Thursday, August 10: Rider-Aware with Pam Beets

Rider-Aware Club
Thursday, August 10th
6-8:30 p.m.
 
Happy Dog Ranch
7211 W. Titan Rd.
Littleton, CO 80125
 
 Before I introduce this month’s Rider-Aware Club speaker, we want to take the opportunity to thank everyone for coming out for Mark Rashid’s talk last month.  I’m sure you will agree that it was a wonderful evening and your generous donations to Happy Dog Ranch Foundation added up to $558.05!  On behalf of all those associated with Happy Dog Ranch, THANK YOU!!!
 
This month we have YET ANOTHER speaker with a deep well of experience and practices to share so we may take them to our horses. I’ve been working for months to get Pam Beets on our schedule!
 
Pamela Beets is a Feldenkrais Guild Certified Feldenkrais Method Practitioner™ and Tellington Touch Practitioner.
 
Her bio below speaks for itself as to what she has to offer our Rider-Aware Club.  We invite you to meet Pam and take home some valuable instruction for yourselves and your horses.  They will thank you, I’m sure!
 
In the early ‘80’s I read the Equus article “The Touch That Teaches®”, on Linda Tellington-Jones revolutionary way of training horses. Her work was an entirely different approach from the status quo then, and even now. It resonated with me about how I felt about horses, training and how humans treat them. She thought of horses as feeling, sentient beings and respected their feelings interacting with them. She proposed that horses felt pain, both emotional and physical, which was manifested in training and behavioral problems. Tellington Touch ® addressed the horse as a mind & body whole; a profound shift in thinking.  Linda’s work was inspired by the Feldenkrais Method ™ while she was studying with Dr. Moshe Feldenkrais.  She then adapted the principals and approach to horses, developing Tellington Touch®. That article put me on a completely different path, I became a Feldenkrais Method Teacher™ and have been practicing since 1991 and have continued working with Linda Tellington-Jones since.
I became interested her ‘Riding with Awareness®”, a way to think of our own and our horse’s movement and connection in the saddle. At the same time I was introduced to Sally Swift’s Centered Riding®.  Sally Swift’s approach to riding went beyond mechanics, and, for me, approached riding in a more holistic manner that considered how the horse felt in relation to the rider.
I have been working with riders and horses for over 25 years in fields diverse as roping to dressage and rehab from injury.  I have worked extensively with Linda Tellington-Jones with horses, companion animals and humans. I have studied with Sally Swift, founder of Centered Riding®, and many of her top teachers including Susan Harris. I also have had the opportunity to learn from, and work with both the Feldenkrais Method and TTouch, Olympic medalists Kim Walness, Debbie McDonald and Beckie Hart and international rider Michael Klimke.
             
Inspired by both Linda Tellington-Jones and Sally Swift I developed my work with equestrians incorporating the FELDENKRAIS METHOD and TTouch. The FELDENKRAIS METHOD helps riders increase their body awareness, using the connection of your brain and body; to improve movement and athletic skill; increase your range of movement and flexibility and help reduce stress and tension.
           
I want to offer a more mindful and kind way to help ourselves as riders; exploring a rider’s own movement and how that changes their perception and relationship with their horse.  Real connection and harmony in the saddle begins with compassion and awareness.
 
Workshops, presentations and demonstrations for: Colorado State University Veterinary students, International Certified Horsemanship Conference, Colorado Boys Ranch, local and National Pony Club, Rocky Mountain Dressage Society, therapeutic riding centers; have been featured in Arabian Horse Magazine, The Rocky Mountain News and Horse Illustrated.
 
As always, bring a friend and bring a snack to share.
 
Our speakers generously donate their time and expertise to Rider-Aware Club in support of Happy Dog Ranch.  In appreciation of their mission and for their meeting facilities, we ask for a tax deductible donation in any amount.  100% of the donations received go to Happy Dog Ranch Foundation.