One of the biggest challenges many horse riders face has nothing to do with the mechanics of riding their horse, or the competition they face in the ring. Their biggest battle starts in their mind.
Did you know that you are sending out either positive or negative energy towards your horse partner each time you meet up? And that your horse picks up on that energy as clearly as you see a red traffic light, when you are out driving?
There is a ground-breaking study, where scientists found that “horses can not only read human facial expressions, but they can also remember a person’s previous emotional state when they meet them later that day – and, crucially, that they adapt their behavior accordingly.”
This means that horses have a memory for emotion. They will remember your face when you are happy or angry and there was an increased heart rate to more aggressive facial expressions.
In another study, it was proven that horses can analyze both human facial expression and voice tones to perceive human emotions. When the horse sees a facial expression that does not match the voice tone (a happy face with a irritated or angry voice), they stared at the incongruent match longer than a matched facial expression and voice.
The bottom line is, they know when you are faking it and masking your negative feelings and emotions, which is being incongruent. For horses incongruence is worse than just admitting how you are truly feeling such as “I’m scared” or “I don’t trust myself”.
The more you try to fool horses, the more uncomfortable they get, just as any human would. This also saps your confidence as a horse rider and unwittingly increases your anxiety with your horse.
Think about how you talk to your horse, or even yourself when you are thinking about riding, whilst you are possibly grooming and tacking up.
Many of my clients admit that when they tune into how they are feeling as they are preparing to ride, or spend time with their horse they will start to ruminate about a previous incident and it doesn't matter how small or seemingly insignificant - they will start to chunner to themselves, reliving that past situation over and over again.
Adele said "I hadn't realised I was doing this until you pointed it out but you're right every time I prepare to rider Nemo I start saying to myself "I hope he doesn't spook", "Please don't be a d---, when we are out"
Adele didn't realise that her negative self talk was making the problems bigger for her and Nemo, as Nemo was picking up on her energy, and was already becoming fidgety. Adele hadn't really spotted that either - she just thought it was part of her horse's character.
It was only when we started to work on her mindset and bring her awareness to what she was really doing and saying, rather than what she "thought" she was doing and saying that she saw a huge change in Nemo's demeanour.
In Patricia's case, she really felt that her energy and her words were congruent, but her horse Algie was suggesting otherwise.
I worked with Patricia and we concentrated on her Mind Body Awareness, as Patricia's body was not saying the same things as her energy and words were and Algie spotted this.
We started on the ground with Patricia and Algie standing side by side, and as I watched and softened my eyes I could see that something was very "off" with Patricia's body alignment and Algie was reacting to this, in fact he was mirroring what she was doing.
Patricia's right shoulder was tense and up around her neck, whilst her left shoulder was more relaxed and she seemed to be very stiff down the right side of her body - again Algie was mirroring this. It got worse when she was in the saddle, and Algie looked really uncomfortable on the right of his body.
I began with asking Patricia to breath into various of her body that felt relaxed to her, and then asked her to go where the tension was, and where she was holding tension. She started to describe the sensations within the right side of her body and realised that she was holding an old trauma on that side from her childhood.
We worked on that right side, releasing the tension held in those areas which resulted in releasing the old trauma; as she did this she realised where she was holding anxiety and stress in her mind - but had not truly been aware of this. As she realised this she brought her mind and body into full awareness and more into alignment which resulted in Algie being able to do the same.
I left Patricia and Algie with some exercises to continue doing when I am not there allowing Patricia and Algie to improve and go from strength to strength.
You see it is so important for a rider to be in complete mind-body-alignment, giving you the opportunity to link up with your horse both mentally and energetically.
In short, by becoming complete in mind and body is the first key step in creating harmony.
The Mind Body Awareness sessions are extremely effective at:
Lowering your heart rate to overcome anxiety and reduce fear.
Create openness and initiating or strengthening the bond with your horse.
Gives you the opportunity to leave your baggage from a bad day at the door BEFORE you greet your horse, putting you in a positive frame of mind.
Visualisation of where you want your horse to go, what you want your horse to do, and how you both as a team want to be.
This is where the fun begins: you think an instruction and your horse picks up on your mental cues.
Balance yourself in the saddle and locate your centre.
Use the smallest amount of leg pressure and gently pick up the reins.
Be completely present and think “walk.” Put an image in your mind of your horse walking releasing as soon as he moves off.
Being mind body aware, eliminates the noisy mind chatter hugely and encourages only speaking when necessary, so your horse is actually listening to what you say instead of tuning you out.
You are co-creating on a connected frequency so what you think in your mind your horse will pick up on.
Isn't that something worth exploring?
I have been told by clients that I am a bridge between horses and their people and I am here to give you the knowledge and tools to interact with your horse on a deeper level. My mission is to guide you towards a stronger understanding of what you want your life to look like, for yourself, and for your horse(s) and supporting you on your journey to get there.
If you would like a discovery session or want to work with me - Get In Touch.
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