The question I’m most frequently asked is:

“How do I get a better connection with my horse?”

I remember this well – the uncomfortable feeling that the connection was just not there, or not as I had hoped. Chase seemed to hold something back if I’m honest. Ouch. But why?

Here are two reasons, and so simple really!

First, the use of pressure teaches us to have a Feel of carrying a ‘red pen’: with a degree of pressure in our initial request, we watch for what to correct. This creates mental, physical and emotional distance.

Second, our decisions about when to add pressure coincide with when our horse feels unclear, unsure, unwilling (or even unsound or unwell). This means we brace in response the initial loss of connection, which unfortunately pushes the horse away further.

These practices unwittingly restrict or drop connection and interrupt Flow. The good news is the one thing we can surely change is what we do!

Connection Begins in YOU!

When we remember that the connection we seek can begin in us, we unlock the first key. We become mindful of offering the connection we seek, for the horse to feel back to. This open connection allows a different conversation rooted in access to each other to begin – we increase our ‘bandwidth’!

And from there we bring focus to the Feel of what we want, while blending awareness of our horse’s experience and viewpoint. We show our horse exactly what we want and how, from where he is - instead of “noise” around what we don’t want for him to sort out.

Horses love clarity, especially within the good feel of connection.