We’re at that time of the year where the holiday season looms large. I experience a shift in focus towards completion of projects for the year, an intentional closing of one chapter while holding space for what is yet to be. My social media feed is full of photos of Christmas trees and holiday wreaths, mixed in with the creativity of those who have been burdened by the Elf on the shelf tradition, and beautiful family portraits to round out the year. It would be easy to feel like everyone is on board the holiday train with buckets of festive good cheer, singing “It’s the most wonderful time of the year”.

But is it though? As a mental health practitioner, I know that underneath the gloss of holiday spirit, the holiday season is often stressful and painful. Family dynamics and old patterns rear their heads and relationships become strained under the pressure to get everything done in time. Reminders to be intentional with self-care are often dismissed as something that takes up too much time. Every year, I find myself wondering about whose expectations we are all trying to meet. Every year, I come back to the realization that we all need support.

I’m so grateful for the space that we have created at The HERD, and for each and every one of our staff, instructors, and community members. As always, this year has been a wild ride and not without challenges, but we have weathered the storms and come out more seasoned and resilient for whatever comes next. I am so proud of the way that we have supported each other, celebrating our successes and grieving our losses together in community. We have some exciting plans for the year ahead and I’m looking forward to where this adventure will take us. I’m also aware of how precious and precarious this all feels because we can never really predict what is to come.

Last Christmas, our dog groomer gave us the most incredible gift. She made a Christmas bauble with some of the fur that she’d shaved off our pups. It’s a transparent bauble, so I can see the fur inside. This gift came with perfect timing as we lost our beloved pup, Alfie, not long after. Every fiber of my being wants to crack open the bauble so that I can sniff his fur, but I’ve resisted, knowing that it wouldn’t be the same as burying my head in his neck like I used to do. Each time I look at the ornament, I am reminded simultaneously of the joy that Alfie brought us, and the gut-wrenching grief I still feel.

We spent our last Christmas season nursing our old boy. We slowed down and hibernated on the farm, focusing on Alfie’s well-being, and treasuring every moment we had with him. While the world around us bustled and rushed around checking their lists, we sat vigil and took deep breaths. We allowed ourselves to feel our impending loss, navigated the brief relief when he had a few weeks of reprieve from his symptoms, and prepared ourselves for what would be the biggest shift in our family dynamics in almost 14 years. I was grateful for every moment.

Alfie was the reason that I entered the world of animal assisted interventions. He taught me that love is present when we are present, and that presence is the only gift we need. So, this holiday season, I will return to the lesson that he offered up to his very last breath: slow down, breathe, get present, and know that you are loved.

May this season bring you the gift that you need.

With gratitude,

Veronica
Executive Director

Thank you to all of you who contacted me before, during, and after the recent hurricane that swept through our lives. Hurricane Ian was a beast of a storm. As the forecasts developed throughout the week prior to it making landfall, we were bracing ourselves in Central Florida for a minimum of a Category 1 direct hit, with the potential of it increasing back up to a Category 3. Severe flooding from the predicted 20” of rain posed the biggest risk to us in East Orlando, which was a terrifying prospect given that we were already flooded from summer storms.

During our Diversifying The HERD 2022 Virtual Summit last month, HERD Instructor-in-Training, Jennifer Baker commented that “I need community. I need help!” Nothing could’ve been more accurate over the past 10 days as our community geared up for Hurricane Ian and its aftermath. Watching the catastrophic impact on TV is distressing enough. Bearing witness in real life to the losses of friends, family, and community is overwhelming.

Many of us lucky enough to escape the worst of the storm are reeling with survivor’s guilt. My heart goes out to all those whose lives and homes have been devastated by this storm. I am enormously grateful to our team behind the scenes who worked tirelessly to keep things running smoothly on the business end while I focused on executing our disaster preparedness plan. I am thankful for the detailed training that I’ve received through Equi-First Aid in how to mitigate risks for all the humans and animals on our farm, depending on the severity of the threat.

