Un-Natural Horsemanship

01/30/2025

Sweet little moments in time like these are as important to us as any other moment in a horse’s education. When horses come to stay with us, all parties are honest to them about the situation- that we are not theirs/that they will be staying for a predetermined amount of time. We also demonstrate to them to the best of our abilities that while they are under our roof, they are a part of our family as we are theirs. Cultivating an environment where a horse feels curious to learn is such an integral part of their journey and it is only possible when they first feel safe to try 💕

01/25/2025

Peeling Back the Layers of Embodiment

I’m standing there at the front of the arena thinking, how am I going to recover from this one. I was working with a peer (who thank goodness also happens to be a very dear friend) and had just experienced that odd feeling of my soul reentering my body after having noped out of the situation at hand. I’m not surprised, maybe it was the white breeches or the environment or the breed of horse but it makes sense that I walked in there and was instantly transported back through time. Suddenly and without warning, Trainer Chiara crawled out of memory and took over. The horse is front of her was a jumbled mass of puzzle pieces that didn’t fit, parts that weren’t working, attitude that needed adjusting. He needed this and that and someone just had to get in there and do some fixing. I had fallen into my own well-worn trap.

It was the horse of course who pulled me back. He had one look at me and in that casual way that horses view us without judgement or condemnation, expressed that I had missed the mark and he wouldn’t be participating. I managed to apologize to my friend and honouring her horse’s response to me, picked up my humble pie and started over to do the best I could with what I had. The session ended well with both horse and human content.

This experience raised a lot of questions. The foremost being, why when I practice and preach embodiment, was this happening with me?

Oxford Dictionary defines Embodiment as:

“Someone or something that represents a quality or an idea exactly”
and
“Someone or something that is a perfect representative or example of a quality, idea, etc.”

To me, these definitions convey that Embodiment is a practice, that it is subjective and that it is universally available. As a cultural universal, the concept of Embodiment is prevalent in both spiritual and therapeutic realms. To the best of my understanding, both imply that Embodiment is the embrace of all of our parts (body, heart, mind and soul) as equals in facilitating alignment with self, community, the world and higher power. I have read that Embodiment explores the relationship between our physical being and our energy. I love that! Its practices often focus on healing through mindfulness, connection, self-regulation and self-love, particularly incorporating physical movement/somatic experience.

Though it took me some time at first as it’s a word that used to make me feel icky, I’ve been using the word Embodiment in all spheres of my life for some time now and had grown quite comfortable with it.

Comfortable enough to meet a time and space where that comfort was deeply challenged.

Over the last several months, I chose to follow this unpleasant thread as it weaved back on itself, showing me all the places where it simply wasn’t. I found myself questioning many of my belief systems, both healing and harmful and wondering; were they mine? When I followed the feeling of being rooted, woven tight into the tapestry, I was then able to ask myself, “yes but am I really bringing this into every area of my life to the best of my abilities?”. The answer was No and the result has been a classic escapade of revisiting and realigning with the practices that I preach.

As seems to happen, there were several facilitating universal synchronicities that came into play as my embodiment practices were reorganized and reestablished. Many opportunities to ask questions arose in my work, marriage, therapy and relationships, with all areas offering me new ideas and support in exploration.

Timely of course was Celeste’s Energetics Course on The Art of Subtle Release.

I have been a practicing witch for 27 years and had always kept that part of myself separate from my “job”. But as my job became my work and my work became my practice, I could no longer hold any imminent integration at bay. It was a beautiful course to work through and because I was familiar and practiced with most of the concepts, it would have been easy to go through and pat myself on the back for all the deliciously validating content we were visiting. My curiosity simply wouldn’t allow this and so instead it provided my thread of self-exploration with reinforced strength and clarity.

Through the revolution this little unwavering thread inspired, I have discovered renewed love and greater appreciation for my Mind Space. On the one hand, I believe that I have been culturally, socially and emotionally conditioned to be overly indulgent of the mind space and because I have observed this to be the same for others, I feel that this space often gets a bad rep and a lot of flak. After all, it does contain our ego. However, I don’t believe that our minds are designed to do half the s**t we put on them, making them responsible for the bulk of our experiences, so honestly I mostly applaud their tireless efforts to keep us alive and well. Our minds are our imaginations, where our fantasies can become our dreams, our dreams become our goals and our goals become our realities. Our minds can tell us when we are truly in danger vs when we are triggered and emotionally hijacked. Our minds are our dedicated advisors, problem solvers and creators. When we have the love and awareness to bring our other parts to the table, our minds are full of magic!

