Anna Blake's Blog, page 47

Writing and Riding

Happy New Year. It’s my ninth year of writing this blog about riding. Thank you for reading along, and I had a thought…

I was digging through my office supplies looking for a small notebook in a messy bookshelf; files of old receipts, fliers for tack I’ll never buy, a box of snapshots from way back when we took snapshots. I buy office supplies like other women buy makeup or shoes. I will never be without a pen, the kind I like with a medium roller ball point. The fine points are just too stingy with the ink.

Finally, in a basket on the bottom shelf, I see a spiral binding hiding underneath the bag of antique supplies from the 1990s. I’m that kind of organized. I pull the notebook out and I can’t remember buying it, but that’s my handwriting scribbled through the front few pages.

And I’m shot back in time. These are notes I wrote after being a demo rider in a Jane Savoie clinic. Reading the definition of being “in front of the leg” brought a smile back. It was a life-changing weekend for me. I was so new to dressage that I still called the arena a “pen.” I was riding a hot young horse who was an ex-reiner, just like me. He has since grown old and died, but these notes are as good as gold. Now I give clinics, and people take notes. At first, it was strangely unnerving, seeing that scribbling on paper, but that’s just silly. The notes are about something much more interesting and important than me. They’re a way that we learn about horses.

Maybe as a kid, you had a pink diary with a key, kept hidden from your sister. It was the first book of your secrets. As life got more complicated, it became a journal with a black leather cover, your inner-therapist helping you sort your thoughts. Maybe later you kept a gratitude journal. Some days were so dark that the only thing you could think of to be grateful for was making it to the end of the day entry. Have you written your way through hard times?

Journaling is home-made mindfulness, a way of keeping our place in time, but I think we underestimate its value as a learning tool. What if writing is just a different kind of riding?

As riders, we study how horses learn and we might pay attention to how we learn, too. What horses do in a split second, interpreting the environment with their senses, takes us longer.

The best human learning happens when we use our range of senses. It’s one reason that clinics can be such great experiences; they provide learning opportunities with varied input, in one place. We hear about it, see demos, take notes. We watch others learn. We feel compassion when they make mistakes we might make. We also see people like us get it right and we’re encouraged. We think about it, then try it, get coaching, and try again. Maybe we get overwhelmed, and then the smell of manure brings us back to reality. Our senses have a workout listening, seeing, touching, smelling, experiencing, writing, sharing, and that’s just the first day.

And in the quiet clinic afterglow, we try to keep the memory alive. Writing is not the same, but putting words on paper is taking a snapshot of the day and explaining what you saw and did, as a way of deepening the learning. Maybe after the next ride, you write that down, too, and take more of the clinic into your daily work. Look, you’re journaling without a net!

But it isn’t the dark ages. You might think technology is the devil, but maybe you need to tame it to your purposes. Don’t like to write or type? That’s fine, voice-to-word apps abound. You can dictate your journal into existence.

Then go online and sign up for a blog. I suggest WordPress, but any will do. I know this is scary. Don’t hyperventilate, don’t get bucked off before you start.

When is a blog not a blog? When we re-task it to suit our journaling needs. Think of a blog as a word processing program that also has a search feature and comes in a tidy, attractive package. You can categorize your thoughts/posts in a more organized way than a spiral notebook. A blog can be as private as a diary, and rather than having word docs and emails drifting around the internet and loitering in other computers, or lost for decades, your words are contained in a private place but at your fingertips. And blogs are free.

So now that you have the blog, you trick it out like a clubhouse. Post all the best photos. Tell the story of how you met your horse and fall in love all over again. On a day when the weather won’t let you ride, write a ride. Describe how your body moves and repeat every bit of trainer advice you ever got. Teach yourself something. Affirm what you know. That’s always a good ride.

Then save for the next rainy day and begin a quote collection. Cut and paste inspiration to your journal-blog.

