“In order to work with an animal as intelligent and sensitive as the horse we must first work on ourselves.”
Horsemanship is something that has been a big part of my life, a big focus and passion. What people may not know is why.
I can see so many similarities in myself and horses, our fear responses and the way our nervous system works, we are much the same as horses.
I have been in many undesirable situations in my life, I have experienced every fear response, flight, fight, fawn and freeze/shutdown, I have even been through them all in a matter of minutes on multiple occasions.
I see how the horses respond when they are frightened or confused and I can put myself in their place, I get very emotional when I think about the feeling of having no control over your own life or your own body.
We must learn to look inwards, to reflect and improve and only when we are ready to have an open mind and accept responsibility for ours and our horses behavior can we truly start living the gift of horsemanship.
We need to be in a “learning frame of mind” just as we strive to have our horses relaxed and in a “learning frame of mind” wouldn’t it make sense that those working with them were too?
Horses are extremely sensitive, notice how they pick up on your bad mood or know when your nervous around them? Horses really do feed off our energy so it is important to be self aware and understand ourselves and how we affect our horse.
I believe that if we continue to learn as much as we can and keep an open mind then we are free to experiment and create our own experiences of why something works for us. I also believe that we need to be clear on our morals and values, this will help us determine what is in alignment for us and our horses, creating our very own way of horsemanship.
Horses don’t try to scare people or do the wrong things intentionally; they simply do what they are being asked (or what they think they are being asked) or they do what they think they need to do to stay balanced or protect themselves.
Horses are flight animals, we all know this but it seems to get so easily forgotten.
Horses only have their way of communicating to us, they don’t speak English. We need to listen more closely or they begin to say it louder which manifests into vices.
My program is based around a commitment to working on yourself to improve the relationship with the horse. I aim to inspire others to look to see how they can better themselves in order to ask clearer, more confident questions to be able to get clear, confident answers. To work on emotional regulation and stay in a learning and training frame of mind and to build a close connection of trust and love.
I believe that as humans we have the capability to constantly grow and learn, yet so many people choose not to. It really is incredible what the horse can teach us about life and ourselves if we let them.
The horse is not naturally as complicated as the human mind makes them; however human contact can have a complicated effect
Try a new mindset and watch how positively everything around you changes. Open your mind to new things, seek refinement and better ways.
“Everybody knows that sometimes you have some tension, but you should be aware that there is tension and do something about it.”
“The pursuit of the ideal is a passionate quest in itself, full of reward in the constant discovery of newer and ever more subtle harmony between horse and rider.”
