Last night, I went to see the documentary Rescued Hearts. It was hosted at a local theater as part of a fundraising event for a local therapeutic riding center. I went in not knowing what to expect, but somewhere along the way, I found myself thinking about Snooks, the Tennessee Walking Horse my parents bought me when I was a teenager. He suffered a serious injury just days later, and for nearly four months, I could not ride him. I went out almost every day just to care for him and spend time with him, and we grew very close. I always knew that time changed Snooks, and people who had known him before told me the same. He went from being a machine to being a horse. I remember wondering if anyone had ever loved him before. What I did not realize until last night was how much he changed me, too. I remember pouring my heart out to him about my problems, fears, and frustrations. He helped an insecure young girl begin to find confidence and self-respect. The film brought back memories I had not thought about in years and reminded me just how deeply a horse can become part of our healing. It’s really a “who rescued who” situation. Here is the link to the trailer and more information about the film if you are interested. https://www.rescuedheartsfilm.com/

Been listening to your podcasts while flying here and there, love the way the universe works they always give you what you need, So many of the podcasts hit home and was exactly what i needed to hear.

I feel….. I am….. My issue….. All statements that we randomly say without thinking about the effect those works have on is. When we label ourselves we are concreting those emotions. Setting them in stone with no room for change. Language is everything. In our horsemanship, but also in every day life. Be careful what you wish for…..be careful what you say. Take notice of the following statements and notice the difference in them, how each of them feel, even though they are very similar statements. ‘ I am so tired of everything. Life is hard.’ ‘ I’m am feeling tired right now. Life can be hard sometimes.’ One is final, one is temporary. This allows us to feel like we can do something to improve things, rather than feel defeated. Hear yourself. It’s the first step in self care.

Finding balance while you’re with horses is essential for consistency, relationship and success. Too much intention and it creates pressure. No plan and we flounder and don’t move forward. So how do we have goals and not be over focussed, and how do we set goals and still keep the relationship front of mind. It’s all about perception. If you believe training is hard, pressure, work not fun, then you are more likely to struggle to get on with it. If you’re driven, a goal oriented mindset, love pushing thru then you’re likely to be over focussed and turn training into a job and over do things. Your perception is yours and that’s ok, but we need to look at our patterns to work out what needs to change in order to find balance. Horsemanship is about us more than horses and to be our best we have to look at ourselves way before we start blaming the horses. Easy for some. Others have a pattern of moving a horse on, only to encounter the same issue in the next horse. Horse humble us, or at least they should. It’s our job to self assess and better ourselves for the sake of our journey. Take a moment today to think about patterns and how you much we get stuck in them. It’ll change a little something that your horse will appreciate.

The real test when training horses is to be flexible and able to change. Every horse is different, but we tend to be stuck in our ways, so being able to read horses is a real skill. Listen and watch, like it’s the first time you’ve worked with a horse. Imagine them as unknown (hard to do but imperative if we want to expand). As a trainer it’s easy for me as I work with new horses all the time and I have to listen to what each one needs, so if you only have one horse see if you can swap horses for a day and look at how you respond: Growth comes from thinking outside the square - and horses love for us to grow