The Horse Reflects Our Inside

Be careful what you call your horse… Ever remember being told that the horse mirrors us as riders? It isn’t fictious or simply some casual reference to be thrown around in jest. The horse really does mirror us, but maybe not in the way you think.

It is really easy to believe that the horse mirrors us on a superficial level. For example, when we are out of balance in the saddle, naturally we cannot expect to have a balanced horse underneath us. But deeper than that, there are things which we are riders, and individuals, may not be eager to take a close look at. When my horse is lazy, am I the same? When my horse refuses to communicate with me without exploding or reacting excessively, where in my life am I responding that same way with those I’m communicating with? Or my spooky horse… is he showing me that I too have fears that I am not facing but instead am trying to run away from and avoid?

[warning : minor exploitive plug for Awareness In Riding ;) ]
This is exactly why I work with riders in conjuction with a Life Coach… because horsemanship is super simple – rediculously so! That isn’t why we struggle as riders, we struggle because that is how we are running the rest of our life, and when we gain clarity, honesty (real honesty!) and awareness with ourselves, it carries over to every aspect – including horses. Life gets simpler, and so do horses.

Every time I go out to work with horses, I don’t go out to train them or teach them. I go out to communicate with them, to experience the interaction with a conversation rather than a one-sided lecture or decision making. I want to one day see this be the norm among riders. Sadly, as I see it right now, it is not the common method of interacting with horses – but then again it is only a barometer of our ability, as a society, to communicate with one another and be self-aware in general.

I hear that tomorrow it is supposed to be a beautiful day… go out and try having a conversation with your horse!