So what IS the Feel of the great classical dressage masters?
I’ve heard it described as the inside of the person knowing the inside of the horse.
It’s SUCH a deep connection to your horse that you can feel their emotions, you can feel the energy in their body (all the great dressage masters talk about the circuit of energy or the circle of power between horse and rider), your body works like a finely tuned instrument such that you can Feel in your own body the physical restrictions in theirs (which gives you the opportunity to help them to release those restrictions), you can “hear” their thoughts and you can feel the joy of those enormous big open hearts.
You don’t get that Feel by copying what these masters do – in fact that’s a recipe for failure, because your Feel is utterly unique to you and trying to copy someone else pulls you out of that. Copying is also a recipe for that ” I’m not as good as … insert name here” and “I’m not good enough” and even the totally terrible and completely untrue and waayyy too common “I am not enough”.
And it’s highly unlikely that you’ll find your Feel for your horse in the classical dressage exercises either because you’re far too busy DOing instead of FEELing. I’ve noticed hat’s a recipe for struggling for most people.
But FEEL for your horse is not just about feeling – it’s about translating that into beautiful action with your horse – and knowing how to do that.
The combination of my alternative therapy background, a deep desire to be seriously good with horses, an incredible horse who put his life on the line as he hung out for me to be the best I could be – and a whole host of other threads coming together, led me to discovering Feel for myself – but more importantly, discovering how to teach it.
And it doesn’t matter what shape or size you are, whether you’re a beginner rider or advanced – everyone can develop Feel for their horse.
Start working on your Feel with the FREE LESSONS The 9 Keys to Happiness with Your Horse. If you like the way we work here, you’re bound to find something to support you here at whopping value for money in our special mix of healing and horse programs.
The quirkily funny thing is, that we’ve found the secret of the great riding masters AND how to teach it – and yet you won’t find a formal dressage lesson anywhere around here. And you should know that I go to great lengths and am UTTERLY committed to everyone who does our flagship Fast Track program finding their Feel for their horse.
Ordinary people being Extraordinary in all Our Training Programs.
Today’s Photo: Maestro Nuno Oliveira – one of the great dressage masters.
