About
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About
Romeo
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13-year-old, gray Paso Fino gelding
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Almost 14 hands high at the withers
(about 4ft. 8in. tall, or pony size)
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Gaited horse, which means he can fino, corto and largo as well as walk, trot and
canter
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Watch Romeo
play ball
and paint
 Juliet
7-year-old, pinto Paso Fino mare 14.1 hands high (a smidge taller than Romeo) Gaited as well First student of Romeo Watch Juliet
lay down
and paint
 DaVinci
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6-year-old, sabino pinto gelding of
unknown origin (possibly Tennessee Walking horse)
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A bit taller than Romeo & Juliet
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Second student of Romeo
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Recovering from post traumatic
stress disorder
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Watch DaVinci's
videos
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Read The
Diary of DaVinci
 Raleigh
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2-year-old Clydesdale
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Best buddies with DaVinci
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Third student of Romeo
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Intelligent, calm, attentive
(dreamy)
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Watch
Raleigh's video
 Cheryl
Ward & Sam Sharnik
Cheryl and Sam work as a writing and
photography team. Cheryl writes stories and trains
animals. Sam takes photos and designs books. Cheryl and
Sam are proudly owned by Romeo, Juliet, DaVinci and
Raleigh. They are
married and live in Florida with their family.
The Passion Behind the Paintings
By Cheryl Ward
The journey of painting with my horses
began with a difficult, troubled, rejected horse that
didn’t respond to traditional training methods. I began
training him like I would enjoy being trained if I were
a horse. I used to joke and say, "Horses are people
too."
Little did I know that after adopting three more horses
and four dogs, I would discover a beautiful tapestry of
interconnectedness. Although my four-legged friends are
not people, I realize that they are beings,
complete with individual talents, desires and passions,
just like human beings.
Instead of thinking of my four leggeds as "animals," I see them
as "horse beings” or "dog beings” coexisting with me as
a "human being.” We are all beings, each in our own,
unique, biological housing.
Suddenly the gap between man and beast is joined,
connected and restored when we view each other as beings
pursuing the same life goal of having a fulfilling,
purposeful, joyful life.
Our passion is to continually show the beautiful ways
the perceived gaps of misunderstandings, misconceptions,
old wives tales and tired traditions can be closed to
open a bright, new world through honoring each other’s
beingness. The purpose of our website, paintings, books
and videos is to present the findings of our ongoing
exploration of the interconnectedness between beings of
different biology.
The first step, as we see it, is to create a common
ground where each being gets to move towards what it
wants, not away from what it doesn’t want. This happens
when we begin to listen. When we listen and respond with
positive validation to an animal being, this tells them
they have been heard. It's my theory that what any being
truly wants is to be heard.
For the horse or dog, this means it is asked or invited
into participation with a human, rather than forced by
pulling or pushing or shoving or hoisting or poking or
prodding. For the human this means focusing on what you
want from your animal being in a manner in which
that being will delight in giving you what you want.
This takes place when the animal being is motivated by
what it wants, not by what it doesn’t want.
When we as humans are able to validate an animal by
noticing a behavior and then rewarding that behavior, I
believe it tells the animal, "Your welfare matters to
me." What I've seen in horses is that I no longer have
to use "strategic" or forceful behaviors to establish my
dominance. I simply find out what's important to them by
listening. Then I show them in a manner that matters to
them that I heard them. This is the cornerstone of my
exploration.
A New Wave of Listening
I believe anytime we welcome an animal
being into our lives, an amazing opportunity presents
itself for humans to see the world fresh, pure and
untainted by culture or beliefs. When any of my animals
communicate with me, I hear the sweet purity of a voice
that speaks only the truth.
Even when one of my horse kicks out at another herd
member, I know the intent is never malicious or
premeditated. It's simply their attempt to protect
something that is important to them. When they speak,
it's the honest truth of how they feel, not how they
think they should feel. To me this is a rare privilege
to experience this kind of clarity. My aim with my dogs
and horses is to create a world worthy of their purity.
The ironic thing, in creating this world for my animals,
is it somehow seeps over into my world, making my life
much more clear and rewarding.
