Photo: Steve found the circuit of energy between horse and rider in simulation first and then later with Oliver, then with his other horses.
Heads up…
Do you have that expression in your country? Here in AUS it means “pay particular attention please.”
When I first wrote this lesson I hadn’t come to that lovely place of understanding and celebrating our differences. To some people this circuit of energy will be a mystery. That’s just because Energy Feel isn’t your thing. The more we focus on OUR OWN natural talents, the more we seem to expand into all five Feels over time – and it happens just naturally.
Right now, you will – uniquely – experience your version of this incredible depth of connectedness to your horse, in the way in which YOUR Feel works strongest. Some of you will feel a deep, delicious sense of RIGHTNESS, some will experience joy and even euphoria, some will feel the sheer enjoyment of two bodies working together physically in harmony.
Here is a list of the factors that are involved in finding this magic of incredible deep and reciprocal connection together that takes ordinary people beyond mere riding.
1. A horse that is in self carriage because they are in their Comfort Zone.
2. A rider who is in their Comfort Zone and also in self carriage.
3. A rider who keeps their seat connected to their horse and doesn’t “over-ride” – that means that you don’t push into your body’s resistance or your horse’s “can’t do” or even their “won’t do” or resistance. There’s a stunning example of Kathryn helping her horse to let go some “can’t do” in some liberty work on the forum under Extra Lessons from Jenny. You’ll need your user name and password to access it here.
4. A rider who is in such a beautiful riding position that they are able to ride with the feel of their whole body.
5. A rider who is riding with Inner Awareness and able to feel their horse with sensitivity in whatever is their unique way of feeling.
6. A rider with Feel so good that they can use the meet and melt technique with their whole body while they are riding. I just want you to pause on this one for a moment. It’s one of my favorite topics so you’re bound to hear more about this on a Live Seminar too. When you don’t over-ride – when you can Feel that blockage or resistance in your horse’s body because your riding position is sooo… connected – then you can actually meet and melt with the Feel of your whole body. There are phenomenal opportunities to ride a horse to wellness by doing this.
If you want to be the BEST rider possible, if you want to be as SAFE a rider as possible, if you want your horse to feel GOOD about having you on their back, if you want to experience riding AS ONE BEING with the circuit of energy running between you and your horse and if you want to fast track that – then this lesson is for you.
Oh my goodness I have personally experienced some amazing stuff doing this exercise and I have seen even more phenomenal progress in other people.
Listen to this audio first and then go and do your horse/chair work undistracted by my voice and timing and wow… have fun taking it out to your horses afterwards.
As usual, there is a written version of the audio below.
Click here for an alternate recording
Keys to Success
1. Don’t TRY and change anything in your position that you think is “wrong”. Don’t TRY to change any blockage or stuck spot that you find either. I cannot emphasize that enough.
UNDERSTANDING it is the first step, then the “problem” changes and releases naturally and easily without you trying or thinking about it. THAT is the way you can effectively re-program your muscle memory and THAT is the way that you will just be in that more effective position next time you get on your horse – IF neither you nor your horse is nervous or afraid.
2. And chill out if there is something going on in the nerves or fear regard, because I have a great idea coming up to deal with that!
3. Remember your soft smiling eyes – the lightness that I talk about in the lesson can be helped by smiling while you are in that Inner Awareness and expanded place.
Written Version of the Audio
You have read and heard and will no doubt continue to read and hear some very eminent people tell you what position your body should be in for riding – for this movement or that – and a lot of this information is conflicting and some of it, well actually lots of it, is downright incorrect.
Although there are some fundamentals that are pretty much not negotiable, the big picture answer is for you to check it out for yourself.
When you are in a deep sense of Inner Awareness, then you will get the bio-feedback from your own body about what is right for YOUR body on THIS horse in THIS moment.
The OTHER thing that happens when you work on your riding position in a deep sense of Inner Awareness, your body just moves into the “right” position next time. You are able to notice “yes, I am in the perfect position on my horse right now”. You have programmed this “right” position into your muscle memory… and that is exactly what you were doing in the last lesson and what you are going to continue to do in this one.
Apart from the neutral pelvis position that we have already covered, there are a bunch of other parts of your body that can affect you AND your horse being able to move to the best of your ability.
The most common of these is having your feet turned in so that you can grip with your knees. Having your knees on the saddle and then gripping with them seriously gets in the way of your horse being able to track through with their hind end. I know, we just about all got taught to do that, but it doesn’t make it right – feel it for yourself.
You can drop into Inner Awareness right now, expand your attention down into the earth and out into All That Is, and feel for yourself what happens when you turn your feet in and clamp your knees on your horse. You can almost feel yourself shutting your horse down, hey?
Well, when you are riding your real horse, you WILL feel yourself shutting them down if you have your feet turned forward so that they are parallel to your horse and your knees gripping.
Next time you are riding, feel how your horse can come through from behind when there is daylight between your knees and the saddle, when your feet are sitting naturally turned out a little.
Arggghhh… how many other old riding habits need changing to be the best rider possible that I want to be? How many years is this going to take? What to pay attention to first?
Well, lucky there’s an easy answer with my “no more struggle” approach! Your mission, should you choose to accept it, after you have listened to this lesson, or over time, sit on your chair/horse and check out the other parts of your body, looking for inappropriate tensions, blockages, stuck spots and old position habits that are not so useful any more, looking for anything that wants changing for you to be riding together as one being with your horse.
When you are doing that, let your attention wander over your body, noticing the most important thing that wants changing in order for you to reach your dreams with your horse.
When you have noticed something, don’t try and change anything.
Use your Inner Awareness and then anchoring into the earth and out into All That Is, at this point, just NOTICE everything about that tension or stuck spot or habit.
It’s important to not try and change anything, just notice everything about it with soft eyes and allow yourself to be guided by your Inner Awareness about any changes to make.
And then take the time to enjoy this release of tension or blockage or to enjoy how good this new position feels. Take the time to feel that enjoyment and really anchor that enjoyment into every cell of your body.
And then the next day notice the next most important thing, because if you are like me, and most people I have worked with, you won’t get this done in one day.
I suspect that the journey to brilliant riding is a lifelong one of continuous improvement – so we had better be having some fun on the way.
I am constantly having lightness of spirit and fun brought to my attention while I am working with the horses because I have a tendency to take myself way too seriously.
It’s the sense of fun and excitement that will unleash the power that some of you will be looking for, for your collected work, so we had better be practising that now!
And here is a big one… In that spirit of lightness – while you are noticing and working on clearing away anything else that is in the way of you riding with that circuit of powerful energy – from here on in, decide to notice… decide to notice every time you are straining to do something, decide to notice every time you are straining to get your horse to do something, decide to notice whenever you are worrying about your horse doing something – then soften your eyes, listen or feel inside yourself, then expand your awareness out into All That Is AGAIN, deeper and allow the answers to flow smoothly and easily in the moment.
And enjoy it!
Up Next
In your next lesson, we look at how you can keep yourself safe when things go wrong whilst riding.