people, would enable everything else to follow easily and organically.

And so it did – from the outpouring of interest and 29 places of the workshops filling in less than a week to the manifestation of a nice venue with horses, the first ever NHE workshops were made solely on this

intention.

Arrival at the workshops

We arrived the afternoon before the first workshop, after a long and interesting 400km car trip and were met by nice accommodation and stunning views. Of course, the first thing on our mind was not about how comfortable were our sleeping quarters but only to meet the horses.

Immediately venturing down to the paddock, we were met by 13 faces, unique, wonderful and touching. Moving through the herd, we greeted all and in our NHE minds drew some sort of physiological conclusions about our new friends.

The difficulty of the situation became apparent as we realized that the living conditions of the horses was not physiologically harmonious for good health. Many horses were struggling with real health issues, further unresolved and hampered by living in such a large group. None the less, even with these difficulties and real concerns, we fell in love with them and knew that time spent simply living the philosophy and heart with them would reveal to the people who had come to learn, the intention and purpose of NHE.

The Horses;

each of the horses at the Australian workshops deserves their own page, it is true that I could and would go on talking about each of them in depth if I knew it would serve some reasonable purpose for this report. The point is, each of those horses were profound and wonderful individuals and being with them in a simple and honest way revealed truths and hopes about the path of NHE.

Still I will limit myself to a description of just a few of the horses that we met at the workshops.

Macgregor

Still young, hopeful, not yet fully demoralized by NH brutal corrective techniques, Macgregor showed a quick and natural comprehension of Maurizio and the efforts of the man for the beginnings of a NHE relationship. Playing with whip and ball, in this new and interesting way, encouraged Macgregor’s already youthful inquisitiveness and sharp wit.

Maurizio showed naturally without any hint of an actual demonstration, how easy and wonderful it is to ignite a horse’s innate brilliance and openness for play. Play being the normal and logical way forward for such a brilliant youngster, Macgregor immersed himself with Maurizio. Some wild games, whip and ball game, running together and spending time both in an arena and also in a herd environment happened to evoke interest in the other horses who were able to recognize a clear difference in this new species of human.

Dusty

Beautiful, evocative, sensitive, painfully aware of human, the horse Dusty also developed a quiet interest in Maurizio. Big eyed, an enigmatic horse who feigned curiosity and interest in humans, and who had learnt how to keep a man occupied and in a known safe place – in front of his face, by fiddling with a hat or hair.

The boy had been taught the natural horsemanship rules; Dusty would automatically yield his hindquarters, a reflex, shielding himself instinctively from the memory and promise of beating, whenever Maurizio or any human ventured past his shoulder. The real brain shut down, the primitive spinal cord brain reflexively reacting. Learning to play with a human’s hat or fiddle with a human’s hair, inciting laughter or giggles, had become Dusty’s modus operandi to keep a human in a safe for him place, entertaining the brutes with antics, like a jester, to keep them occupied, away from his backside, using humour as a safeguard against abuse.

It pained all of us to watch as sweet overfaced Dusty reflexively moved his hindquarters, left or right, as Maurizio never asked, inadvertently demonstrating how so called natural horsemanship techniques had made a robot out of this delicate scared boy. Dusty’s eyes glazed over, reflexively, painfully yielding this way and that, unthinkingly. The point was made to all who was there. Horsemanship destroys horses, empties them of thought, of choice, and makes them desperate robotic messes.

Undoing this damage seemed sincerely impossible for this horse and certainly in this situation.

However Maurizio, whether he wanted to or not, had begun a friendship with Dusty and began a natural progression, it seemed a seed of hopefulness inside the horse began to grow, still alive in there, ever alert to an even minute possibility of freedom from the invisible cage that man had built around him and that only a man could tear down.

Gentle touching, encouraging, heartfelt words, soothing intentions, painfully empathetic understanding, deep concern and love for this boy Dusty, and understanding of his situation brought about a miracle – still acutely aware of the man BUT there came the wonderful moment when Dusty chose not to yield.

Ben

Although Ben never came into a true lesson with Maurizio, we both really connected with this boy who was introduced to us as the “old guy”. Far from the old forgotten one to us, in truth, Ben was a stoic, heroic horse.

Three days of observing the younger horses playing and taking interest in the ball and whip, Ben came over and began to play independently with the whip. Curiously, intelligently and creatively, he pawed at the whip, taking concerned and new interest in the human toy.

The gift from Ben was recognized by everyone. What they saw was that every horse has this innate intelligence, curiosity and need to explore and experiment. Old, young, beautiful or ugly. And like wise they saw that not being able to safely express this intelligence is actually a source of real suffering for a horse.

What else the people saw was how easily a horse becomes interested to discover and to experiment if things are set up properly and a loving environment without pressure or without expectation is made. They saw a horse is a brilliant, intellectual, observant being even as seen in an old suffering horse, even in those living conditions that did not support his intelligence at all.

Ben identified for the group the necessity of NHE principles as primary for optimum living conditions for a domestic horse, that is if we really value to bring joy, interest, autonomy and vibrance to our horse companions experience of life.