For example, it’s one of my favorite things to watch
what my dogs will do to get attention. My Chihuahua,
Cheeka, will stare at me trance-like with her big, round
eyes and literally topple over on her well padded back
to say, "Rub my tummy." One day I decided to mark the
exact moment when she began to topple. Then I gave her a
treat. Now she loves to topple and will topple on cue.
It’s something she enjoys and something that always
makes me laugh and also lets her know "I hear you."
I marked the moment when she did something I liked. The
human comparison would be if a policeman pulled you over
when you stopped at the stop sign and gave you $200 for
stopping. This would probably increase the likelihood of
people stopping at stops signs, because something good
might happen. It also would change the feeling most
folks have when we see a police officer. Instead of
dread we might feel anticipation.
This is the premise of my dream for my animals. I want
to reward and recognize what’s important and fun for
them, rather than punish or draw attention to their
"wrong" behavior. My four horses and four dogs have been
trying to tell me that they really don’t understand
punishment and all it does is create fear and avoidance.
In my world I try to give my horses and dogs an
alternative behavior for the behavior that at first
glance appears to need correction. Juliet, my outspoken
mare, decided at feeding time she was in charge of the
herd. This meant she’d bite and push the other herd
members around, so much so they’d be worked into a
frenzy and forget there was a two legged in their midst
who could be trampled.
So instead of yelling or shoeing her away with big loud
movements or waving a rope or whip, I pointed and asked
her to walk over and stand on her pedestal. Then I
rewarded her like she’d never been rewarded. Now at
feeding time, instead of chasing her buddies to get at
the food first, she quietly retreats from the herd and
climbs atop her pedestal and looks at me as if to say,
"Look at me! I chose to do the thing that makes us both
happy!” Every single time I see her climb on her
pedestal, when I know it’s her first thought to kick and
bite, I stop what I’m doing and give her attention.
I believe human beings who are working with animal
beings all over the world are experiencing a new wave of
listening. I think the more we listen to what motivates,
inspires and gives the animals spark to their lives, the
more we usher those same wonderful things into ours.
How it All Started
My father was a professional artist and
my grandmother rode broncs in the Calgary Stampede.
Perhaps there's a genetic reason why I handed a
paintbrush to my horse! Actually, it started with an
adorable yet troubled horse named Romeo.
When Romeo and I met many years ago, I described
him as a handful, and he probably would have described me as a pushover.
He was quite adept at pushing me over, or pulling me, or whatever he
felt like doing. It was quite a surprise for me to find that all the
skills that I had learned through years of horse ownership were
completely ineffective with him. From his papers it looked like he had
roughly 7 owners before me. So in his eight years he had plenty of time
to learn useful skills, like how not to leave the barn or how to keep
running when asked to stop.
We Found Clicker Training
I needed to invent a way for us to work together in harmony
instead of our usual contest of wills. As it turns out, I didn’t have to
invent anything, I found clicker training (the same type used to train
marine mammals) and a wonderful group of clicker trainers. Suddenly
Romeo and I were speaking the same language. As soon as I became clear
with what I wanted, he was more than happy to give. I began to feel such
compassion for this poor, confused, 8-year-old who had no idea how to be
around people. All of his behaviors that would have been labeled bad or
manipulative were only symptoms of his lack of understanding. Like an
insecure person with erratic behavior, he just needed someone to help
him feel more secure by clearly reinforcing when he did the right thing,
and not causing him upset when he did the wrong thing.
After about a year and a half of getting to know each other, a whole new
creature emerged. This horse who wouldn’t let me touch his ears was now
burying his head in my arms. Once afraid to open his mouth for the bit,
he now was picking up my helmet and handing it to me while I was on his
back. He’d pick up anything and hand it to me, which was the impetus
behind giving him a paint brush.
"Don't Be an Artist"
 My
father was a professional artist and he always told me NOT to follow in
his footsteps. To him, an amazingly talented artist, making a living
from that which pours forth from your soul wreaked havoc on him
emotionally and financially. Understandably he didn’t want that for me.
