Category Archives: Equine Body Balance

Horses Take the World Stage

endurance, energy work, Equine Body Balance, healing, herd behavior, herd dynamics, horse training, horsemanship, horses, Horses at Liberty Foundation Training, riding, sacred spaces, telepathy, trail riding, , , , , , ,

The Tokyo Olympics 2021 pentathlon event, which involves participants who are proficient in fencing, freestyle swimming, equestrian show jumping, pistol shooting and cross-country running, resulted in mishaps and angry, abusive people at the equestrian segment. Why is that?

Getty image

The course, up to 1.20 m, flooded the equine and other media, and some Olympic medalists say that the reason the horses balked at jumps, reared, and dumped their riders in the competition was because they only had 20 minutes to “get to know” their riders before performing. These are horses that are well schooled, provided especially for this event and riders select horses from a random draw. The people riding are also not necessarily good riders – one article said that some don’t even know how to do a rising trot! They may be excellent at swimming, fencing, pistol shooting, but not at the riding part, which would then indicate that they can’t manage a horse well under normal circumstances but particularly when it goes into stress mode.

The whole event is stressful, let’s face it. That horses can and do perform under such conditions is quite phenomenal.

Horses don’t think as humans do. The coach who punched a horse and instructed her rider to whip the horse was obviously completely out of line, pulled along by anger and frustration. While the horse napped, the rider was seen hitting and kicking the horse. As he neared the fence, the coach leaned over and struck him with her fist. The horse wasn’t doing well physically to begin with or he wouldn’t have been trying to sleep.

Many complained about horses’ performance overall. Other horses resisted the jumps too. But the horse is always right. So whatever was going on here started with the humans and their lack of understanding and concern for the horses’ needs.

Basically the absence of a relationship built with the horse over a longer period of time, plus disregard for the horse and rider’s mental well being, contributed to the breakdown in the first place. Physical violence added to that created chaos, and that chaos rippled through the horsie-verse like a bolt of lightning. Shared consciousness. We’re outta here. The horses bonded in a universally panicked response. Some held their ground and did okay. But too many horses who weren’t smacked around responded with resistance and fear.

Once that chaos and fear zoomed through the other horses, they reverted to their herd instinct. I have a mental image of them all running from the arena together. That didn’t happen of course because there is a cast of thousands in that arena managing the horses.

These are horses who have no relationship with their riders. They are ridden by many different riders in preparation for this event and considered “schoolmasters.” But to go through an event at this high level of stress, they need the relationship. When things get scary it’s not enough to simply know how to ride, you need to know the way that animal thinks, moves, it’s preferences, what frightens it, know it deep down so that you can set up the best possible outcome. If introducing a horse to new things, it’s best if he has a familiar, much loved person to help him or her through it all.

Horses don’t think like humans, they don’t have a pre-frontal cortex like we do, so we can figure out how to pay bills and how to write articles about horses, etc. But what they do have is a motor cortex, and the motor cortex allows them to learn patterns and behaviors. They learn good ones just as easily as bad ones. They have the ability to form deep relationships. But they are going to operate instinctively if frightened, and in some cases forget everything they know in an instant.

They will be able to recover from upset much easier if they and their person are bonded, fused in a way that may not be visible to the outside casual observer. When I watched some of the really bonded Olympic pairs, such as Charlotte DeJardin and her new horse, I feel that they enjoy each other. Some others are operating on automatic.

This is not to say that all horses need their special person all the time. There are some people who can come into the presence of a horse they don’t know and the horse is immediately comforted and there is no question. The horse wants an immediate bond, without the preparation of years. Some trainers have this ability to infuse confidence in a horse right away. Even in these cases, the riding relationship is different than the on-the-ground relationship. The horse may not want the person he has just met to climb on his back, in spite of feeling happy in their presence.

I have ridden horses on endurance rides whom I didn’t know, but was fortunate enough to ride them the night before, brush and play with them a little bit, and everything turned out alright. I was also riding alongside the owner so she could advise me as to how to manage her, her preferences, how much contact, etc. I was acutely aware of how the horse moved differently from my own, and but relied on my general knowledge for that part of the journey. By the end of the ride, I always wanted to buy the horse (not for sale!), because we had had such a great time together.

Keep in mind this is over 50 or so miles, about 6-10 hours in the saddle, not a short stint in an Olympic arena that involves maybe 5-10 minutes of connection! Plus the stress level is way down on the meter. We were riding to win a t-shirt, not an Olympic gold medal.

