In the lightness of the horse wisdom
The Way of the Silk
About the way of the silk
The way of the silk is created both for riders, horse owners and horse lovers who would like to do a personal development journey together with the horse. It might sounds strange to couple personal life development and horse classical training, however those two have a way together. When approaching horse training and riding in the full respect of the horse, understanding that the horse is a sentient being capable of elaborating thoughts driven by a sharp sense of sensitivity, way more profound than the human one, is a key aspect in the training and as a result, to approach the horse correctly, we humans, have to develop more sensitivity and awareness.
The coaching program of the Way of the Silk allows you to develop greater emotional agility and awareness, which will result into more honesty and clarity to your horse in the training but also in the relationship with your horse. While growing into the relationship with your horse you will find out that all of that can be applied to any relation in your life, creating harmony inside and outside you.
In both the coaching and the classical training, techniques are taught and skills are developed. To unfold the learning processes along the way, mental, body and emotional awareness are essentials keys.
Personal coaching
The Way of the Silk offers coaching program for personal development with the help of the horses to both riders and non-riders. In both cases the horse is a crucial part of the coaching session, being, at the end, the real coach and me a mediator and facilitator.
The program is based on the Level 1 Medicine Horse Way programme created by Carol Roush, and is based on the equine facilitated learning approach founded by Linda Kohanov.
How to start
Intake session (online/live ~45min) to get to know each other and get to know the basic principles of the program. It is also possible to book a full introduction session where you will get a general overview and feel of the way of the horse.
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"Take off the shell"(Package of 6 sessions)
Start the journey of embodying the emotions, understanding how your past is effecting your life and getting more connected to the present moment. Understand the horse way to be will help you to have a more fulfilling and peaceful life.
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"Embodying emotions"with the horse (min 2 sessions)
Start learning what emotions really are and how they communicate through your body. Understanding how the body talks to us is crucial to be present in the NOW.
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​"Embracing the NOW"(Package of 12 sessions)
It adds 6 more sessions to the "Take off the shell" program to keep on going in the process and being able to implement the skills and tools acquire also in the daily life and difficult situations.
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Classical horse training
For riders who wants to learn the basics of natural horsemanship and classical riding, the way of the silk offers possibility to train with your own horse or to be part of the riding school of Fair to Horses, with lessons on groundwork, liberty, bit work in hand and riding.
Groundwork
The lesson is developed on the ground only (no riding). The basics of the communication with the horse, the horse language, is the main learning key of this lesson.
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Riding lesson
Depending on the level of the rider the lesson might focus on Centered Riding or on the gymnastic of the horse or both.
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Liberty work
During this training session the focus is first on the connection without the rope and experiencing the silent communication between horse and human with simple cues and mainly body language.
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Bit work in hand
In our way of riding the bit plays a very important role. Through the bit we achieve relaxation and we help the horse to find stability. The bit work on the ground is a fantastic way to establish a good relationship with the horse mouth and practice all the exercise which will be then performed under saddle.
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ABOUT ME
I am Marta, I am Italian and I live in The Netherlands since January 2019. I am a scientist, a nuclear physics, and to this I dedicated all my life. Understanding nature and being able to reveal its beauty was my main purpose during my studies as a scientist. In 2017 I met the horses, it was the dream of a child, and since then horses became the one other thing I dedicate my life to. I started horse riding and training following the principles of the Ecole de Légèreté (EDL) of Philip Karl, thanks to my instructor and partner Nicoló Ballatore (Level III Federal instructor and Level II EDL). The EDL philosophy was a revelation for me, giving me deep knowledge on horse behaviour, locomotion and welfare. It was clear to me since the beginning that riding a horse is an act of responsibility which has to be accomplished in the full respect of the horse.
Always looking for connection and trust from the ground, I soon learned that horses were much more than animals to train, they reveal to be a life guide through my personal development as rider and as a person. Two main horses have shown me the real life power and they brought me to today, one was Via della Seta (Way of the Silk) a 3y old English thoroughbred with whom I learned horsemanship and horse riding, the second one is Percha, the protagonist of the photos in this website and the main coach of the program, a horse who lost his soul and joy after multiple abuse and wrong horse handling. Via della Seta left this Earth in September 2019 and from that moment on my journey to my new path has started. I started full time training Percha after loosing Via della Seta and after an accident which cost me a brain injury. Together we went through years of healing till today where I became a Level I Centered Riding Instructor and a Level I coach on Medicine Horse Way and Percha became a proud and joyful horse. In November 2023 I entered the instructor program of EDL in the group of North of France-Belgium.
My main purpose is to give a chance for transformation both to horses and humans and to find the purpose, the peace and the joy of this life.
My main motto "Be the change you want to see in your horse and in life, and the magic of life will reveal to you"
