Essential Horsemanship Awareness - Harmony - Unity   Horses are great teachers. And in the art of horsemanship, horses are the best possible teachers and models we can find. In over 36 years of living and working with horses one of the most important lessons I've learned is that horsemanship is not about what you can get your horse to do, or what your horse can do for you, but rather what you can do for your horse. True horsemanship begins with a love and respect for the horse, discovering what is important to horses and how they think, and learning to communicate in ways horses understand. The initial gesture must come from us. This is to step outside our human-focused point of view, and open ourselves to learning from the horse. What does it mean for horse and human to become partners? What do you and your horse have to offer each other? How can each bring their best to the relationship, and bring out the best in one another? If we want our horse to become a willing partner with us, we need to discover how to be a positive and supportive partner for our horse. And this holds true in every moment, under all circumstances. When things are difficult our horse must be as much our partner as when they are easy. This involves developing real awareness, patience, and balance. Horses will give everything of themselves. For us the challenge is to give as much to the horse in a way the horse can receive. This is the art of real partnership, where horse and human are together as part of a greater whole. How can we interest our horse in this relationship? What can we offer that has real meaning and value for him or her? For this we need to understand the horse's point of view and experience. More often than not the horse's experience is vastly different from ours. Horses live mostly in the present (though they never forget past experiences). Plans for the future, time schedules, winning ribbons, and achieving goals have no use for them. Horses' concerns relate largely to self-preservation and wellbeing, individually and as a herd. Their strongest concerns include physical and emotional safety, companionship, water and feed, relations in the herd, creative expression/play, and peace amongst themselves and other beings. How can we offer our horse something in relation to these needs? This is important for us to understand, if we are interested in a willing and mutual partnership. Humans have the same basic needs as horses, but they tend to be expressed and met in very different ways. The essential nature of horses and humans is similar, but our instinctual natures are very different. By instinct horses are prey animals, while humans are both predator and prey. Horses, for their safety and in order to survive, naturally flee from danger, avoid confined spaces, stay close to other horses/companions, and find ways to evade predators. These instincts have been vital to horses' endurance over centuries, before human beings were part of their lives, and through times when horses were a source of food for humans (including today). Often humans' instinct is to react to horses' behavior like a predator, particularly under difficult circumstances. Grabbing, holding tightly, restraining, talking harshly, "growling", and other such behaviors create distrust, heighten a horse's instinctual responses to danger, and cause a breakdown in communication, often to an unsafe level. We are asking our horses to go beyond their instincts, to become braver and to put their trust in us as a partner. Does our horse feel we are worthy of his or her trust? Trust is not a given, it must be earned. It takes a lot to gain and very little to lose. If we are to earn our horses' trust, we first need to recognize and go beyond some of our own instincts and tendencies. We need to learn to think and act more like a horse, one that other horses trust and respect. By nature horses are herd-focused, and naturally look for a leader. If we can be accepted in the role of the leader for our horse, the companionship we develop will be willing and mutual. In the herd, each horse respects the lead horse(s), while also maintaining his/her own dignity. Some horses lead in a quiet way, by example. Some lead more aggressively, keeping others wary. In our partnership with the horse we want to walk in the middle, leading quietly and also clearly. We want the horse to accept us as the leader, according to his or her point of view. Respect cannot be forced on a horse, or on anyone. A horse may be controlled temporarily with force and fear. But this is not respect. Respect carries with it admiration and willingness, and this evolves from consistently demonstrating we are a worthy leader for our horse. Are you aware of what you are saying to your horse? In our relations with horses, everything means something, whether we are aware of it or not. From the moment we come into our horse's view, we are communicating something, with our energy and our body. This is true for our horse as well. Horses communicate mostly with body language, and they are naturally sensitive and highly attuned to what humans say with their bodies, consciously or unconsciously. What and how we communicate with our horse means everything to the horse, and has a profound influence on our relationship. Some forms of communication are based on misunderstanding, fear, distrust, and force. This is limits and even prevents partnership. Using force may get results in the moment, but always creates more problems in the long run. In order for a language to build effective communication and partnership it must be based on understanding, respect, trust, and cooperation. Sensitivity and lightness in communication are natural for horses. As horsewomen and horsemen, we want to meet them in that lightness. This takes offering our horse a feel that builds connection and harmony between us. The horse is perfect in him/herself, by nature. Left alone in the wild, horses do not need humans for their survival or happiness. Over the centuries, horses have often been greatly misunderstood and treated disrespectfully by human beings. Often the real offering of the horse, and the potential harmony and unity of horse and human, have been missed. We do not need to "fix" our horse. Recognizing this usually indicates a real shift within oneself, after which one can no longer approach horses in a way other than fully honoring them, body, mind, and spirit. Becoming a horsewoman or horseman whom horses trust requires going beyond yourself. It involves being a student of the horse, learning his ways and how to communicate in his language. It means letting go of the desire for immediate results and of goal-driven approaches. Horses are like mirrors. They show us ourselves, As horsewomen and horsemen we need to be aware of our whole self, and to recognize the whole self of the horse. This is what we can offer to the heart of our horse. In this meeting of what both horse and human offer we discover the true potential of the horse and ourselves Sus. Kellogg Free Horse Farm Copyright 2002

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