MIRROR MIRROR ...whose in the shadow on the wall?

They say the 3 greatest mysteries of the world are ...

1. air to birds
2. water to fish, and
3. man unto himself!

We spend years in denial about WHO we are; mega bucks trying to look like someone ELSE; get counselling, life coaching or re-birthing to rid ourselves of the person others said we SHOULD be - so it's no wonder we struggle to know whose staring back at us when we look in the mirror!

Then along comes some smart Alec and announces that your horse is a mirror of yourself!  Initially you nod in agreement then later on you stop to think about what that actually means.

We use mirrors to take a good hard look at what we present to the world and what others see when they look at us.  This is not to be confused with us knowing ourselves well, or revealing ourselves fully, to those around us.  What stops us getting close to ourselves or letting others in?  Usually self protection and a dose of long standing habit.  Hence our often defensive reaction when someone criticizes us for something we said, did or how we came across.

We wear masks at work, hide behind our ego at home, hate being judged and live in fear of feedback. Most of us are afraid we will hear what we fear most - whatever that is. In the words of Debbie Ford this is denial at work:

D = Don't

E = Even

N = Notice

I  = I

A = AM

L = Lying

... where the lie is to ourselves!  Feedback only hurts when it hits the spot - a spot that we've been deceiving ourselves about - often for a long time!

When working with clients I'll start by asking them to describe their horse in 5 words or less - often the words they use then crop up again later in conversation as they discuss things about themselves they wish to change. I had a client recently tell me his horse was 'arrogant' and 'domineering'.  Turns out he wanted to work on a key relationship in his life with his son who was resisting doing as the father asked or suggested.  As we talked it became very clear the father was righteous, opinionated and had an answer (or excuse) for everything; much like his horse!

 "When the pupil is ready the teacher will appear" 

I'm suggesting that our horses presence in our lives works in a similar way to the teacher appearing when the pupil is ready i.e. they will be our greatest teacher if we are willing to listen, look deep and learn from them.  Maybe horses mirror and reflect our personality, or maybe they reflect the journey we are on in our growth.  Perhaps both.

Grace has been teaching me for some months now the importance of being assertive, and the skill of clear communication; meaning what I say and saying what I mean.  Solar Sue is teaching me the value of never giving up, accepting where you're at today, and Essy is teaching me the joy of having a renewed purpose.

As we begin the process of self discovery we start to notice more looking back at us from the mirror.  Like peeling back the layers of an onion, the more we work on ourselves the more details come to light. Our growth and awareness is always in reach but like a shadow it is just out of grasp! 

So many of us live with anger but deny it preferring to label it as 'frustration' or, we suppress our desire to fight and scream behind passive-aggressive sarcasm or silence. Others pick up on this pent up anger or silent communication as both speak volumes, even when we continue to deny it.

Next time you are out with your horse on a sunny day, have a "Peter Pan" moment and take a photo of yourself and your shadow. 

Peter's shadow would break away and lure children back to Never land.  What's your shadow's purpose?  Where is your growth dragging you, screaming and kicking?  What experiences and beliefs from your past are still tagging along for the ride today (welcome or otherwise)? How could you 'cut your shadow free' and follow a new path? What path would you take?  Who (if anyone) acts as your 'Wendy' trapping your shadow in a draw ready to re-attach it to you to keep you from escape? Could you break free if you saw it just as a shadow?

Solar, Me & My Shadow August 2013

As a coach it helps to bring humour into the conversation as the tears fall, our defences give way and the person in-front of you begins to be revealed. Growth isn't something to be feared.  Coming to terms with your shadow is just a way of remembering youre past and how much of it we carry with us today, for better or worse.   It helps us to remember and re-connect with who we really are.  Only you should decide who that person is.  If our horses can help us to do that we'll owe them a lot.  

Maybe our horses are the ones who can really see us for who we are! 

Do we recognise that and see them in return, for who they really are? One thing is for sure; horses (unlike us) have no problem it seems looking in a mirror at themselves and no fear of what or who they see looking back at them.... All of my horses seem to find it fascinating.  Imagine how liberating it would be if grown ups found the same pleasure and delight in such a simple act, instead of looking with eyes of comparison, scorn and criticism.

We have a lot to learn from our horses if we are willing, and a lot to like!

TOURETTES... a new stable vice!

I just about died laughing....

Tonight, as my elderly mum walked behind a young handsome thoroughbred being clipped, the owner politely warned her to "be careful - he has hind leg tourettes!"  She went on to say ... " meaning he can suddenly kick out"!

