Revealing the Mystery of Engagement - Voice for the Horse Blog

One aspect that is coming to light with what I am doing with the horses is the subtlety of the connection. It makes it difficult for people to see, and so its existence and value is easily overlooked. This is challenging because as with holographic drawings, once you can see it, it leaps out at you. Revealing engagement, how it manifests within the relationship and how transformative it is, feels deeply important for the welfare of horses in general. It is actively therapeutic and offers a way to expand and sophisticate our partnership without the exploitation which is so common in training and riding horses.

Different Aspects of the Mystery

When there is little mutual trust, when choice and communication is not the core element, the relationship is stagnant and remains unseen.

The equine nature is such a paradox. Horses are highly expressive and yet will withdraw immediately when threatened, and we threaten them so often and so profoundly, that there can be a lifelong freezing out between a horse and their guardian, which remains unrecognised.

Mystery exists in all aspects of the interaction between horses and humans. In the relationship itself, which can seem so esoteric and ethereal, and is by its nature invisible if it is not active and healthy. When there is little mutual trust, when choice and communication is not the core element, the relationship is stagnant and remains unseen. The equine nature is such a paradox. Horses are highly expressive and yet will withdraw immediately when threatened, and we threaten them so often and so profoundly, that there can be a lifelong freezing out between a horse and their guardian, which remains unrecognised.

There is the seemingly invisible energetic flow which is the authentic source of everything, it is all that there is and yet because we have largely forgotten that in our earth experience, we only see the shapes that result from conditioned thoughts. It is not even so much remembering how to feel energy, but simply noticing that we do feel it, or choose not to, in so many ways.

The BioMechanical Interaction

Perhaps the part of the whole that I would love to be more evident for horse guardians is the biomechanical interaction between horses and humans. Being at the physical end of the energetic spectrum, it is more accessible, and it is such a powerful dynamic in so many ways. There truly is a way to align ourselves with this magnificent physicality, to join in and celebrate our own physicality.

Horses are spiritual beings, they are ethereal and mystical, and yet they are also profoundly physical. They embrace their body without fear, they run and play and hurl themselves unhesitatingly into action whenever the moment arises.

Totti has been continuing to accept my invitation to go to the arena, and we are going back into our previous engagement dynamic, taking time to seek out the wrinkles and allow the processing of a deeper, looser more interactive connection.

Interesting Patterns Arising

As I continue to explore the unattached partnership with the horses without expectations, I am noticing some patterns emerging. It is getting easier to allow these patterns just to be as they are, without setting them in stone. For example, the sessions with the horses in the last few weeks are lasting almost exactly ten minutes. These are always sessions where the horse has agreed to my invitation, and we explore whatever is coming to the surface. When they begin to enter a deeper processing stage that indicates we have done enough. It will be interesting to see if this evolves, or if it is the span of time that is acceptable. It seems to make no difference whether our engagement is more advanced or how much time we spend in different phases.

Another pattern is that we are developing a process I have named changing the mode. When the horses are choosing whether to come with me or not, sometimes they indicate this by how they respond to the cavesson. Quaramba will lift her head out of it, or put it in, depending on her choice. Sometimes there is a softening or a hardening in their face, Totti had soft, amazed eyes the other day, and it seemed that she was surprising herself that she wanted to come to the arena again. Cheyenne is very clear in the traditional way with ears back, although she did want to wear the cavesson for a few minutes in the field, and Marie goes dreamy and awkward and we just know she isn’t ready yet.

Shifting Modes

So when the horses do choose, and we are heading to the arena, usually very willingly, there will be a few times when eating mode calls them back. It reminds me of when we humans are eating, or talking or looking at our phones.. anything which takes our attention outside of our inner self. In these moments with the horses, it feels appropriate to focus into them, and into myself, and to encourage them to come within. To shift into awareness mode, and feel more deeply how they are feeling inside their body.

When we go into this mode, it seems to manifest within a certain rhythm. There is the stop/distracted part, which is when the horse is preparing themselves and assessing the environment, and the go/receptive part which is when they are present, listening and connected to me. Of course in order to encourage those receptive times, I must be present and listening and connecting with them. If I have anxiety or am distracted or thinking about anything else, that state of being must be processed first before there can be any genuine interaction between us.

The different horses have a different rhythm. Honey will stop and assess much more frequently than Totti, yet Totti tends to stop for much longer when she does. Quaramba stops less and for less long.

It is not possible to be too patient in the stop periods, the patience allows the processing to unfold at its maximum rate, and the horse can come back within. Every time we do this, it feels that we are stretching out and strengthening the bond, the engagement between us.

Revealing Engagement

I have begun to make short videos in which I describe the interaction itself. This will be in different situations with different horses, attempting to reveal the engagement itself. There is a definite physical alignment which is at the biomechanical core of the engagement we are practicing on the ground. In this swing of the spiral I am learning that so much unwinding and realigning can be achieved without any doing, simply in acknowledging the resistances.

This is a gradual process that has been happening over the last twenty years. It has been a process of seeing deeper and appreciating the whole. It is asking less, supporting more, and even the supporting itself becomes less and less physical and more energetic. I feel that this is a personal journey and everyone is at their own place with it.

I am discovering that working on the energetic level is so powerful, just like homoeopathy, where the power goes up as the dosage goes down, this is because the quantum nature of energy is released. And the horses feel this and resonate so deeply with it, this is why they are drawn into this work, and I can feel it weaving a spell between us.

Quaramba’s Vulnerable Side

We are finding our way deeper into the physical engagement through energy. Quaramba has been indicating that she feels vulnerable when I engage with her standing on her right side. This pattern arose again and we were feeling into the left side engagement, going into some lateral steps and deepening the bend until she was ready to see how it felt again to try on the right rein.

So far, in this latest swing of the spiral, we have rediscovered the head collar, the cavesson, the arena, and we are engaging on the ground in walk. I am waiting to see how things unfold… how will the trot reveal itself? Will riding become the next step? I feel that the less I precipitate, and the more I can stay within the process, the larger the unfolding will be. We are revisiting weaknesses and issues and going deep into vulnerabilities and allowing them to repattern at the deepest level.