10/11/2025
I talk about energy a lot, and see what is described in this article all the time. Learning to use your energy effectively is harder for some than others ... I'll always encourage my clients to play with their energy to get a better idea on how to use it effectively in their training. Most will go from 0 - 100 with nothing in between in the beginning, it's a starting point (just like with our horses, we need to find a starting point). Once you realise you can increase your energy and achieve results ... we work on dialling that in so you don't turn into a barbarian and terrorise your horse every time you're around them ... and there starts the energy dance ... read the situation, a little more, a little less
Enjoy!
So… What Does “Lift Your Energy” Actually Mean?🤔
“Lift your energy!” they say, usually with the same tone people use when telling you to “manifest abundance” or “just relax.” It sounds profound, but it’s about as clear as “be more sparkly” - which, if you’ve ever tried, you’ll know is not a measurable unit of anything.
But alright, let’s break it down. I’ve spent two decades standing at the front of lecture theatres full of university students, delivering thrilling topics like health economics, drug laws, and the mathematics of drug dissolution. Let me tell you - if you don’t lift your energy, you die. Not literally, but spiritually. You evaporate. You become that droning background noise between lunch and freedom. And university students are ruthless.🫣
So you learn to command attention. You walk out there like you’ve got something worth saying, even if you secretly find the topic as exciting as wet cardboard. You fill the room, not with noise, but with presence. You have to light yourself on fire (metaphorically, of course) so people sit up and think, “Huh, she’s alive and important.”
Now, with horses, it’s exactly the same. “Lift your energy” means stop disappearing. Stop moving like you’re apologising for existing. Horses don’t follow half-hearted energy. They either take over, ignore you, or find your presence vaguely irritating - like an annoying fly.😬
Here’s the catch: lots of people have never had to be seen. They’ve spent decades trying to be small, safe, and unnoticeable. So when they’re told to “lift their energy,” they either freeze like deer in headlights or swing too far and turn into slightly terrifying drill sergeants.
One of my clients nailed it. After I’d tried explaining the idea a few different ways, she looked at me and said, “Shelley, honestly, what you’re describing sounds like trying to hold in a fart.”🤭 And she’s right - that’s what it feels like for a lot of people. They clench, brace, and strain to do something. But that kind of energy doesn’t lift. It implodes. Horses feel that and think, “No thanks, weird human.”🤨
Real lifted energy is presence without panic. It’s standing tall, breathing, and letting yourself exist loudly enough that the horse goes, “Oh, hello, you matter.”
So no, you don’t have to sparkle like a disco ball. But if you’re vanishing into the background while your horse looks for someone more interesting, it’s time to glow a little brighter. You’re not tensing and retaining farts😕. You’re just showing up like you mean it.💪🙌
This is Collectable Advice Entry 76 of my challenge and series on words and terms in the horse world. Please hit SHARE or SAVE but please do not copy and paste (but just enough to miss this particular line) as that is uncool. ❤
PS. I dedicate this post to my friend Kas 😆