What a great description, so vivid and honest.  We 'got the message' and gave him a wide birth as we giggled at his episodic eruptions.

There was actually a great lesson to be leaned in the ART of TRUE horsemanship from our Tourettes Eventer...

Over the course of the weekend the owner had been trying to clip her horse.  For historical reasons he is terrified of the clipper.  She is against twitching and in horror at the thought of putting Sedalin or any other sedative drug inside her horse just to get the job done.  She knows its going to take however long its going to take but understandably finds it stressful. 

Yesterday she began the clipping by holding him and a molasses lick it treat in one hand and the clippers in the other. He had a fit at the mere sound of the clippers! All the time they were stood in an open space so he could move away from the clippers when upset by them. She then made further progress as he ate a Lucie Brix on the floor. Still in an open space.  Progress was being made.  It seems eating in an open space was a key ingredient in helping him cope.  However anytime a horse walked past, he would get anxious again and loose the plot.

These are the moments when some 'Nosy Parker busy body' walks up and says "clip him in the stable".  In today's world - where we are awash with information, research and the latest in horsemanship techniques, how can owners NOT know that horses are claustrophobic? Then add to that knowledge a reason to be afraid i.e. the clippers - and clipping in a stable is most definitely NOT  a helpful solution.

Yet this is how so called 'horsey people' approach such situations; born of a command and control mindset,  and a great example of the very worst kind of approach when dealing with genuine fear in a prey animal who suffers from a fear of small spaces.

I'm glad to say, our guttural gelding's clip was completed.  His owner showed just how to approach a difficult situation by helping the horse versus dominating him.  Her creative solution was to let him graze as she clipped.

I watched her and her horse walk calmly around the grazing square.  She talked reassuringly to him throughout. The sound of the clipper drifted away even to my ears. Her horse ate, munched, moved around as he wanted.  By the end, he was sniffing the clippers voluntarily, with interest, a relaxed eye, floppy ears and an absence of tension.  Wonderful result and great to observe!

Why can't more horse people think like this?  Why can't we move beyond thoughts based on domination, control and getting the job done quickly? Even if that means trapping a horse into a tight space whenever there's a problem and creating a bigger problem for the future.

If we can't be sensitive, loving humans towards our horses, how about we just try to use some common sense?  Above all, please can all horse owners start reading and get ourselves up to date with equine behaviour - it actually will make a positive difference for everyone! 

Energy Matters...

"The truth dazzles gradually, or else the world would be blind" 

 

- Emily Dickenson 

I was 14 when I first wondered "how do humans and horses connect?"  "How do horses know what to do when we move a leg forward or backwards against their side as we ride?'  How do they know we want them to canter versus turn right or left?  How can such small movements by the rider be understood by a horse?

Trainers tell me its a combination of repetition of requests, positive reinforcement when the horse gets it right, and correct use of pressure and release.  All very logical. Yet, in dressage the human movements are so subtle and sometimes differentiated by just millimetres that I wonder if its really all about physical actions or is something else contributing to how we connect? 

Arthur C. Clark wrote "any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic" - is there a technology to riding?  For sure there are plenty of technical aspects to be learnt in riding, and many riders do learn the aids, proper position etc yet they don't always achieve the magical results we see at demos, or top level competitions.  It seems technique alone isn't enough!

Many of us search for that missing 'X Factor' beyond technique and can end up exploring extremes testing the limits of what a technique can deliver and what it can not. Examples include using special bridles, head collars, ropes, whips and other man made gadgets or abandoning it all in favour of working our horses using only our breath, energy or being 'at liberty'.  All extremes in action!

In developing my connection with my own horses I have to keep reminding myself that they are horses!

Sounds a little crazy I know, but it helps to re-focus me away from "technique-ing" my way through every situation.  Horses, we know are prey animals but to remember this means we must accept that unpredictability comes with working with them. So, it makes sense for us to have a variety of approaches at our disposal so we are flexible in which we use, in any given situation.

So if 'technique' is only half the equation? What makes up the rest?

What if ....energy is the missing ingredient?  At least that would be good news to those of us on a budget - it comes free of charge, doesn't need a license to use, and is available to anyone!

In quantum physics the concept of Zero-point energy, is the lowest possible energy something can have. With our horses this is not something we often explore, to our detriment. If we can be aware of energy levels (as if they travel from us to our horses like 'waves'), means we could (with practise) consciously manage our flow of energy; learning to bring it down, maintain it, or take it up as needed. (See earlier blog: Experts on; Experts off, or Hard Work Nonsense).

