Sherry L. Ackerman, PhD, is a professor of philosophy at the College of the Siskiyous, in Weed, California, as well as an internationally acclaimed dressage clinician. She sees dressage as transformational, as an avenue to reflection, exploration, and self-knowledge through which riders can experience liberation from their narrowly individual, egoistic I-ness. Dr. Ackerman is one of the American dressage industry’s leading proponents of dressage as a philosophical, spiritual, and artistic practice. Dressage in the Fourth Dimension has been a pioneer work in awakening dressage consciousness, a finger pointing at the moon. Now in its second edition, its message is right on time. It requires readers to deconstruct every assumption they have ever held, to ask “Why?” and become okay with not-knowing. Humanity’s alienation from nature can no longer be ignored. The enormity and immediacy of the crisis is evident. Dr. Ackerman’s work during the last few years has been concerned with the theme of liberation. She points readers toward a consideration of humanity’s liberation from societal conditioning, from externally legislated morality and normative thinking, and ultimately, from the egoistic self. She believes that getting beyond one’s own ideas, and discovering the context of one’s own thinking, is liberating. Identifying the differences between what we think that we think, and the conditioned, enculturated patterns of thought handed down to us, opens interesting avenues for growth and transformation. Dr. Ackerman’s concept of the fourth dimension requires readers to leave the analytic, objective mind behind and enter into the mystery of inspiration. Dr. Ackerman lives at the foot of Mount Shasta, in California, and attempts in the silence of the woods to practice what Dressage in the Fourth Dimension teaches. Living quietly with her horses, she seeks transformation. For more information, see www.sherryackerman.com.
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Sherry received the following comment about her book Dressage in the Fourth Dimension. We thought it was a fascinating question — what do you think? "I look at the horses my granddaughter rides and I just wonder what they are thinking. I've never been so close to a horse before and it intrigues me that you have written about them. I feel pity for them having to trot round an indoor arena with riders on them, some of whom haven't an idea of riding. Some of them are showing a mastery over an animal that is far stronger than them and that puzzles me. Sometimes the riders get thrown but that is usually because they have given the wrong cues to the horse as to their intentions. Do horses like human company or do they just regard us as exploiters?"
Wonderful question…thanks for asking! If you had asked me this same question even 10 years ago, I would have answered it quite differently. More time spent with horses has led me to an even deeper understanding of “how their minds work”, if you will. I have determined that they have a “knowing” that is quite specific to their evolutionary position at this point in history. First of all, we have to be compelling honest that we are not doing horses any favors by taking them out of their natural habitats and “locking them up” in stalls, small paddocks, unnaturally sterile environments and so forth. The horse, under these conditions, ceases to be a horse. S/he becomes an extension of humanity’s collective ego…a projection. This is the ultimate objectification. Once an entity is so intensively objectified, it is quite easy to erroneously assume that they have “no knowing”…that they are, as Descartes would have had it, “dumb beasts”. However, turn the horse loose…unleash it…and watch what happens. Now, I don’t mean to turn it loose for an hour or so. I mean to really turn it loose. Let it live outside in as natural of a habitat as can be afforded. Provide it with the kind of diet that it would have in nature, as opposed to synthetically processed “concentrated feeds” that are so popular among today’s equestrians. Let it sleep when it is tired and eat when it is hungry. Suddenly, consciousness re-awakens and they are reconnected with their primal “knowing”. At this point, they are able to perceive humans as they are. If we are "predatory", they know it. If, on the other hand, we are open to true companionship…not only on human terms, but on equine terms, as well…they know this. In fact, they “know” more about us than we consciously know about ourselves. They are quite capable of bringing that “80% of consciousness” that Carl G. Jung said was “buried under in shadow” into view. I find it quite interesting that the Latin word “anima”, the root for our word for “animal”, means “soul”! I would love to hear what other readers think about this idea, too.
Link to Sherry Ackerman's Dressage in the Fourth Dimension website
This is an interview between Horses for Life and Dr. Sherry Ackerman.
Link to Sherry Ackerman's Dressage in the Fourth Dimension Blog
Link to Sherry Ackerman's Dressage in the Fourth Dimension Podcasts.
An introductory video to Dressage in the Fourth Dimension.
A video about getting free...becoming liberated...in the Fourth Dimension.
A brief dialogue between Dr. Sherry L. Ackerman, author of Dressage in the Fourth Dimension, and fellow equestrian Dr. Michele Friend.
Here is a fascinating interview between Dr. Thomas Ritter and Dr. Sherry L. Ackerman.