This past summer I’ve accumulated a number of mantras that I use to remind myself of how I want to feel when I'm working with my horses. These mantras are phrases that I often think on and that I believe have meaning both to me and my horses. A few of these you've probably heard before—maybe not—but anyway, here are a few that I ponder often:
- Working in balance
- Directing a thought
- Trusting in patience
Thinking about Briosa brings to mind the mantra working in balance. Briosa is happily moving freely on the trails now. For those of you who read my summer post, after riding with Harry Whitney in March, Briosa and I spent time with Ross and Michèle, and then Shea, in late spring. As summer came along, I took her to ride with Peggy Cummings. Briosa was a real trooper. Never worried, she was curious and showing me her willingness to want to work together. Peggy, as usual, was fantastic! Her coaching on body posture and balancing under saddle for both horse and rider is unsurpassed. A review for me was much needed and it set me off on a more balanced seat for my summer riding. When riding with Peggy, I discovered how important it is to be truly balanced for your horse to find his potential, and for you to stay safe when riding the trails. When I put myself off balance, like on my tailbone (one exercise Peggy had us do to discover the effects of good and poor balance), Briosa told me I was off balance by becoming off balance herself. This of course put me more off balance. She clearly mirrored my riding skills revealing how much I could improve to help the both of us. This reflective mantra on working in balance kept me thinking on this throughout the summer for all of my horses and client’s horses.
Milagra (Briosa’s mom) and I have had some revealing handling and riding experiences this summer, much in regard to directing her thoughts. Milagra is the kind of horse who absolutely and obviously tells you how she feels about the world. I’ve had her since she was a yearling, so we know each other well (she’s ten this year). Sometimes she comes off as a real grouch which has in the past bothered me greatly! Placing a saddle pad on her back, she often would pin her ears and crinkle her nose in disgust. She’s certainly telling me—no words needed—about how she feels with what I am going to do. For those who question, much body work and checks for soreness had revealed nothing wrong physically. We were dealing with a mental block or a patterned behavior where she was just not feeling good about things. It took me awhile to “get it” though. I’d so often think, “what a spoiled brat!” and then get angry and react to her frustration. Not a very productive way to handle the situation, for sure. After thinking hard on where her thought might be that is causing her such concern, I just keep in mind that she doesn’t really need to feel this way (after Ross drilled this into my head: how a horse feels can often be very obvious—look for that feeling! Rejoice when it is obvious!). I decided to not react to her but instead respond to her negative feelings by redirecting her thought to a different place as I was working around saddling. (As Shea says so often, just redirect her thought and she will go there.) Milagra is so responsive anyway that I simply directed her mind to look away in the opposite direction from where she was thinking (about me with a very nasty expression). By flicking my fingers at her focused eye, I sent her eyes and thought away from me. When she focused away as I asked her to do, to my surprise and joy, the nasty expression went away! This was a powerful message - get the horse’s mind going where you want to go, or where you want them to think, and things can really change for the better! The great thing about this kind of work is that the horse remembers, and pretty soon issues with tacking up—or whatever bothers them—just kinda go away (but always make sure there isn't something wrong physically first!)
Progress with my gelding Sancho also took some positive turns in large part because I’ve learned to trust in patience. I had a friend (Teresa) over from Nevada who wanted to take a ride. Theresa’s a good hand with a horse—very soft and forgiving, but certain and direct with what she asks. Sancho is a horse who gets very (very) worried and when he’s worried, getting his thought can be a huge challenge. I had Teresa try him out. Teresa was so patient with him—keeping him moving but stopping and getting a step back as soon as he would show worry. Or, she would redirect him via what some people call a half-halt, which to me is just moving his hind quarters over getting an inside bend to his neck to slow his tempo and get a change in his thought from that. I sure was pleased that Teresa was following through on things that I had been working on, and with her patience she sure accomplished a lot! I learned from Teresa about trusting in patience and trusting in what I’m doing as my horse really does want to do what I’m asking— even in his most worried state. And Sancho is a great teacher for this! I ride him now with my “trust in patience” mantra in mind, and he responds in kind. More on Sancho next issue as I’m determined—with patience—to help my friend Sancho out in his life.
Riding through softness has found a home in my daily thinking and has been my clear and ever-present mantra taken from all who I ride with and from messages transmitted by all of my horses as well. When I ride in softness, my horses in turn respond in softness. What a beautiful feedback loop that is! Softness with Sancho changes him from a prancing washing machine trot/pace (yeah, he’s been likened to a washing machine in the past) to a soft, yielding smooth paso llano. Softness with Milagra gives me flying lead changes and a gait as smooth as glass. Softness with Briosa puts her in a state of true bliss and balance where her beautiful, animated gaits shine through. Applying all of my mantras to my wonderful mustangs, Gracie and Isabella—who are progressing well on their ground work—have ensured that they will continue their training from a point of view that considers their inherent willingness to partner with a human. You just can’t have anything better than that!
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