I’m so glad to hear that the German Olympic federation has called for a rule change to address the excessive demands on the horse-rider teams.

The fact that so many horses lost their cookies at this event affirms their strength in numbers, their wonderful herd instinct that can sometimes  get them into trouble. They also exposed some human cruelty and ego. In this case, horses took the world stage, if not the medals. Well done, horses!

 

Reach Out and Don’t Touch Someone

alternative therapies, animal communication, chakras, dogs, energy work, Equine Body Balance, equines, exercise, healing, herd behavior, herd dynamics, horse training, horsemanship, horses, Ortho-Bionomy, , , , , , ,

We are all in this together, and yet we are to remain apart. There is stress about social distancing, our new norm, worldwide. Why is that? We can reach out and call people, thankfully we also have social media, but I still hear from friends, colleagues and clients that they feel isolated.

As a bodyworker for people and horses and the occasional dog, I feel it intensely. Ortho-Bionomy is a form of bodywork that is not just a spa treatment that you receive when you get a gift certificate and you feel better for a couple of days and forget about it. Ortho-Bionomy is transformative, it deepens your own body’s understanding of itself, it reaches inward and brings health and balance to all your systems. Each level of the body – bone, muscle, sinew – each system – circulatory, lymph, visceral – is affected by an Ortho-Bionomy session. It invites the body to come meet itself and have a conversation. And that conversation can continue on long after the session is over, well into the next week or months, depending upon your body’s ability to correct itself and stay corrected.

The possibility of a “conversation with a body” was the hook for me when I was first finding out about bodywork modalities. What is that like? Is that possible? I wondered. Years later, I realize my body seeks that. If I cannot afford the time or money to get a session, then I feel the need. I gravitate towards self-care, and other exercises of course. They are immensely helpful.

I will talk about the importance of touch. What I learned recently is that the skin and brain are developed from the exact same primitive cells. So you could say the skin is the outer surface of the brain, or view the brain as the deepest layer of the skin. When you think of it this way, it is no wonder that we are troubled by the lack of human physical contact. There is much more about this but this is food for thought. With animals we have the fur factor – fur closely attached to skin.

According to the anatomy book, Job’s Body, by Deane Juhan, studies done by Johns Hopkins Hospital in 1915 in orphanages revealed the infant mortality rate within one year of admission was 99%. This led to further studies of all orphanages, finding that they were severely understaffed and consequently the infants lacked human cuddling. There was only enough time, to clean, feed and take care of their basic needs. Once more staff were added in a major overhaul of the system, the children received much needed cuddling, and they thrived in all ways. Great increases in energy, height, weight and mental well-being were seen – and the death rate decreased exponentially.

So when we must deprive ourselves, even as adults, of this very primal need for touch communication, where do we go next? When we’re advised to curtail all “non-essential” activities, I and my clients don’t consider Ortho-Bionomy non-essential. But since it is not an essential such as going to the grocery store (far more dangerous!), we comply with the rules that are intended to save our lives.

As a bodyworker, working on any body is never a one-way conversation. I’m not just doing techniques to or on someone. I’m asking questions, the body or being is speaking back to me in numerous ways. It’s not always something I can verbalize.

Today we are dealing with a deadly virus that is shaping the social structure of our lives. We must not touch, except those in your own household, period. Stay a safe distance away.

Fortunately, Ortho-Bionomy has a number of “phases,” unlike some modalities where the only option is touch. I can take the conversation off the body and have that conversation a little farther away, over the phone maybe, or in space, because the conversation has an energetic quality. I know some people are scared off by the mention of “energy,” but we are all energy, everything possesses energy. So it really isn’t frightening. It might seem frightening to imagine someone tinkering around with your energy.

But that’s not what I’m talking about. It’s the energy of the conversation that can remain alive without the physical touch, without any force or intrusion into the person or animal’s consciousness. I can work with the body without the body being anywhere nearby. It’s a part of Ortho-Bionomy and it is only done with consent of the individual.

There is a collective consciousness right now that has everyone on edge, trying to find balance but getting knocked off balance daily, in some cases hourly, by some new grisly news report. Is that collective consciousness something you can see or is it something you feel? Think about it. It’s all energetic, rippling through the global community.

