Her daughter, she says, has not been disappointed with her decision to study with Stefan.“I am really happy that my daughter has found this training,” says Beate.”
Beate agrees. She says she remembers her own experience with Forsmanship education in the 1980s when she took her own horse, Seducer, to Stefan. It was an emergency situation, she says.“She said to me: Mama, I really like him. He is clear, tough but right to the point.”
Sadly also, Seducer became depressed and it got to the point that he didn’t even want to eat, she says.“Seducer was an ex trotter, a four year old. He was very sensitive, he had a lot of stress, he was frightened, very hard to handle and very dangerous too. He was known to jump a car. He was very unsafe to be around. He could of run you down,” says Beate.
“At the time, I didn’t know what to do but I was prepared to find out what I could do for my horse,” says Beate.
At first, Beate admits that she was resistant to the changes that Stefan was asking her to make - in the way that she behaved and handled her horse.I felt so sorry for him - so I took him from Norway to Sweden to Stefan’s stables where he stayed for 2 months. During that time, I also learnt a lot about myself. I really didn’t know what to do but I could see he could handle a horse better than me.”
“I didn’t like it but I liked the results. I remember that Stefan was tougher with students in those days but he was always fair. Today, I would just say to people to forget that and just learn - because Stefan is a magician.”
“He’s there for the horses and that’s his gift. He’s there for healing horses. People can find someone else to heal them.”“What he teaches you is self-awareness ... of how you are behaving around a horse. If you are not calm, if you are impatient.”
Stefan, she said, helped her to develop within herself to achieve these outcomes. And this centred on Beate finding that deep connection with Seducer herself, so that he could begin to trust her and heal.“Training with Stefan, I learnt how to have peace with my horse. To do that, I knew I had to change. I learnt how to be connected, and how to provide an open door for him to go through.”
“I like Stefan because he is about finding harmony with horses. I absolutely agree with his methods.”“The experience was important for Seducer but it was also very good for me. In many ways, it has affected my whole life ... in a good way.”
Even her daughter, says Beate, has identified this aspect of the work after doing the course with Stefan.“I have learnt that there is a power that works with us and also within us. I have learnt how to be calm and determined. It is like instant karma in practice and I really love it, it is beautiful.”
Significantly, tapping into the healing power of horses has been very much welcomed by Beate and her daughter. The arrival of Ylva’s horse Roy, gave mother and daughter an opportunity to focus on horse rearing and care together, after losing Ylva’s father, five years ago.“She says to me: it’s like living from your heart, and not what’s expected of you. She is very mature for her age in the way she thinks.”
Thankfully, he is. Ylva actually chose very well, says Beate.“He became her big brother on four legs,” say Beate. After my own training with Stefan, I wanted to make sure that my daughter’s horse would be mostly problem free and safe to be around.”
Following the practices of what she learnt with Stefan, Beate says that she began by educating her daughter herself, so that she would understand the importance of finding that connection and harmony with Roy, which she herself learnt from Stefan.“Roy has issues of his own but they are very small ... and he loves my daughter.”
“My daughter also knows a lot about following her own soul, which I admire in her too. She also understands that you have to have a spine to own and ride a horse.”
Her memory, though, of a horse finally healed and content after years of being unhappy and out of control, is a good one. The fact that Seducer became a happy horse will remain with her forever.”That horse gave me a lot of healing. I loved him like a human.”