We survived with minimal damage of trees and fences downed and significant flooding in our pastures and classroom. House and barn remained dry and intact, and all animals were unscathed. The chickens rode out the storm in the horse trailer and Carly the cat was sequestered in the classroom. The horses stayed relatively dry in the open barn and dispelled my fears of them getting spooked and running through the fencing. The hours spent preparing for the storm morphed into hours of cleaning up in the aftermath. As the fear and anxiety about what might happen transitioned into relief and exhaustion, I became even more aware of how precious and precarious life can be.

In the aftermath of the storm, we have been experiencing the most glorious dry and mild weather in Central Florida. The cool fresh breeze normally reserved for winter months has helped to dry out the floods. As our community returns to “normal”, I’m reminded yet again of my privilege. While the storm did not discriminate in its destructive path, we were not all in the same boat to begin with. As with the global pandemic in the past couple of years, we are bearing witness to social inequality in the aftermath where the most vulnerable populations and communities are being hit the hardest. FEMA will only cover flood damage for those with flood insurance, which many in the most devastated areas don’t have.

Pre-hurricane, folks were advised to withdraw cash in case power outages led to electronic payment methods being out of service, but many low-income households didn’t have the means to make withdrawals that could tide them over. With public transportation unavailable in many areas, people are unable to access relief efforts that are set up in more affluent neighborhoods. Added to this, poor communities and communities of color are often physically more vulnerable to extreme weather conditions, with historically less investment in infrastructure, resulting in more severe damages in climate crises. All these factors result in increasing food insecurity and homelessness.

So, while I’m exhaling with relief for my return to pre-storm conditions, safe and dry on my farm, I want to urge us all to think about supporting hurricane relief efforts. Every little bit counts.

With gratitude,

Veronica
Executive Director

Not gonna lie – the past three weeks have been a struggle for us here at The HERD! Due to unforeseen circumstances, we found ourselves short staffed during our busiest time of year. Leading an organization through a rough patch without putting undue expectations and burdens on staff members who are already working at capacity is a juggling act. I’m grateful to our team behind the scenes who were willing to step up and flex with changes. It’s at times like these that I really feel the complexities of running an organization and recognize the importance of communications within our community. And while there will always be bumps in the road, our commitment to our core values of creating an intentionally inclusive learning environment through a lens of cultural humility remains front and center.

Amid our scrambling to find a staffing solution, I was momentarily persuaded to consider outsourcing our requirements offshore. My friends who work in corporate environments encouraged me to explore hiring a virtual assistant through an agency that contracts workers in India and the Philippines. They gave me solid business (i.e. financial) reasons why this would be suitable for my needs while allowing me to get tasks completed, suggesting that I needed someone to fill the gap so why not try this as an interim arrangement. There were so many logical reasons why this was a good idea: cheaper, more efficient, task-focused workers who would be paid an hourly rate above what they would get locally for similar roles, so surely there was no ethical dilemma? “These people are grateful for these jobs and the level of pay, and they work really hard”, I was told.

Maybe. Maybe not. With my business lens, I could absolutely see how this might be beneficial to me. With my ethical lens, I could not justify this colonial perspective. But I dithered and was persuaded to try it under the guise of no harm, no foul – and I was desperate for help.

Ultimately, after one day, I realized that I had gaslit myself. Every fiber of my being was rejecting the dynamics of the situation, so I put a stop to the process. This was not okay. It did not align with our values as an organization; it did not feel authentic or relational; and I felt I had compromised my core beliefs. The shame that came with this realization was enormous and yet I am grateful for this experience. Now, I know how easy it can be to choose convenience over actually walking the walk. Now, I know that at times of struggle and moments of desperation, I will make mistakes but will also have the courage to correct them. Now, I know with certainty, that my actions speak louder than words and that if I am truly committed to doing the work required to dismantle systems of oppression, I need to pay attention to ways our society condones these systems by couching them in business efficiency. It’s also yet another reminder to listen to my gut.