The Beauty and Necessity to be Free to Express NO

Above and beyond the initial shock of the relatively new dictum of no more riding in the NHE School, the feedback from many of the participants was even more stupefying about the rule that a horse has a right to say no.

Despite the initial surprise about it, it was still easily understood, apprehended as both simple and fair, the only question was why they hadn’t considered it ok before.

Brilliant, accomplished horse people, many with a deep spiritual learning, self honest and aware, found this aspect of NHE teaching to be an utterly new concept. Staggering to some, exciting and wonderful to others, we were gifted to explore the idea when Dusty discovered that there were no consequences or correction forthcoming from Maurizio. Not a glance, not a muscle twitch, Maurizio was genuine and complete in his advances for friendship with Dusty and so the participants realized and experienced NHE genuine intention and integrity firsthand.

Furthermore, the monumental discussion of a horse’s right to say no evolved to discussion of the School motto – The Horse Is Always Right.

The practicalities of our motto were discussed and explored, deciphering the difference between life and death circumstance and a common sense application and understanding of this rule.

Freedom

And so tasting freedom, Dusty let the human leave his head and began to run. Suddenly and swiftly Dusty ran from his invisible cage when he realized that no consequence from Maurizio was going to come. Dusty knew he would not be forced to face up.

One of the participants noted that Dusty’s behaviour was similar to that of a new released prisoner, one who has been so institutionalized and who was now fearful of his own freedom. Not knowing what to do, the unknown more frightening than the known but, only for a moment as Dusty ran and ran, coming to rest at the ball, sniffing it with something resembling real curiosity. Beautiful.

Maurizio neither applauding nor discouraging anything Dusty did in these moments, simply appreciating what the horse needed to experience and all that occurred between them.

The Participants

An eclectic group of diverse people, ranging from veterinarians (2), psychotherapists, barefoot leaders and teachers, breeders, truly loyal and dedicated horse people from rich and varied life experiences, many highly qualified folks and professionals in their fields and really genuine wonderful people. Great minds and personalities, most deep and aware and with a genuine hope to meet horses in equality and fairness.

The connections that were made through each of the three individual workshops was really wonderful. All people understood Maurizio who was always clear, always kind and always non ambiguous in his replies to questions or commentary. Absolutely present and heartfelt in his interactions with others, Maurizio took every moment, every feeling or query from a participant as an opportunity to explore deeper the human condition.

It became apparent to those who attended that what they had stumbled upon in NHE was of course, not about horse training at all but about human development, awareness and responsibility. That in our

collective desire to connect with horses in a fair and equal way, naturally develops our most noble of human attributes and strengths.

Within days of the first workshops end, there was already a call for a reunion in 2011, such was the camaraderie, connection and joyfulness created within the group.

Since all the workshops have ended, we have all been in continuous contact with each other, making deeper friendships and contacts. There was an understanding that what is in NHE is truly unique, what was experienced by all of us at the workshops was special and an absolutely life changing experience.

No More Riding

By the third day, most participants, intelligent accomplished professionals of their respective fields, were grounded in this one aspect of the horse revolution. Some had already joyfully made peace with this idea, feeling deeply that NHE had given them permission to follow what they had instinctively felt and that their horses had been trying to tell them for years.

For others, there was and probably continues to be a time of acceptance, of grieving perhaps as the relinquishing of this deeply embedded belief and expression of horse connection is let go of. It isn’t easy for some to accept. Even with the science and even with the facts. It is and continues to be, difficult for a few.

For Maurizio and me, we had only one answer to the problem, after the facts were shared, the knowledge given, and the questions answered, the choice to not ride has to be made in freedom.

Freedom is the state of mind Maurizio shared most of all, for both man and horse, openness, the free child coming out to play after a long period of being bound by rules of a dictatorial parent mind. We simply asked, for those who came in tears, questioning the discontinuing of a rare but still enjoyable for them activity, in all things be free, be honest, be clear. If there is doubt, explore it, not with guilt but with open eyes and real knowledge, with a readiness to face these feelings with clarity and comprehensibility. We told them NHE is not a dictatorship but a home and place of freedom; one comes to this making choices in freedom and for the pursuit of freedom not only for our horses, but for ourselves as well.

Deciphering honestly between the desires of a man and the pursuit of a pure connection with a horse; redefining the pinnacle of what modern horse-human relations can be, in light of the fact that a horse is no longer a transportation equipment and we as a species have evolved in spirit and in mind to be able to consider a non humans needs, physiological feelings and emotions as relevant as our own.

...Horses’ needs, physiological feelings and emotions are as relevant as our own.

This final point seems to be that one that resonates most deeply with people, since it is the desire to experience the same connection with a horse, in equality, as originally inspired by what Alexander shows in films and photographs as possible, and what the students of the School show is absolutely real, now Maurizio showed in person the subtlety and delicacies and integrity of coming to such a place with a horse, is not without self sacrifice and must be done in total free mind. Some who came to the workshops will tread down the path, some already have stepped fearlessly upon it, ultimately whether they do it today or tomorrow, they will do it from their experience of the Australian workshops, in the remembrance of equality and freedom.

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