Mindful horsemanship – Living in the present
Living in the present – Enjoying an equine in the moments spent together with no pressure or expectation on the partnership.
The concept of bringing yourself to the present moment is one of the most underpinning concepts of mindfulness. It is summarised as being in the present in any given moment as much as possible. This concept may seem rather simple and obvious but it is much harder to put into practice than you may think.
Being present with your horse is possibly one of the most important skills to develop for building a great partnership. The horse lives in the present from moment to moment. They can live fully relaxed enough to graze and play in one moment and in the next their survival instincts will kick in and enable them to move quickly should they detect a threat. Once the threat has ended, they let it go and go back to grazing and just being in the present moment.
We usually have good intentions when interacting with our horses but often we are thinking about the future, our goals and ambitions, what we want for dinner, bills that need to be paid etc this can drive us to lose sight of the things that matter within our partnerships. Being driven by our ego and general life stresses distracts us from living in the present and enjoy being with our horses. It’s easy to get so caught up in our goals and demands of life that we forget to embrace the journey along the way.
Have you ever found yourself just going through the motions with your horse, without realising that your disconnected from your body and therefore disconnected from your horse? When you interact with your horse whilst on auto pilot (carrying out routine action with your mind elsewhere) you become disconnected. Living in the now brings you into the same world as your horse, the present. Being present calms you and calms your horse, making your time together even more enjoyable and fulfilling.
As you and your horse begin to forge a deep, peaceful connection with one another, you can communicate more clearly and without being driven by the ego. Many people discover that they can show more patience and fully listen to their horse’s needs once they have discovered the power of living in the moment and paying attention to the world around them whilst sharing that space in time with the horse.
Learning to live in the now is a skill that you can practice anywhere and at any time. The practice of staying in the present doesn’t just benefit our equine partnerships, it also helps us live life more fully. Rather than worrying about the future or ruminating about the past, we should savour every moment. Researchers have found that people who live in the now are happier, more optimistic, less depressed, and more satisfied with life overall.
Balancing the Past, Present, and Future
It’s good to think about the past and future sometimes.
Where would we be if we didn’t look back over our past successes and mistakes and learn from them? Where would we be if we never planned for the future or prepared ourselves for what is to come?
It’s essential to a healthy life to spend some time thinking about the past and the future, but it’s rare that we spend time in the present—usually our problem is focusing too intently (or even obsessively) on the past or the future. Focusing too much on our future with the horse disconnects us from our equine partners. Often people are inclined to pressure the horse in order to fulfil goals and ambitions.
One of the aims of mindful horsemanship is to balance your thoughts of the past, the present, and the future. Thinking about any of them too much can have negative effects on our lives and the emotional wellbeing of our horses, but keeping the three in balance will help us to form harmonious connections with our equines.
It’s hard to say what the exact right balance is, but you’ll know you’ve hit it when you worry less, experience less stress, and find you and your horse are enjoying your time together peacefully. For most people this means spending most of the time with your horse living in the present moment.
To get to a healthy balance, try to keep these guidelines in mind:
- Think about the past in small doses, and make sure you are focusing on the past for a reason (e.g., to relive a pleasant experience, identify where you went wrong, or figure out the key to a past success).
- Think about the future in small doses, and make sure you are focusing on the future in a healthy way without creating unrealistic goals or time constraints. Be sure to plan future goals within your ability and that of the horse.
- Stay in the present moment for the vast majority of time spent with your horse.
Of course, following these guidelines is easier said than done, but it will get easier with practice!
How to Live in the Moment but Plan for the Future
It might seem complicated to figure out this delicate balance, but it’s not as complex as it seems.
When we engage in mindfulness or focus on the present moment, we are not ignoring or denying thoughts of the past or future, we are simply choosing not to dwell on them. It’s okay to acknowledge and label our past and future focused thoughts, and be aware of their importance.
The important point is to not allow yourself to get swept up in thinking about the past or future. Remember, horses live from moment to moment. To be able to connect with them we must enter their world in the present.
How to Plan for the Future While Living in the Present
Being self-aware is key to creating positive change in your partnership, and it can help immensely when you’re trying to balance the future with the present.
For the majority of people equine interactions begin with a goal. This can be anything from daily activities such as bringing the horse in to be groomed to longer term goals such as competing at a particular level. The important part of goal setting when practicing mindful horsemanship is being able to stay in the present moment with the horse whilst working towards our goals. By being aware of our values as well as our goals we can begin to balance our actions with our awareness of the present.
For example:
Horse has issues loading.
Owners goal is to compete once a month.
Rider who is not mindful –Battles with the horse to load them into the horsebox. The rider is focused on the past by predicting that the horse will not load and therefor leaves extra time to load the horse using force. When they return from the competition, they ignore the issue and instead focus on the next competition. The rider and the horse are completely disconnected when in the moment of trying to load onto the horsebox. The horse is in the present, afraid, confused and stressed. The rider is focused on the future and getting to the competition. This process is repeated month after month.
Rider who is mindful – In the moment of attempting to load the horse the rider is in the present and recognises that the horse has an issue, they are focused on the horses behaviour, reactions and open to not labelling the horse but instead realising there is more going on than the horse simply refusing to load. The rider in the present moment is aware that forcing the horse using methods that cause the horse pain and fear do not fit with their true values. The rider cancels her goal of competing that month. They have not given up on their goal of competing in the future but are prepared to put the time into addressing the loading issue with integrity. The rider works with the horse over a period of time to help the horse overcome their fear. Eventually the horse loads willingly and the rider continues with the goal of competing monthly. The rider is better connected to the horse and spent time in the present moments to build the horses trust.
Once you have mastered living in the present you will notice things that you didn’t see before. For instance, you may begin to notice slight changes in your horses body language as you approach. You may notice how you are enjoying of the beauty of nature whilst out on a hack or how your horse behaves differently in the hours before a storm. As you begin to spend more time living in the present you will develop a deeper connection with the horse, this will naturally lead to a newfound sense of gratitude towards your horse, your partnership, and the world around you.
This blog post is an extract taken from the 4 week course – The practice of mindful horsemanship. To learn more about the course please click below.
To find out more about Mindful Horsemanship click here: https://progressiveequinepartnerships.com/mindful-horsemanship/