I have discovered a profound love and appreciation for my body. At 40 years old, this is the prettiest and healthiest I have ever been. Some days, I allow my body to rest and some days I push her to demonstrate her strength, stamina and ability. I trust her implicitly to guide me in all things. I honour her with play and joyful movement as much as with targeted engagement and exercise. I have learned to bear witness to her subtle patterns- noticing how she compensates and offering alternative ways of organizing and moving through space. My body is truly becoming my sacred vessel and I adore her.

And my heart, oh my sweet precious unconditionally loving heart! The more I bring my heart space to whatever I’m doing, the more I am able to Feel. The more I experience. The more I am Alive. Sometimes being alive hurts like hell and sometimes it’s so all encompassing in its beauty that it’s worth every moment of pain.

This is how I want to live and what I strive to bring to my practice- a heart that loves without agenda, a body that is strong, capable and knows her boundaries and a mind that excites to engage and inspire💕

~ Chiara

01/23/2025

Thank you so much to everyone who has applied to my Horsemanship for Nervous System Health Intensive! I am enjoying reading through your applications and cannot wait to get started. I’d like to share a few notes on what this intensive means to me and why I’m offering it!

Like many horse crazy born and raised city kids, I grew up with Riding Schools and Lesson Programs because this was what was available beyond Dude Ranches. As a young adult when I began to work in the equine industry in earnest, I coached and trained lesson programs in riding schools. In my early 30s when I ventured out on my own, I started my own lesson program and taught and trained how I had been taught to teach and train.

For the better part of 15 years, if you were in my program (or in the program I was instructing under), the services you received looked nearly identical to everyone else.

Most of my students had 3-5 contacts/week. This usually looked like 1 jump lesson, 1 flat lesson and 1-3 schooling rides.

Lessons were almost exclusively groups with private lessons being rare, typically reserved for show prep.

I wrote up lesson plans and often provided students with worksheets on their homework for the week.

All horses and students were on the trajectory of “moving up the levels” ie the predominant focus was on competition and this was the determining factor in lesson planning. Often, I would arrive an hour early to set up the day’s exercise and then coach back to back groups through that exercise at their appropriate level.

Students were pitted against each other in playful games to foster competitive drive and horses were encouraged to learn their buttons and do their job. When horses did not perform their job up to par, I would force a square peg into a round hole and used terminology such as “lazy” “ornery” “naughty”. Students were excused from the ring for expressing emotions, arguing with their horse or instructor and/or appearing untidy. Students were expected to leave their emotional baggage at the barn door, ask permission to be excused, never talk back or ask too many questions.

This may seem a bit harsh but from what I can tell, this kind of structure is predominant in the industry and these ideals normalized. After all, equestrian pursuits are primarily military in origin and most programs are designed based on the format of contemporary classroom education. It makes sense that my students were expected to polish their boots and ask permission to use the bathroom.

While I have always believed that competition can be a fun and interesting challenge for horses and humans, during the first few years of my program, I began prioritizing the relationship between both parties above competitive goals. As the effects of this shift in belief system trickled down, many changes emerged-

I teach almost exclusively private sessions that are a minimum of 80 minutes in length. This allows time and space for in depth conversation, problem solving, exploration and as my dear friend Celeste says it- percolating.

I encourage clients to schedule me “as needed” and those who wish for ongoing support are prioritized and offered discounted rates.

When a client demonstrates curiosity about a certain subject/philosophy/method/etc, I aim to provide material to aid them in their self-directed learning.

Students are encouraged to show up as they are; both with me and their horses. When the goal is intimate partnership, we need to show up in our authenticity in order to facilitate connection. Having a hard day? Maybe the session includes grounding, breath work or other nervous system regulation practice. Having a good day? Maybe the session includes celebration through play, new movements or challenges.

While there may be an idea in my head about what a particular partnership might benefit from doing, I try not enter into lessons with plans of my own. I engage with my students and their horses where and how they show up in that moment. Sessions are horse led and students are encouraged to bring their questions, ideas and dreams into the ring the ring to work on. Sessions begin with checking in and proceed with what the student desires to do through the lens of their horsemanship.
This is perhaps the most profound development in then vs now: no lesson plans. What it means is that I no longer have a “program” that I teach. It’s not that I’m w***y nilly or that I think programs or courses aren’t valuable, it’s just that I too wish to show up authentically- unattached to outcome, present in the moment and able to facilitate conversation. It’s a different but I feel, equally valuable deal.

