Horses in the wild are organized into herds. This is their social structure. A dominant stallion is the herd leader and is responsible for the safety of the entire herd. An alpha mare co-leads with the stallion. Every horse in the herd has a role and learns from the others how to be an effective member within the group. The survival of the herd and its members requires cooperation, collaboration and strong leadership. What most people don’t realize is that the stallion does not typically lead his charges from the front. That is the alpha mare’s job. The stallion’s job is to lead from the rear. His job is to maintain a broad point of observation and oversee the big picture. To use our cont
Recently someone close to me hurt me deeply. She falsely accused me of something I did not do, and she attempted to convince others that I had committed this huge transgression. I was shocked, hurt, offended, and indignant. In fact the emotions poured out and through me unlike anything I have experienced in a very long time. Then something profound happened. After all of the emotion processed through, I was left with the clarity of knowing I did nothing wrong. I did not cause this. I was not responsible for it. I was only a victim if I chose to be. Then I considered other options. How can I use this opportunity to create something that I want? Something that serves a higher purpose? Someth
In past articles I have talked about how sensitive horses are to our energy, emotion and intention. Their ability to read, understand and respond to our emotions and energy is a large part of what makes them such terrific partners in equine guided learning, coaching and even therapeutic contexts. In my experience horses provide a safe space. They respond to our energy and emotion without judgement, without taking things personally. That in itself is a great gift. When they mirror our behavior back to us, we often have profound truths revealed to us and sometimes mysteries are revealed. A few summers ago I was working with a team of executives who had come out for leadership coaching. The
Perhaps the greatest loss of connection is the one between people. We are often so busy in our own thoughts that we are not tuned into what
Horses value congruence. Congruence means safety to a horse. When they encounter a person being incongruent, they respond with altered behavior. Congruency is being in full alignment: body, mind, and spirit. It means that our words, actions, and body language are perfectly parallel and in synch with our thoughts, emotions and beliefs. When we are perfectly congruent our vibration is true and clear. When we are incongruent, our vibration is ‘off’. The mismatch between the vibrations of our action and our intention is dissonance. People sometimes say that animals smell fear and will take advantage of you if you show fear. I think animals are reacting to human dissonance or lack of congruency
