How many times do we say " I just want to be happy", or "I just want to have fun". But what does this actually mean? Or here is one of MY favorites: 

I JUST WANT MY HORSE TO LISTEN TO ME!

Well, your horse IS listening! But what are you SAYING? And are YOU listening? We so often want our horses to do what we ourselves are ignoring. We expect them to have better self control than we can muster. How many times have expected our horse to stay calm and collected when we ourselves are an emotional mess? I know I have done it myself often enough.

One of the cool things I learned through bodywork is the ability to get out of my head and back into a listening/observing mode. It allows me to see what my horse is communicating or feeling about a certain situation or request. It taught me FEEL. To soften, to ask and not demand, to work WITH him and not just ON him, to give and not take. And believe me, your horse will feel it to, he will know the difference in you without a single doubt. 

And then I was able to take all of those things and incorporate them into my riding and being around them. Grooming, tacking up and un-tacking, riding, giving a bath, taking them out to the pasture, all those become moments of contentment and happiness. 

Whenever someone comments on horses being an expensive hobby, I always tell them that horses are my marriage counselor, my gym and my mental therapy all wrapped into one - and that's a darn good bargain. I would call it Happiness, yes, with a big capital "H".