Horses have a herd mentality. Part of that is communicating without touching – flattening their ears or moving toward another horse  across the pasture to get them to move, just twitching an ear in some cases. I only wish I had ears that talented. They also communicate with other species like birds. They can keep each other healthy and safe by moving the least among them. Their finely tuned energetic sense of what they need to have happen means everything.

Before the pandemic took such a tight hold of us, (just a couple of weeks ago, perhaps?) I did an Energetic Healing Communication session with a dog who was limping. She had been expecting the session. The owner asked that I take her own injured finger into consideration too if I had time. I worked with the areas the owner had said she felt the dog needed work. I felt the session was very concrete, meaning very mechanical for her, but that was what she was asking for. She even became impatient with me at times.

Then she said: “guarding causes you to lock out, then fear, then lose the ability to take in good things.”

This was very huge, not only for the dog but for the owner, and for me. We are all guarded right now. We have to be but we will be wise to remember what that does to our nervous system. It makes us less able to notice or receive good things.

And then, the dog wove her owner’s physical injury into her own healing. I worked with the area between the nails of the paws. The owner reported her finger feeling 75% better. The dog ended her session on her own, satisfied, and went to lie down and rest.

That will probably never happen again in exactly that way or even close to it. That is the beauty of Ortho-Bionomy bodywork. It is special, it is for you personally, or for you and your dog or horse or cat and it is tailored to your needs. It is not a panacea, a pill or a blanket solution.

So, while this may sound farfetched to some and right at home to others, I will leave you with this: we need communication. We need the conversation, and if it isn’t physical, then energetic. We communicate in some different ways than horses or dogs. We have the higher intellect, or so I’m told.

Yet, we aren’t as good at taking care of ourselves energetically as animals are. We have to be conscious of making sure to keep ourselves open to good things, like the wise dog said, while we are in these oppressive times.

So reach out and don’t touch someone, but do  – energetically – across time and hold space for them and their healing. In that small way, I hope we can make a significant difference.

P.S. You may touch your horse, dog or cat!

 

Riding Through the Senses with Ortho-Bionomy

bodywork, endurance, energy work, Equine Body Balance, equines, exercise, healing, horsemanship, horses, Ortho-Bionomy, riding, trail riding, Uncategorized, , , , , , , , , , ,

I was sitting on my mare Jazzie the other day and thinking about how to present the vast amount of material there is for the Mounted Body Balance™ – In the Saddle classes. Many people ask, well why would I do that if I’m taking a riding lesson? I get a massage regularly, why would I do this?

Well, a riding lesson focuses on you in the saddle, in the most efficient posture to get your horse to do what you would like her to do. It may involve some horse management skills. A good lesson will also work on you psychologically – what you’re bringing to the relationship that may or may not be helpful. A massage is great, but it doesn’t ask you to engage with each part of your body and address how it relates to the animal’s body when you’re in the saddle. Further, it allows you to fall asleep, which is not advisable while in the saddle!

Mounted Body Balance™ is an integrated, wholistic, non-force approach of horse and rider that puts us in touch with our senses. When riding we are connecting spine to spine with the horse. Our spine meets the horse’s at one critical point, where our sit bones and tailbone meet the thoracics of the horse. In bodywork for both horse and rider, we are looking at what is available in each body, and working with enhancing that availability for greater comfort and ease. We can also use that strength that we find in one body to help the other body in that same or another area that may not be as available.

For example, when my neck is tight, perhaps instead of directly working with neck rotations on me,  I can look at my mare’s neck and see if she has any fill or hardness there. Then I can ask my mare to do side bends and release her neck while I’m on her back. As it turns out, this movement can release the tension in my own neck.

Jazzie has tension along her thoracics. While thinking about my upcoming class, I sat in the saddle with the awareness that I am sitting on her mid-thoracics, and I did an technique we call in Ortho-Bionomy©, “disc-fluffing.” (See illustrations in the article). Drop your head forward and pull shoulders forward and cross your arms across your chest. Then press down on and rock your shoulders in this position. This released my thoracic spine.  After we did this exercise on me, Jazzie moved forward more boldly. I noticed the flow of her spine underneath me and the rhythm of her ribcage was more forward as well.

In the saddle, I can reach for the parts of the horse that are accessible. I can work with her sacrum by reaching behind me and feel its preferred position. My touch is always gentle. I can touch my own sternum and reach down and touch hers as well, and ask the question, are our sternums balanced? With a bigger horse, you may have to dismount to access certain parts of the body effectively.

