Coffee Clutch with Dutch Henry: 2015-04-19

Friday, April 24, 2015

A few Tidbits of Happy News

Howdy Friends!

Kessy and I had a great meeting this morning at Coffee Clutch, and with her guidance I have a few fun and exciting announcements. Of course we’ve already spoken about launching our newsletter and you can sign up here, http://eepurl.com/bknmnf .

Yesterday I had the opportunity to chat with a mother of a troubled teen. She’d read “We’ll Have The Summer,” and explained her daughter had issues similar to Barbara, and she simply wanted to talk with me. She’d sent me an email months ago, I’d given her my phone number. She called yesterday. We talked through our tears for over an hour.

I’ve enjoyed countless hours of phone calls with horse owners and caregivers discussing many things about their horses, relationships care and love.

My experience in my youth, and understanding taught me by horses, has shaped my thinking on patience, understanding, compassion, trust, perseverance and love. This morning I’ve decided to begin to offer my availability as a motivational speaker, at events, private meetings and other venues.

I’ll be starting a new Facebook page, title not yet determined, but Dutch Henry Author, Horse Advocate, Motivational Speaker, or something like that. It will not focus on any one thing, rather all the things we already chat about, and it will be easy to follow, as Facebook prefers business pages it seems.

More news to follow ... Thank you all for friendship!

Gitty Up, Dutch Henry

Thursday, April 23, 2015

Newsletter Announcement

Howdy Friends!

I’ve spoken a bit about starting my DUTCH HENRY AUTHOR & HORSE ADVOCATE monthly newsletter and I’ve asked folks to email me to sign up, and THANK YOU those who have! I’ll be chatting about upcoming books and novels, stories I’m working on and I’ll write short stories just for folks on the newsletter. I’ll also be doing free giveaways of my books! ... For the first Free Gift, winner selected by drawing, I’ll be giving “It’s for the Horses, An advocate’s musings about their needs, gifts, spirit and care.” Winner to be announced in a special Launch Day newsletter edition. FOLLOW the LINK and join our newsletter, be part of the fun and tell your friends. First issue coming soon. Please share with your friends!

CLICK HERE TO JOIN OUR NEWSLETTER

Gitty Up, Dutch

Tuesday, April 21, 2015

Writing to Disney

Howdy Friends,

Writing to Disney today, I need Winnie the Pooh!

Over the past few days we’ve been reviewing the final edits for my next book, It’s for the Horses, An advocate’s musings about their needs, gifts, spirit and care, and I realized I need Winnie the Pooh. The final chapter “Those who shaped me” is stories about Ravishin’ Robbie, Diane Sept, and I close with Winnie the Pooh.

Many of our Coffee Clutch and Facebook friends know why Winnie the Pooh is so important to me, why he’s my hero. Folks who will just be getting to know me by reading It’s for the Horses, won’t know the story of my “room years.” Those horrible years I spent locked in a room as a boy with even the window painted black, the beatings and worse that happened there, and haunt me still today. They won’t know how that tattered old book and little yellowish funny, brave bear and friends carried me away to places I could stop crying.

Here are a few excerpts from “Why ‘Gitty Up’ And Why I Love Winnie the Pooh,”

Winnie The Pooh held my hand in my darkest moments.

I used to pretend that room, with its solitary window painted black, was the Hundred Acre

Wood. Like Pooh, Piglett, Tigger, Kanga, Roo, Eyore and Christopher Robin, my adventures in the Hundred Acre Wood were imaginary, but Pooh was a terrific imaginary guide.

My email signature comes from Pooh Bear. Our daughter, the sweet and terrific Abbie, had a Winnie the Pooh desk calendar a few years ago and on July 17 that year Pooh was dressed as a cowboy and the caption was, “Gitty Up Pooh Bear.” She sent it to me with a note, “Thought you would like this.”

So I latched on to “Gitty Up, Dutch Henry,” and except for the most formal emails, that’s what I use. I often wonder what folks think about that. But just as the spirit of the horse has in fact saved my life, so too did a tiny, yellowish brown, inquisitive, funny and heroic bear hold my hand in the darkest moments.

***********

There is a half page at the end of Pooh’s story, the very last page of It’s for the Horses. I’m writing to ask Disney permission to have a picture of Winnie the Pooh on that page. He should be there for had he not been there all those years ago, this book may not be here today.

