I Believe All the Answers Are in Your Body

I so much believe this that I sold my house and travelled all the way across the country to spend 3 years studying how and where my body held tension, how to release it in myself and how to educate others how to transform through this process. Unfortunately, we live in a society where people have gotten very out of touch with their bodies and how to listen to them.

When we can decipher, unlock and direct the tension in our bodies, we can have a conversation with our horses that they understand, opening the door to limitless possibility. When we learn to translate our intention through our bodies we speak clearly to our horse.

I believe this is what leads us to the elusive feel we all strive for. Feel is blocked by tension. By releasing tension in our own bodies, we guide the horse to release tension in his body. This is our responsibility to our horses, to help them carry us. This is the way to create more harmony and joy in your riding.

 

I Believe Community Provides You Access to Deeper Transformation

In years past when I was fairly new to dressage I attended a clinic with a “big-name” dressage instructor. This person barked orders at me and my horse, getting us more and more frenzied until I walked out of the arena in tears, hugged my horse and promising him I would never put us through that again!

In the horse world, there are a lot of people who use the horse as a tool, or a means to an end. There are others who understand that the horse is our teacher as much as we are his, that there is a sacredness to this relationship, which needs nurturing.

For optimal growth and transformation, it is so important to surround yourself with the people who create an environment that serves you and your horse equally, an environment of collaboration, not dictatorship. One where people celebrate the journey you are on.

 

Nature Provides the Ultimate Perspective

There is a natural rhythm to horses’ lives, their interactions and their understanding of the world. When we approach them from their perspective of the natural world rather than our normal worldview we will have a way to connect with them that includes their perspective and they will respond accordingly.

I don’t know about you but there have been many times I have arrived at the barn with the weight of the world on my shoulders, my head completely out of the game, only to have my horse say “uhh I don’t think so!” And the really sad part was it took me so long to figure it out. I needed to clear my brain of all the crap of my day and approach my horse with an open, peaceful mind, and then bingo! All the difference in the world.

Our thoughts are things. Our horses know them no matter how hard we try and hide them. Won’t work!

Horses are perfect mirrors. They show us our authentic self. Around them we see the big picture, a reflection of the natural order, and the smallness of our fears and worries diminish in this light.