Finding Attunement With the “Full Ask”

“Horses attune to our internal feelings and respond to our expressed emotion. Working with horses requires bringing the internal mind and external expression into harmony.

How do we build that awareness through horsemanship? We focus on both identifying our current internal thoughts or feelings and expressed body. Horses give real time feedback. When we fully ask, we picture in our mind walking the horse through the stall door while looking with
our eyes down the alleyway of the barn. Your heart believes the horse will step out of the stall and follow you. You feel your strength in your gut and stabilize your elbows at your side and confidently pull the rope. The horse perceives your internal desire and belief that you are going to walk him out of his stall.

He can understand you want to walk down the alley way with him because your whole body is heading that way. You are standing tall in front of him looking at where you are both headed, and you begin stepping confidently in that direction. He feels safe following you to the destination. The connection is immediately repaired from his refusal to leave his stall, and he eagerly complies because of the mind and body harmony displayed in that moment within the client. These interactions in horsemanship then transfer from equine to human relationships through improved social and emotional awareness, improved communication skills, increased empathy, and an improved ability to trust in themselves and others.”

-By: Ashley Bray, Equine Specialist