From Moshi

Responsibility. It’s a big part of life. Jane tells her students that their horses should be responsible for their own gaits. They shouldn’t repeatedly ask or nag at their horses, or they’ll just get tuned out and ignored. She says your horse should respond to the first request, and should maintain his or her gait until asked to do something else.

It’s pretty easy for me to get lazy about being responsible for my job. How about you? Have you ever avoided doing those things you know you should be doing? Perhaps it was because you became lazy, or because no one seemed to care one way or another if you got it done? This tendency is why we have leaders or bosses. We often need someone to keep us on track.

A good leader or boss is someone who inspires you to do your best without nagging or shaming. A good leader finds ways to help their subordinates feel important and valued. A poor leader uses punishment or embarrassment to force compliance. A good leader creates a desire to do well. A poor leader makes people unhappy, and is often looking for replacements when their subordinates leave or quit.

Which kind of leader are you for your horse? Do you intentionally create desire to be good, or do you inspire fear of doing poorly? What kind of leader are you with other people? Are you an uplifter or a tear downer?

I’m so glad my person is an uplifter! Jane makes me want to be the best I can be. She makes me feel good about myself. There’s nothing more important than that. I’d do anything for Jane, because it feels so good to please her. She makes me feel good about ME.

How about you? Do people feel good when they’re around you? Remember, molasses horse cookies catch more flies than vinegar!

Love, Moshi

From Indy

I got in trouble today. I was home alone when I smelled the most wondrous smell! I know I shouldn’t, but I put my paws up on the kitchen counter and there it was! An entire chicken! It was frozen, but it smelled so good! Before I could stop and think about what I was doing, I grabbed it and pulled it onto the floor. I shredded the plastic and was chewing that luscious cold meat apart when I heard Jane’s car pull up. I panicked! I realized I was going to be in big trouble!

I left the mangled bird on the kitchen floor and ran for the bedroom. I hid under the bed, hoping Jane would think the cat was the one who ruined dinner. She didn’t fall for it. She called for me in a really LOUD voice. Then she found me with my head under the bed. She ordered me into the kitchen and scolded me severely. I kept telling her that the cat did it, not me, but she didn’t believe me. In fact, she told me she was very disappointed in me, that I was trying to get the cat in trouble for my mistake. She told me it was very childish of me to point my paw at the cat. She was right, of course. I apologized and promised not to do it again.

Jane thought about it, and told me she realized she was responsible for keeping such tempting things out of my reach. She took responsibility for her mistake, and vowed to do better. She forgave me, but also told me not to do any more “counter-surfing”.

I was very impressed with her willingness to take ownership of her part in the situation. I decided right then that I want to always be as mature and honorable as Jane. After all, most people aren’t fooled when we try to blame someone else anyway. It just makes us look silly. I realized I’ll never lose as much respect by being responsible for my own actions, as I will by trying to point my paw at someone else.

Say, do you have any frozen chicken you could bring over? I’ve developed a craving for fowl popsicles! YUM!

Love, Indy

From Moshi

There’s a whole lot that goes on in this world that we never hear about. Some of it is bad, but a lot of it is good. If you could measure the bad against the good, you’d find that the good stuff far outweighs the bad stuff. How do I know? As a horse, I’m very connected to the energy of the planet. I can feel what’s going on because I am totally present. I spend little or no time in the past or future, I’m just NOW. And I can feel the positive pulse of the earth. Well-being abounds!

What if well-being isn’t showing up in YOUR life as much as you like? Then I’d ask, what are you thinking about? Where are you putting your mental energy? Are you looking for the things that are WRONG in your world, or are you looking for the things that are RIGHT? Which is it? You get MORE of whatever you put your energy into. So if things are bad, well… Think about that!
Just for today, look for something that is great about you or your most pressing situation. Then spend some time feeling the wonderful feelings that thought brings to you.

I’m basking in the Florida sunshine today. It feels so good on my sleek black coat. It warms my muscles and makes me want to nap. I love the sun and the soft breeze caressing my skin. I’m looking forward to Jane showing up for our ride. It’s a great day.
Are you going riding today? If it’s too cold and snowy where you are, at least take your friend a carrot. Your horse misses your voice and your soft, loving touch! It will make you both feel good to spend some time together.

