Emerging with more wisdom and less money from what in more detached moments I sometimes look back on as our Hempfling soap opera while shaking my head disbelievingly, our preoccupations have shifted to the twin concerns of what to do and where to live. As one blog reader has pointed out, we have already undergone a life-changing experience in that we are now having to create a new presence for ourselves on the other side of the world. This experience is unfolding very much from one moment to the next and is greatly facilitated by our decision to jettison required performance in favour of creative endeavour, thereby enabling us to focus on and in each moment as it occurs. And the content of those moments has been largely dictated by our desire to live a fulfilling life together with our animals and to determine where that is to occur.
This has already resulted in a number of experiences, a couple of which I would like to share with you here. The first has to do with horses, the other with places.
Of horses
Initially I went in search of people who could possibly provide training that was in some way similar to that which we had hoped to receive from KFH. My first line of enquiry centred on former KFH students who might have started out on their own. In the course of my research I stumbled on a fair amount of background information on KFH, predominantly in German. One website revealed the existence of a couple who claimed to base their training on what they had learned from KFH. A glance at the visual materials available on their website induced me to abandon the idea of contacting them. Then I discovered the website of a trainer in the Netherlands who made similar claims. Her images and videos also gave me good grounds to refrain from pursuing that avenue.
Then a friend suggested that we would probably not be interested in a rather well-known Dutch trainer called Emiel Voest. Intrigued, I went in search of any relevant videos on YouTube, and found some. They revealed an approach to working horses at liberty which bore some superficial resemblance to that of KFH, albeit that it was somewhat cruder than the genuine article. Although Voest is unable to replicate the calm, flowing, reassuring presence of the master who dances with horses, he is able to demonstrate and teach the techniques required to connect with and control a horse without the use of violence or force. The video gives you some idea of how he does this.
Emile Voest giving a public demonstration
As in the case of KFH, Voest is capable of having and demonstrating intent in the moment. As such, there is congruence between his outer and inner presence. Being a former dancing instructor has also helped him develop the ability to use his body properly.
Yet there are a number of major differences between Voest and KFH, when it comes to connecting with and controlling a strange horse. A glance at the video featuring KFH reveals this.
Klaus Ferdinand Hempfling with a Lusitano stallion
Perhaps the most striking differences between Voest and KFH lie in their presence: the way in which each is present in the moment with the horse, although there are others as well. Here are some of the differences that I have noted.
| Voest |
Klaus Ferdinand Hempfling |
|
· his presence is that of someone who is seeking to be dominant |
· his presence is that of someone who is comfortably dominant |
|
· although he initially reassures the horse, he almost immediately asserts his dominance |
· he initially focuses on calming and reassuring the horse but maintains his distance |
|
· he seeks to exercise control over the horse from the start |
· he waits until the horse seeks his leadership and only then does he assume control |
|
· his body language is harsher and cruder in its insistence on dominance |
· although dominant, his body language is refined, smooth and reassuring |
|
· the horse becomes alert to him as a creature of power |
· the horse becomes alert to him as a dominant but trusted leader |
Yet it would be disingenuous to suggest that there are no similarities between Voest and KFH in their approach towards connecting and controlling a horse. There are, although it must be admitted that they are largely confined to technical aspects and are not as pronounced as the differences between them. I have noted the following similarities:
- both centre their movement in their belly;
- both move calmly but clearly and deliberately;
- both control the horse through similar body language (the position of their body in relation to the horse and the movement of parts of their body and any tools – rope and/or whip – in relation to their body.
It is essentially these technical aspects which Voest teaches. He does not bother to help an individual to achieve the presence that is required to establish a relationship with the horse which is essentially based on dominance. KFH, on the other hand, seeks to establish a relationship with the horse which is based on dominance and trust. Yet, given what I have been told by people who have attended more than one compact schooling with KFH, the latter focuses his training predominantly on helping them achieve a presence that will secure the horse’s trust but ignores the bulk of the technical aspects which Voest teahces. As a result many people return from an inordinately expensive course of almost a month with KFH but do not have the technical skills which Voest is able to teach within three days for a fraction of the price. I find myself asking why this is the case but cannot find a satisfactory answer without delving into the trough of cynicism, something I am loathe to do.
Of places
Some of you may be aware that the Netherlands has had to endure bracing winters in the past two years. One of those we briefly experienced during a visit in February 2010. The idea of undergoing such a winter was enough to induce me to explore the possibility of relocating to warmer climes. Dolly suggested that Catalonia might be an idea, as it is not only part of Spain (if only nominally) but is easily accessible to friends and family, and is not too hot during summer. So off I went to investigate.
