We live in a world of separation where entities and ideas are divided in and follow individual pathways. Much of the old knowledge has been forgotten as we moved to an often more dominance based approach of care and training. The separation between the dog, the horse, the land and ourselves is often overlooked yet they are intricately all linked. Through recent history the inherent nature of land, animals and even people, have not been revered. In the case of land, it has often been overlooked as a base of life, rather treated not as a living thing, but something to be conquered and manipulated and as a resource to be exploited. It is our fundamental foundation where we find the nutrients upon which all life depends. As this system breaks down, it ultimately fails leading to disease in ourselves and our beloved animal companions.

As we are seeing the slow destruction and surrender of this mostly dominance based modality, be it in land management, animal husbandry and training, or how we were raised as children, there is a call back to a better way. We must recapture some of the old learnings, couple them with sound modern ideas, adapting them in ways to evolve and move forward in an increasingly challenging world.

If we follow natures guidance, realizing that we are not separate, however all a part of a big system of deeply intertwined community, that relies on the wellbeing of ALL of its members, we can find our way back and produce something even better, stronger and healthier.

By nurturing connections and thereby building strong relationships with ourselves, others, the land and animals, we not only strengthen and empower ourselves as individuals, we lift the entire system by building joy, resilience and communities that are inspiring, and a joy to live in.