Stop Avoiding and Do the Actual Work!

Personally, I believe that animals have physical, mental and spiritual bodies just like the rest of us. I believe in several holistic treatments such as Bachs Flower Remedies, Reiki, Animal Communication, Clairvoyance, Healing Touch, Massage, Acupuncture, Chiropractics and many more. I’ve done multiple intuitive readings for animals of all kinds since I was 18, so I’m a believer when it comes to "woo woo" stuff. I have used and practiced much of it myself as a tool to support my training.

The thing is, though, I used it as a "method of support" not as the main solution. I don’t believe that holistic treatments of any kind can substitute for good correct training, getting a horse balanced, light and responsive (in the right way), listening and understanding the aids and, of course, improving your skills as a rider is a must in order to achieve all of this.

The reason I don't believe that holistic treatments can substitute for good training is simply because, if the training isn't good it will eventually cancel out or undo the good that has come from any holistic treatment. If you fix something and then go break it again, you will obviously keep ending up at square one.

Animals don’t have mental bodies that are as strong as ours because they don’t think in words. They think in pictures, symbols and feelings, and their spiritual body likewise doesn’t function exactly the same way as ours, because they don’t have thoughts that create their reality.

Human beings do! The way you think, say and act creates the world around you, at least from a subjective point of view. We all see the world through our personal stained glasses, built up of previous experiences, hurts, joys, etc. That doesn’t mean that the reality each of us see is anything but a subjective experience.

In other words, we don’t see ultimate reality, we just see our own version.

When you’re a healer of some sort like horse trainers can be, our goal is to connect with the horse and get him to feel comfortable mentally and physically again. Gradually we bring out more and more beauty as the mind calms and the body relaxes and gets stronger.

The main way a trainer does this is by moving the horse’s feet forward, backward, left and right, bending his body and suppling his mind.

Horses are physical above all else. They have personalities, but they need to use their bodies. Horses are built to roam a minimum of 30 miles per day and are some of the fastest land animals that we have. Some horses like Arabs are built for running long distance. Others like Thoroughbreds are built for running, PERIOD. They have hearts and lungs that are extra-large to transport air to the muscles and organs so that they can run.

Horses run first and think later. Not the other way around. They are prey/flight animals. They don’t philosophize about life, their previous lives or analyze their current problems.

They live in the present.

When I train horses, some of the horses that are in the worst shape mentally and physically are horses that don’t move around enough.

Usually this happens for two reasons:

1. Either they are stuck in little stalls with hardly any turnout, fed way too many supplements so their bodies are overloaded with energy and fat causing disease like Laminitis; or,
2. The owner is babying them, afraid to ask them to work, or the owner is practicing some minuscule form of exercise, maybe some light riding or light lunging or something that basically has no effect on the healthy horse and his huge capacity for movement.

Horses are large, strong, powerful animals. Yes, they have their sensitivities like digestion, etc., but that doesn’t take away that they need to HAVE A JOB, they need to have something purposeful to do just like the rest of us!

In fact, not having a proper job seems to create more nervous horses with higher risk of colic, ulcers, etc.

I’ve never met a good old ranch horse that was ridden out every day and used to doing a variety of tasks, have any behavioral or riding issues whatsoever as long as he stayed active in his job.

To misbehave, requires excess pent-up energy and a frustrated misunderstood mind.

The biggest misunderstanding in my opinion is the imbalance between the physical present world that the horse lives in and the subjective mental world that humans live in.

We can’t project our mental world onto them and try to analyze the horse out of his training issues or woo woo him out of it.

It’s comparable to when someone tells me they are afraid of cantering. Yes, there are certain precautions that can be taken to ensure success; such as practicing on a safe horse that canters with ease and getting good at the trot first, but ultimately, you need to practice cantering.

The only way to learn to canter is to DO IT. I can’t tell you how many riders try to talk their way into being able to ride the canter. This behavior is absurd, it's not possible.

I call BS on riders like this. Yes, it might be hard. Yes, you must face your fears. There’s no other way than to work hard at the exact thing that your brain really wants to avoid (like cantering) and then get better at it gradually. Give your self time, set yourself up for success so that failure is limited. Learning difficult things doesn’t happen overnight. Be patient with yourself, but still DO IT.

Whenever I hear that owners are resorting to all kinds of human mental activities or lets call it "woo woo stuff" to solve a training or behavioral issue, all I can think about is that they are not connecting with the physical reality of the horse. They are stuck trying to think their way out of things. Animals don’t solve their problems mentally; they live in the physical world. I can't say this enough. They are sentient, but they are not humans.

This doesn’t mean that holistic treatments can’t help animals. They certainly can. Like I said I'm a big believer in holistic treatments and communication as a support and inspiration to good training, good farrier work and good vet work.

However, I’m bringing attention to when riders don’t address the real problem first - and instead try to think themselves out of dealing with it. Find the hole in the horse's training and then most musculoskeletal and behavioral problems during riding will disappear (that is, as long as the rider doesn't re-introduce them). 

Also, just because you are a good rider, doesn't mean you are a good trainer.

