"Shifting whats Stuck"

"SHIFTING WHAT'S STUCK"

I invite you to take a few minutes to look inside... What is your "modus operandi"? 
I am going to give you 3 options to consider and see what resonates with you...

1. Reactive person. 
"One who waits for things to happen (not necessarily on purpose) and then reacts to the situation that results. He is always a little behind as it takes him time to assess the event and come to a conclusion about how to behave with regard to it."

2.Proactive person. 
"One who anticipates the events that are about to happen and is ready with both a response and a plan to deal with the outcome. People who are aware of their surroundings and wish to avoid being taken by surprise, will plan ahead, be wary, and try to forestall the worst of it by being prepared."

3.Initiative taker. 
"One who starts the process of change themselves. They don’t wait for something to happen. They are the agent of making it happen. That puts them in far greater control of the outcome".

When we gain an insight into how we operate in our general life, it enables us to see how that plays out in our work and relationship with our horses. 
Again, I'm going to stress, this is not about what is right or wrong, better or worse, its about being AWARE. We cannot impact or change what we are not aware of or don't acknowledge.

So think about it for a moment...do you feel like your horse is always one step ahead of you, or you are playing catch up? Do you feel like you are often experiencing some unwanted behaviour from your horse and then having to "correct" it? Anxiety and tension are often present?
Or perhaps you feel you can "get things done", always prepared with a strategy or plan for what you want from your horse? You tend to be a bit hyper-vigilant? In control but maybe its not very fresh or exciting, you feel a bit stuck on a plateau? Your horse is "behaved" but seems a bit shut down or expressionless?

Are you starting to sense what M.O you are coming from? 
Many people are working hard at improving their skills and techniques with their horses, which will always be beneficial, but what if we change the focus? Hold the mirror up and look at how we are operating as a person, our behaviour, our thought process and our automatic responses. How we are BEING instead of what are we DOING...

By addressing this we can profoundly shift the underlying "stuck spots". 
Making the shift from 'Reactive' to 'Proactive' in our interactions with our horses can already create a huge transformation, the best part is that this shift does not require the learning of any new skills! We may not even have to change WHAT we are doing in our interaction. Our aids, tools and communication techniques could remain the same, but HOW and WHEN we use them will create totally new outcomes!

Communicating with, and directing our horse Proactively about where to be, is very different to the Reactive constant correcting, and telling the horse off for where he is not supposed to be. He doesn't know where you would like him to to be unless its shown to him! So are you giving him a question that he can seek an answer too, or waiting for him to "make a mistake" and then trying to "fix" him?

But I also believe you can't offer what you don't have. So you need to get a clear picture in your mind of what you would like, and then create that with simple consistent requests. Try asking ONE question at a time. Ask it till YOU know the how, when and where of both the question AND the answer, till you feel it and understand it from inside and out for YOURSELF. When you have this clarity you WILL be able to offer it to your horse. Ask the SAME question till he actually finds the answer himself, gets it, understands it and feels comfortable about it. Remember its a conversation, so make sure its two way...😉

Even if you are in the very beginning stages of learning about horses, and building a relationship, you can, and need to get clarity. Give yourself and your horse time. Do less and think more. Slow down to speed up.
Horses know when you know and they know when you don't know. You can't fake it so don't try, just bring yourself to the conversation with your horse! Even if it's a simple conversation at first... do your best to be honest, clear and kind.

Soon you will find yourself reaching and hungering for more, you are moving naturally into the 'Initiator' mode! And be assured your horse will want to be with this vibrant, creative, interesting, confident "play-maker"! 
Then...
Let the games begin!! 😉