Thoughts of the Day

Photo by Sara Fogan

     Every now and then I like (and need) to take a few moments and remind myself about what is really important to me, in my life. If you follow me on my Calminsense Hypnotherapy Facebook page you may have seen some of these quotes before on this page, or will in the future. Many of these Quotes of the Day are beautiful examples and illustrations of the work I do as a hypnotherapist, so I will probably draw on them in future essays.

• “The true measure of a man is how he treats someone who can do him absolutely no good.” – Samuel Johnson

• “The key to success is to focus our conscious mind on things we desire not things we fear.” – Brian Tracy

• “Advice is what we ask for when we already know the answer but wish we didn't.” – Erica Jong

• “Life can seem short or life can seem long, depending on how you live it.” – Paulo Coehlo

• “To the soul there is no distinction between giving and receiving.” – Lolly Daskal

• “Seek peace. When you have peace within, real peace with others is possible.” – Thich Nhat Hanh

• “Peace is the result of retraining your mind to process life as it is, rather than as you think it should be.” – Wayne Dyer

• “If it doesn’t challenge you, then it doesn’t change you.” – Marijke de Jong

• “Not every person has the same kinds of talents, so you discover what yours are and work with them.” – Frank Gehry

• “Do it, and then you will feel motivated to do it.” – Zig Ziglar

Sara R. Fogan, C.Ht. is a certified hypnotherapist based in Southern California. She graduated with honors from the Hypnosis Motivation Institute in 2005. For more information about Calminsense Hypnotherapy® and to set up an appointment, please visit http://www.calminsensehypnotherapy.com/.

© 2017

The Time Carl Hester Demonstrated He Has Mastered the 5 Roles of a Master Herder, Part 2

(This blog was originally posted on August 12, 2016)

Me and Linda Kohanov, best-selling author and

founder of Eponaquest Worldwide

Photo Courtesy of Sara Fogan

Most riders know and even expect that their horse will spook at something at some point. It’s bad enough having to deal with it (and, more importantly, our own nerves after the fact, while training or on a trail ride. It certainly can and does happen during competitions, too. For some reason, you just don’t expect to see an Olympic gold medalist experiencing this most natural balking response when the horse is startled or scared. We just believe and expect that these riders are so good and the horse must be so well-trained that this mundane phenomenon simply doesn’t even happen. At this level of competitive prowess, both horse and rider are surely beyond that kind of silly drama. Right? 

But that is what happened when British Olympic dressage rider Carl Hester had to deal with his mount Nip Tuck’s spook during a transition to the extended walk during their Olympic Grand Prix competition. Some observers reported that the horse was nervous at the beginning of their ride, but a camera flash reportedly sent him over the edge. Fortunately, Hester was right there to take control of the situation and be the confident, dominant leader the gelding needed at that moment.

As I explained in my blog titled The Time Carl Hester Demonstrated He Has Mastered the 5 Roles of a Master Herder, Part 1, a true “master herder” is adept at fluidly utilizing any and all five functions whenever necessary to keep the herd or group safe and succeed in various environments and situations. Here is a brief summary of the ideal function/goals of each role, as explained by Linda Kohanov in The Five Roles of a Master Herder: A Revolutionary Model for Socially Intelligent Leadership.:

• Leader: inspires group members to follow his or her example to achieve goals.

• Dominant: uses “force”—language, techniques, emotion—to get group members to go/do what he or she is asking and stop unproductive behavior

• Nurturer/Companion: promotes/monitors well-being of other group members

• Sentinel: Scans the environment so other group members can do their job; also looks for new opportunities for the herd to succeed.

• Predator: Uses dominant energy to stop/cut/cull unproductive/redundant individuals from the group. Also, offers additional protection to group members and can make tough decisions so the group can continue to survive/thrive.

When Nip Tuck balked near the “P” marker on the dressage court, Hester immediately took a more dominant position on the horse by adjusting his weight and posture in the saddle. Though this was invisible to most observers, the rider was certainly applying leg aids (pressure in the calf and thighs) to keep the horse moving forward in the direction he wanted them to continue traveling. During the extended walk, the reins are typically released (long) so the horse can have freedom in his head, neck and shoulders. If Hester shortened the reins during the spook (I didn’t notice; as I mentioned previously, this incident was over very quickly) he certainly would have let them out again right away to comply with regulations about this element of the competition. This release would immediately communicate the rider’s relaxation, comfort and control of the situation and environment to his equine partner (nurturer/companion and Leader). However, Hester probably also adopted a more enhanced sentinel role after that, looking out for any other stimuli that could similarly upset his horse that could further jeopardize their competitive score. In this context, he may have also adopted the more predatory, mien of a dominant leader, ready to re-direct his horse’s attention and correct any misbehavior before anyone noticed that Nip Tuck was even thinking about going off-script. Ultimately, the duo earned 75.529 percent for this ride; this is a very good score in a dressage competition even when your horse doesn’t spook or otherwise put a hoof wrong.

