Miwok Livery

701 Tennessee Valley Rd

Mill Valley, CA 94941

TEL (415) 383-8048

FAX (415) 389-9414

CalendaCALENDAR Fall 2010r

August 23-27 .........................Adult Horse Camp M-F
August 30-Sept 3.................. CLOSED MON THRU FRI
September 4, 5 & 6............... Nick Karazissis Clinic
September 7 ..........................First Day Adult Classes
September 13 ........................First Day Kids' Classes
November 25-28.................. CLOSED 4 days Thurs-Sun
November 22-26 ..................No Kids’ Classes all week.
November 30 .......................End of Fall Quarter
December 1........................... First Day Winter Classes

 

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NEWS

DEREK
Our invaluable instructor, friend, and advisor, Derek Williamson, is leaving us in October to realize a life-long dream. He and his wife, Penny, both raised in Idaho, are returing to their roots. While on vacation recently in McCall, an idyllic town about 250 miles west of Yellowstone, they drove by a beautiful barn which had a For Sale sign on it, and behind it a stunning victorian house with a veranda, trout stream and acres of cottonwoods. The four immaculate oak paneled horse stalls clinched it - they bought it on the spot. We will sorely miss Derek and Penny, but know this is perfect for them and Dr. Boyd, their lovely Morgan horse.

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SAMUEL
Does anyone have a laptop or computer they aren’t using anymore? We would like to give one to our wonderful stablehand, Samuel. His son, a just graduated dentist, and his wife and daughter, both school teachers, would love to be able to send him pictures and emails from their homes in Mexico.

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BABIES ON BOARD!
Welcome the foal! Our newest addition was born at 1:00 a.m. at Miwok on June 25. Merri was pregnant one year, one day and one hour; normal term is eleven months, so we named the little guy “Overtime”. He is very healthy, with a beautiful head and elegant ears, curled at the tips like a Genie’s shoes.

We have another baby on board, Buddy II, my newest King Charles Spaniel. He is running us ragged. He wants to put anything in his mouth, chew on electric wires, escape through any door left open a crack, and run full speed from one end of the house to the other. Otherwise, he sleeps on my head, nestled in my hair. I haven’t had a good night’s rest since he arrived in his FedEx crate from Washington. But we are enjoying the exuberance of puppyhood.

 

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BRANDY AND PEARL
Here is a nice story of love and remembrance. A few weeks ago two of our Livery riders, Pearl Campion and Aurelia Goldman, were taking a drive out to Point Reyes for the scenery, lunch and shopping at the irresistible tack store, Cabaline in Point Reyes Station.

As they approached Nicasio, they remembered that Pearl’s favorite Livery trail horse, Brandy, was out there somewhere at a therapeutic riding center called Halleck Creek Ranch. Pearl had ridden Brandy at Miwok for years, forming a deep attachment for the gentle Bay mare. When Brandy became too old for trail work, we gave her to Halleck Creek which prizes gentle retired horses for their students with disabilities.

Aurelia pulled out her phone and punched Halleck Creek into the GPS, as Woodacre, Spirit Rock and cow studded fields flew by. They made the turn on Nicasio Road, and actually managed to find Halleck Creek Ranch. The staff told Pearl that Brandy was out in a huge pasture, and that they would probably not be able to see her.

Disappointed, they started to drive off the ranch when Pearl saw a small familiar silhouette high on the ridge. She jumped out of the car and began calling “Brandy! Brandy!” waving her arms and jumping up and down. Slowly, the speck on the hill raised its head from grazing and stared intently for a moment, pricked her ears, then came galloping down the hill, threw her head over the fence, and gave Pearl what can only be described as a big kiss. They nuzzled and rubbed noses for a long time. They hadn’t seen each other in many years. When Pearl finally had to say goodbye, and drove down the road with tears in her eyes, the old horse stood at the fence for a long time, watching.

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Sorting Through Life’s Problems
the Equine Way
By Heather Robinson

Excerpted from Livery student Heather Robinson’s
article in Compete Magazine, June, 2010

I was in therapy... my therapist and I talked about the usual suspect: my typically dysfunctional childhood. I tried to learn to talk about feelings that athletes don’t usually talk about - vulnerability, disappointment and worst (and most) of all, hurt. Like an athlete who had specialized in one sport their whole life, I had perfected anger and it was pretty much the only emotion that I really excelled at. Of course the therapist tried to make helpful suggestions, saying things like, “it’s good to try and experience a full range of emotions, even the uncomfortable ones.” When the minute hand finally got to the 10, I paid her $90 and tried not to run into anyone on my drive home.