To practise working with Zero point energy, take hold of an orange in your hand.  Then focus your attention on using less energy to hold it.  Use the absolute least amount of energy possible. Then widen your practice to include how you grip objects and how you get in and out of a chair - using as little of yourself and your energy as possible!

Our ability to tap into energy could be our best way of being able to mirror, match and lead our horses to a place of physical, mental and emotional relaxation, and connection with us. Then transfer this to the saddle (See earlier post: Ghandi Inspired Riding).

Could energy be the missing ingredient in the ultimate connection between horse and human? Could the answer to some of the following questions be found in working with energy?...

1. Has my horse checked out mentally or is he/she playing games when on the lunge? What does the difference look and feel like?
2. Is he/she paying enough attention to me to pick up on any small change in 'me' that I make? Or, am I invisible to him?
3. Am I being consistent? Clear? Is my timing good? 
4. Is my energy low, medium or high? How do I know?  Does my horse notice the difference?
5. Do my horses believe me; my requests,  believe and trust in me? 
6. Do I change my energy when I get the right response from my horse?
7. Can I consciously change and direct my energy?

In my Parelli work I'm encouraged  to work with the concept of "Chi" (life force/energy) to learn to bring it up, or down.  A typical practical application is to bring your Chi up before asking for an upward transition.  "Belly breathing" means we can do the very same when in the saddle.

Just as the universe gives us lots of 'clues' about the direction to take (or not) in life, we can give energetic clues to make it easy for our horse to do the right thing when we ask, BEFORE we ask it.  That's a concept I like.  Sounds fair, compassionate and ethical (a subject for another blog, another day)!

I love watching out for signs in my horses of a lack of even, consistent energy flow. Grace jumping into trot suggests she hasn't worked out yet how to do that transition smoothly. Her body must have tension in it.  She could of course lack physical strength too. Rather than 'get at her' or get frustrated with my own skills, thinking about energy means I have a new language to explore: "Is her energy forwards enough? Is she thinking forwards? Where is my energy sending her and how?"

I love the synchronicity of the concept of working with energy even as I write.  For the last week my own energy level has raised (consciously) by some amazing yoga, meditation work and reiki while on holiday in Mauritius.  As if to match that energetic change in me, life has already opened up some great new opportunities in a matter of days.

Taking the time to connect with a bigger energy field in me and in the environment around and observing my breath without trying to change it, are great experiences to bring back and apply with my horse work.  It began today!

Holidays are rejuvenating. They provide a rare opportunity for us to slow down and recover our mental and physical energy.  In yoga we learn that tension is your enemy.  To get a deeper stretch we have to accept, breathe and relax.

Yoga is a whole body and mind experience. It is a very personal journey.  In Tai Chi we slow all our movements down to almost slow motion pace. If we want our horses to think all the way down to their feet, to move through stress and to be responsible for manoeuvring obstacles, then moving our own energy around, and eradicating any physical tension must be of benefit in helping our horse to do the same, while we are together.

Horse training means making sure we have the 'whoa and the go' firmly in place before we embark on riding! My priority is checking out the brakes; half halts, disengaging the hind quarters etc. But, can we do the same within ourselves? Can we easily change direction or perspective, or do we always watch TV from the same chair?  Can we easily stop and do less? Give in to do nothing? Stop thinking and focus on our breathing only? Try it for 15 seconds! It is hard!

Parelli and Yoga both honour the principles of starting where you start, work slowly and progressively- accepting where you are and not comparing yourself with others. It's the journey not the destination!

I'm convinced as we evolve in our understanding of horses, and as we wake up to a higher level of self awareness, that working with energy will become an 'old fashioned' tool that every horseman uses.  In the words of Einstein...

"No problem can be solved from the same level of consciousness that created it"

... which I hope means there's more to discover that will take us beyond working with energy into new realms we aren't even yet considering - except in our imagination!

Do Horses LOVE?

The Persian Poet Rumi said: 

 

"By God, when you see your beauty, you'll be the idol of yourself"

I believe horses do LOVE.

I believe they simplify 'how to' love for us to understand it better.

I believe they can teach us a lot about the true nature of love. 
I believe it would be impossible for them NOT to experience love.

There are different types of love - the love you have for your spouse, your parents, siblings and children, which can feel very different in its form and depth.  Then there is the love you have for a specific football team, country or place, religion or faith. We can love things that are bad for us or pursue passions with love that benefit us.  Somewhere in the mix is the love we have for our horse.