My present ideal sometimes feels at-odds with what the market seems to be currently demanding, which is: packaged courses. As a result, I am challenging myself to see if I can balance the philosophy and methodology I have found to be most valuable in my work while offering enough structure to allow a new student to feel as comfortable as possible. This is the driving force behind my Horsemanship for Nervous System Health Intensive.

Heck yes I am super excited and looking forward to working with some new and some familiar faces… and simultaneously feeling daunted by the project of presenting any of my work with predetermined content. Funny, how something I spent so much time cultivating now feels so foreign. Just trying to nail down a realistic number of topics to include seemed nearly impossible at the start. I have noted that my approach works wonders for some and not at all for others. I do not offer any one-size-fits-all practice and I’m not here to Fix anything.
The goal for me is to facilitate conversation between horse and human that embodies all of our parts and integrates the belief that everything is connected, that how we do small things is how we do all things 💕

~ Chiara

01/20/2025

Rehab vs Recovery

I am seeing a universal rise in the field of Equine Rehabilitation. This is AWESOME! I think it’s phenomenal that equine rehab is trending, that these conversations are being had and that the concept of equines requiring rehabilitation is becoming normalized. Fantastic!

And

I am observing an over arching discrepancy between what is being coined as rehabilitation vs what rehabilitation actually is. Zak and I have put a lot of thought in to this as, in general, what I see being marketed as Rehabilitation is factually, Recovery. In our program, we offer Rehabilitation as one of our services and it is important that we are able to convey to our clients exactly what this means to us.

The World Health Organization defines Recovery as:

“A return to a normal state of health, mind, or strength”.

And Rehabilitation as:

“A set of interventions designed to optimize functioning and reduce disability in individuals with health conditions in interaction with their environment”.

If we can agree on these definitions, then
Recovery is the space of time (weeks or even months) between the onset of the illness or injury and the horse being ready and cleared to return to work. Active Recovery might include medication management, bandaging, multiple modalities of bodywork, hand walking, conditioning, etc. These are necessary components to support healing of the body and when done well, the mind.

Rehabilitation IS the return to work.

This is why I think many horses flunk out after completing rehab (read: recovery) programs- achieving the goal of “returning the horse to normal” does not necessarily consider or address if the individual horse’s “normal” was actually healthy in the first place. In many cases, the acute issue that caused the horse to require recovery + rehabilitation was accumulative from chronic dysfunctional movement, compensatory pathologies, dysregulated nervous systems, ultimately poor posture and ways of going. When the emphasis is placed on the horse’s recovery from this issue as an isolated incident, the horse will simply recover and go back to doing what they were doing how they were doing it. While it is an integral part of the healing process, recovery may not address the underlying issue nor does it always address the new compensatory patterns the horse developed in reaction to their acute injury/illness. This is what rehab is for… and it is so often overlooked.

There are several fantastic programs local to our area that offer the facilities, the equipment and the man power to foster incredible recovery. I recommend these people and places all the time. They have immense value. But when a horse graduates from one of these programs, it means that they are ready to begin rehab, not ready to enter the show ring, even when their physical condition would make it appear to be so. When I am taking on a horse for rehabilitation, there is no separation of the mind and body as we cannot address one without influencing the other. In order to achieve ideal health, I believe we need to consider both equally. However, in order to begin rehab, the horse must have healed from any acute injury or illness and they are at least physically prepared to go to work.

In our rehabilitation program, we:

💫 Address the horse’s nervous system first. Any horse may be dysregulated following the trauma of injury/illness + recovery and some sustained injury/illness because they were dysregulated to begin with. Until the horse can let down and turn loose with the human, there isn’t another conversation to be had.

💫 Reintroduce emotional elasticity. Hard things are hard, peaceful things are peaceful. It’s all good. Our ability to co-regulate and bring our horse’s energy up and down is vital to their ability to feel good in their bodies and feel safe with us in their minds.

💫 Focus on posture. The way that the horse organizes their body and moves through space is paramount to their ability to be comfortable and regulated. Their balance is sacred and restoring their integration into the earth is one of my greatest pleasures.