All of us – horse and human – hold tension in our bodies and we also have areas that just don’t speak. We have places that don’t work as well as others. My right leg can get funky in the hip socket, for example. I could sit up there and worry about what a terrible rider I am and I shouldn’t ride because I’m not always symmetrical and blah blah blah, but if I focus on all the dysfunction, then I am missing what my body can do, and how it can support the areas that aren’t working quite so well. My horse has stuff going on in her hips also. I focus on the healing available in her body. And guess what? Even though she has that stuff, she is a beautiful mover. I sit on her, and I feel each part of me and her, and focus on the parts that work really well while holding an awareness of what I’d like to have shift.

When I do that, she comes up to meet me, and she will travel beautifully to support my not-so-perfect-body in a way that works for both of us, without restrictive compensation. It helps my body feel better too.

When the horse knows he or she can influence your body for the greater good, he or she will seek that.

With Ortho-Bionomy© for both horse and rider, we can learn what is holding up the bus. Riding instructors have wonderful ways of encouraging the horse forward, ways for riders’ to hold their legs so that the legs are not being counterproductive for the horse, or to sit correctly so as not to impede the horse’s movement – all of that has to do with the anatomy and the relationship of the two bodies working in sync, or not.

We are often trying to solve certain problems: spooky horse, horse not moving forward, going too fast, short-strided, unbalanced, throwing its head, bucking, anxiety. These problems can be addressed through this form of bodywork.

Many riders hold tension in their upper thoracics while riding. In fact, more experienced riders often have more tension in that region. How does this translate to the horse?  If the horse is dealing with tension in the lumbar but has great strength in his own thoracics, we can work with the horse’s thoracics to help the rider’s. When he can loosen up in that region and flow better – ribs as well – so can his rider.

The horse with lumbar trouble often won’t move forward freely. If we open up the spine, and check the rider’s engagement with the spine, then the horse can move forward more easily. We may also need to check saddle fit with both thoracic and lumbar pain, for both horse and rider.

Certainly, work can be done on some of these issues independently of the horse/rider relationship, and I do that in many cases where a person may need individual table work ahead of a horse/rider session, or the horse needs to receive an entire session on his own. If someone has major back trouble, I’m going to work on that, and same with the horse. But once the bodies are free of great inhibition, we can bring them together and see where they can strengthen and enhance each other, and bring space into the relationship that may have been restricted before.

Simple and very regular preparatory techniques that people do to prepare to ride are great ways of beginning this work. While grooming your horse you can feel along the spine for any irregularities. If you don’t know anatomy, it’s helpful to get a simple equine anatomy book – and a human one while you’re at it! Learn where the bones are. Everything else is related to or attached to the bones in some way, so it’s a great place to start.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

While this may seem elementary, walk your horse out to check his or her gait. Then check your tack when you tack up. While I was endurance riding, the care of the horse was a high priority. I would trot out my horse the morning of the ride before tacking up to make sure he was going well. I would check all my tack before leaving for the ride and the night before the ride. These are good habits to get into even if you’re just going out for a short ride.

After that I may do a little bit of bodywork on areas I see are not working so well on my horse, and stretch out myself.  You can apply your own exercises, such as qi gong, yoga, Feldenkrais, etc. and in Ortho-Bionomy© we have a lot of self-care exercises for people and ones you can do for your horse. Some of them I have adapted to use in the saddle as well.

This work evolves, so that after awhile you may find you no longer have that trouble with your right knee, for example, and the horse is no longer stiff while crossing over behind to the left, but some other issue has shown itself and so you’ll  need to adapt your program to those changes.

I teach this to people so that they can begin to sense the changes themselves. I can show you how to do many things, but then it’s up to you to figure out when to use them and when you may need to try something else. Figuring this out is a lifelong process, although sometimes we’re lucky enough to have some quick fixes. At the same time, you get better at recognizing areas of strength and how to palpate tissue. This approach can be integrated into your riding lessons, performance or trail riding activity and your more sedentary horse work.

Much thought has been given over centuries to how to ride efficiently and so as to bring out the best in the horse and rider.  With the Mounted Body Balance™ approach, an older horse can move better than he or she ever has and so can her rider.  Life isn’t static so we can’t guarantee that any of us are not going to have some physical challenges, but there is a lot we can solve and make more comfortable with this type of work. A horse may be able to help you with your body issues without impairing his/her own stride or balance. Of course, aging will limit what you can do but why not try to do what you love comfortably for as long as you can? As a physical therapist friend of mine says, “I’m here to help you be able to do what you love for longer.”

