I am now seeing clients and students in my new studio in Kent, CT. I am offering Somatic Experiencing and TTouch work as well as individual sessions in Authentic Movement, Embodied Fitness and Embodied Dance.
You can reach me at josajones@gmail.com. Email me to set up a free telephone conversation about the possibilities for working with movement and touch. I look forward to hearing from you!
I love working with horses and their humans. Most of what goes wrong with horse and their humans is not in the saddle. It happens on the ground. it happens in the stall. It happens on the way from one place to another. A lot of it has nothing to do with the horse at all. It has to do with things that are older and deeper that make their way into the relationship with the horse. It is rarely intentional or malicious. It often has to do with a lack of awareness, or regard, or attention or understanding.
Most often what I do starts with movement observation. I watch how the person moves around the horse, how the horse responds to them, to its environment, to the various parts of tacking up, leading, riding. I watch. And then bit by bit, I start to decode the dance. What is working? What is confusing? What is missing?
Much of what I do has to do with bringing both horse and human more fully into their bodies, and then more fully into connection with each other. That makes for a better relationship. And usually it makes for a better ride. Happier horse, happier human. I love that.
If you want help, you can contact me here.
I took this picture of Capprichio last September. I lay in the grass and let him move around me. I loved seeing him from this angle, down where he grazes, one eye on the farm, one eye on me.
Last night I spoke with the animal communicator Kate Reilly, and when she spoke to Capprichio, the first thing he said to her was, “It’s been a long time.” He was talking about his long working life. She said he sounded solemn – not depressed – but like an elder statesman. She also confirmed that he is not comfortable. Nothing catastrophic, just a number of things that add up to not feeling great. I had been feeling that.
Capprichio will be twenty this year. That is not OLD for a horse, but it is often when a horse who has worked for many years competing or performing will retire. He has been “retired” for several years, but I still ride him lightly. My antenna are always out – feeling for his legs, his back, how is he stepping? And mostly for his heart and mind – is this still fun?
Two weeks ago, after he recovered from his abscess, I felt something different. Almost as if he did not want to put his feet down. it was a new kind of tenderness. I was listening.
Kate suggested letting him take February off and doing body work with him – energy work and TTouches. She said, “Don’t do what you know. Play. See what happens.” I have been writing about play in the blog and also in Breaking into Blossom. And here is that theme again! Kate telling me to play in an intuitive, improvisational way. No map. Just feeling and listening. Letting myself be led – by my hands, by my heart, by him. By love.