This is Mark Rashid and his wife Chrissie in the dojo up in New Hampshire where we are studying Aikido and horsemanship.

Today we learned the rest of the horseman’s kata, which is a series of movements based on approaching, mounting, riding, dismounting and honoring the horse.  The spiritual underpinnings of this kata are about forgiveness, “wiping away” the past and moving/focusing forward.

In our riding, we are focusing on the same things.  By seeking softness in our hands, legs, backs and minds, we are in a sense asking for forgiveness.  Each time we try to soften, to be clearer, more subtle and precise, we are moving forward, wiping away the past.

Today one of my lessons was about completion, so that each movement with the horse – backing up, halting, softening, was complete and full before going onto the next thing.  It is a continual practice of opening; to ease, to flow, to connection, to the horse, to ourselves.