Following a pleasant but all-too-brief visit to friends in the Auvergne in France (an experience definitely worth repeating if you will have me again, Robert and Jeannette – thank you), I headed to Banyoles, a town about 15 minutes to the north-west of the congenial city of Girona. Banyoles is a lovely town at the southern end of a lake of the same name (the scene of some of the aquatic sports staged during the 1992 Olympic Games), which is lined by forest-clad hills on two sides and a mix of agricultural and other lands to the north and east. Hempfling buffs may recognise the name from the book, Dancing with Horses. Banyoles is listed as part of the address of his Akedah School on the credits page.
Banyoles looking back over the lake to the town
The medieval town of Besalú
About 11 km to the north-west of Banyoles is the small medieval town of Besalú. A charming little place with a tempting mix of relatively sophisticated cultural and artistic tastes coupled with a sprinkling of good restaurants, all situated against the inspiring backdrop of the foothills of the Pyrenees, the town served as my base for three days while I explored the area, going as far as Girona and the mecca for Salvador Dalí fans, Figueres, and the coastal resort of Cadaqués, which the surrealist painter was wont to frequent. I came away with the feeling that the area as such could make a great place to live being tucked in between the peaks of the Pyrenees and the sea while readily close to centres offering a tempting array of cultural activities of fairly superior quality. There is just one major drawback to making a move to the area. We would require livery (agistment to our Australian readers) services for our horse, at least temporarily, and the facilities which the area has to offer in this respect are depressingly small and poor.
You would seriously deprive yourself if you were to visit Catalonia without a stopover to indulge in its urban jewel: Barcelona. So I decided to resist the temptation to practise self-deprivation. Although Barcelona boasts one of the most extensive medieval quarters in Europe, much of the city is broadly structured with wide, tree-lined avenues on a par with Paris and London. It also has most of what those cities have to offer. Where Barcelona distinguishes itself is in its modernisme (a form of art nouveau) architecture, of which Gaudí is the most well-known proponent. Although the city has very many beautiful buildings, by the time you have admired some of the more prominent modernisme structures to which the city is home, such as the church of La Sagrada Familia (The Holy Family) around the corner from which I was fortunate to find a hotel, you simply do not have any energy left to become overly excited about the rest.
Barcelona from Gaudí’s Park Guell with La Sagrada Familia in the background
By the time I return to the Netherlands Anaïs has already effectively decided our movement in the immediate future. There will be none. Our mare, which had already been exhibiting a disjointed trot and canter before I headed off to Spain due to a compromised sacro-iliac joint on the left, is now almost lame in the left foreleg, probably due to compensating for the pain in her back. It is time to bring in a health practitioner for some serious treatment. Until she is healed, we will not be moving anywhere.
Strangely, I am easily reconciled to this. I also realise how fortunate we are to have the massive horse infrastructure of the Netherlands at our disposal. The time Vicki and I have spent apart has also been good for both of us. It is as though a dark veil has dissipated and we have found joy again. Our healing should also help Anaïs.
|
Voest |
Klaus Ferdinand Hempfling |
|
· his presence is that of someone who is seeking to be dominant |
· his presence is that of someone who is comfortably dominant |
|
· although he initially reassures the horse, he almost immediately asserts his dominance |
· he initially focuses on calming and reassuring the horse but maintains his distance |
|
· he seeks to exercise control over the horse from the start |
· he waits until the horse seeks his leadership and only then does he assume control |
|
· his body language is harsher and cruder in its insistence on dominance |
· although dominant, his body language is refined, smooth and reassuring |
|
· the horse becomes alert to him as a creature of power |
· the horse becomes alert to him as a dominant but trusted leader |
Hi Andrew,
Sounds like you are doing a good job researching different horse trainers! I just wanted to comment on your description of Klaus’ teaching. At present, Peggy and I are on Lyo and have just finished a week of CS1.
What Klaus teaches of course is not technique – it is a way of being – and in one month you may come to an understanding of that way of being, but it is not something that can be even learnt. To me, it requires much meditation, body awareness, grounding etc. and just being in a peaceful environment to absorb it all. As Klaus says, it is a completely different way of being than we are used to in the western world.
Klaus described the flow of life like a spiral – and we (humans) have stepped off the spiral – when we are on it – and in the flow – we just ‘know’ what to do. It is this space that he is aiming to get us to. To get us back to where we use our intuition with confidence. And that is what it is – forget the magic circle, forget any techniques, stop thinking – just be! This is the space I am aiming for. It is the space I know I am in when I communicate with the horses. I just have to learn to be in that space at all times with the horses – in fact at all times!
The tools Klaus uses are just ‘extras’ – it is really just about being in the ‘flow’. It is not something that can be learnt in three days – or even three months. But the knowledge and the help he gives to ‘get there’ is like gold – and will not be cheap.
