Resistance

RESISTANCE
How it applies or interferes.

What makes a good horse?
What makes a good rider?

In my opinion, being relaxed, loose, confident, and capable, while keeping a resistance free rhythm, is the key to doing anything physical, well.

If there is any worry, inhibition or anxiety in you, it shows up as resistance in your ability to move. This happens because these thoughts restrict natural flow in our bodies by causing tension in different areas. Most often it is in the shoulder and neck areas. But it can be in our arms, hands, hips, legs, feet, and our core. Each area represents different types or thoughts of worry, inhibition or anxiety. The place or spot that is tense is a direct representation of your own personal emotional state.

I always say, "The frame in the body, tells us the frame of mind." And this is a very true statement. Its how I help the horses that come to me for training. I ask them to do a simple tasks. As they move, I watch for where the resistance is in the body. If any is present, we work on it till it flows nicely without tension or resistance. The end goal is to have a completely confident, capable, relaxed and willing partner.

Now, the same is true for us. The horse needs us to be resistant free as well. We need to flow seamlessly together. If we cannot, it carries into them. Just as we need a capable, relaxed and willing partner, so does the horse. Its our ability to relax, give guidance with a knowledge based confidence clearly with a steady rhythm that helps remove any worry, inhibition or anxiety in their mind that is causing resistance in their body.  If we worry, they worry. If we're tense, they will be tense. If we resist them, they resist us.

For a long time now, I've been applying Tai Chi principals to my horsemanship. I started learning it as a child. When I got into horses in my late teens and early 20's, I habitually and unknowingly applied it to my riding and ground work. I made this connection about 10 years ago. Now I keep it right up front in my mind in all that I do in my Horsemanship. I am working on ways to share this with anyone who is interested. The challenge is finding people who understand the benefits. Most right it off as foolish or a hoax. So its my goal to find ways to bring a clear understanding to those willing to listen.

EMOTION

EMOTION

What is in an emotion?
Thought is in an emotion.
Energy is in an emotion.
But what is an emotion?

In my research over the past 35 years based on thought, energy, and emotion. Or my study of the mind and how it works. If I put it in my own words I would break it down to computer terms to help make sense of it all.

The way I see it. One byte of emotional content is equal to a gigabyte of thought. Probably way more. What I'm getting at is, emotion is a massive amount of thought and energy, all condensed down into one package which becomes highly visible to anyone who may be there to see it.

Emotion effects the mind in such a way that massive amounts of neurons fire all at one moment. It produces so much thought that it overloads the circuits. Which in turn shows up everywhere in the body in the form of tension and resistance. It may be a twitch, it could be a full blown body lockup, or anything in between.

If we can read the tension and resistance, then we can read their thoughts. Many people are very proficient at this.

The best way to do this is to not try and think all the thoughts, but to boil it all down to the emotion or emotions, present. The level of tension and resistance will tell how severe it is.

Why am I writing about this?
Because I use this information every day in my work with the horses and thought it may help some of you. By reading the thoughts and energy present, then boiling it down to and emotion, you can use your thought and apply energy to remove the tension and resistance. This in turn removes or calms the emotions. It also instantly organizes a million thoughts, little by little into something more understandable. Its the overload of thought which is not understood that causes the emotional outbreak. By removing the tension and resistance, you organize all those misunderstood thoughts to something they understand. Once they do, emotions no longer get in the way and you can have a more meaningful conversation.

I should add. And not to confuse you. There are many different emotions. Some are actually productive. Like pure emotional content which makes us completely present and aware of all that is around us. Absorbing and understanding things to its fullest potential. Which is what we should all strive for. Its the emotions that get in the way that I am talking about in the main portion of this writing. I could go on forever in this subject. But I think I should stop here.
I hope you found this informative.
Thank you for reading.

WHO AM I

WHO AM I?
Have you ever asked yourself this question?

If you do ask, the first 2 words in your answer are the most powerful. And that is, "I AM" !!! The words that come after become a manifestation of who we will become whether its true in the moment of the question or not. If we believe its true, it will become who we are. It can be positive, or extremely negative. Guard your thoughts.

Often times, who we think we are, is based on other peoples opinions of us. If we listen to or feel their opinion is important, we believe to some extent that their perception is a fact and not just an opinion. So more often who we think we are is really us thinking who we are is in the way that we think other people see us. This is unfortunate because our true self gets lost inside. Confused and trying to be something we are not because someone else thinks its good, or not being something we do want just because others think its bad.

