Learn to be fully present with your horse

Learning to be fully present when you are with your horse can build a great relationship between you and your horse. Helping you solve difficult horse behaviour and improving your groundwork and riding.  

One of the most common human behaviours, that cause horses to shut down and disconnect, is bad feel and timing. For horses, it’s all about how it feels when you convey meaning through your body language and intent. Bad feel and timing usually comes from spending too much time in your head. You might be thinking about what you ate for dinner last night or you might be worried about work projects that are due soon. When you are in your head you disconnect from your body and you aren’t living in the present moment any more.

This is the fundamental cause of bad feel and timing, because you are disconnected from the subtle kinaesthetic sensations that come through your bodies physicals senses. You are just going through the motions with your horse, without actually realising that your disconnected from your body and therefore disconnected from your horse. What you think you are communicating and what it comes across as, are entirely different. This is what causes horses to become confused, frustrated, shut down and disconnected. This disconnection is then expressed by the horse through a form of displaced behaviour.

People often ask me “how can I be more present with my horse” and I say “it’s simple just devote 100% of your attention to what you are doing in the present moment and let go of everything else”. Although this sounds simple it requires practice and commitment for it to become an automatic habit.

Life is the practice ground

 Remember that your life is the greatest practice ground for developing this habit. If you don’t practice it anywhere else in your day to day life, then it’s not likely that it will happen when you work with your horse. So, ask yourself how much of my life am I actually paying attention to and living in the present moment. Ask yourself am I present when I’m washing the dishes? Am I present when I’m cleaning the house? Am I present when I’m driving my car to work? Am I present when I’m having an important conversation with my wife, kids or work colleagues? Am I present when I’m mowing the lawn, going for a morning walk or cooking dinner? Asking the question will give you the awareness you need to let go of whatever is getting in the way of you being present. The more you practice being present, in your daily routines, the easier it will become and the easier it will be to practice it with your horse.  

When you are present with your horse, your horse feels it and responds in kind. When you are present with your horse you notice important small details that other people would miss. Being present with your horse is arguably one of the most important skills to develop for building a great relationship with your horse.

Come along to our next Fun Horse day or book a private lesson today to help you further your skills and improve your horse’s behaviour and training.