Gitty Up, Dutch Henry

Monday, April 20, 2015

Impatience, not your friend—or your horses

Howdy Friends!

Impatience, not your friend—or your horses. We’ve all seen it, a horse handler giving a command over and over to a confused horse. Their voice becomes more excited, louder and high pitched and the result is often not what the handler wanted. We’ve all been guilty of practicing a little impatience ourselves, too. Haven’t we? Impatience never, ever, not a single time helps anything go correctly. Ever. Not in life and never with horses.

Kessy and me takin' it slow together

Think about the times you’ve seen toddlers and youngsters in the store tugging on their mother shouting, “Mommy, mommy, mommy, mommy, mommy” in ever increasing shrillness as the mother ignores them. Pretty much how a horse hears and sees our impatience. And like the mother corralled by the youngster, there is no escape for the horse so their first instinct is to ignore, their second instinct is to do something, anything, most often the wrong thing, like the mother rewarding the youngster with a cookie just to quiet them. Wrong. Isn’t that rewarding bad behavior? And encouraging more of the same? I think so.

When we offer a request to our horse we must be sure to be soft, respectful and patient. Like us each horse is different, has its own personality. Its own method of processing. Be sure to allow the time it takes for your horse to process. Don’t let impatience be your instructor, allow your horse that esteemed position, she will guide you with softness and grace.

The most wonderful thing about patience is the more you employ it, the more responsive, soft and willing your horse will become. Soon your horse will teach you that impatience can be a rare need indeed. Many things will change in your relationship. I promise.

Gitty Up, Dutch Henry

P.S. To keep up to date on It’s for the Horses, my books and writings please send your email address to dutchhenry@hughes.net for our monthly newsletter. I’ll be writing special stories for friends on this list. When you sign up you’ll be entered to win a free copy of It’s for the Horses. The drawing will be held the day before release date. I promise your email will NEVER be shared or sold. Invite your friends. All my books can be found on my website www.dutchhenryauthor.com

Welcome to the Coffee Clutch

Welcome to the Coffee Clutch, a happy place to visit. I write uplifting stories about a wide variety of subjects from horses to birds and nature, to love and family and friends. Sometimes I'll post excerpts from stories I've written for Equine Publications. Sometimes I'll post about writing itself. Coffee Clutch got its name because I often write while enjoying my morning coffee in the barn with my mare Kessy, and all our critters. Join us here for fun conversation and stories I promise will make you feel good.

It's For The Horses

This is not a book about riding, or training horses. It is a book on my thoughts, ideas and suggestions on how folks might find the joy in doing things for the horse, with the horses’ point of view as the leading guide. My hope is to help as many people as possible learn to hear the horse, feel their spirit, and in that way help horses everywhere. Over the years I’ve met and worked with remarkable people and horses who taught me about their feelings, their joys, their sadness, and their spirit. As a horse advocate everything I do is from the horse’s perspective, including this little book. Every story, idea, suggestion and thought on these pages will be to suggest and share thoughts and ideas on how to maximize a relationship between horse and human—from the horse’s point of view.

Tom Named by Horse

The only man ever to offer Tom respect is Red Cloud. The only woman to give him love is Red Cloud’s granddaughter. Struggling with his own personal demons, Tom finds himself wedged between honoring that friendship and staying true to the depths of his conscience. Amid a backdrop of tumultuous social upheaval, he finds nothing prepared him, the woman he loves or Chief Red Cloud, for the changes about to thunder into their lives, sweeping them helplessly into the tides of human conflict and historical drama. Available on Amazon.

From The Banks OF Little Bear Creek

The Tom Named by Horse Saga continues. Three years after the death of Tall Dog, Tom Named By Horse and Soft Cloud have turned the little soddy, the lands granted them by Red Cloud, and the lean-to barn into a thriving horse ranch, fulfilling Tom’s dream. The Plains Indians Wars, or Red Cloud’s war, is mostly behind them, and the lands have had their transformation as Red Cloud’s vision had warned years earlier. Trailing horses from the ranch to Denver city has become an annual event for Tom, Buck and the rest, and this is the story of that trail. In the spirit of a good old John Wayne movie, vengeance, cattle and horse thieves, a dirty sheriff and corrupt mayor, and a wedding make this year’s drive a ride you’ll want to tag along on.