When I let go of my agenda and the timeline and went on the journey this horse had to offer….
Hours and hours out hiking together on many terrains
Listening, reflecting, learning, trying and listening some more
Trusting and allowing and accepting
Shared experiences, wholistic care, awareness
These are some of the words that come to mind..
and here we are out on the trail together, just the two of us sharing a thoughtful, relaxed, enjoyable mutual experience…
For me, this is fufilling beyond any blue ribbons or championships I have ever won 💗
Challenges of being in a boarding facility...
Although I made sure to find a facility that does daily turn out with other horses, there are days that doesn’t happen.
I share this because for those of us that have to board our horses there are inevitable challenges.
Being out grazing, moving and socializing are high value, arguably essential activities for horses. Days that is not possible, I prioritize getting my horse out for grazing time, a walk together, arena turn out with buddies over riding time. A few of us at the barn will get each-other’s horses out so they can get out multiple times in a day.
This sweet and very curious Fell pony mare is getting started as a riding pony for her new family. Q is incredibly thoughtful and connective and has fabulous body awareness!
Today on the trail she was given the opportunity to lead out on a well-traveled trail with lots of different smells and experiences coalescing in the environment.
I was given the opportunity to realize how pushing horses who are highly curious through these experiences, can in fact brew and potentially start a pattern of them feeling anxious. Horses who are highly curious may take a bit longer to process information in new environments early on in their training because they are “invested” in multiple layers of experience. Giving them the time they need to process and find understanding in this early stage is foundational to building positive experience and understanding. Allowing and supporting this mare in stretching her comfort zone, feeling her energy elevated and the opportunity to find and experience her own emotional regulation before adding more has way more value to her foundation than how far we get on this trail.
On a rainy day hike with this lovely mare.
As we were hiking we heard a noise off in the trees, it sounded a bit like a fox screech and of course Isabella keyed in right where the sound was coming from. We stopped to look and saw a group of deer bouncing through the forest. This got me thinking…
Partnership verses leadership.
I don’t subscribe to the narrative that horses need us to be a strong leader. I think horse relationships are way more nuanced and dynamic than that. Horses are incredibly intelligent, have very good memories, much stronger instinct than most humans and hold awareness that I can only strive to build in my life time. I want to honor the horses I work with in what they bring to the table in leadership. For example , if I’m out on the trail I absolutely want my horse to have agency to tell me about something or someone coming up around us that I likely do not notice yet, then we figure out navigating the situation together. I think it is important that we remember what we are primarily doing with horses is asking them to participate in the human world in ways that suit us. So even in scenarios with horses we deem “ spooky” what we are really saying is that they are experiencing the environment in a way that doesn’t suit our needs. This is absolutely ok and essential to our safety to figure out but I do think it is important to recognize it is usually about our safety, not necessarily our horses. So what’s the point of this…? I believe it is our job as humans to learn to read expressions and signals from our horses. Spend time, ideally lots of time observing the horses we work with, get to know them, do our best to learn to understand them as individuals and build the relationship so when we ask them to do things with us, navigate with us, we can work from partnership instead of the idea that somehow as humans we are the leaders and for a horse to feel safe they need us to lead them. Do we need boundaries…absolutely, like any
A dusky stroll with this handsome dude. He is going to be a phenomenal solo ride horse, such a stellar navigator and ranch walk extraordinaire! I am so grateful to Kimberly Dunn and Get Grounded Equine for helping open up the possibilities by teaching me about long lining. The benefits are vast! In this instance, working on the lines is a bridge between hiking with this horse and riding this horse on the trails. Being able to build his skill and confidence going out solo with me before I put myself on his back on the trails is such a gift.
