| Archive for It's About The Horse The Free Forum for those Doing Parelli - and a whole lot More! "Anything forced and misunderstood can never be beautiful." Xenophon (430-355 B.C.), |
| PasoBaby_CarolU |
Have you ever meditated with your horse?I had put Zar in the round coral today to break up the ground so I could walk Bien. Zar got more upset being separated in there then she has in the past. So, I went in and mediated, using some of the breathing and relaxing techniques I learned in hypnosis and she calmed right down with my calm presence.This is a pretty spiritual group. I was wondering how many of you have taken your spirituality outside and shared it with your horses. |
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| jackspark |
I do this when I share territory. I put myself into a zone and focus on my breathing like I was taught in Tai Chi; good for me and them 
I keep waiting for a little AC but alas no such bridge 
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| Hute |
I didn't because they kept demanding my attention.  I'll have to try it with a more standoffish horse.
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| bit |
Yep, sharing territory. That's why Carolyn has you read a book, because it imitates that state of mind. Being in the present moment is like candy to our horses. | ||
| coveredbridgefarm |
I think you may have a good idea there Carol, using meditation to calm the horse. I see another possible opportunity related to your suggestion. I suspect the reverse may also be true, that the horse may be able to help people achieve a meditative state.
I think a person might be able to use their focus on the horse's mind to get themselves into a state of meditation. Most people seem to have a difficult time learning to meditate. But those people who have learned to consider the horse's point of view are probably more than half way to meditation already. If you are truly focused on the mind of your horse, you are no longer focused on your own conscious mind and therefore you are on your way to a meditative state, or maybe already in one. I am fairly well convinced that NH and meditation are, or can be, related in some way. I think the two could be mutually beneficial. I see the possibility of a new course combining metaphysics and natural horsemanship. Larry |
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| Mandy'sMarty |
My life took a radical shift when I started spending time around horses a few years ago. When I found the Morgan farm, I literally spent practically every weekend there for that first year helping with chores, relearning how to ride, and hanging out with a herd of more than 30 horses. The farm owner felt that I was perhaps too sensitive to the horse's point of view...which to her was a fault that would get me in trouble. But then, she used to comment that riding with me was like riding with a monk. Non-horsey friends and associates were perplexed by my new interest. I would simply tell them that being with horses was better than drugs. Meanwhile, what was drawing me in to the horses was the altered state I soon found myself in when in their company. I remember one afternoon I spent with the farm owner after feeding the herd. We were each perched up on our respective round bales in one of the paddocks occupied by about a dozen mares. I sat cross-legged on my bale as the mares surrounded me, quietly jostling among themselves so that each could interact with me. I was blissfully unaware of how the scene appeared to my companion. She remarked that I looked like Dian Fossey amid a family of gorillas. A scene both incongruent at first glance but totally natural and relaxed when examined. It was then that I began to realize that not everyone experienced the magic that I felt around horses. And that they seemed to feel around me. I have come to feel that being with my mare is a form of meditation for me. Somedays I spend more time quietly brushing and grooming her, massaging sore muscles or adjusting imbalances, than I do in the saddle. And when I'm in the saddle, I've learned to quiet my mind and go into a meditative state that is both relaxed and hyper vigilant so that I can literally see/feel what happens around us before Mandy does. A good friend of mine recently watched me interacting with my mare. My friend, a very talented horsewoman based in Colorado, commented that she had never seen anyone interact with a horse the way I do with Mandy. Apparently she thought I moved in slow motion around her. Then one day she saw me move lightning fast to react to something Mandy was doing. I suspect it is all part of the zen-like experience I feel with horses. |
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| PasoBaby_CarolU |
Thanks all..
I was thinking about what Laura said and I have to think about this. I do have a few horses who I'd come to 'strip-searched' if I did self-hypnosis in their pen. 
Do you know if anyone has ever hypnotized a horse? |
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| whisperingwindfarms |
I do it all the time. I sit in the barn with them milling around or just on the ground in the pasture. Usually Bucky comes over and goes to sleep beside me. At first there's some mugging for treats, but when I don't have any they leave me alone. It's the same with doing Reiki with them. If I do it not touching them and not doing the hand positions "at them", they'll hang out as long as I want to.
I've been experimenting lately with doing Reiki in the pasture on each different one and watching what they do while I'm doing it. I'll offer a report when I've done it a few more times. |
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| Hute |
I know if I defended my space and asked them to go away they would. I was just imagining sitting down and getting mauled by horses determined to play. 
I never did much meditating until the last year or so, and at that time Beacon was at a barn where it was hard to have any privacy and quiet time. Plus he had a herdmate that he was really attached to, and who wouldn't go away even if you beat her over the head with a 2X4. (her owner was just as thick-headed lol) So I never did much with him there. I do remember a few years ago, I think it was the fall of 2007. My friend Jennifer ran a horse rescue and boarding barn, and I was boarding with her at the time. She had just moved further away, so she let me stay at her house on the weekends. One night I couldn't sleep so I snuck out to spend time with Beacon. He was lying down so I approached him carefully (he was still very skittish) and he stayed down, so I sat next to him. It was very warm, and the pasture was not torn up yet since there had only been horses on it a few days. So I had a very nice time just lying there beside him quietly and letting my thoughts blank out. It's one of my fondest memories of our time together. That and when he had me cradle his head for a long time after he got his teeth done. It wasn't just the drugs, because he's never done that since with the same drugs. It was sweet, even if he was REALLY heavy, lol. |
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| Peeperpuppy |
Meditating with horses is excellent. They're also amazing at letting you know if you're mind frame isn't right once they do this with you. I get in the pen with Mis & she'll give me squinty eyes & mules ears if I'm not 'with it' & she'll stay away from me. I'll just start focusing & centering myself & by the time I'm 'there'... she's standing with me like mare & foal. Sometimes she'll sleep.
Now Gunny... she's pretty much got to be there with me, noodling around on me but once I'm in the right place she does a tremendous amount of yawning. I think it's helpful to the horse when their leader includes them into that aspect of your life. If they see us as a leader & we come to them in their perceived time of trouble & we offer a lifeline to them by a calming presence & help them find peace with us... I think it gives them another item to welcome our presence over. Jackspark, the AC thing seldom ever happens to me at that point with a horse. Oh no, they come to me in the middle of the night & 2 a.m. seems a popular time. I used to wonder why but anymore I just think it's the only time my mind isn't too busy  Since Mis stood over me after a really vivid dream last week... I consider it very thoughtful now And considering the dream I welcomed my Lippi guardian angel. Her presence was pretty loud because my husband commented about hoof prints on the hardwood floors (muttered in his sleep).
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| 4theloveofjake |
I do it all the time now Carol. I pratically have to since I have done it in the past and they almost require it or expect it. If I am not 100 percent with them or present they are disinterested. As soon as I tune in and engage them , they respond with amazing interactions. I think this is why people say Parelli and/or NH horses are ruined, the horses expect so much more from humans after they expereince how it can be, they refuse to become non-feeling robots again.
I had some grooming/bonding time with mine yesterday. My hubby got home and walked over to chat. I went to halter Jake and he started playing hard to get. He kept turning his head away and dodging me. I wasn't focusing on him, I was half focused talking to my hubby. It was only after hubby left that I reconnected with him and said "come here silly", he stopped, turned and stood perfectly still for the halter. What a spoiled brat,
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