With that said, I can proudly announce that we are open for registrations for our 2nd Diversifying The HERD Virtual Summit, which will be held on Saturday, September 10, 2022 from 9am – 6pm EST. This year, we are focusing on the intersectionalities in discussions on diversity, equity, and inclusion. Our keynote speakers, Abriana Johnson and Brittney Chambers, will present on how to decolonize your equine programs. We’ll be bringing back panelists Kathy Alm, CEO, PATH International, and Michael Kaufmann, from Green Chimneys, and introducing Nahshon Cook and Patricia Jackson, in a discussion on how to bring diversity, equity, and inclusion to all levels of your organization. We’ll be exploring what inclusion feels like and reflecting on what has changed in the 18 months since our first Diversifying The HERD Virtual Summit. Join us to learn in community, acknowledging what we don’t know, and the mistakes we make along the way, so that we can take intentional action to continue to increase diversity, equity, and inclusion in the equine facilitated industry.

I know I still have a lot to learn. I look forward to connecting with you all on Saturday, September, 10!

Warmly,

Veronica
Executive Director

What I love about being a therapist is that I have license to be curious about everything that happens between me and my client in the therapy process. I am eternally fascinated by how people assimilate novel experiences, challenge their habitual patterns that no longer serve them, and how in that process we can collaborate to find a new way of being-in-the-world that allows them to live more freely, with purpose and meaning, and raise awareness of those moments when they feel stuck.

While I hold an extensive list of credentials and academic experience, much of what I’ve learned in how to be a therapist, coach, and educator, with or without horses, has come from thousands of hours of practicing what we teach, honing those skills by living and breathing them, rather than reading about them. This embodied way of working is fundamental to the HERD approach and for many of our students, getting in tune with their bodily process is their biggest growing edge.

Many of you will be familiar with our talented faculty member, Alison McCabe, who has been instrumental in the development and delivery of both our Equine Facilitated Learning and Psychotherapy Certification programs. Alison and I have known each other for about ten years now and I am so incredibly grateful and honored to call her a friend and colleague. Over the years, we have become familiar with each other’s ways of being-in-the-world, enjoyed countless conversations that dig deep into our emotional processes, and shared the joys and heartaches in our lives with each other. Through recent conversations with another faculty member, Elizabeth McCorvey, we realized that Alison’s “method” of embodiment needed to be shared with the wider world.

The McCabe Method™ is striking in its “simplicity”. I put quotation marks around that to acknowledge that while the concept is simple, the process is hard! Between Alison, Elizabeth, and I, when the going gets tough, we refer to the need to McCabe it:

Name it. Claim it. Love it. Feel & Move through it.

1. Name it: What is happening right now? What is the emotion? What is the felt sense of the situation?
2. Claim it: Whose emotions are these? What belongs to me and what is being placed on me? Can I claim my part in the process? What feelings come up when I claim it? Most importantly, can I claim it and accept it with absolute acknowledgement that it is part of me without distancing myself from it?
3. Love it: How can I hold compassion for what I have claimed is mine? Especially when it comes with a hint of shame or judgement on myself, am I able to hold a loving attitude towards that part of me?
4. Feel & Move through it: Where am I feeling that in my body? What happens when I focus on that? Do I need to move my body to allow for more awareness and/or for that feeling to dissipate? Am I able to let it go with the movement? What do I need to let go and what do I need to hold onto? How does this shift impact the relationships I am experiencing with those around me?

What’s happening for you, right now? As you’re reading this, pay attention to your own bodily sensations and notice what comes up. Next time you feel a rush of emotions in response to an interaction or event, allow yourself to McCabe it and see what happens. From experience, I can tell you it’s a game changer. We have tried and tested The McCabe Method™ in countless situations. For me, it’s a great way to remind myself of staying with the 3 Key Principles of The HERD Model: Here and Now, What and How, I and Thou. It’s also an excellent reminder that whatever I’m experiencing, I’m not experiencing it on my own. After all, as we always highlight in our HERD Community, it’s all about relationships, we are all connected, and we all belong.

Warmly,

Veronica
Executive Director