Has anyone else noticed that April just whizzed by? 😜 We had a busy and eventful month at Horses Connect. It started with bruised ribs (mine) and is coming to an end with sunshine (finally). In between, there was a lot of car trouble (mine), a new foal that turned out to a different gender to what the scan said (happily), some health issues (again, mine), working days where 6 out of 7 clients cancelled last minute, and the absolute privilege of delivering our Equine-assisted Learning and Personal Development Coaching course to a group of amazing horse people - and loads more uplifting and challenging times. 😀 Here on Skool, we have some new members 🙂 If you're one of them remember to introduce yourself. We set up an affiliate scheme, which means that if anyone you invite buys one of the paid courses in the Classroom, you get 40% of the cost 😀 On the right hand side of the Home page, under the text that's under the picture of a horse, you'll see an INVITE button. Just click that and all will be revealed! Our sister group Sustain your EA Practice is also growing We ran a free 3 Day Sprint (you'll find it in the Classroom), along with lots of other free content to help you work smarter, not harder. This Community was created because we repeatedly saw really kind, generous, talented people start off full of enthusiasm and become overwhelmed by the pressures of trying to do too much, too soon. It's aimed and people in equine-assisted work, but it applies to any small business owner. The Sustain your EA Business Community is free to join until MAY 1st, so get in quick if you're interested. And invite your friends 😀 We love creating content, so if you can't find what you're looking for in relation to equine-assisted work, please just ask! Think of us as your EA Genie! 😀

Horse people don’t usually get weekends off, but there’s a different rhythm to the work 🐴 This Saturday, Sunday and Monday we’re running accredited Equine's-assisted Personal Development training for a group of experienced horse people 😊 These training courses are full-on, boot camp style events but there’s always a lot of laughter accompanying the deep and experiential learning 😊 As always, our horses are the real teachers 💕 How will you be spending your weekend?

I spent the last few days doing touristy things in Madrid 😊 Looking through my photos I noticed that most of them are of men on horseback! I did see paintings and statues of women, but they were all demure creatures in big frocks - or naked - so I wasn’t interested in taking pictures. To be clear, I wasn’t interested in taking pictures of the men either - just the horses 😊 What do you see?

I am usually an even-tempered and calm person. One of my many mottos is ‘what you see is what you get’ and, after decades of practice, I’m good at taking people as they come, without preconceptions or judgement. At least, that’s the lovely version of me 🤣 Sometimes, people trigger my inner C.O.W. - cranky old woman ☹️ and she’s a mean B! It never happens when I’m with horses or other animals, or in nature. Busy places - especially indoor spaces - with too many people are the catalyst 😳 It doesn’t happen every time I visit a shopping mall because there’s usually a build up of C.O.W. containment beforehand. Thankfully, my inner C.O.W. is silent, but here’s an example of what she could be thinking: 🐮 you knew you were next in the queue, why are looking for your purse now! 🐮 did you not look in the mirror before you left home? 🐮 those leggings were not made for that arse! 🐮 move!!! 🐮 did you mean to turn your skin orange? 🐮 other nasty, judgmental comments the real me would never make! I’m really glad that my inner C.O.W. is not vocal and that she only makes rare appearances because I don’t like her very much 🙄 But, I can’t deny that she’s part of me. I wonder if having a ‘shadow side’ is uniquely human? What do you think?

Full disclosure - I saw @Brenda Rigney posting a version of this and thought it would be a fun thing to try here 😊 How it works … Post 2 things that are true about your experiences with horses and thing that’s a big fat lie 😊 Try to guess each other’s. I’ll go first in the comments 😊