I have only just realised you are not on my mailing list for the “Lyo Newsletter”. I will send it to you – but don’t want it added to the blog!
Hope you are all well.
Cheers,
Heather!
Dear Heather
Thank you for taking the time to comment on the blog during your course. Vicki and I so envy you and Peggy for having the opportunity to attend training with Klaus on Lyö. We really would have loved to be there with you and all of the other people whom we know.
Thank you too for confirming what it is that Klaus is teaching, namely, ‘a way of being’ (or as I put it, ‘a presence’), and that he does not teach techniques. This is my understanding too, as I have mentioned in the blog. I agree with you when you say that it is not something you can learn in the conventional sense as ‘it requires much meditation, body awareness, grounding etc. and just being in a peaceful environment to absorb it all’. Clearly, it is something that you can only become.
I agree with you too that we need to learn to ‘just be’ and to use ‘our intuition with confidence’. And we require an intimate knowledge of our body’, the language that we can speak with it, and the tools that we can use with it in our communication with horses if we are to do precisely that.
It seems to me that we need to be intimately familiar with our body language and tools, and the way we use them (the techniques, as it were), if we are to be capable of using them intuitively as part of our way of being with horses. Our way of being and ability to employ intuition with confidence create the context within and through which they are used and, as such – so it would seem to me – cannot replace them. I would be tempted to think that the absence of such intimate familiarity with our body language and tools, and the way we use them could seriously undermine our ability to ‘just be’ and to use ‘our intuition with confidence’.
From the fairly detailed descriptions you provide in your newsletter (for which my sincere thanks), it would appear that the tools Klaus uses are more than just ‘extras’. The choice of a blanket rather than a whip and/or rope in the case of one horse is a case in point.
With regard to the assistance which Klaus can provide, I agree with you too that ‘the knowledge and the help he gives to “get there” is like gold’ and ‘will not be cheap’. The way of being that he teaches demands considerable investment on the part of a human.
I shall respond privately to your newsletter.
Have a great time on Lyö and love to Peggy!
Take care
Andrew
I am so please that Anais will be healed, it must be so hard on her being in constant pain, animals pick up on our unhappiness
Dear Laraine
It would seem that the process of healing has already started. We were playing with Anaïs in the outdoor arena yesterday and she started trotting with barely a sign of any pain. We could hardly believe it, as her treatment has not started yet. I guess the joy that we are now feeling is beginning to rub off.
Be well!
Andrew
Dearest Andrew, before putting my comments on your blog that somehow didnot want to get on your blog even though the Internet Explorer seemed to be the culprit I believe there is a reason why the Cosmos used the Internet Explorer to get a message across. If this sounds hazy that’s too bad. We have forgotten to hear and listen to the Cosmos so it needs and uses other ways and means. If I get a lightbulb moment I will let you know.
I also would like to express my feelings first on the following. It is definitely not a comment. Heather writes in her comment ::
QUOTE But the knowledge and the help he gives to ‘get there’ is like gold – and will not be cheap.UNQUOTE
This story I would like to tell.::
Once upon a time there was this young woman. She was having all sorts of complaints. Physical, emotional, mental. She was a highly sensitive lady. She came to my office/practice for advice. Her 12-year old daugther accompanied her. Later I found out the daughter picked up on energies as well. During the consultation the young woman and I talked about all sorts of things. Matters I picked up in her ‘body field’. The absence of emotional balance resulting among other things in physical ailments. Core emotions, core beliefs etc…
When I concluded the consultation and the woman asked me how much she would have to pay, the daughter reacted very surprised and commented “Do you have to pay for this?”
No, of course, it is not that one HAS to pay for this but money is energy and when energy is being used for whatever purpose or reason the energy tank has to be refilled. However, in what car do you prefer to travel. That is where the liberty of choice comes in again. And if you prefer to reach your destination in a luxury sedan then you have to pay for that. I am convined you can reach your destination in a small Fiat 500 just as well. Nothing is better than the other. It is the freedom of choice you have. And I am convinced that if the choice you are about to make is not really the choice you should make the Cosmos will intervene in one way or the other. The intervention can be a harsh one if the ‘messages’ one has been receiving have not been heard or correctly interpreted.
Herewith my comment on your blog, Andrew::
Or I think it is not really a comment it is a feeling from inside….
I have had a personal experience with EV I think it was approx 10 years ago…..he had no idea how to deal with a woman who wanted only the best for her horse but somewhere EV got this ridiculous idea that I was trying to tell him how good I was at this so called free styling demo and thought it perfectly okay to make a fool of me in front of an audience…he blamed me for mis-treating my horse at that instant …..which got me into a very emotional state….
I had a similar experience with KFH in Lyo…..fortunately I was then in a position to see what was happening objectively and did not get emotionally involved again as my passion can be felt as sort of overwhelming apparently by some people….