Then I went to Ireland on vacation and tried English style horseback riding for the first time – this is the style of
riding you see in the Olympics where dapper athletes team up with horses to jump their way through complicated obstacle courses. To use therapy vernacular, this kind of riding is much more intimate and communicative than American western style. While a western rider wears jeans and sits on a comfortable well-supported saddle, and eastern rider wears skin-tight britches and is perched atop a much smaller saddle. If a western saddle is a Barcalounger, then an eastern saddle is a bar stool. These differences equate to more contact with the horse and a much more challenging riding experience (especially for your inner thighs). After an exhilarating two-hour ride near the end of my trip my legs were sore for almost a week.

When I got back from the Emerald Isle, I was determined to keep riding and found a place that offered lessons not far from where I lived. Unfortunately, horseback riding is not a cheap sport (imagine if you had to feed your golf clubs). I looked over my budget and decided to quit human therapy and give the equine variety a try.
The first few lessons were terrifying. I had always ridden horses that were already saddled, bridled and ready to go. My instructors expected me to learn how to tack up my own horse, which at first felt like being asked to build a car before I was allowed to drive it. The process felt like dressing a 1,200 pound toddler who could bite or kick you without warning. During one lesson I neglected to adequately tighten the saddle girth, the belt that goes around the horse’s belly and holds the saddle in place. When I put my weight in the stirrup to get on, the whole thing slid downward and I ended up in an embarrassed heap.

When I actually managed to get into the saddle, lessons were spent trying to get the horse to do what the instructor said: turn here, stop there, trot now, and so on. I quickly found that my old problems followed me into the riding ring. When it was my turn I would egg my horse on enthusiastically, before realizing I didn’t really have the reins ready to go. A horse with loose reins is basically a 16 year- old boy driving a Porsche.
“Get your reins organized before you start,” my instructor hollered at me over and over again. Was it possible my cluttered desk had something to do with the way I held horse reins?

Horseback riding often felt almost as uncomfortable as therapy. All my weaknesses and vulnerabilities were exposed, except now instead of sitting on a comfy couch I was on top of an unpredictable 1,200 pound animal. Like in real life I was too tense, tight in my hips, calves and chest. I gave “mixed messages” to my horse, kicking with my feet to signal go, while inadvertently pulling with my hands which meant stop, inevitable when one part of my body learned to do something right, another part went awry. That was definitely not new. I was supposed to look where I wanted to go and gently guide the horse with my legs. Instead I looked down and pulled on the reins like a steering wheel, which turns out the be the equivalent of not telling someone what to do and then being mad when they don’t do it. I had pulled that one off back in human land more than a few times.

Still I loved my lessons and am not planning on going back to regular old therapy any time soon. I realized that for someone like me who has been a jock her whole life, trying to figure things out while stuck sitting on a couch made no sense at all. I needed movement, feedback from my body and to experience myself in the present instead of continuing to dig into the past. Even though every lesson was 1,000 corrections, the good times made it all worthwhile.

I also liked that the horses never tried to get me to use “I” statements or talk about my feelings. Even better, every few lessons, right when I was on the verge of giving up I would have a breakthrough experience. I remember the first time I was able to turn a horse with my legs, get one of the laziest horses to trot or get all of my arms and legs working together as a team. Each week I was a little better and slowly but surely I was learning how to control my anxiety, figure out what I wanted and then communicate that message to another living creature. Isn’t that what therapy is pretty much about anyway?

– Heather Robinson

 

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MIWOK STABLES CENTER

Make a donation to the Miwok Stables Center. This is the non-profit we started in 1994 to bring horseback riding to people who could not come here without help. The Center funds programs for troubled teens, children from Hunter’s Point and Marin City, and cancer recovery patients, to name a few.The Center also restores this historic stable which belongs to the National Park Service.

These good works are funded through gifts from people like you, who understand the benefits and joys that horses can give.

Recently, the Center began restoration of the 74 year old dairy residence, the Lopes House, repairing stairs, doors, sidings and windows, and giving the old girl a new coat of paint. Much of the work and lumber was donated by Drew Radachy of NOVO Construction, and Miwok Livery.

 

Please contribute to support the Outreach programs, scholarship funds and restoration projects. The Center is a 501c3 Public Benefit organization; gifts are tax deductible. It’s a wonderful way to give back and to give thanks.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lopes House Restoration
The National Park Service owns it; we fix it. We are restoring the historic dairy residence, built in 1935, a valuable example of California ranch life. We thank NOVO construction, The Miwok Stables Center, and Miwok Livery for their contributions for this project.

 

Learn more at Miwok Stables Center.org