The question in my mind, is do they feel love, and if they do, what can they teach us about the nature of love?

To get my head around the concept it needs to make sense in my own mind as it relates to how we experience love first.

How much love do we feel towards ourselves and others?  Is it one emotion or many mixed up?   Where does it come from?  Is it self fulfilling? Can you track it and nurture it's development like mastering a new skill?  When I feel love does it feel the same as when you experience love, just as when we both look at grass do we see the same green? 

Let's step back. When we are born we are emotionally healthy and in tact. We love and accept ourselves and those around us.  We are free of expectation and judgement. We have no concept of if we are cute enough, the right weight or showing normal baby skills of alertness. We are at our closest to living as a horse lives i.e. we are present, living in the moment, for the moment, and without much conscious thought about the next moment, dependant on others for our mutual survival. We know and experience love (without any label).  Love is all around us.

As we grow and develop, things begin to change: we are taught right from wrong and so the process of judgement and comparison begins. Life takes on a routine of being told when and what to eat, when and when to sleep, and what to do.  We learn how to seek attention, who provides us with comfort, and who fills us with fear.  We learn what behaviours beget which results and with what consequences.  All of this sounds like normal healthy stuff, but over time it replaces our ability to remain present.  We become full of thoughts, perceptions and expectations; the stuff of busy minds.  Soon we have an image of how we should be and we reject those parts of us that get in the way of that ideal. In so doing we banish to some forgotten land vital parts of who we really are - fully!

Carl Jung once said "I'd rather be whole than good". In contrast most of us experience the opposite - and deny parts of ourselves in order to be accepted, popular, or fit in as 'good boys and girls'.

In Neale Donald Walsch's book Conversations with God, God says:

"perfect love is to feeling what perfect white is to colour. Many think that white is an absence of colour.  It is not. It is the inclusion of all colour.  White is every other colour that exists combined.  So, too, is love not the absence of emotion (hatred, anger, lust, jealousy, covertness), but the summation of all feeling?  It is the sum total."

The idea of love being a mix of emotions and feelings seems to make more sense than it being borne of only one specific emotion or feeling,  maybe that's why it is hard to describe.

So, do horses love?

Essy September 2013

I can vouch for how much love in me Essy brings out of me, and how much depth of love I feel for him when I'm around him, particularly when I look into his eyes.  It is at such moments that I well up with tears; tears of pure, deep love.  I am moved uncontrollably, unconsciously and spontaneously, just as love should be - without a need for rational explanation or analysis.  It is not a programmed activity produced on cue.

In my own experience horses help us to feel deep love without analysis, justification or explanation. Whether we love a big shire horse, a young untrained horse, one that is old and frail, statuesque or small, horses allow us to feel love deeply!

Horses are expert teachers at showing us how to spend each day being with ourselves, in acceptance; warts and all! You don't see a horse trying to change himself!  There is no obvious sign that they compare themselves with other horses (unless needing acceptance from the herd). They don't try to comply with some "Breed ideal"or standard.  Horses live being true to themselves, embracing all parts of who they are (ideal or otherwise)!  They know how to 'self love' whereas most of us would struggle to look at ourselves in a mirror and say "I love you" never mind accept what we see and live with it happily.

I'm always inspired by how horses don't appear to spend mental energy berating themselves, criticising their lack of impulsion, or flexion or double fault jumping round. They remember good and bad experiences of course; they are prey animals, learning all the time through experiences.  Yet their ability to accept the now, give things another go, and try, is without limit.  Where does that ability to bounce back or keep going come from?

Some will suggest it comes from their forgiving nature.  I think it comes from being vulnerable.  From being a prey animal.  It plays out like this: when we feel love (us humans) it is best expressed as intimacy, physical, spiritual, mental. Yet before we can be intimate we have to be vulnerable i.e. put our trust in another not to betray us in our vulnerable state of love. That is one of the ultimate expressions of love.  It also provides us with the feedback that we feel enough love in the first place to open up our vulnerable side to others.  In return we get the feedback that we are loved back when our vulnerability is respected not betrayed.

Our horses show the same trust and vulnerability daily: as we catch them, tie them up, ride them, stable them, sell them on to someone else.  They trust us not to abuse that trust; not to violate their vulnerability or exploit it. Trust between humans is brittle, it breaks easily.  I believe it is the same for us with our horses.  The difference is they appear to be resilient.  Perhaps that resilience comes from an acceptance of imperfection. From an understanding that feelings of betrayal will happen and is just one available emotion to experience amongst the full colour palette of love as suggested by Walsch.  Love comes, betrayal comes.  Both must exist. 

