11/18/2025
Connection.
A widely utilized word in the horse world, often used to infer the development of some magical, inexplicable relationship between horse and human.
But how can one develop connection to another without first being connected to themselves?
The development of self-awareness both in a physical sense and energetic sense is a crucial first step. We must learn to be involved in and responsible for how our body interacts with the world around it.
Connection is not difficult for horses. It's primal. It's a necessary. It's nature. This was once true for humans too but we've been pulled further from ourselves and slowly disconnected from our bodies and our surroundings.
For me, connection is not just a horse that follows me or does things willingly for me. Their good nature means they often give us more than we deserve and accomplish a lot despite us, not necessarily because of us. For me, connection is the reciprocity of the alignment and softness that I have found within myself. It is the reciprocity of ease of movement, strength and stability that I have found within myself. For me, connection is not just a horse who hunts for the answer but one who hunts for the hand because it has proven consistently that it will not block...that it will be free of brace and rigidity.
It starts with us. We cannot ask them for something that we don't have ourselves. They say that the horse is a mirror of the soul...but I think it's probably more accurate to say that they're a mirror of our nervous system and the level to which we have trained our own brain and body.
- Terra
Integrated Movement,LLC
Connected Riding with Peggy Cummings'