💫 When appropriate- reintroduce working under saddle. Same same, this is all about the horse feeling GOOD about going for a ride. When they are ready to receive our influence from their backs, often we can help a horse in their body and mind more from the saddle than from the ground.

💫 Play. Respect must be earned on both sides with clear boundaries understood but once this is established, joyful movement through play has been one of the most beneficial rehabilitation practices that I know. Works for humans too 🥰

💫 Move them out. In my opinion, some rehabbing horses need to go for a good gallop more than they need to walk a perfectly straight line. There have been horses I have worked with that sustained injury/illness because they had never been permitted to move big and fast by their riders and when they’re ready, this can be a deeply profound experience for them. At the least, successful rehab requires that they are comfortable to move out at all gaits.

💫 Utilize a wide range of fellow professionals to incorporate diet/nutrition, hoof health, continued veterinary support, training, dentistry, etc into the horse’s routine.

When the goal is long term soundness, we must place the same value on rehabilitation as we do on recovery. It truly does take a village 💕

~ Chiara

01/20/2025

For the most part, I think the choices around blanketing are like anything else… bring it to the horse.

Of course, we have individual needs to consider- like when a horse is old/young/sick/clipped. Their Environment + living situation certainly influence our decisions as do workload, facilities, hoof health routine, etc.

Here in north eastern Colorado, we’re pretty blessed with our weather (take in mind this is coming from someone who grew up in the Canadian Rockies). It’s mostly sunny. Sometimes it’s sunny and too cold and sometimes it’s sunny and too hot. Sometimes it’s so windy that I cannot tell whether or not it is sunny but guaranteed am either going to be too cold or too hot regardless.

Anyway, our horses live out 24/7. This means that they have zero access to any fully enclosed space. What they do have is wind break fencing, three sided shelters, 24/7 access to netted hay, extra forage and supplements and each other (which counts for a lot, horses generate a crazy amount of heat).

Each horse in our herd feels differently about their blankets.

Takoda may have been born feral but he has certainly developed a taste for the finer things in life. He sees me coming with his banky and runs to the fence to meet me (even when I am also carrying his grazing muzzle lol). He’ll stand perfectly still and is quite particular about how he prefers the straps (belly goes front to back over back to front and he abhors when the leg straps stretch and get too long). It’s extra funny that he’s like this because he’s quite plump and his coat is so thick that my hand disappears when I pet him. He wants his blanket at the slightest sign of poor weather and I’m mean mom who only puts it on him when I know it won’t cause harm (ie when there’s no chance of overheating).

Brego is similar to this but more businesslike. ‘Koda wants to be tucked in whereas Brego is like, “ahh yes my blanket thank you”. He’s not coming to get it but he’s glad when it shows up. He does not care to be blanketed until the Feels Like temp is 14F.

Eowyn somehow manages to behave as though the blanket is simultaneously deeply insulting and that she also must have it on her immediately. She is sensitive to any feeling of restriction (in all areas of her life) and can get irritated when even a well fitted blanket is on for too long. I will often opt to pull her blanket even on very cold days so that she can move freely. She is most willing to be blanketed when feels like temps are below 14F.

Juno is perfect in all ways and happy to either wear a blanket or not but likes when they are expensive and unique. She never asks me for it specifically but is there for it when I come out to blanket Eowyn. She is sensitive to restriction around her neck base and so I will also opt to give her blanket breaks during the days even when it’s cold enough to warrant keeping them on the other horses.

Solano will have absolutely nothing to do with blankets. Y’all, we tried. He shreds every one of them within a night. We have one that I have reinforced to the point that it is now mostly duct tape and I force him to wear it at -14F just so that I can sleep at night. But let me be clear, this is for me, not for him. I get the biggest mean mugs when I come to take it off. Sigh.

Q is uninterested in blanketing and not yet gentle enough for me to push the issue. So I don’t. Horses are TOUGH (see: ice age animals), and he grew up on the north eastern plains, apparently he’s fine out there.

Ghost is our special precious baby son and he wants all opportunities for added warmth at 25F. He is also extremely sensitive around touch and struggles with the confinement of the blanket. Good fit is paramount and even then he requires lots of breaks. I’ve been toying with the idea of trying a sleezy underneath and seeing if that helps for now.