Love includes all emotions says Walsch so to experience love we should accept the full range of feelings that contribute to love, and realise that in our longing for Nirvana, a Sole Mate or the perfect horse - we already have them right in front of us, if only we could see and feel them!

Albert Einstein said "nature shows us only the tail of the lion. But I do not doubt that the lion belongs to it even though he cannot at once reveal himself..."

Peter Freund, a professor of theoretical physics at the University of Chicago, emphasises that there is one fundamental theme running through the past ten years of physics. That theme is that the laws of nature become simple and elegant when expressed in higher dimensions.  Meaning if we got out of the cave where our nose is flush with the side of the lion, and stood on a hilltop we could see the entire lion!

What is directly in front of us is often most hidden from our view.  Our eyes deceive us.  We place too much importance on what we see or think, over what we feel, sense or hear.  Love is all around us, it is behind everything.  How could horses NOT experience love?  Be it in their love of sunshine on their backs, the massaging effect of rolling in dirt, the gentle nuzzling of a friend, or the security of a herd?  Love doesn't have to be complex, its wrapped up in simple moments of self expression and depth of emotion as you stand on a hill side and burst into tears at the beauty of what you see.

Horses teach us every day, to step back - to find that hilltop so that we can see what is right under our nose! Horses epitomise love in their being and in their heritage as a prey animal.

They are wonderful teachers of the feeling and depth of love if we look into their eyes and allow what radiates from them to reach our hearts and in turn radiate back out.

Yes, Horses Do Love!

It Takes 2 to Tangle!

Horses and Humans are reaction machines!  

 

Recently my young horse Grace and I have been getting our knickers into a proverbial knot when working on the lunge and doing our parelli game of the 8 shape around obstacles.  This got me wondering what I need to do differently.  How and why have we been getting into this predictable pattern of speed and adrenalin and how can we get out of it? 

The most natural thing to do when confronted with a difficult horse or difficult situation is to react - to act without thinking.  This goes something like this...

Option No. 1: Meet Fire with Fire!

When Grace decides to do cartwheels on the lunge line or gallop round me doing her 'wall of death' impression - it's tempting to 'give her a taste of her own medicine' and say 'go on then if you want to run - let's see you move', and chase after her.   The only problem is that I don't want her injured, I can't hold onto 689 kilos of horse and neither of us learn anything of value in the process. 

Grace has taught me that escalation is rarely a helpful strategy! 

Option No. 2: Give in!

Deploy the opposite strategy and give in!  However, this feels like being held to ransom in a negotiation as the bad guy who won't say 'yes' to the deal on the table!  Giving in usually results in an unsatisfactory feeling in your gut the next day.  Worse it can reward and reinforce your horse's unwanted behaviour and cement you as being a "push over".

Giving in 'just this once' rarely works long term.  If every interaction with our horse is a training session - the question becomes who is training whom?  Grace is teaching me how NOT to be an appeaser,  to not give up now and HOPE it'll all be better tomorrow!'

(Note to self: an appeaser is someone who keeps throwing a tiger a steak, believing the tiger will eventually become a vegetarian)!

Option No. 3: Cool off!

A third reaction is to break off relations, walk away, have a mutual 'cool down' period.  The more I try to find that elusive space called the 'present' the more I am able to chose this option before deploying either of the other two, above!

I have found that 'coming back another day' is an appropriate strategy some days especially if other horses also seem to be wound up with something clearly 'in the air' adding to their distraction.

It is also useful if I need to assess what I had asked of Grace and was it reasonable?  Cool off may not mean back to the stable we go, but it can mean 'do something else' before returning to the original task in hand.

On the few occasions where I have cooled off by putting Grace literally back in her stable (usually accompanied by feelings of anger or deflation),  I've regretted it.  Leaving things without giving it a chance hasn't worked for me.   All it guarantees is that I haven't taken the time to work out her behaviour or its cause, and 'starting back over again' next time out, is mentally exhausting.  Not having enough physical time to be with our horse (working to an agenda or tight time line) can reinforce this as an unhelpful reaction.

So where does this leave us? 

According to Newton's Law 'for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction' - but this applies to objects not minds.  Minds can chose how we react!

To find the mental space needed for our minds to chose a reaction between cause and effect; stimulus and response I recommend we look to the opera!

