Sensing Stability

Today during lessons, a valuable idea surfaced: Sensing Stability. As I work with new riders, we iron out nerves, fears, apprehensions, uncertainties – It’s great! This is a very freeing experience for people. I often love it when people admit they are frightened of horses or in any situation. Admitting fear is half of getting through it. Simply stating, “I am scared!” is a way to let the emotion surface and allow it to leave your body. Fear is, after all, information.

Pain, isolation, uncomfortable experiences all can generate fear. It allows us to pay attention, listen harder, think more carefully. But, sometimes fear can paralyze us. It can also be the foundation for anger, hatred, and sadness. Learning to deal with fear can open the dam, releasing these emotions for which we may harbor.

Horses are by nature flight animals. This means they can sense potential danger very keenly. When you are in a herd with horses, they will enlighten you to the fear they sense by jumping, pausing, running, or quickly moving away from the stimulus. Although quite unnerving to the rider, these actions are an information exchange – something they do in their herds all the time. With this body language, they alert the members of the herd. Typically, the older members (the alphas) decide whether to run or to keep grazing. When horses are spooking with the rider, they are merely providing information. They look to us (as we are hopefully alphas in their eyes) to agree to run, or to let them know to relax.

They sense our stability with the situation. If we are inherently fearful (or existing in any emotion which has fear as its core), horses sense fright. Fright=flight. If we are centered, grounded, happy, horses sense stability. They relax, disregard scary things, and become less nervous. Our horse’s sense of stability can truly gauge our inner comfort. So, when our horses are jumpy, it may not be the stimulus, it may be just be your inner messages!