In order to truly know who we are, we need to go deep inside ourselves and ask all the important questions. Like, "What makes me happy?" , "What type of things build interest?" , "Am I passionate about this?" And any other question that gets to the bottom of who we are, not through other peoples opinions.

Say what you think, tell people how you feel. Surpressing who we are or holding back feelings because we are afraid of what others may say or think just makes our life difficult because it takes away all our options and takes us further away from our own joy and happiness. Not that we need to be an ass about it. We just need to maintain some self respect without being disrespectful to others.

The real truth is. We are not who or what we think we are, nor are we who or what other people think we are. But we "BECOME" who "WE" think we are. And that doesn't matter if the thought originates from us or is implanted by others. We will become who we think we are.

Our true self gets lost inside. Our true self gets buried beneath all the extra weight of external opinion. We receive it as fact, but our true self knows better. So it keeps fighting for us from within. This creates so much conflict with our emotional state and is the primary reason a person becomes emotionally unstable. I learned this through my work with horses. You can't tell them they are something they are not without getting an emotional outburst of some kind. They need to voice their opinion and we need to hear it. This is the same for us. We need to be who we are or we won't find peace and happiness.

So if you have read this all the way through. I would encourage you to go deep within yourself, into your heart and find out what it truly beats for. Find those answers and think only those thoughts so you can be your TRUE SELF and live a joyful and meaningful life.
Thanks reading.

PERFECTION

PERFECTION

This to me is one of, if not the most misunderstood terms in life. I've heard many times, Why can't things just be perfect. Or, in a perfect world, it would be---- (fill in the blank).

Perfect to most people is a personal, yet misconceived, idealization of what they think something should be. Others may agree to a certain extent. But no way will everyone ever agree on what perfect should be. And that is because, in the human mind, perfect is just a personal idealization of their own desire.

I believe perfection lives in the fact that nothing can be or exist if the circumstances or conditions are not perfect for it to happen. What I mean by that is, cause and effect, perpetual motion, and energy transfer, as well as other things, CREATE. So events and actions of past and present moments, create things in the future. Sometimes the connection is noticeable, sometimes not. You may even be able to connect something to an event from years past, maybe even millennia ago. But even if you don't, I can assure you, all things evolved into being from past events so long ago that we could never comprehend. If one thing was different, all things would be different. But we wouldn't know because we live in the aftermath of what did happen and what it created. And that creation can only be what it is. Therefore, perfect because it cannot be anything else.

Now. Each present moment is what it is. We can't change the now. But every living creature with the ability to think, can make decisions. These decisions will create something in the future. If we are selfish and not thinking of all things, we are creating our own perfect world. Which may not be perfect for others. Yet it will effect the future for everyone eventually. Even hundreds and thousands of years into the future.

For me, keeping the thought that my present moment has been created by so many things from so long ago. It allows me to be more accepting of my current situation. I see it as a perfect moment that was set into motion many moons ago. And even when something comes up to where I may want to blame someone for what happens. It allows me to stop and accept, or be more compassionate instead of blaming.

I always say, "in the moment, the why is the least important thing." But in that moment, we can make choices. These choices effect not only our future, but the future of all things. Creating the new. Which again, can only be what was allowed to be by previous moments in the past. Therefore "perfect" still. It may be different and always changing. But it's always perfect because it can't be anything else.

I think if people stop trying to create a perfect world, or perfect situation, and see that it is what it is and can only be what it is due to the moments that created it. Then maybe they might see that all things truly are, perfect in every way.

I don't know what the benefits or consequences would be to that. But I do know that having this outlook in my life provides me with more peace and less conflict. It allows me to be more accepting and less irritated, therefore less confrontational. I also feel like I see more choices and opportunities in what life throws at me. Which removes the restricted feelings of being trapped and allows me to freely Express myself.

For those of you who read this. You have a great soul and I thank you for connecting with me in this perfect moment. May you all find peace in these words.

RELATIONSHIP

RELATIONSHIP

All morning I've been thinking about relationship and the many aspects of it. Many of us see the importance for it in our lives. Whether that be with our family, friends, spouses, or work environment. In Horsemanship, relationship is also extremely important.

