Have you ever stopped to imagine what it is like to be a horse? One of the exercises I share with students in some of the sessions I host is to stop for a few moments and to imagine what it is like to be a horse.
This is a great exercise to understand communication from your horse and to be able to appreciate and empathise with the horse's needs.
So let's take a few moments to imagine what it might be like both objectively - how the world might appear to you as a horse, and subjectively, as in how you feel as a horse.
Let's start with something easy - some physical characteristics. The obvious ones - you have eyes at the side of your head so that you can see almost all the way round you. You have acute hearing and your ears move so that you can pinpoint the direction of sounds that you hear. You also use your ears to express some of your emotions. You have a heightened sense of smell and can smell the faintest scents and those that are strong and can easily overwhelm you,
Your skin is sensitive to the slightest touch and you can feel the footsteps of the smallest fly. You can twitch your skin to get rid of the flies that land on your back. Your body is long, strong, fast and agile - you are made for speed when necessary. You have a long tail that you use to swish away insects and you use it to express some of your feelings.
You need to eat a lot and require low-nutrient fibrous food to pass through it almost continuously and you graze for most of the day and night. You like to move and you have to move around for grazing. Your leg joints can lock allowing you to doze standing up but this also means that you are ready to flee or fight if danger threatens. You only lie down for short periods of time for deeper rem sleep with a companion to stand over you for safety.
What about emotionally and mentally? You are a social being that forges strong bonds with your companions. You communicate with your companions through sight, hearing, voice, body language, mind to mind and also touch. Your herd of companions all know their place and their relationship to others, and is flexible and fluid, ready to move in an instant if the needs arises.
There is a natural leadership that keeps the rest of the herd safe, fed and watered, and the relationship and communication with the leader is subtle, based around energy and body language. You can read energy and intentions and know the difference as a prey animal as to whether a predator is on the hunt, or simply out for a stroll, or even pretending to be out for a stroll.
When startled you head for open ground instead of closed areas or woodland and your survival depends on your ability to learn your experiences.
Take a few moments to really get into imaging what it is like inhabiting a horse world with the heightened awareness of a prey animal. Soften your gaze and expand your awareness through your peripheral vision so you can see further around you. See if you can expand your hearing, become aware of the different sounds and see if you can pinpoint the direction they are coming from.
Notice how being attentive in these ways brings your awareness into the present moment and stops the background chatter of your mind.
Now after you have returned to being a human, take a moment to note down any differences in how you now experience your human world after your brief excursion into being a horse.
And please feel free to let me know how you get on.
Enjoy the rest of your week x
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