I take her words to heart. When we travel down the trail, I can feel Jazzie’s rhythmic strides, I can feel where my body may not be quite right and make the adjustments and I can feel her shift to accommodate or make that easier for me. Our senses are alive as our bodies connect, as we trot along a well-known path, with deepening knowledge of ourselves – together.

***********

Contact me for private sessions. info@susansmithsantafe.com or through the website.

 

 

Healing Herds, Movement and Community

animal communication, barefoot hooves, bodywork, chakras, energy work, Equine Body Balance, equines, exercise, fear, geriatric horses, healing, herd behavior, herd dynamics, horse training, horsemanship, horses, Horses at Liberty Foundation Training, liberty rein, Liberty training, Ortho-Bionomy, rescue horses, riding, Uncategorized, , , , , , , , , , ,

The two horses rub each other’s necks, ferreting out the itchy or sore spots in each other. How do they know to do this? Is their mutual grooming actually bodywork?

Continue reading Healing Herds, Movement and Community →

Horse Loss and Love

alternative therapies, animal communication, endurance, energy work, Equine Body Balance, equines, healing, herd behavior, herd dynamics, horse training, horsemanship, horses, Horses at Liberty Foundation Training, Ortho-Bionomy, sacred spaces, telepathy, therapy horses, trail riding, Uncategorized, , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

It’s a rainy day as I write this. A rainy day in New Mexico is generally cause for celebration. The state squeaks out 13.85 inches average rainfall per year.

Continue reading Horse Loss and Love →

The trail less traveled

animal communication, bodywork, energy work, Equine Body Balance, equines, exercise, fear, healing, herd behavior, herd dynamics, horse training, horsemanship, horses, Horses at Liberty Foundation Training, Liberty training, trail riding, Uncategorized, , , , , , , , , ,

Years ago, I was teachnig in Florida at my friend Anne’s ranch, and her young pig Rosie got into my luggage. She ate face cream, my snack bars, and other stuff from my open suitcase. I caught her at it, and promptly guided her out, walking behind her, as I would with a horse.

“Rosie the Wrecking Ball”

There was a a lot of squealing, turning to face me with upturned, indignant snout, but Rosie the Wrecking Ball did move off to other food sources.

At that time, I had not been around pigs much and had no idea if any of that liberty work would work on a pig, but it did. I think that was how she was trained from that day forward.

A friend who had grown up on a farm said if you could do Liberty Foundations with a chicken, then you could very easily do it with a horse. I’ve not had that experience, although a rooster did come to one of my workshops, tucked lovingly into the jacket of one of the attendees. We had so many horses to work with we didn’t have time to work with the rooster, but it’s on my bucket list!

Anne Daimler working with her mare, Cherokee

The point of all this is, we who practice Liberty Foundations or other alternative forms of horsemanship or training, are traveling a trail less traveled. If you can practice it with a chicken or a pig, you can do it with a horse.  We are giving the horse an opportunity to choose. There are obviously times when we must ask the horse to do something they may not wish to do, like with Rosie, asking her to get out of my luggage.  Or  like our kids must brush their teeth, eat their vegetables, etc. but if they get a choice between certain things at some times, they feel their world open up. It also may be that brushing one’s teeth becomes less onerous because they know that they will get to do something fun afterwards. I used to take my kids to get ice cream after getting immunizations.

The ice cream is more of a reward system, but we have rewards built into liberty as well. Any approach where we are rewarding good behavior and not focusing on bad behavior will give great rewards in terms of connection, communication and lasting work together.

The trail less traveled may be filled with brambles. It may be a bushwhacking trail, where there isn’t a trail but in order not to fall off a cliff you are traversing the side of a mountain and carving out a path so you can ride down into a beautiful valley or other limitless vista. People who follow tried-and-true methods without exploring possible options won’t have this problem because their course is already set.  They pick a place where there isn’t the possibility of lost trail, quicksand or other challenges. It’s challenging enough just to get the basics on the animal, let alone go off into the unknown.

What if it’s like she said, the horse won’t respect me if I don’t get tough?

Well, I ask, what are your convictions? Do you feel okay about what’s happening or do you shrink from the tough work with your horse? Do you feel your point could be made with less force? Do you want an adversarial relationship with your horse because you can get the horse to submit that way?