You can import your vet records and make a category for that. A category is a way to sort, so five years from now when memory fades, you can find that previous incident with your previous vet. Add information about supplements that you don’t need yet. Keep links to bitless bridles and a record of saddle fitting sessions. All the boring things that you’ll wish you had later.

Keep a record of riding lessons and clinics you attend. Writing them out is like getting two for the price of one. Add a list of goals for the season, and the year. Define your vision and map a path ahead. You might add a photo of your trainer, she never forgets you. Write about trail rides and show experiences. Post photos of your friends and their horses. These are precious times, more valuable in hindsight.

Finally, most importantly, that dorky gratitude journal. Take a moment at the end of the day and say thank you. How would it impact the relationship you have with your horse in the saddle, if this was how you ended your day?

Since beginning to give writing workshops to riders as an add-on to clinics, I’m been so inspired by the writing people share. I am convinced our words matter, now more than ever.

There’s a reason teachers used to have students copy a sentence a hundred times on the chalkboard. All these years later, I think I have learned almost as much from this blog as I have from horses. The practice of writing has deepened my understanding profoundly.

Besides, it’s how you and I met.

I’m not suggesting a New Year resolution or that you ever need to go public. I’m just saying that a word at a time, month after month, is a way to be in the barn with your horse when you aren’t. It’s another expression of the passion that drives us all, and you can store that up for a time you need it, an investment of the best kind.

All horse stories are the same. We get the wrong horse. We find a way to build a relationship in the old-fashioned way, a little bit at a time. Then in a blink, years have passed and that hot young thing is an old campaigner. You aren’t who you were either. You’re much better, in ways you never imagined. When the only really bad day with your horse comes and you have to say goodbye, you have the best keepsake. You’ve written the legend of your horse. Forever yours.

…

Anna Blake at Infinity Farm
Horse Advocate, Author, Clinician, Equine ProBlog/FB/Email/Author/FB/Tweet/Amazon

Join us at Relaxed & Forward Tribe, Intl., with Anna Blake

Our 2019 clinic schedule is filling. Email ambfarm@gmail.com for hosting details or to be added to the email list.

The post Writing and Riding appeared first on Anna Blake.

Photo & Poem: Calming Signal

inhale
light
exhale
peace

…

Every good wish from our herd to yours, with gratitude for all you have given us. Thank you.

…

Anna Blake at Infinity Farm
Horse Advocate, Author, Clinician, Equine ProBlog/FB/Email/Author/FB/Tweet/Amazon

Join us at Relaxed & Forward Tribe, Intl., with Anna Blake

Planning our 2019 clinic schedule now. Email ambfarm@gmail.com for hosting details or to be added to the email list.

The post Photo & Poem: Calming Signal appeared first on Anna Blake.

Horse Prayers. Available. No, Really.

[image error]

Horse Prayers, Poems from the Prairie. 

First there were hold-ups in the printing. Then distribution went sideways. There were lost orders. Ridiculous excuses and bald-faced lies. Not to mention that apparently using color photos added some wacky degree of difficulty. But look at this photo. How could I leave it (and forty-two others) out of this mini-coffee table book?

Poetry for people like us, available all over:

Amazon,

Barnes and Noble,

and internationally at The Book Depository.

Or get signed books directly from me.

Early reviews are all 5-star. Leaving reviews online is the kindest nod you can give a book. Indie publishing depends on the kindness of readers.

Thanks for your patience. Really, it’s available now.

…





Anna Blake at Infinity Farm


Horse Advocate, Author, Clinician, Equine Pro
Blog/FB/Email/Author/FB/Tweet/Amazon

Travelblog NZ: The View From the Arena Middle

Lost Travelblog finds it’s way home…

Relaxed & Forward: AnnaBlakeBlog

Let me see. Where was I? Yes, having the time of my life at Equidays in New Zealand. On consecutive weekends on each island, Equidays is an annual national horse event with a focus on education and entertainment. It’s a high-five to the equine community.

