I love how horses respond to us in the present moment. They have personalities and experiences that influence how they respond to us, but they also allow us to change how we are. Holding grudges and unchangeable judgments isn't part of the typical present-living horse brain. Horses being willing to accept and respond to how I am now is a beautiful gift allowing me to easily grow and learn. One of my favorite pieces is their lack of judgment or shaming! Another piece is their inherently honest feedback.
Those pieces together are wonderful for facilitating personal development. In a course I've taken from Karen Rohlf, she talks about timing and when to teach, ask, & reward in training. She also says "So yes, there are lots of nows to choose from, but the only time that we can really act is right now." Or switched around, the only time to act is in the present moment, but we are constantly offered a new moment to act. So if a response is not what we are looking for, we try something else! Horses will respond in the moment, so we get lots of feedback and chances to try again, with no judgment from the horse. The really hard part for us is avoiding making judgments on ourselves or the horse. Practicing compassion and curiosity really helps me stay open to possibilities.
I've had to practice them a lot re-connecting with Rohan. He prefers to be physically close to others (also called in-your-pocket) and can be pushy. I'm figuring out how to communicate the boundary I want while also keeping his attention and connection, which looks like getting his feet farther from me while keeping his eyes and focus on me (which naturally inclines his feet forward). Smoky and I are great at this, so it's an interesting though sometimes confusing puzzle. Fortunately, I get an abundance of moments to try and try again!
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