You Can Lie to Yourself But Not Your Horse

I worked in equine assisted therapy for many years and there is one truth about working with horses, especially sport horses:

You can lie to yourself, repressing, ignoring, or avoiding your emotions, but you cannot lie to the horse.

Horses, being ancient prey animals, have 350 degree vision & are highly attuned to the energy around them.  While some are better at dealing with human repressed emotions & imbalances they feel it. They are incredible mirrors for where we are lying to ourselves, which, if you are an equestrian, becomes even more important for you to deal with as that little white lie turns into the chronic 4 faults.

I have worked with troubled or green horses since the time I was 6 & my parents allowed me to pick out my own feral unbacked New Forest Pony from a field.  I was the teen brought in to deal with rowdy horses, not only because I didn’t have fear (Oh the days of bouncing off the ground much easier!), but because I naturally had a way of working with horses.

I learned from a young age about energy, power, & respect.

Now, I walk my 4 boys in together, including my hot as Jalapenos 3 year old Warmblood & yearling colt, with no issues, and even IF there is something that causes one to spook it is a snort, jump, continue walking.  How? Not through force or fear.  It is through regulation.

I have a regulated nervous system.  My regulated nervous system sets the frequency for the herd.  Through intention, grounding, and breathing I lead, the herd follows.

While I always knew the power of energy it wasn’t until my study of Psychology & trauma where I understood the power of a regulated nervous system to regulate the nervous systems of everyone in the room OR for someone to easily be thrown off by a dysregulated nervous system in the room.

I honestly can’t wait until we have a farm again with horses for equine assisted therapy.  My desire is to have sessions for high performers & athletes working through somatic experiencing, Positive Psychology, & holistic healing to improve performance.  

The reality is when you are at the top of your game, competing at high levels, the 1 degree shifts, releases, & alignments MATTER.  Not only do they matter but you realize that the 1 degree shift was actually a Grand Canyon worth of space between where you were & where you needed to be for the result you desired.

While many high performers & athletes can push it down & perform once the buzzer goes off it IS impacting your performance regardless.