Love, Moshi

From Indy

I’m so excited to get to visit my friends back in Florida! It’s been a long summer without them. The cat isn’t nearly as much fun as my Florida barn friends! Besides, in Florida, we have a POOL!

Do you like to swim? I love it. It’s terrific exercise. Some of my friends were afraid of the water, but we helped them get over it. Dogs are natural swimmers, so all they needed was some gentle, friendly support.

Is there something you’d like to do, but you’re afraid to try? Sometimes all you need is a friend’s helping hand. Knowing someone is there to help keep you safe can make all the difference in the world.

Would you do that thing you’re afraid of if someone was there to support you? Can you be that support to someone else?

We’re all in this life together. No one is truly alone. If you need help, or can offer help, look around you and see how you can participate.You get back out of life whatever you put into it. Maybe now is the time to take that big jump into the pool!

Come on! Let’s go swimming! Bring along a tennis ball to throw. PLEASE!!!!

Love, Indy

From Moshi

Fall is so beautiful in Vermont, USA. We have lots of trees, and they turn the most incredible colors. I only see yellow, green, and blue, but the many shades of yellows are amazing. I hear red and orange are really striking, but I have no way of relating to that. Like all horses, my eye structure doesn’t let me see red.

I heard a fellow at the barn say an interesting thing… “if you’re a hammer, everything looks like a nail.” That reminded me of how everyone sees the world through their own filters. What’s good in one person’s eyes, may be evil in another’s. It’s why we have wars. It’s why we have prejudice. It’s the cause of most of man’s (and woman’s) suffering.

Is there a solution to this? It’s not possible for us to all see things the same way, but knowing that fact is a big help in releasing the judgement of others. When we can acknowledge that we’re all doing the best we can with what we’ve got, it’s a lot easier to let go of any anger or frustration we feel. Just let people be who they are, protect yourself if you have to, but let the rest of it go. If you really look at it, there’s very little in this world that’s worth fighting about.

Is there something going on in your life right now that you could heal by simply letting it go? Give it a try!

Love, Moshi

Form Indy

I came in the house with my long tawny coat full of nasty burrs. Jane spent an hour pulling the prickly things out of my hair. It hurt sometimes, when she’d pull on just a few hairs, but I knew she was trying to help me so I gritted my teeth and tolerated it.

Sometimes we have to do things we don’t want to do. Like go to the doctor or the dentist. Maybe, for you, it’s going to a job that’s not exactly fulfilling your dreams.

So what can you do to make an icky situation more tolerable?

I do my best to make dealing with discomfort a game. I find the top three best things about the situation, and then occupy my mind with finding a way to make those elements even better. Such as, when I have to go to the vet, I look for the most beautiful girl dog in the place, and make funny faces at her until she smiles. It’s a great game that takes my mind off the fact that I might be there to get a shot or some other unpleasantness.

While Jane was pulling burrs out of my coat, I stared out the window and imagined flying over the houses and the trees. I saw a big hawk flying around, and pretended I was on his back, searching for bunnies from the air with sharp, hawk eyes. It was a fun vision that took my mind of the sting of my hair getting pulled.

What do you do to help you tolerate uncomfortable situations? Do you have tools you know you can use, or do you make up solutions on the spot?

Love, Indy

From Moshi

Who are you? Who are you, REALLY?

Being who you really is not an easy task. I’m a Friesian, born in Holland, and imported to the USA. I’m different from most horses in that I have feathered legs. Some of the horses at the barn tease me about it, calling me an old work horse. It used to bother me, but then I heard Jane say something really important…

Those who matter don’t mind, and those who mind don’t matter.

When I was a youngster, I hoped that Jane would shave off my feathers so I would fit in with all the warmbloods at my barn. I’d hide my legs behind the low bushes or stand behind the water trough when new horses came in. I didn’t want them to see that I was “different.”

As I matured, I realized that being different was actually the norm. Everyone has something that’s a little out of the ordinary. It was silly for me to be shy about other horses seeing my feathers. So, I made a conscious decision to accept myself for who and what I am. I decided to show off my hairy legs instead of hide them. And you know what? It didn’t change how my friends thought of me one bit. And they’re the ones that matter to me.

Is there something about you that’s a little different from most people? Does it bother you? I know it can be really hard, but if you have it in you change how you think, spend a little time examining and embracing the very thing that you don’t like about yourself. You may find that it’s the resistance to what IS that makes you unhappy. If you can let go of the resistance, you let go of the struggle. And then you’re free.

