Monica Bretschneider
NHE Canadian Representative
I was introduced to the work of Alexander Nevzorov and his wife Lydia Nevzorova by my husband Michael Bevilacqua ( NHE forum moderator) in fall 2005.
I came from a family that had never believed that horses could be trusted having grown up with horrible stories ranging from family members badly injured by `crazy` horses and city carriage horses that could not be stopped on busy streets of downtown Montreal. But still , I permitted myself to dream of a kind horse that would appear one day out of our nearby forest which had given me many lost animals like a moose, a giant turtle, porcupine, kittens … a was a child with a lot of imagination and my best friends were the old pines trees that stood there with me all those summer days waiting in the shade.
Before coming to `NHE` my experience with horses was mostly work in hand that I acquired with my first horse a grey Arabian mare that I had purchased in 2001 at age 1yr8mths.
But I am not a `rider` at spirit and I was often questionned why I was not riding my beautiful grey mare ?
What NHE changed for me is my traditional notion that a horse should be trained by a professional. Michael spent lots of time with our horses and took care of their education. This was all fine in the `traditional` world. But by learning NHE it made me understand that it is not about skills but about heart and building that relationship with your horse through good experience (and also bad experience).
We had been living in Montreal while boarding our horses at different stables across the north and south shore. What I had felt my horses and I needed all along , we found it in 2004 when we moved to the countryside by acquiring a small acreage farm. I can say that the journey with my horses, especially my Arabian mare, Phantom, started there. Reconnecting with nature after years spent among cityscape brought me back to my childhood years and my lost dream of living in the forest surrounded by wild animals and horses. For my mare and me it was crucial, as traditional boarding , my busy work schedule in town and the training under saddle she went through had crippled our relationship. Because the horses were free to come and go in our back yard, they were able to choose with who they wanted to interact with and what they preferred to do. We were impressed by the positive impact that their new environment and nutrition had on their spirit. Our horses true self blossomed as they were able to show us how to meet their specific needs. This created a new dynamic for which me and my husband had to adjust.
As my experience of `NHE` grew I received the greatest gift from our horses - an invitation - to participate, share and build a relationship that would interconnect us all in one solid unit : a family. And that is what we have become - beings of equality growing sensible to each others needs, character, history. Sharing life together in this century and in this great time in history of mankind when society takes on the task of freeing the horses from human abuse !
Contact: monica.bretschneider@3web.com