It wasn’t my first time at an event like this. As a farm kid, I showed Grandpa at the county fair. He was an old Suffolk ram who dragged me (behind him) a lap or two around the arena. I have competed at plenty of shows, including Colorado’s National Western Stock Show with two species. Sold books at equine expos and horse fairs in a few states. But it was Equidays where I crossed the line. They gave me a microphone.

This is different from a clinic situation where I might be speaking to a horse and rider, or to eight or ten riders in…

View original post 1,226 more words

Travelblog: Business Pajamas to New Zealand

Travelblogs. Who knew?

Relaxed & Forward: AnnaBlakeBlog

To get to New Zealand from Colorado, it’s usually a twenty-five or thirty-hour trip. The big hop in this flight, Houston to Auckland, was fourteen and a half hours, but it wouldn’t be international if you didn’t have a six or eight-hour layover in an American city first. I won’t mention that the first leg out of Colorado Springs was delayed an hour and a half. That would just be whining.

I find my departure gate by heading toward the largest crowd blocking the terminal. We take up some space; tour groups, families with kids, odds ‘n ends like me. I’m told this is the second longest flight on the planet. May I just say that’s the very last and least inspiring thing my backside wants to know. But it could be worse, they say. The flight through Dubai is a couple of hours longer.

A man standing next to…

View original post 988 more words

Book Review:Horse Prayers by Anna Blake

Horse Prayers has landed! So grateful for this wonderful review from Anne, and she shared two of my favorite poems.

HorseAddict

Poetry!  The best poets, with an economy of words, can bring us ideas that hurtle through our heads with the speed and power of an express train or come in quietly through the door of our minds and pass through gently leaving their footprints.  In “Horse Prayers” Anna Blake comes in quietly  and leaves not only footprints but hoofprints.  Horse Prayers is an enchanting collection of poems about life on the Colorado prairie.  The poems speak mostly of horses and donkeys, but also dogs, goats and the prairie itself.

The poems are divided into sections of Moons: Wolf Moon, Pink Moon, Strawberry Moon, Harvest Moon, Hunter Moon, and Cold Moon. Each moon has a thread that runs through it.  My two favourites were in Wolf Moon; both told of the relationship we have with horses that is not about their submission to humans, or the humans’ control of horses but…

View original post 471 more words

The Book Launch That Went Splat! And an Online Poetry Reading.

[image error]

It was almost like the Olympic Ski Jump event. There were cameras rolling and tension in the air. Edgar Rice Burro stood next to me, sharing some last-minute strategy. He handles all my PR work since he has the loudest voice. He gave the nod and I stepped forward at the top of that giant ramp. Just me.

I’m wearing a faded Dressage Queen t-shirt and pajama bottoms. I’ve trained for the last two years for this moment, scribbling on small spiral notebooks, staring at the pond, and staying up late editing one word for another, and then back again. Poetry can be fussy that way.

It all culminates here. Down below, a small, very small, group of people are milling about, as I inch my crocs to the edge of the ramp, shifting the cardboard box to one arm, pushing my reading glasses up my nose, and then rebalancing the box.

It’s time. With a gasp of confidence false bravado and a twitch in my right eye, I take the first step. It’s steep but I’m used to that. A few more steps and I find my rhythm, almost smiling. This book of poems has been carrying me these last months, sometimes lifted high, sometimes dragging me behind, but I’ve got this.

Wait, something’s not right. Out of the corner of my eye, I see something dark behind me. It looks like a boot with the dastardly printing company’s logo on the sole. It makes contact on my backside, hard enough that the box holding a dozen copies of Horse Prayers gets launched into the air. Edgar Rice Burro lets out a blood-curdling bray. They’re pretty much all blood-curdling, but still.