Once I decided to enjoy my feathers and really show them off, I found that many of the horses in the barn really didn’t care one way or another that I was a little bit different. Some even liked my flashy legs. I learned that regardless of what I look like, my friends love me for what’s in my heart, not on my legs.

So, if you’d like to be happier, just remember to be good in your heart. Let go of any judgement of how you look or how you might be different. Embracing who you ARE, right NOW, is the fastest way to a satisfying and happy life.

Love, Moshi

From Indy

Wow! I got lots of email about Lobby! Thanks to your suggestions, I did find him! So many of you were close and a few of you were right on! Thanks for your help!

Jane and I found him in the truck! He could see the sky through the windshield but never felt the rain. He was in something metal, and I couldn’t open it without Jane’s help. But once she opened the door, there he was! The cat was watching us from a tree with a silly grin on her face. I do think she’s pleased that we followed her clues and found Lobby.

So, all is well. I worried and worried for nothing. How often does that happen to you? How much energy do we all waste worrying when all we have to do is trust that things will work out. Hmmmmm. I think I’ll go take a nap and ponder that. Lobby’s going with me though…I won’t let that goofy cat get him again!

Thanks for the help!

Love, Indy

From Moshi

I’m a people whisperer. A Moshi Level Five People Whisperer, to be exact. Fellow horses come to me when they are confused by their people and ask what their person really meant by their crazy people language. These poor confused horses say things like, “my person says she’s the boss when on my back by directing where we go, but then moves her feet and backs away from me on the ground, which says I’m the boss instead of her. I’m confused!”

I remind them that people have a different language than we do, and we horses need to learn to be “people whisperers.” That means we have to do our best to learn to listen to human commands with our ears, and to ignore the loud body language people scream at us. It’s very hard for us to do, as we naturally listen to body language much more readily than noise. People are very confusing and incongruent to equines, and sometimes the mixed signals make us a bit crazy.

To help, I am posting this message to all my horse friends:

Dear fellow equine: When your human freely gives you lots of treats or lets you push her around with your nose, that means she loves you, not that you’re her boss. I know it is uncomfortable and confusing because to you this behavior means you’re in charge, but you need to learn to tolerate this and not take over. Try not to get confused when she then turns around and asks you to yield your feet to her direction and control.

Most humans do not know how to speak horse and don’t realize they are giving you conflicting signals. So even though you find it very difficult to have respect for, or feel safe with, someone who lets you push her around, you’re going to have to learn to tolerate it. Then, when your person gets on your back and asks you to go where she tells you to go, you need to find it in yourself to instantly change your opinion of this person and let her be the leader. Yes, I know it sounds impossible to do, but you must learn to do this if you want to be considered a really good horse.

This is lesson one of the People Whisperer. More to come.

To my human friends, thanks for sharing this lesson with your horse! It will be very helpful for him or her to understand that people don’t often mean what they say, or say what they mean, in our horse language. I know it’s not intentional, but it happens anyway.

I gotta go! Here comes Jane! I think she has a bag of carrots. She makes me earn them, but I don’t mind. Does your horse have to earn his carrots or has he learned to demand them from you?

Love, Moshi

From Indy

I ate the cat. Okay.. that’s not true, but there are times when I wish I could. She makes me so mad! We’ve called a truce, but I’m still upset. She said she would tell me where Lobby, my stuffed lobster, is hiding, if I promise to catch a rabbit for her. The problem is, I don’t actually catch the rabbits. I just chase them. I declined. Getting Lobby back is not worth having to hurt one of my bunny friends.

So… the cat said she would give me one last clue if I promise to bring her another dog biscuit. I agreed. I took a biscuit out to the barn and set it in front of her She purred the following clue:

“Roses are red, pine trees are green
Lobby is somewhere he can be seen…

Open a door and look down below
Careful a lobster might grab your toe…”

Where could this be? What do YOU think?

My new friends, Agents KK3 and KK4, Xena and Zoey, are going to come over and help search. They are “sight hounds,” of the Cirneco dell’Etna breed, from Sicily. I’d never met anyone like them before! They have really sharp eyes, so maybe they will see what I can’t.

I’ll let you know if we find Lobby!

Love,

Agent KK9, Indy

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