I'm going deeper into this. Such as our relationship of our thoughts to our emotions, how our breathing is also related to our thoughts and emotions. Our thoughts and emotions are directly related to our movement. In fact our ability to move is in direct relation to our emotional state. If fear has a strong hold on us, it will inhibit or restrict your ability to even think, nevermind move.

I can say a lot more in many comparisons. But this took me to think on my understanding of Mind, Body, Spirit relationship. In some peoples point of view, the soul and the spirit are separate aspects of ourselves just as our DNA that makes up our body is partially from our mothers and partially from our fathers. In many ways they are, and in others they are the same. I will keep it simple and speak of them as one in spirit.

All 3 aspects are individual aspects of us. The relationship between these aspects of ourselves is imperative to our existence and our ability to cope in life. Yet most of us spend very little time even thinking about, nevermind nurturing these relationships. In my opinion, this is where all our own individual problems stem from. If we have fear, inhibition or anxiety. It stems from us internally. By not understanding the relationships within our own self, we become confused, fearful, lost, misguided, unaware and separated from our true self and our life purpose.

I see Spirit as energy that allows for our consciousness. Our Spirit is who we are. It is our presence, vitality, virtue, will and intent. But if we don't nurture it's relationship with the other 2 aspects, it becomes week. Our Spirit becomes drained. Which weakens ours Mind and our Body. So lift your Spirits. Give it the attention it deserves.

Our Mind is our connection to Body and Spirit. Our Body and all our senses exchange information with the all knowing Spirit aspect of ourselves in order for us to navigate through life. If our mind ignores this connection and we don't maintain this relationship, we become selfish, greedy, discontent, and we unattach from Spirit and attach to physical objects. Such as electronic devices, or any gadget, clothing item, useable or unusable items. This is also why addiction is so wide spread. This happens because our relationship with our self is insufficient. Something is missing and we don't understand what it is so we attach ourselves to a temporary good feeling to make up for it. Recognize and overcome it.

Our Body is made up of all the elements and came out of the Earth it self. We are made up of all things and our relationship with all things need to be recognized and nurtured. Our Body is the conduit that connects Spirit and Earth, which creates life. Ignore this and you find illness, disease, weakness, and loss of purpose. Our Body needs air, water, food, and energy. Air, water and food come from the Earth and they give us some energy. But our best sources of energy come from the Sun and Spirit itself. It is something we can manifest within ourselves through mindful thought and relationship with our Spiritual aspect of ourselves. Thus Mind, Body and Spirit working together.

Many understand the importance and work on it many different ways. Some do it individually with meditation, diet, and exercise. Some practice Yoga, Reiki, Chigong, Tai Chi, etc, etc.  I prefer Tai Chi myself which fully encompasses all aspects for the relationships between Mind, Body, and Spirit. But the simplest way to start becoming aware of these relationships is to just breathe.  Focus on your breath and you can't help but see, feel and experience all 3 aspects of Mind, Body, and Spirit coming together all in one moment.

There is way more to it. But this is a great place to start. I would recommend you try it. I'm sure you won't regret it.
Thanks for reading.

Some thoughts on thought itself

A FEW THOUGHTS ABOUT, THOUGHT ITSELF

Think about this. Or think about that. Think about whatever you want to think about. It doesn't matter the topic or the position you have on it. We all think and we all analyze or associate.

But for any topic that comes to mind, it will either be something we kinda know or something we are just learning things about. Because the things we are certain of or know and understand in great depth, needs little to no thought at all.

Let's look at learning a skill. Whichever you choose. When first we start there is a lot of thought. We think so much in order to put everything in place so we can learn and understand. The more we do this skill, the less we have to think about it. Soon we can do it without much thought at all.

We can compare this to a single word and it's definition. Or if you want to go deep. We can compare it to a computer program. The person who creates the program has a lot of work to do to create the program so it works as it should. A lot of thought and research goes into the process. Every program needs some tweaking in certain places that isn't found until you try to run the program. So again, a little more thought. Once the process is complete, you click and it goes. Automatically.

Our thoughts work in the same way. Specially if the thoughts involve moving. The more intricate or physically demanding the movment. The longer it takes to become a seamless, thoughtless, responsive action. All it really takes is a conscious effort which programs our unconscious mind. Then it becomes us and we become it without having to think about it.