I start tumbling, trying to catch balance, doing the awkward chicken dance, tilting close to the edge, but jerking away, over-correcting into a skid to the other edge, spinning backward. I try to make it look like I’m not falling, like I meant to do this, like I’m in on the joke.

Oh, just fall already.

Splat, bruised and spitting mad. I expect the box of books to land in a crumpled mess on top of me, but nope. And they don’t land anywhere else either.

See how I did that? I took the story back.

I could whine about this printing company’s series of disastrous mistakes, rant that they destroyed the book release, and flatly state that their support line was impossible. But there’s no satisfaction in whining.

Writing this feels like sweet revenge. Not my last will and testament, it’s another genre entirely. Those printers will not hijack this book, I’ll write my own ending, you useless dweebs. Oops, was that last bit my printed voice?

This Week: Take two: After the splat, I switched to a different company and started production over from the start.

Tada! Horse Prayers has launched. Really this time, like this nest of beady-eyed sparrow babies, I share that a grim line of determination on my little beak. Outta my way, time for these poems to fly.

The book looks good. I know because I mailed a pile out yesterday, and some more today. If you have ordered books (click here) from me online, they are in the mail! Yahoo, fly, babies, fly!

The Presale will be up on bookseller websites in the next few days, and paperback release is August 24th. I would complain that it’s taking too long, but my time expectations got a boot in the pants, along with everything else.

Sorry if you’ve looked for Horse Prayers and been sent on a chase. Or if you’re one of the people who managed to buy Horse Prayers in the 36 hours it was available, before the printer randomly pulled it back, you win… and lose. I know at least one of those books arrived printed out of margin and a mess. Please contact me, I will make it right.

As soon as the pre-sale comes online, I’ll go live on Facebook for a poetry reading/book talk. I think that means I read poems out loud, although there’s a good chance I’ll try to get others to do it, too. Not a comfortable idea to me, but extraordinary measures are called for! Stay tuned.

[image error]

Horse Prayers is available in print with color photographs, August 24th (Pre-sale sooner!) from Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Goodreads, and your local independent bookseller.

The eBook edition is available from all online digital sellers now.

Click here to order a signed copy of Horse Prayers directly from me. (It will take a couple of weeks.)

As an independent publisher, it makes a huge difference when our books get reviews, so I ask the necessary favor. Please leave a review if you have a minute. It means more than you imagine… Please and thank you.

“Horse Prayers is a collection tiny stories in simple words, praise for the beautiful fragile land, and love poems to horses,” I offer, in a poetically defensive voice.

“Blah-blah-blah,” the reasonable non-fiction voice says, “It’s too late after the splat. Besides, poetry never sells well. This book is expensive to print. You’ll lose money.”

Really. Like that’s a threat that scares horsewomen.

…





Anna Blake at Infinity Farm

Horse Advocate, Author, Speaker, Equine Pro
Blog/FB/Email/Author/FB/Tweet/Amazon



…
Check out our entire clinic schedule here.

Horse Prayers Book Release July 5, 2018 (Yay!)

[image error]

 

Horse Prayers, Poems from the Prairie is available July 5th!

It’s a collection of poetry from a small farm on the Colorado prairie; tiny stories in simple words, praise for the beautiful fragile land, and love poems to horses. This is a 106-page book of poetry and photography, a softcover mini-coffee table book.

Some heartfelt, some humorous, these poems are a howl to the prairie wind. I’m a woman on a farm, wonderstruck by this simple life with its plain beauty; the comfort of daily chores and bittersweet sunsets. Even my words can’t look away.

And the horses.  This “gray mare” isn’t over that girlish phase. None of us are, so I write love poems to horses, putting words to this equine passion that powers a central part of our lives. What is it that pulls us so fiercely to horses?

In the work I do as a trainer and clinician, I teach from the horse’s point of view; how he learns and responds, what he appreciates and what doesn’t work for him. I teach methods to connect in the most positive way for horses. These poems come from my side of things. Consider them a thank-you note for this astonishing life.