Unable or unwilling to heed his advice, I began painting horse portraits
anyway (see "Star" at left). I secretly dreamt of a career as an equine
artist. Now that my horse paints, the equine is the artist. My
dad never said anything about a horse following in his footsteps.
So it began with Romeo. One day armed with a sketch pad and a paint
brush I entered his paddock. Naturally curious, he reached for the brush
and I presented the pad. For a split second I wondered how in the world
he would make the connection to touch the pad with the brush and not his
muzzle. Before I had a chance to help him, he began immediately touching
the brush to the pad. The next day we added paint, painting No. 1
emerged, and the rest is history.
Romeo & Juliet
Romeo (front) shows Juliet how to hold the brush.
This was an arranged marriage. We had moved and had
to separate Romeo from his previous pasture mate/girlfriend. We didn't
want Romeo to be lonely, so we had to get him a companion. (Oh darn.)
It was love at first site, for the humans. As for
Romeo, he was more concerned about demonstrating his herd status by
kicking and biting her. It's been a great training opportunity to teach
Romeo to make nice faces and maybe keep his teeth to himself. Now that
he realizes Juliet is here to stay and good things happen when he
doesn't bite her, he's warming up to the idea that she belongs to him
(in typical stallion-esque fashion).
 The
Jewel
Juliet is a pinto Paso Fino mare. Her name should be
spelled Jewel-iet because she is an absolute gem. She has a nimble Paso
Fino body with the calmness and work ethic of a seasoned draft horse. If
I hadn't traveled the rocky road with Romeo, I never would have
appreciated Juliet's wonderful easy temperament.
Romeo appreciates her influence especially when it
comes to trailer loading. She hops right in and stands quietly, giving
Romeo the confidence to do the same. I love how the trailer does NOT
vibrate any more. Poor Romeo used to stand and shake. With his lovely
companion at his side he can conquer the world. Behind every good
gelding must be a good mare.
Juliet Paints BIG!
Juliet's style lends itself well to
painting on large canvases.
Not only is Juliet a positive presence in Romeo's
life, she's also a painter! Every time Romeo would paint, we would make
sure Juliet could see him. After a few times of allowing her to watch
the master, she appeared curious, so I gave her a brush to hold. Her
youth and lack of emotional baggage allowed her to approach painting
with amazing enthusiasm.
We were invited to bring Romeo to paint at a horse
show held at a therapeutic riding school called Artist's Gardens. We
asked if we could bring Juliet along. They had plenty of space so we
were able to set up Romeo's painting corral within a larger
corral. Every time Romeo would leave his easel and exit his corral
Juliet would wait a few seconds and run and 'steal' Romeo's position at
the easel. With a big enough pile of hay before him Romeo didn't seem to
mind that Juliet was standing at HIS easel. This set up the perfect
moment for Juliet's first painting. Now I'm the new assistant to a pair
of painting Pasos!
Two Styles of Painting
Juliet's style is quite different from Romeo's. Romeo, who
is naturally worried and prone to overreacting, paired with
stallion-like displays of dominance, paints with finesse and soft
graceful strokes. Juliet, who is calm and steady, opens her mouth as
wide as if she was grasping a grapefruit and applies the brush to canvas
with force and serious commitment, so much so, that I often have to
brace the easel so she doesn't knock it over with her enthusiasm. Her
strokes are bold and long and very expressive, such contrast to her soft
quiet, almost soothing temperament.
Perhaps painting gives Romeo and Juliet an opportunity to explore and
express different sides of their personalities. Who knows, there just
might be some validity for equine art therapy!
Riding
Romeo's early riding experiences must
have left a bad taste in his mouth, especially when he
caught sight of a bit. So instead of reminding him of
the past I started riding him in Dr. Cook's bitless
bridle. He's done so well without a bit, why add one?
Since Romeo's done so well with his bitless bridle, Juliet had to have
one too.
Owning Paso Finos often makes a saddle unnecessary.
We're frequently seen riding bitless, bareback and always barefoot (the
horses, not me).
Romeo (right) and Juliet make quite the
pair in their matching bitless bridles.
Photo by Leah Leonard
Enjoy!
Cheryl Ward & Sam Sharnik
Painting Horse Studios
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