My other question is, what is your energy like? Feel it in all its glorious dimensions. Is it forward, back, side-side, up-down, does it feel good in all those dimensions or is it missing out somewhere? Is it squishy or dark or inaccessible?

Working with the energetic connection with Glorya and Regalo.

The horse will notice these things. The horse has a veritable PhD in energy. When people say you must work with intention, this energy and dimension stuff all fits into that one word. Your intention can be blocked by the energy in your dimensions without you knowing about it.

So it’s not just about the doing. It’s not about being so scary the horse absolutely has to do what you say. It’s how you are inside.

Many students become intimidated at this stage because they know the teacher has more knowledge than they do, so they better listen, even though their gut is twisting with angst. They feel their horse not want to be near them. While the horse does everything the student wants now, the student feels they have lost their horse.

Where is the fun-loving sweetness and eagerness? The student may try to win the horse back with lots of cookies or pets, but they are nervous and tipped over in the relationship now. Someone else is directing the flow even when the horse and owner are alone. Training by intimidation.

It’s difficult to hold onto your convictions if you know that someone knows more than you. But you have convictions. Think about other areas of your life where you feel very strongly about things: your chosen profession, animal rights, the environment, education, world peace, etc.

There is also the thing where the professional may say, well what you’re doing doesn’t work because you still haven’t accomplished what you set out to do. 

My reply could be, yes, but I have a horse who has light in her eyes, who is still curious about our work together, who meets me at the gate. Whether we meet the goal is less important to me than the process.

In a way it’s like psychotherapy. When I was in therapy, the therapist would always say, it’s a process.

It’s a process, like health is also a process. When I work with horses and people, they become better hopefully, and sometimes they have setbacks or get injured and I see them more often. Sometimes I work with them near death. That’s life.

If I lose my horse’s trust, which has happened to me, I worry that I may not regain it. I have breached a confidence, some understanding we share. I have the greater intellect, so I am responsible for not abusing that. The horse has the greater primal intellect; he knows how to live in nature and by primal rules. His responsibility is to not take advantage of his position also, but may need to learn that in relationship with humans. This is where we offer guidance.

If I demonstrate enough trustworthy behavior I can generally regain the confidence and trust of my horse, unless the horse has been abused a great deal before I came along. But at that point I must continue to offer a good deal, and if I have to ask more of my horse than he wants to do, I reward him greatly for his supreme efforts.

This is the trade-off, this is what makes the trail less traveled different.

The trail less traveled may involve a technique you come up with on-the-fly, that’s not in the handbook, something you have learned by watching your horse. This is wonderful, you are moving into intuitive learning, intuitive training, without steps. Sometimes we need steps like we need a map when we’re unsure of where we’re going, at the beginning.

But after awhile, the concepts become embodied and it is easier. Your convictions become stronger. The voices of the critical world fall away. You are moving along the trail, your horse picking her footing, dropping down off the mountain, heading into switchbacks with sunlight blinding you, skirting deadfall, down into that gorgeous valley where tall grasses tickle your mare’s knees and a thin snow-fed stream gurgles through. You are as one. And nobody can tell you any different.

Horse-olutions for 2018

animal communication, bodywork, energy work, Equine Body Balance, equines, exercise, fear, geriatric horses, healing, herd behavior, herd dynamics, horse training, horsemanship, horses, Horses at Liberty Foundation Training, Liberty training, Ortho-Bionomy, riding, trail riding, Uncategorized, , , , , , , , ,

Once again, I address the thing I’m not all that good at: resolutions for the New Year. I try to make them easy and attainable, otherwise they go the way of crash diets and best laid plans that get forgotten the moment stress or a better offer sets in.

This Christmas we had the joy of having our wonderful family: son Cory, wife Amber and three-year-old grandson Avery visiting.  Their visit brought many new insights to me, as it reminded me what it was like to be new parents . The care of new parents is so special and sweet, and all-consuming.

The other thing dear little Avery brought to me was the sheer joy of discovery. He got to feed and pet horses for the first time. If I’d had the video running I would’ve captured his squeals of delight and jumping up and down. I did catch this photo of Avery feeding Patches a carrot with his mom standing by.

So this brings to me to the first two Horse-olutions for you for the New Year:

Add a global view to your vision. If you find yourself getting really focused on one thing: a behavioral issue, a health issue, etc., take a step backward and see the bigger picture. In working at liberty and bodywork, many times I’ve experienced a horse who couldn’t stand the scrutiny of the person working with him. Either she was too close or her concern was too great. I ask her to take a step backward and the horse will turn his head to her and acknowledge her beautifully. Her recognition of his need for space was profound. This is a metaphor for life.