Horse Prayers is available July 5th in print from Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Goodreads, and your local independent bookseller.  The eBook edition is available from all online digital sellers, as well.

Click here to pre-order a signed copy of Horse Prayers directly from me.

As an independent publisher, it makes a huge difference when our books get reviews, so I ask the necessary favor. Please leave a review if you have a minute. It means more than you imagine… Please and thank you.

…





Anna Blake at Infinity Farm


Horse Advocate, Author, Speaker, Equine Pro
Blog/FB/Email/Author/FB/Tweet/Amazon



…
Check out our entire clinic schedule here.

 

“Horse Prayers” Cover Reveal

[image error]

Horse Prayers   Poems from the Prairie

Hooray, it’s the cover of my next book. I know, it’s a totally different look than my other books, and for good reason. This is a 106-page book of poetry and full-color photography. A softcover mini-coffee table book.

I wasn’t sure at first. I admit poetry has been a challenge. And by that I mean, I don’t like a lot of it. That alone was reason enough to commit to writing it. But publish a volume of poetry? Why?

It feels like life picks me up off the ground and shakes me by the shoulders every time I see a bird in the sky. I’m not sure how it got this loud; even my words can’t look away.

But I’m not the first woman on a farm gobsmacked by this simple life with its plain beauty. Living on the land is the ordinary experience of spinning through seasons and lives while inhaling the wind of the Infinite.

Sharing our lives with animals adds another rich layer of dimension.

I’m clearly not over my girlish horse phase. None of us are, so I write love poems to horses, putting words to this equine passion that powers a central part of our lives. What is it that pulls us so fiercely to horses?

New readers, I started this blog to have a place to talk about books and writing, separately from the place I continue to write the horse stuff at annablakeblog.com. Things have stayed in neat piles exactly like they do in my underwear drawer. 

THIS WEEK: The poetry book is in its print proofing process. I’ll have the first copy of it in my hands next week. The realities of the publishing world tried to smack me around a bit, but gray mares like me are not to be trifled with. The final result is even better than I imagined. I’m planning a release day in June or July, with a pre-sale available from Amazon soon and signed copies on this website. 

And I feel a video book trailer coming on…

My love affair with poems doesn’t threaten my long-term relationship with writing non-fiction. It’s more like an inky ménage à trois. So, I’ll finish volume two of Relaxed & Forward and publish that new book by the end of this year. 

Today, I’m at a farm outside Palmer, Alaska, for a horse clinic. The natural beauty is desolate and wild and immense. There’s a shade of live-green on the trees unlike any I’ve seen before. I’m staying with Kaylene Johnson, NYTimes bestselling author of Canyons and Ice, a book about Dick Griffith’s experiences wilderness trekking.

I always want to believe humans are more alike than different; he’s walked vast distances and I inhabit a small farm. I wonder if nature is his church also?

It’s easy to fall in love with the Earth. Every dawn is a new birth and each sunset is an opportunity to take stock our precious time. This book of poems is a thank-you note.

How does nature call to you?

….
Anna Blake at Infinity Farm


Horse Advocate, Author, Speaker, Equine Pro
Blog  FB  Email  Author  FB  Tweet  Amazon
…
Check out our clinic schedule.


…

 

Time Travel, Tell Mary Oliver Not to Worry, and the New Book!

[image error] “Meh. Is she done yet?”

I’ve held out on you. Stable Relation wasn’t really my first book …now that I think about it.

The memory that came back to me at that special time in the afternoon, between two and three p.m. Some call it tea time and some, nap time. I call it the-night-of-the-living-dead time because I’m a very early riser and my IQ starts to drop about then.

So, I was blindly folding laundry and thinking about this next book, Horse Prayers, because the interior is complicated. That’s when I remembered why photo layout challenges felt familiar.

I don’t like to brag but I was the editor of my high school yearbook. Yes, I was that girl. And no, we were not the cool kids.

