Gilly's got rhythm (beads)

When I ordered Gilly's new bitless noseband from Cynthia at Natural Horse World I was looking through her links and found a site for rhythm beads. I'd never heard of them before but thought they looked pretty neat! So I had a lot of bits and pieces of earrings, necklaces and such laying around and thought....hey I can do this! So I did some research on the Internet and found lots of places that sold them and read about them and the semi precious stones and their meanings.

Above Gil is modeling his new bling, after he got used to the bells! That was pretty funny! I walked from the house jingling them and he came running from behind the house. Blowing loud, tail flagged way up and prancing like he was running on air!!! I mean he was really strutting his stuff; came running to the gate with neck arched and still blowing. Pokey was scared to death of them, go figure? Just the jingling of the bells made him afraid. Gilly finally calmed down and smelled them and was really checking them out.

I went into the barn and rubbed them all over him and then slipped the necklace over his head, awww beautiful. I got him to walk around in the barn to make them jingle; Pokey still wouldn't come in the barn.....I'm tooooo scared, he said!!!!

Gilly is pretty hairy so the necklace kind of gets lost in all the winter hair!

Below is the necklace, it's 50 inches long but I should have made it 60 for Gilly's big neck. It has 7 bells three large ones and four smaller. The stones are:
Red Jasper - helps with conflict and aggression, promotes grace and perseverance.
Picture Jasper - stabilizing, balancing stone.
Hematite - great stone for grounding, calms and soothes, reducing stress.
Turquoise - healing stone, luck, happiness.
Unakite - promotes balance and emotional stability. Transforms negative emotions into positive ones. A grounding stone. (the medallion)
Also has silver beads and a silver bear and feather with turquoise dots.
The symbol of the bear means, strength, health and stability.

The colors mean:
Black - strong protection from negative energies. Reduces fears, obsessions, neurosis, and panic with a calm rootedness.
Red - (warm) attracting recognition and respect, red is the color of good fortune. Encouraging joy, luck and money it promotes confidence and courage...and is very grounding. I has been known to escalate the body's metabolism with vibrancy and passion.
Green - (cool) is peaceful and calming, refreshing, nurturing, balancing and normalizing..it is a good color for healing and health (physical, emotional and spiritual) Green cleanses and balances our energy, to give a feeling of renewal, peace and harmony. Green connects us to unconditional love and is used for balancing our whole being. It connects us to nature and to empathy to others.

I'm sure there are more color descriptions but that is all I found in my search so far. I placed an alligator clip on the end so the necklace will stay in place if Gilly lowers his head to get a drink when we are out. These are not to be left on the horse when you aren't with him.

I also added some pretty silver spacer beads just for looks and to break up the rows of beads.

A close up of the medallion with the bear and feather which hangs at Gilly's chest. There are also two long silver beads by the turquoise but they are tarnished, I need to polish them but then Gilly will sweat on them and tarnish them again!
(copied from the internet)
also known as speed beads, bear bells, horse necklace, cadence beads or horse beads; not only enhance he natural beauty of your horse, they create an auditory learning experience and are a valuable training aid used to improve performance and are quickly gaining recognition and wholehearted support from jumpers, gated horse riders, endurance riders, dressage riders, trail riders, barrel racers and horse trainers of all breeds and disciplines around the world.

Rhythm beads encourage your horse to follow a rhythm or cadence, much like a musician to a metronome through timed beats. The soft jingle of the bells accentuates the rhythm of horse's gaits, which is useful for adjusting the tempo/rhythm of the horse's movements. the bells help the rider pick up the correct diagonal and detect whether they are cantering/loping on the correct lead.

Rhythm beads are an excellent resource for all riding disciplines, including training and desensitizing young horses. On the trail, the bells are useful for alerting both wildlife and other riders that you are approaching.

My horse is trying to tell me something....

I have been absent lately because I have been looking at a lot of my pictures of Gilly. A lot are painful to look at. The faces he is making and his mouth open, he is telling me he hates the bit. I know I will probably get a lot of flack over this but..........what I see my horse telling me is he is in pain. I have a bitless bridle but started using a bit over a year ago because others have said that the horse needs a bit. Why? Why did I listen, Gilly does just fine with out one, he can be light, collected and doesn't need something in his mouth to guide and direct him. Do these pictures look like a happy horse?