If you feel that you are coming up short with your horse or training progress is dragging out and your horse is developing physical or mental issues, then it's time to consult with someone more knowledgeable. Someone who has a better track record than you on the training front and really learn something.

This is where riders who don't truly want to listen or learn will consult all kinds of professionals and still only hear what they want to hear.

This way they can continue their avoidance behavior and not accomplish much. The horse will in the meantime have had weekly animal communication sessions, massages, special treatments, special food, new equipment, manicures and pedicures and yet the training issue that started the whole process has still not being addressed and ultimately the horse has not improved.

Avoiding the real problem can be compared to me deciding I want to start working out at the gym. I personally hate the gym, I hate that it's so boring, I hate that it smells. I love being outdoors bicycling, running or strength training. However, sometimes, my mind insists that I "should" be the type of person that is disciplined enough to go to the gym. 

This is generally what happens when I start down that rabbit hole:

1. I go out and I buy some expensive gym clothes so that I look good and feel ready to work out!
2. Maybe I’ll invest in some good gym shoes too.
3. Then I will buy some tools, maybe some workout equipment/weights or something like that just in case I need it, you know.
4. And finally, I will invest in a rather expensive gym membership.

Conveniently, I'll never have time to go, or something else will keep getting in the way, and I end up paying for the membership for about a year before I can look myself in the eye and realize it's not working.

What's important to realize here is: None of the above 4 actions will result in increased fitness, weight loss or more muscle mass. It's not working because you are not addressing the actual problem.

It's simply an avoidance behavior. We all have them. Nothing to feel bad about. But let’s get real here. It’s a way of feeling like you’re doing something to address your goal or situation but you’re actually just circling around the problem, you're not solving it.

This is called resistance. The human mind is brilliant at it. We can make up a reality where we tell ourselves that these avoidance behaviors totally make sense, that somehow our actions will get us closer to our goals.

But they don’t.

You must face the thing you are resistant about and do the actual work. Work is hard and sometimes very confrontational as we have to face our own mistakes and weaknesses. Who wants that?...eeeek! We all want pleasure and want to avoid pain. The biggest form of success and pleasure lies on the opposite side of pain though.

You have to ask yourself: Why am I not dealing with the real issue here?...and then wait for the answer.

- Is it because you are actually afraid of dealing with it, and by avoiding it you can act like you're not?

- Is it because you don't have the skills?

- Is it because you're more comfortable staying in your comfort zone instead of growing emotionally or physically?

- Is it because you fear something bad will happen?

- Is it because you fear you might fail?

They are all valid fears, but don't let your emotions run your life. The truth is, without facing these fears head on, no breakthrough or spiritual growth can happen.

Here’s a little quiz to see if you have resistance towards your horse training goals:

1. Do you work your horse for a minimum of 3-4 times a week focused on your goals?
2. During those 3-4 times, do you walk, trot and canter your horse every time and work on specific goals?
3. Is he sweaty when you’re done?
4. Can your horse canter consistently for more than 3 rounds without breaking gait?
5. Can you canter on a loose rein without you losing your balance, your horse speeding up or risk of bolting or bucking?

If you answered no to any of those questions, there’s a good chance that your horse has pent up energy, doesn’t respond correctly to all your aids, lacks respect and trust for his rider and you are also unclear on what you want from him.

When I ask owners about how often or how much they canter their horses, the answer they give me, makes it very clear whether I'm dealing with avoidance and fear in the rider. If I am, then the horse is definitely going to exhibit physical and mental symptoms of the rider's fear.

That can look something like this:

1. The horse doesn't respect the reins or the hand and will run through them.

2. The horse is over reactive to the leg or over reactive to stimulus

3. The horse bolts, bucks or rears

4, The horse kicks or bites

5. The horse does strange things with his mouth or with the bit

All of these points can also be caused by other things. However, I've noticed over the years that horses who have fearful riders exhibit fearful behavior themselves.

The solution here is NOT to schedule a past life regression or telepathically communicate with the horse. I mean, that's okay to do, but it's very human and very mental. To overcome fear you have to get physical and practical and actually connect with the horses essence and being.

You can't overcome a fear of riding a bicycle without actually riding a bicycle. Let's call a spade a spade, right?

The horse needs direct training on the physical issues and behavior that he is exhibiting in order to change them. Don’t use spiritual stuff as an excuse to skate around the outside of real life training issues for the rider and/or the horse. It doesn't serve anybody. It just prolongs the problem.

The solution is: Give the horse proper exercise, avoid overfeeding him, give him proper turnout with other horses, provide correct consistent training that balances his mind and body and if you can't do it find somebody who can. Quit projecting anthropomorphism and learn what it means to be a good leader for your horse.

It's like this:

If you want to be a writer, write!

If you want to be fit, workout!

If you want to be a better rider, ride!

If you want to learn how to canter, canter!

If you want your horse to be better, work him!

If you’re afraid, find a way to face your fears and still get the job done.

Horses live in the now. Their problems can only be solved in the now.

Stop avoiding and "do the actual work!" The work never ends BTW. If you want to keep growing and excelling, then the work doesn’t stop until you die:-)

I know, you know what I mean.

Ride with Lightness

Celie xo