While I was working on my own horse Chase the other day, he reminded me once again how important it was that I stayed soft. You see, sometimes we get so wrapped up in achieving the outcome, we forget to stay in the moment.

Chase gets regular bodywork (yes, both of my horses are pampered!), working on your own horse tends to be challenging. You know them so well, you tend to come to the session expecting certain things.

THE LEVEL OF YOUR AWARENESS IS IN DIRECT CORRELATION TO YOUR SUCCESS

Chase started to fuss during the session. What I didn't notice was the tension in my body, even though I had learned to stay aware. Since he is so tuned into me, he felt it of course.

Horses are our mirrors - on every level.

As soon as I softened my hand, my wrist, my arm, my shoulder - as soon as I let go of MY tension, he was able to let go of his.

There is a great saying by Lao Tzu

Water is fluid, soft ,and yielding. But water will wear away rock, which is rigid and cannot yield. As a rule, whatever is fluid, soft and yielding will overcome whatever is rigid and hard. This is another paradox: Whatever is soft is strong.

To become soft and yielding with our horses, we MUST be aware of the tension within ourselves. We must learn to let go of preconceived notions, expectations, wants, desires. We most learn to BE. When we let go, so do our horses.

Now, you may ask: I have GOALS, I can't just do this new-agey stuff of BEING!

But that's how our horses live, every day, every moment. And if they mirror us, we MUST present ourselves the way we want them to BE.

SOFT - FLUID - YIELDING

IF YOU WANT HIGH PERFORMANCE AND CONNECTION, THIS IS WHAT YOU MUST BECOME.

Softness and Awareness are the key components in working with horses. They are the most important principals for impeccable communication and high performance. No matter how good you are at the technical aspects, if you are tense, stiff, hard and unyielding, your horse will feel it, respond to it, defend himself against it, become exactly that.

Become aware, become soft, yield.

Contact me if you are interested in learning some tools to achieve this - your horse will love you for it!