But back to EV and KFH
EV does not walk as meditatively as KFH teaches his students ..my experience with KFH´s walking speed or perhaps the lack of any speed gives the body and mind a feeling of balance…the breathing gets into a more relaxed state which has a relaxing influence on the horse…..makes the horse focussed in a different way than when the adrenaline creates the focus…..perhaps the difference is there also that the adrenaline creates focus on the surroundings and awareness of the human whilst the kind of meditative walking creates focus on the human and awareness of the surroudings…..a magical connection is perhaps only really possible when the focus is on the human….
It is impossible to check what the grey horse would have done if it had not been led with the rope attached to the head collar….even though the rope is hanging loosely some moments …..the real freedom of choice is there only without anything attached…..or like KFH does sometimes with the rope around the neck only…the head collar EV uses is a head collar that tightens when the horse even slightly chooses to resist…..
KFH says “distance is the key entrance to friendship”….EV at one point tells the horse to stay away…or not to come too close….I did not have the feeling that the horse at that point was testing EV´s boundaries only slightly and full of trust…..the action EV took startled the horse very much in my feeling…but then of course I do not know what EV was thinking at that time….
With KFH I feel a lot of respect for the horse….even if the stallion in the second clip needs the time to show some fighting actions….KFH looks at what the horse brings to the table….what is on the horse´s agenda….and why that is on the horse´s agenda…
EV follows his own agenda in my view and the horse has to comply….
But I do not want to be too harsh as I cannot look into EV´s mind…
If one wants to talk about charisma my feeling says that KFH has charisma and EV does not or perhaps less…
This is my truth…asking 10 people one would get perhaps 10 different truths..
But with both gentlemen, Andrew, as far as my experience goes their biggest challenge is their communication with the human race although I think EV is a little better at it than KFH….
In all honesty I have to say that I have not met or spoken with EV for many years so he might have evolved into a more balanced person by now….in the beginning he did not like any rider ..competition or recreational….and he was very explicit in that too at every demo he gave…..however a couple of years ago he was given the opportunity to work with one of Tineke Bartels` grand prix dressage horses….a very nervous mare and ´they´ liked what he did with the mare…… do not know the date of the YouTube clip on your blog……
Andrew, I am glad for you that Heather has decided to put you on her mailing list… although she does not want it added to the blog I am very curious…..
Take care, Geerteke
Dear Geerteke
I think your observation of the differences between EV and KFH are essentially pretty accurate. In particular, I think that you are right to suggest that ‘a magical connection is perhaps only really possible when the focus is on the human’, although I interpret this to mean that the human focuses on himself and his way of being with the horse in response to his perception of the horse. I am actually experiencing this to a growing extent with Anaïs. The more I focus on how I am (as opposed to merely what I do) with her in response to what how I feel she is, the more in tune we seem to become. It is magical.
We may get 10 different truths from 10 different people. What never ceases to amaze me though, is how many of those truths seem to coincide with each other.
Whatever our views, I think we need to respect Heather’s decision not to go via our blog.
Incidentally, you may be right that we have forgotten to hear and listen to the Cosmos. For instance, the problem we experienced with the blog was not due to Internet Explorer but Microsoft Office. What should we have heard if we had listened properly?
Thank you for persevering in your efforts to view and respond to my posting in spite of Microsoft.
Be well!
Andrew
Geerteke,
The only reason I do not want the newsletter added to Andrew’s blog is because it is my own personal notes – not because I am trying to hide anything! It is mainly for my friends to share.
And we are having a brilliant time in Lyo – the course is the best I have been to.
Heather
Dear Heather
You are entirely within your rights to share your personal notes with whomever you choose to do so and all of us simply need to accept and respect that.
Incidentally, the blog is not mine, it is ours.
Glad to hear the course is the best you have been too. I would love to be sharing the brilliant time you are having in Lyo. Enjoy it all!
Take care!
Andrew
Dear Heather, I get a funny feeling. A feeling that there might be a misunderstanding. I am sorry for that. Perhaps it is because English is not my native language. As Andrew says you have the right to share your personal notes with anyone YOU wish. Definitely. I understand. Perfect. I like to learn.
I know I had a good time there Sept 2010 during the PPP and it was a joy listening to and watching KFH. Especially so because he mentioned a lot of aspects I already have been aware of for a number of years so it felt familiar and good and sort of confirming!!
And watching him work with the horses without a lot of explanation of the hows, the wheres, the whys and the whens, as he works from a deep felt connection with the horse. Beautiful. However I was fortunate enough to sort of recognize what aspects of herd dynamics was going on. I hope you will have lots of similar experiences.
Wishing you all the best, Geerteke