Ferdinand is still mostly feral. He’s learning about the halter and things like blankets will come in time. It is normal for feral horses like mustangs to not ever wear blankets. Honestly, he has a friend, shelter, wind break, heated water, supplements and 24/7 hay. This is likely the easiest winter of his life.

The moral of the story is that there’s a lot of information out there and I put a great deal of (often unnecessary) pressure on myself to be a “good horsewoman”; the articles and journals and books et al can tell me a great deal, but nothing can teach me more about horses than the horses themselves 💕

~ Chiara

01/17/2025

My Horses Love Me.

I have four personal horses and I think each one is the best thing since sliced bread. The feeling is mutual.

This doesn’t mean that we always “get along”. Just like any relationship/partnership, we have good days and bad. Peaks and valleys. While every body has something adverse to work through or with, in general, our little herd is made up of happy and healthy horses who want to be with us.

I have put much thought into why this is. Why my horses come to meet me at the gate with ears pricked and eyes bright. Why they gather around me and follow me about. Why they softly nicker as I approach, noses stretched out for face scritches. Why they eagerly place their heads in their halters to participate in whatever the day lays out for us. Why they thrill in our under saddle work, why they have so, so much try.

I firmly believe that horses want to be Centaur as much as we do.

In spite of this profound belief system, the reality is that there is much that must come into play in order for my horses to be happy, healthy and willing partners. To the best of our human abilities, our horses have:

✨ Species Appropriate Environment.
They live in bands of their choosing and choose when to seek shelter, when to eat, when to drink, when to rest, when to play.

✨ Complete Circle of Influence.
They have individual nutritional programs, correctly fitted tack and access to an incredible health care team whose members are ultimately of their choosing.

✨ Freedom to Say No.
I understand why in some horsemanship circles this is a cardinal sin. For me, allowing my horses to say No has greatly impacted our partnerships for the better. However, when they say No, it does not mean that the conversation is over, it simply means that it’s my responsibility to be flexible and take steps until I find their Yes. What I have discovered after several years of working through this approach, my horses only say No when they do not understand the question or there is a physical reason why they do not wish to comply. Not one of them EVER has said No for the sake of saying No. “No” has never ever come from them because they’re lazy/stubborn/opinionated/hot/etc. In my opinion, these are human attributes that we project onto our horses to rationalize behaviour we do not understand.

✨ Clear and Consistent Boundaries.
I do not allow my horses to push, shove, step on, drag, kick, bite or rub on me. Just no. It’s rude. This is not how we treat each other. I will make strong contact with my horses when necessary and do not hesitate to enforce my boundaries around how my body is to be treated.

✨ Calm, Confident, Clear Handling.
I am extremely particular about how my horses are handled. So much so that it is rare for me to invite others to handle my horses and rarer still to invite anyone to ride them. When I am with my horse(s), I treat them as I would treat anyone who is precious to me. This is what Mindful Horsemanship is all about- being present and embodied in the moment, being tactful and considerate in our actions, bringing our heart centre to our work and being able to listen more than talk.

✨ Consent Both Ways.
While I am clear in how I wish to be treated by my horses, I aim to be equally receptive to how they wish to be treated by me. I avoid engaging in non-consensual touch, believing that grooming is a privilege and I am not entitled to any kind of physical affection from any of my horses, though they are mostly very cuddly. I do not bulldoze past their No’s, I pay attention to the details and act accordingly. I do not make them work for me when they are sore or unwell.

✨ Training Without Coercion or Bribery.
I am not against positive reinforcement training at all but it is not a method that resonates for me with my personal horses. None of them are hand fed. Ever. I used to use R+ for most training but stopped about 8 years ago as a bit of a mission to see if I could accomplish the same things without the food reward. I have, and more. I do not subscribe to the “Ask Tell Command” method of pressure and release. I used to get a lot done with this and was very successful as a competitor. As the relationship with my herd became the priority over winning ribbons, there is no longer a need to extract behaviours from them nor a need to always get my way. When this is what I want, I ride a bicycle.

I am wary to share this for fear of coming across as arrogant. However, my desire to bridge the gap between Horsemanship and Performance is too strong to let fear of what other’s might think get in my way. It may seem pretty woo, but honest to goodness my horses perform their hearts out for me. We do things in ways I never could have imagined and I believe in my bones that we can live in a world where horses and their humans are happy, healthy AND competitive at the upper levels.