Carl Hester is my new hero. Yes, he is a fabulous dressage rider and equestrian, but the way he handled his equine partner's spook during the Grand Prix test today should be an example to us all. Today, the thing we mortal riders dread during competition (or any ride, actually) happened to an Olympic gold medalist DURING an Olympic ride. As I have commented before, if you looked away at the moment Nip Tuck balked you would have missed it altogether, that is how quickly Mr. Hester regained control of the ride and his equine partner's focus/attention. They started brilliantly and, I believe, finished the test the same way. I will definitely employ the image of how beautifully he handled this incident in future imagery for myself and equestrian clients. Well done, Mr. Hester. You are an Olympian and, more importantly, a true and good horseman!

Kohanov, Linda. The Five Roles of a Master Herder: A Revolutionary Model for Socially Intelligent Leadership. 2016. Novato, CA: New World Library.

Sara R. Fogan, C.Ht. is a certified hypnotherapist based in Southern California. She graduated with honors from the Hypnosis Motivation Institute in 2005. For more information about Calminsense Hypnotherapy® and to set up an appointment, please visit http://www.calminsensehypnotherapy.com/.

© 2017

The Time Carl Hester Demonstrated He Has Mastered The 5 Roles of a Master Herder, Part 1

(This blog was originally posted on August 11, 2016)

Me and Linda Kohanov, best-selling author and

founder of Eponaquest Worldwide

Photo Courtesy of Sara Fogan

Last summer, I had the honor of attending a lecture and day-long leadership workshop led by Linda Kohanov, the best-selling author of Tao of Equus and founder of Eponaquest Worldwide. That weekend’s presentation focused on the research and principles she described in her new book titled The Five Roles of a Master Herder: A Revolutionary Model for Socially Intelligent Leadership. I have long been a fan of Ms. Kohanov’s writing and her equine-assisted therapy program, but the information she shared with us about herd leadership and the distinctive roles of an effective herd leader truly rocked my world.

Here is a brief summary of the ideal function/goals of each role, as explained by Linda Kohanov in The Five Roles of a Master Herder: A Revolutionary Model for Socially Intelligent Leadership:

• Leader: inspires group members to follow his or her example to achieve goals.

• Dominant: uses “force”—language, techniques, emotion—to get group members to go/do what he or she is asking and stop unproductive behavior

• Nurturer/Companion: promotes/monitors well-being of other group members

• Sentinel: Scans the environment so other group members can do their job; also looks for new opportunities for the herd to succeed.

• Predator: Uses dominant energy to stop/cut/cull unproductive/redundant individuals from the group. Also, offers additional protection to group members and can make tough decisions so the group can continue to survive/thrive.

During her presentation on July 30, 2016, Ms. Kohanov explained how she developed the business-management model of Master Herders from her observations of nomadic herding cultures. According to her observations and research, a Master Herder is able to fluidly negotiate five different roles: Leader, Dominant, Sentinel, Nurturer/Comforter and Predator. Furthermore, a true “master herder” is adept at fluidly utilizing five functions whenever necessary to keep his or her herd or group safe and succeed in various environments and situations. This principle applies whether you are the CEO of a corporation or literally caring for a herd of animals, even if that herd just a herd of two comprised of you and your horse. In both cases, the role of a Master Herder is to keep the “herd” safe as well as to continuously look out for opportunities for future and continued growth and prospects, Ms. Kohanov said. 

For example, sometimes the role is forced on you, such as when no one else in the group wants or is willing to make important decisions and “lead” and inspire colleagues to achieve company goals. In another instance, it may be up to you to play the role of the “heavy” (dominant) and defuse professional quarrels between co-workers or mete out punishment if a deadline is not met. If you are particularly observant about business trends and economic growth or depression, you might find yourself in the role of sentinel—always on the look-out for potential danger or growth. At other times, you may find yourself in a situation where you can barely meet your own expected work quotas because so much of your time is spent reassuring or consoling (nurturer/companion) a colleague who is having personal or professional difficulties. Finally, it may fall to you to fire employees (predator) who do not fulfill work responsibilities.

We have all probably found ourselves in at least one of these roles in our work-place. This model is also applicable in family and general social contexts, such as a mother who comforts and reassures a toddler after scrapes his knee on the playground. However, that role can quickly become dominant when the youngster starts wandering toward the street and Mom shouts at him to stand still before grabbing his arm and pulling him away from the curb and oncoming traffic. And during one of his dressage tests the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Olympian Carl Hester had to simultaneously employ several of these roles to handle his horse when Nip Tuck spooked so they could successfully finish their ride.

I will explain how Hester successfully demonstrated his skills as a “master herder” in my next blog.

Kohanov, Linda. The Five Roles of a Master Herder: A Revolutionary Model for Socially Intelligent Leadership. 2016. Novato, CA: New World Library.

Sara R. Fogan, C.Ht. is a certified hypnotherapist based in Southern California. She graduated with honors from the Hypnosis Motivation Institute in 2005. For more information about Calminsense Hypnotherapy® and to set up an appointment, please visit http://www.calminsensehypnotherapy.com/.

© 2017