March 2004

Our month has been a busy one. It started easily enough, although still rather wet. Mother goose gifted us with a few eggs, which we are collecting this year and making some wonderful light but bright yellow cakes! Then in the second weekend, things got a bit silly.

Mark rode Crystal at the Craig Stevens clinic. He had a great time 'cos he wasn't doing the organising, so although there were hiccups, all he had to do was ride - which in itself, was something Crystal ensured was anything but dull!

Whilst Mark was practicing being a knight on a white horse, Lorraine went to the Malvern Equine Event with Lucinda McAlpine to lend a hand on the Brackenhill Stud stand. Lucinda did a delightful demonstration with her barefoot, shaggy, competition dressage horses and as always, gathered quite a crowd and stirred up people's thinking about keeping horses.

The Sunday saw the arrival of our dear friends Rita Reneaux and Francine Epstein from USA to spend a few days with us in between some work here. They lead the Trusting You Are Loved course that Mark and I attended in November last year. It is based on the work of Francine's late husband, Lew Epstein (who also married us). They teach 10 practices for partnership:

• Trusting you are loved
• Listening with compassion
• Authentic apology
• Forgiveness
• Speaking from your heart
• Creating safety
• Creating intimacy - including your partner
• Managing upsets responsibly
• Appreciation
• Honouring your commitment

We have found that living these is not easy, but the more we can, the more delightful and blessed our interactions and relationships become. If you would like to know more about what they mean, we would be delighted to share with you and put you in touch with people co-ordinating the programmes and seminars in the UK. It was such a gift to welcome these wonderful women into our home and to include them in our lives.

During that week one thing overlapped to another and we went on a roll with friends for dinner - where I baked one of our delicious ribs of beef in hay! Yes, put 2 inches of hay in the bottom of the roasting dish, lay the meat on top (you can do this with a leg of lamb too), lay another 2 inches of hay on top and wrap the whole thing in a couple of layers of foil, making sure the whisps of hay are well tucked in so they don't catch fire! Put it in a hot oven for about 2½ hours then leave it to rest whilst you get the veggies ready and hey presto... a REALLY DELICIOUS roast! It's moist and succulent and has a sort of "bonfire" flavour!

Another friend, Molly, arrived for a few days mid week. She's a woman of great abundance and filled our fridge and freezer with all kinds of delicacies. Brandy was unimpressed with Greta, her dog, but they muddled through and for the most part, stayed out of each other's way.

On Thursday whilst I was doing my thing at the Farmers Market in Swindon, Mark and the crew here took care of a little Tai Chi clinic. James Shaw and his partner Mary, were on a holiday here but stopped by to share their work. At one point James was working with two horses and riders in the barn and was joined by an impromptu visit from Greta and Brandy and Ivory the cat... all we needed was Mrs Free Range, the chicken, who often takes a dust bath in there and it would have been a full house! We're looking forward to their return for more later this year.

We had a few days to catch our breath then our daughter Anna arrived for a week's holiday! She had ordered a sunlounge by the pool and pina colada's every evening. Well, the first request was just too big a challenge for us, although we did offer her a chair by the slurry lagoon, it didn't quite fit the bill, especially as the sun was not showing it's face! But we did have pina colada's each night and it was truly wonderful to spend time with her. We even managed a very cultured family day in Bath with tea at the Pump Rooms!

By the time Anna left, I got stuck into putting the "finishing touches" to Issue 23 of Natural Horsemanship magazine, but I always underestimate how long "finishing touches" take, and that, coupled with a change in our email system which created some hiccups, means that the April issue still hasn't reached the printer. If you're wondering where your copy is, it should hit your doormat just after Easter (apologies but it's worth waiting for!).

Go well.