I recently watched a DVD by Stormy May called "The Path of the Horse" something worth watching.
Review from Natural Horse Magazine "To produce this exceptional documentary,Stormy May 'gave up' her horse training career. She set off on a mission to find better and this video portrays what she learned and experienced on the journey, which will astound the viewer who is new to this kind of horse-human relationship.
This beautifully produced DVD, featuring Stormy and the visionary horsemen and women she interviews (Mark Rashid, Linda Kohanov, Klaus Ferdinand Hempfling, Alexander Nevzorov and Carolyn resnick), clearly demonstrates how horses do have a gift to share and that the future of horse-human relationships is looking much better.
Footage of what is typical in today's training and treatment of horses is shown in stark contrast to the gentle, elegant and natural ways these folks relate to their horses and to amazing things with them, also shown.
We can be better horse people and The Path of the Horse challenges us to transcend. Thanks to Stormy May and her very impressive work, we have a place to start. This is a must-see, must-share video. Here's hoping it's impact on the horse world will spread far and wide fast."

Below is a trailer and from it.



This has given me a lot of food for thought. I need to listen more to my horse, he has a lot to say. He also has a lot to teach me, can my mind be still enough to hear him?

And before anyone asks, no it's not his teeth giving him any problems. His teeth are fine. The bit said it was a gentle training bit, expensive......but after thinking on this would I want it in my mouth? No matter how light and gentle someones hands would be it's still metal in the mouth, one of the most sensitive parts of a horse. The collage below is a sharp reminder of this, I can't stand to see him like this so we are going to leave bits behind us and move on.

To see some really amazing things with horses, check out Alexander Novzorov and Klaus Ferdinand Hempfling.


This is a picture taken several years ago when I first got him the Dr. Cooke's bitless bridle. A much happier horse; check out the link to learn more about his bridle. We are going back to bitless. I was lucky and able to send the expensive bit back where I got it for a refund because Gilly hated it. Now I have a nice synthetic dressage bridle that I thought I couldn't use but then I found this site, Natural Horse World the link will take you to the bitless bridle page. Cynthia has a bitless nose band that will fit my bridle so I can still use it and be bitless too. I am going to give Gilly a chance to chose which one he likes best or feels best on a given day. He should have a say in his comfort I think. A new chapter in our relationship; for the better!

The Old Barn

We have some termites working on our old barn, equine termites, with large teeth!!! Every fence post, every building that they can reach has chew marks on them. Even the neat garden gate I made has been chewed, bad boys!!

I was taking pictures as I was waiting for Kim to come up the road to get me, she was going to the little grocery/diner to get water at the water station. Kim's well has been low on water all summer, so she has a water tank that fits in the back of the truck to carry water. Of course when we were up there we had to have lunch! LOL
(I know someone is going to ask, "What'd you have to eat?" I had a stacker, a slice of French bread, a slice of meatloaf, mashed potatoes and gravy. YUM They also have chicken and roast beef. All really good home cooking. I will have to take pictures for another post. This little place is only 8 miles from home.)

The chain that holds the gate closed. I love the look of the weathered old barn, the rusty chain adds some color to the picture.

Six of the boards on this side of the barn Mike and I replaced. They were old too be not as worn out as the ones that were on there. This is the funny part, the old boards had a horse head on it too. Look closely at the fifth board from the left, can you see the horse, or maybe it's a donkey?

I cropped and enlarged it for you to see closer. Can you see his sleepy eye, nose, mouth and ears tipped back? He has kind of a Roman nose too.
This old barn has a lot of character!!! And there are a couple of characters that live in it too!

Sunday Sunsets

I took these pictures several weeks ago on a late Sunday afternoon on our way home after visiting some friends.

All pictures are on the same stretch of road and high enough to get these shots.

All were taken while Mike was driving and I was looking out the passenger side window.

I love how this little Canon camera takes pictures. I had the setting on "sunset" and boy what gorgeous pictures I got, if I do say so myself!!!!
The first picture is a cropped one from the second one. Love it!
Have a wonderful evening.