To take this to our Horsemanship and to draw attention to how I'm always talking about "Thought and Energy". Our thoughts automatically create expression. This is most noticed on our faces but can be picked up in our body and the horses as well. These expressions are picked up and processed by our mind. At first our conscious mind does a lot of thinking in order to make sense of it all. The more we do it the easier it gets because we are programming our unconscious mind. The more we have programmed into our unconscious, the more proficient we become at understanding and responding to the energy. When our Horsemanship becomes proficient, we flow in a seamless connected communication with our horse. The activity becomes much like the computer program. It runs automatically with little extra thought and a whole lot less effort.

The trick to this is to not assume, make excuses or try to make something happen. It's a difficult place to get to sometimes. Specially if you are in a hurry, have other things on your mind, your end goal is to ridged, or you skip important steps to attain it.

The point I'm making is that we can program ourselves to be very efficient and skillfull or be who and what we want to be. By making a conscious decision and effort to understand the topic or process.

Our unconscious mind is "Our True Self" and we can take control of it. Or we can go through life unconsciously allowing our Subconscious to be manipulated by energies we are unaware of. Because every thought we have is caused by an energy that we received at some point in our life that either created the thought or a certain way of thinking.

Not only can this help us, but we can help our horse in the same way. I find the best way is to use my thoughts to project energy to the horse to encourage a conscious thought in them. Soon with time and understanding, I reprogram their unconscious mind to seek intention and understand my thoughts through my energy. Once we are both able to do that, our communication becomes instant and in great detail. Like anything else, it needs maintaining. Other energies and thoughts get in the way much like a virus can corrupt your computer software. And it happens unknowingly. So we need to run tests every now and then.

I hope you all enjoyed this. I wrote it based on meditation practice. In which we strive to remove the endless mind chatter. In meditation we quiet the mind. This is how I try to be in my Horsemanship whether on the ground or mounted.  Just in a moving meditation. Thoughtless yet thorough.
Thanks for reading.

LIGHT FEEL or TRUE SOFTNESS

LIGHT FEEL or TRUE SOFTNESS
THE DIFFERENCE and IMPORTANCE OF BOTH

I right about this today because I think it's important to know there is a difference. It is possible to have a light horse that isn't soft. It's also possible to have a soft horse that isn't light. It's important for them to be both light and soft. I'll explain.

Having a light feel to your horse is great and pretty much a must if you want a horse to give to pressure with a light response. Lightness comes from them understanding the cue fully, liking you well enough to do it for you, and knowing not to lean on pressure. Repetition, consistency, and not overusing your aids can help you attain this. It comes from our ability to ask lightly, feel every little response, know how to respond to this, and give back. Making it beneficial to respond is better than making it consequential to not respond. So knowing when they are ready for you to ask for more is an important factor. If they're not ready, they might resist. That can be counterproductive.

Softness comes through the heart and mind then to the body and feet. True softness is difficult to attain. It only comes when all inhibitions are washed away. For softness you need to have a real connection with your horse. One that goes beyond the Rein and leg cues. Your thoughts and emotions need to match almost completely. Knowing how to read and understand your horses every thought and emotion is the only way to find the path to attaining this. You can't guess and you can't assume. And worse of all, you can't make excuses. It has to be real and true.

You may experience a horse that is responding to the lightest touch and doing everything you ask spot on. But maybe you have some inhibition causing small tension spots that to most would go unnoticed.  That would be Lightness without softness.  Or maybe your horse is as relaxed and carefree as can be with no worries, anxiety, stiffness, or inhibitions what so ever. But then when you apply a cue the response needs a second request. That could be having softness without Lightness.

The reason it's important to have both in my opinion is. A lot of (but not all) light responding horses are responding out of emotional energy. The fear, anxiety, or inhibitions becomes the motivator to that light response. If this is the case, then you risk them trying to overachieve, or nervously making a dangerous move. So building softness into this horse will remove those risks.

Also. There are some horses that are so soft that they're not very responsive. They may bend or move without resistance, but not necessarily with effort.  Building Lightness into these horses will benefit that greatly.

To me it takes a balance of both to make for a well rounded and safe horse. One that responds well, maintains emotionally, communicates with us and knows that we understand them. We won't always be on the same page everyday, but it is worth attaining and maintaining.
Thanks for reading.