Someone wrote to me recently telling the story that once they were working with their horses and someone began yelling and hitting a horse nearby. This caused the storyteller to have a bad accident, because it scared her horse.

Most likely, it not only scared her horse, but it scared her too. Negative energy travels at the speed of light and can zap us before we know it. I’ve written before about people acting like horses are deaf. This kind of thing happens all the time – people fill the air with their noise, anger and disappointment and think the horse and other people are not going to notice.  Horses can also feel things through the ground, so they have much greater sensitivity to energy than most people will ever have.

Believe it or not, we have the power in ourselves to manage the energy that comes out of others, and comes out of our horses. We don’t have to burden ourselves with all of that and feel so helpless.

I work at various barns. I do bodywork on horses in those settings and the energies vary. There are sometimes angry, sad, confused emotions floating around. People have varying degrees of skill and empathy for horses. In these settings I need to be sure I can keep myself and the horse I’m working with in a safe bubble so that we do not get the intrusion of someone else’s stuff.

When I look back on my own bad horse related accidents, they occurred when there was negative energy around or I wasn’t attentive or knowing how to block that energy. I myself had a bad riding accident at a barn where the energy was foul and I didn’t know it. I was not mindful at that point in my life. It never should have happened.

Maintaining good energy around horses is fairly easy if you have your own place and only invite over people who are not prone to angry outbursts or manhandling horses. In a barn situation or at a big event where there are other people interacting with their horses, it can be trickier. I have worked with horses while someone is standing nearby screaming into their cell phone. I have asked them politely to go somewhere else to do this...preferably far away.

In terms of riding, I am very careful not to get on a horse or have anyone else get on a horse that I’m working with, while such outbursts are going on.

Besides these obvious caretaking tactics, what we can do in difficult situations is imagine a bubble around ourselves and our horse, tuning out the troublesome energy around us, while at the same time being mindful of it and  keeping a good distance away from what is going on. We can ground our energy and with a hand on our horse’s neck, encourage the horse to follow our example. The horse will be grateful for that bubble and know he or she can depend on us to protect them, and know that we will not let whatever is happening with the other horse happen with our horse.

A small example of a non-troublesome distraction is as follows: The other day someone asked me a question as I was mounting my mare. She is ultra sensitive. This was a simple question but it required me to think of something other than what I was doing. I started to answer the question and my mare started to move away from the mounting block. She knew that I was not tuned in to only her. I told the person I would answer in a moment and turned my attention to my horse and mounted.

So this isn’t a horse for someone who wants to have a long, involved conversation with someone else while getting on or off. (She doesn’t mind me talking to others once I’m mounted, by the way!) I’m glad for this actually because she doesn’t tune me out as some horses tune people out – usually because they have been tuned out themselves. She depends on me to create a bubble for us, so if I step out of the bubble to talk about somebody’s kids, or what bridle they are using, etc., she can get a little miffed. I don’t blame her; I need to stay in the moment.

When we work in a clinic setting, we pay attention to the energy of the group. Energetic space is made so the horses and the people can be successful. We also become aware of the horse’s space and the person’s space and how those two can come together and be apart. This way we can ensure harmony between both, while establishing and maintaining safe boundaries. The environment is nourishing for those who want to learn to become mindful, are already mindful and want to be this way with horses. As a result, they will develop new levels of connection and enduring trust in their horse life.

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A good way to experience work on yourself besides having a people session is to have a horse and rider session. For those who want to experience horse and rider work, take advantage of $10 off one session with me – good for the rest of August through the end of September.

Services: Bodywork (Ortho-Bionomy for people, Equine Positional Release/Equine Ortho-Bionomy): private sessions,  tutorials, phone consultations, distance healing and gift certificates

Liberty Training: clinics, mini-clinics, workshops, private and semi-private sessions, tutorials, consultations: by appointment:  505.501.2478 or emailing susansmith@orthohorse.info

Looking forward to Fall Lessons – semi-private, private and small group sessions. Contact me for details.

Liberty Foundations Waterhole Rituals Equine Clinic at Spirit Horse Ranch near Oklahoma City, co-teaching: Ruella Yates, Certified Carolyn Resnick Trainer and Susan Smith, Suggested CR Trainer. Liberty Horse Training. September 28-29, 2013. Contact Ruella Yates at ruella@libertyfoundations.com, or 405-771-4274. Susan will be giving a three-hour tutorial on her OrthoHorse bodywork for a limited number of students. Call 505-501-2478 or email susansmith@orthohorse.info for details.