Instead, we were weird kids, before the geek moniker entered our vocabularies. There is a distinct advantage to high school weirdness, in hindsight. You could move under the radar. So, we broke rules. We were artistic. We were political. We were given time during morning announcements to sell the yearbook but instead, we did parodies of Firesign Theater (and sold out, without ever mentioning yearbooks.) In other words, we were weird kids who were never going to be cool, but we knew it and that made us a different kind of cool. Or that’s what we told ourselves while everyone else was dating.

Which brings me to the photo layouts in the new book, not one football player anywhere. Amen to that, (not that I would say no to a marching band.) When my friend found out I was working a poetry book, she suggested it be a mini-coffee table book. I usually keep books like that in my bathroom, so I liked the name right away. And this friend was my friend back when I was the yearbook editor, forty-six years ago, so why not?

Here’s why not: In the book world, Amazon is the Man and the Man doesn’t print color. Could a poetry book with photos be made remotely available to people? The process is more complicated, which means it costs me more money, but the answer is a resounding, “I think so.” So, I came up with a plan and my designer said sure. The cover is amazing. I’ll show it off soon.

Then last week, I stopped at a brick and mortar bookstore, don’t tell the Man, to look at other mini-coffee table books. I didn’t find any. Instead, I found some beautiful slim paperbacks, poems nestled in the middle of the page, small enough to fit in a pocket. Precious, and I thought of my worn-out tiny volume of Edna St. Vincent Millay sonnets. Now that’s a book of poetry. Yikes.

Tell Mary Oliver not to worry. I’m still not one of the cool kids.

 

THIS WEEK: For new readers, I started this blog to have a place to talk about books and writing, separately from the place I continue to write the horse stuff at annablakeblog.com.  Things have stayed in neat piles exactly like they do in my underwear drawer. 

Horse Prayers, Poems from the Prairie! I’m done editing, re-editing, sorting photos, and then editing some more. Done!

[image error] “Who cares?”

Cue the Rocky theme, I’m leaping from one foot to another, both fists raised above my head, my muscles glistening with oil, my six-pack… 

I lied. That isn’t how it went at all. It was Monday at the-night-of-the-living-dead time. I’d been tweaking punctuation for days. Fiddling words. Cutting deeper. I’d been fighting with software, trying to compile the manuscript into Word without losing my margins. Then editing it some more in Word. That’s writer-talk for floundering.

Finally, my glazed eye-balls dispassionately watched my finger move to click the send button. I slumped back, three black teas to the wind and still mashed. Or something. In this sterling moment of accomplishment, the dogs didn’t even wake up. Photographic proof.

Other news: I’ll be on the road, traveling to Washington state and Alaska in May, and then off to Scotland, England, and Sweden in June and July. I’ll be giving horse clinics, writing more ironic travel blogs, and there are three writing workshops woven in. I’m really looking forward to sharing time with writers.  See the schedule and join us if you can. Or contact me for a clinic or workshop at your place.

And sometime in the middle of the travel, Horse Prayers will launch. I’ll let you know. I’ll even wake up the dogs for that. 

In the meantime, The Olympiad, 1972. I pulled the yearbook out this week. I love the cover, it’s black with a circular photo of a path in the woods, no words, no team mascot. Inside, there are quotes that haven’t lost meaning. Crazy part? I’m still proud of the job all of us on the staff did to make our unique statement. It’s creative expression within the format of a yearbook, a pre-determined structure. That makes it kind of like a sonnet in some ways. If I squint my eyes, I can almost see the trail of breadcrumbs.

….

Anna Blake at Infinity Farm


Horse Advocate, Author, Speaker, Equine Pro
Blog  FB  Email  Author  FB  Tweet  Amazon

…
Currently planning upcoming Concept Clinics. 2018 is filling quickly; please contact me here if you would like to host a clinic or attend one. Check out our entire clinic schedule