In my work as a sports coach I help people find ways to step back, collect their wits, and see the situation objectively.  So, as soon as it all starts to go wrong with your horse, imagine that you are on a stage.  Then imagine yourself climbing onto a balcony overlooking the stage.  (The "balcony" acting a metaphor for rising above the situation).  From the balcony you can calmly evaluate whats going on, think deliberately and identify possible next steps and solutions.  It allows us to move away from our natural impulses and emotions of reaction.  It keeps us present and mindful.

Watching a new trainer work with Grace last week was a great reinforcement of three important MUST DO's for me to follow BEFORE I react to anything she throws my way. Three things that will help us break out of our current pattern of high speed triple salchows!

MUST Do No. 1) Be Black and White! 

How I ask something is just as important as what I ask.   Ask or don't ask!  When I get a try - stop asking or it sounds like I'm nagging.  If I don't get what I asked for then ask again.  I have to communicate using my whole body, as tone, facial expressions and body language are more important than words.

MUST Do No. 2) Say 'YES' as often as I can!

Yes is a magic word in untangling!  It means acknowledgement. It gives validation and recognition for what is going on for my horse, in that moment.   "Yes that was a nice try" "Yes you can run but do you want to..." "Yes I do mean it".  "Yes, that's the trot I wanted, thank you" etc.  Bottom line SAY YES AS OFTEN AS I CAN!

MUST Do No. 3) Follow the bible Dictum:

 "be quick to hear what the horse is showing you, be slow to speak and slow to act"

Give it time.  Our new trainer has a 12 minute rule.  After which if things aren't going to plan its time to re-think!   Grace didn't need the 12 minute rule to come into play and I was both relieved and surprised.  With me, she tends to stone wall me!  Meaning she tests constantly what I'm asking of her, checking if I'm for real!  Now I can see that by convincing her in as short a period of time as possible she stops challenging me about "if I mean what I'm saying"!

Being aware of progress, watching what she was offering us, judging nothing, and taking the time to stay with it - all proved to work for both Grace and her fan club - me and her new trainer!

It seems easy to find ourselves in a tangle with our horse.  It isn't always easy to untangle.  Find your 'go to the balcony' (or equivalent) and pay close attention to what your current habits are, in order to de-mystify the cycle of reaction you find yourself in, to break free, and to find another way.

Related Blogs:

How to Be Present

Do Horses Understand Us?

How To BE Present!

I still struggle with 'how to be present'.  Then yesterday while working with Grace I had an important lesson in some of the basic ingredients. 

Here are some tips and 'take aways' from our attempts to lunge amidst an overdose of chaos breaking out around us...


Being present means...

1.    Having command of my mind

2.    Courage to think

3.    Not rushing or hurrying

4.    Being deliberate in my thinking

5.    Doing simple acts with deliberation

6.    Taking one step at a time

7.    Paying attention to the little details

8.    Following the movement of my body (mindfulness)

9.    Taking the time to choose what to do versus reacting automatically

It's not easy to change old habits over night but it can be easy to learn new ones!  If we begin by doing more of the everyday acts of life,  like picking up things off the floor, getting dressed, or eating our food, with more deliberate thought AND without hurry, we'll have 2 core ingredients in the bag!

"Essys wishes" has at the core, the need for us 'horsey' humans to raise our levels of awareness and be more alert in order that we can be more in tune with our horses and their needs.

Or put another way (in ways that I can relate to) his message is about encouraging us to "have our wits about us" which might be an easier concept to identify with.  It's an especially useful habit to have in times of stress.  I'm not saying that riding and working with horses is stressful, but when it is our minds tend to stop operating so well. Suddenly there's 6 degrees of separation between us and our horse and if this happens when we are in the saddle - we can quickly find ourselves on the floor wondering what happened!

As I'm planning on being back in the saddle soon, its on my mind to practice the art of being present  before getting on.  That means, on days like yesterday, being able to quickly change my 'plan' and NOT take 20 minutes of being disconnected from my horse before waking up and THEN making a change to what I'm actually doing!

(I am reminding myself of the definition of insanity: 

'continuing to do the things I've always done expecting a different result!)

Twenty minutes can be a long time waiting for our brain to catch up with life - precious time where we risk losing our horses' trust and willingness in the wait for us to wake up and play another tune!

So, it makes sense to be present and if we aren't - then where are we? With such beautiful creatures in front of us why would we chose to be anywhere except right here alongside them, savoring every moment?