Capprichio, ridden by Sabine Schut-Kery
These two ideas are excerpted from a book that I am writing called The Common Body: Horses and Humans Sharing the Language of Movement and the Body. There are four “installments.” Stay tuned!
- Arriving
It you have been sitting at your desk all day or have driven through traffic to get to the stable, you body and mind need to transition and arrive fully. When you get out of your car, take a few minutes to stand, breathing fully as you drop your weight into your legs and feet. Then stretch your arms up and open and take in the sky. Slowly turn around to your right and then to your left, taking in the whole panorama of your surroundings. As you enter the barn and begin your time with your horse, can you consciously expand your focus to include the whole physical and emotional landscape, rather than narrowing your focus?
Using our peripheral vision is another way to arrive by expanding our senses, to what is at the edges of our sight, sound, taste, smell and touch. Horses are peripheral beings. Their eyes, unlike ours, are set to the outsides of their faces, so that they can take in their surroundings. If you are walking a horse with your focus straight ahead, you are missing the big picture of their world. Try walking with your horse opening your vision and awareness out to the periphery.
- Aligning
Alignment is not static, but dynamic, changing and fluid. Consciously aligning with yourself and your horse is a good way to begin your horse time. Begin by simply paying attention to the flow of your breath. Placing your mind on the breath gives us a single focus, anchoring and stilling the mind.
Instead of inadvertently tuning out or going into an automatic routine of preparation and riding, see how focused and attentive you can be, how fully engaged and involved with what you are doing. Use your breath to connect with yourself so that you can more effortlessly and fully connect with your horse. Have the goal of coming back to the breath throughout your time with your horse, using that soft awareness to align with yourself and him.