Continue the joy of discovery. A new trail, a new experience. Just yesterday my mare Jazzie decided she wanted to take a different trail home, and we bounded through the arroyo and up a hill to arch around some houses to home.  The joy in her was so much fun. I was reminded of Avery with his squeals of delight at getting to pet the horses, and finding a special bond with one of them in particular.  As a child my parents took me into the English countryside for picnics. The highlight of that trip was getting to pet a horse over a fence. Perhaps that was the start of the addiction for me.

Maybe you’ll discover something new in one of your horses, or in your life. I wrote about this last year, but new never gets old!

Respect differences. Notice how you interact with different people. Horses do that too. They don’t respond to everyone the same way. Sometimes you are drawn to people and sometimes repelled by them. Sometimes you think you will be friends with someone but the friendship never quite happens. Horses are capable of great bonds with each other and people. Notice what they are and protect your horses from those they aren’t comfortable with, and fill their lives with positive relationships if you can.

These two share a special and immediate friendship.

Work with energy. Energy is part of the previous horse-olution but is part of everything we do. Horses seek positive, grounding energy in humans. It’s not necessary to do anything, just be yourself. If you don’t know yourself well, the horse may know you better than you know yourself. If you’re anxious and your anxiety transfers to your horse, pay attention to that. Maybe change your agenda for the day or until you can become still inside.

Just know that every emotion you have, the horse experiences. They may not understand its complexity, but they feel it. The horse’s presence may be calming, but make sure your presence is not disruptive to the horse so he or she doesn’t absorb it and act on it. Don’t hide your emotions, but on the other hand, I think it’s best not to use your horse as a dumping ground for emotional baggage.

Judith reading a poem with Zuzka listening.

Talk to your horses and around your horses. This past week my granddaughter Ariana and I were working on some teaching videos with the horses. The sounds of our voices put them to sleep. Of course, that could mean we’re incredibly boring, but I tend to think it was soothing to them. I did some hands-on, and all the horses not receiving any work dozed off.

I’ve noticed that when I’m mucking, or brushing, if I talk to them, they become very relaxed. They like my noticing things about them, asking how they got this scratch or noticing where they are sore.

Work with other horses. It’s easy to think all horses do the same things, and there are some general things that all horses do. But when you get a chance to work with multiple horses, it broadens your view of the horse world.

When I meet horses, I want to take in their personalities. Who are they? What do they want to show me?

When I only worked with my own horses, I had a limited view of them. Since I see many horses, I can bring the knowledge I gain from others home to my horses and they benefit. That’s why the workshop setting is so valuable; we get to work with many horses and see differences and similarities.

We can also gain a more neutral perspective.

Remember gratitude.  With all the wants entering into daily life, I remind myself to be grateful for what is. For family, the horses I have, the health I have, the work I’m entrusted to do.  With each year, new opportunities arise and others fall away. To mourn the loss of beloved beings is natural, and takes time and a holding place. Gratitude has its place in honoring what was loved and what is still here to be loved. Spring will come and a new order can rebalance losses and gains in ways we never can predict.

Breathe. My mare Zuzka started teaching breathing exercises at workshops about two and

Zuzka and Ruella sharing breath, a special ritual for their first meeting.

a half years ago. She wanted people to just stand and breathe with her. She wanted me to breathe with her. No touching, nothing else. While I was teaching a lesson, she decided she didn’t want to do the lesson, it was time to stop and breathe.

That was a more important lesson to me than what was on my agenda!

This way of breathing is a way of being together without doing. She may want to breathe on your face, or synchronize breath with you. While doing bodywork, often I will feel the horse breathe into a tight or sore spot. This is another way of using breath in a very constructive manner.

Yoga breathing exercises are great, yet I know no horse who has taken a yoga class – they know this on their own. Zuzka’s message is quite simple: stop doing and breathe.

The breathing is something I now do often – before I ride or do groundwork, or when I feel I’m not quite centered. Just taking that moment can make all the difference.

Happy New Year! My wish is for your new year to be full of joy and promise!

(c) Susan Smith, Horses at Liberty Foundation Training, Equine Body Balance (TM)

Please see my

Events for information on upcoming clinics and workshops.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Horse-olutions for 2017