Be soft in the Heart, but not in the Head! A friend of mine recently gave me this phrase, when we were discussing some personal and business aspects of my life-- and it really stuck. In the situation we were appraising, it made a lot of sense to me, and I got to thinking about how many humans forget this when interacting with their horse.
Softness vs. Weakness Softness and gentleness are signs of the strong, and hardness and roughness are signs of the weak. confronting viewpoint maybe,but it is true that we can be firm in our intent and yet soft in our heart at the same time. Followers of my program know well how firmness accompanied by fairness and friendliness gets results. The moment a human gets mean or mad or aggressive or impatient with a horse, things start to go south. The Horse Will Tell Us When we do make a breakthrough with a horse - the horse will tell us, so be alert to that clue. Part of the breakthrough experience is developing our senses to be sharper and more attuned to the nuances of horse behaviour. Of course we aren't all born with the intuitive knowledge of prey animal psychology, it has to be studied and practiced in order to be fully understood. But once we do 'get it''- a whole new world of communication and bonding opens up, to where we can truly call our horse 'our partner'. How does it begin? Breaking through with Horses begins with YOU. If you are truly interested in something that will enhance your life with horses, something that will bring you many, many moments of joy and satisfaction, bring you a greater sense of safety and confidence, then learning about horse psychology is the Beginning. Read whatever you can get your hands on, invest in DVDs, go to clinics and workshops . mix with people who are truly natural, rub shoulders with the people who are getting results ... naturally. When you get hooked on results, the discipline is easy! If you know someone who says they don't like study, they haven't got time to read natural horsemanship material or watch DVDs or go to clinics, and maybe don't see the point to it all . then perhaps they don't see how the results can work for them. Maybe self doubt is creeping in, they could lack the confidence to get started, or fear that they will fail, or just be simply confused about all the options. Thing is, in my experience, once people break through their own misconceptions about themselves and their abilities, and start getting results with their horse, everything changes! They get motivated by their results, they get 'hooked' on the 'rush' that even small achievements bring! And before they know it, their desire to study and learn automatically increases! _______________________ Judy http://icehorses.net http://clickryder.com