~ Chiara 💕

01/09/2025

Hello Friends,

I am so excited to announce my six week Horsemanship for Nervous System Health Intensive!

I am inviting five horse and human partnerships to join me on a progressive journey where we will explore many ways our everyday handling and training can profoundly promote wellness.
Through cultivating emotional elasticity within ourselves and our beloved horses, we will learn to promote nervous system regulation + co-regulation, emotional + physical soundness and deeper connection through communication.

This intensive is $600 total and will include:

💫 A free 20min introductory consult call
💫 Six 80min 1:1 sessions at $100/session (20% off) virtual or haul in
💫 A free 20min follow up/check in call once the intensive has concluded

✨ Week One: Theory and Principles
✨ Week Two: Extended Embodiment
✨ Week Three: Offering a Feel
✨ Week Four: The Four Corners
✨ Week Five: It’s In The Feet
✨ Week Six: Everything is Connected

This intensive is open to all and ideal for-

❣️ First time horse owners
❣️ New partnerships
❣️ Horses who exhibit undesirable behaviour
❣️ Partnerships seeking deeper connection

The intensive will begin on February 15th 2025. I look forward to seeing you then!

~ Chiara💕

Link for Application: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/12RPNeHIDrnhG-r3rnbWISmSbBov_DhEsWnpjn8GX1mA/edit

Mindful Horsemanship Coaching
Horse + Rider Biomechanics Training

01/09/2025

Excited to announce that calendly booking is fully up and running on our website! Yippee! Virtual and Haul-In Sessions may be booked through the app immediately. Your Location must be confirmed (by us!) in order to book Travel Sessions (where we come to you) 💕

https://www.un-naturalhorsemanship.com/chiara-poscente

01/05/2025

One of the most wonderful lessons I’ve learned from a human about being with horses is from the brilliant and beautiful Deb Kinnett, who told me to Sit Proud on my horse, to “sit on my horse like I’m proud to be up there”.

Simple, yes. Easy? Not always.

The transition from 2023 to 2024 was a difficult time for me, coming out of a period filled with so much sadness that many of the days slipped into despair. Not only was there suffering in my mind, but through 2022, my chronic low back pain had flared to a debilitating degree. One of the most notable changes in me was in my posture. I sat, stood and rode like a sad person in pain, my shoulders collapsed inward, my chin low and forward, my back rounded, all of me enclosing around my precious heart that was feeling so much. I tried to sit proud on my horses like I had been urged to do but because this was the only area of my life where I put effort into my posture, it wasn’t a realistic pursuit.

Many things over the last couple of years have contributed to changing my relationship to myself and the world around me. Deep commitment to therapy and mental health, Katherine’s Rider Pillars program, focus on cultivating a healthy work-life balance, more energy into my marriage, to name a few. All the while, bringing myself back to those words from Deb years ago, echoing in my body, mind and soul- Sit Proud.

Most days this is easy. It’s easy because I AM proud of my horses and I am proud of myself. I ride around grinning from ear to ear, equitation game on point with a wellspring of love and joy pouring from my open heart space.

Some days, I am troubled. I feel shameful, riddled with imposter syndrome. Some days, I worry. I feel caught up in fretting over a real or imagined physical issue in my horse. Some days, I am angry. I feel resentful, dejected and anxious. These are days where I have learned to tell myself that it’s okay if I do not sit proud today. It’s okay if I sit sad, sit worried, sit frustrated, sit frightened. One thing I believe in my bones about horses is that they are unbothered about meeting us where we are in that moment. When I am sad and I show that sadness to the horses, they accept me. When I am frightened and I show them this fear, they accept me. When I am angry and I show them my anxiety, they accept me. When they do not accept me is when I show up trying to pretend to be something other than what I am. This fragmented energy they have no time for. Nor do they care for my energy when I place my self worth in their hands (ie expecting them to change the way I feel). We’ve been told to leave our baggage at the barn door. We’ve been told that there’s no crying in pony camp. We’ve been told to suck it up. I sit now proudly in rejection of these limiting beliefs that were never mine, that I adopted because I was told to. I have learned that when I show up for myself, when I allow myself space to feel into and experience emotions as they move through me, this is when my horses show up for me. One of the most beautiful things in the world is a being who is whole in their authentic vulnerability 💕