INNER HARMONY WITH YOURSELF & YOUR HORSE

The more you understand yourself and honor your horse, the more you will enjoy each other.

• ENERGY  –Over riding physically will make a horse tense and shorten his stride.  Relax and have a balanced ride.
• COMMITMENT– Commitment to your  horse assures that you will give your horse total attention, understanding,  care and love.  Your commitment to horsemanship will be meaningless unless it is accompanied  by a commitment to your horse.
• DISCIPLINE– You must discipline yourself before you can discipline your horse.  Once your horse responds, immediately treat him; with love as though there had never been resistance.
• PATIENCE- - Learn to do one thing at a time until it becomes second nature.  Respond to mistakes or disobedience without irritation, frustration, or loss of temper.  Be patient with yourself and your progress.
• PRAISE– Praise your horse, yourself and others for a job well done.  Praise removes the stress of uncertainty, promotes self-esteem.
• FORGIVENESS– You must be able to forgive yourself and others for bad behavior, and then forget. Learn to live for today keeping in mind your future goal.
• CONCENTRATION– Focus on your horse and what you are doing, this will make your actions quicker, stronger and more accurate.
• FREEING YOUR MIND– When faced with important decisions, it is necessary to free your mind of clutter.
• EMPATHY– Empathy allows you to put yourself into the mind of your horse so you can understand and accept their motivations, attitudes and actions.  This also refers to other people.
• ATTITUDE–  Your attitude is your point of view toward yourself and your horse.  Having a positive attitude towards life is a necessary step along your journey.
• AWARENESS–  Awareness takes you way beyond your riding ability.  A great way to increase your focused awareness and learn a great deal about your horse is to learn to massage him.  You learn where he likes to be ribbed.. This will gradually make you more aware of your horse.
• BEING HUMBLE–  Mentally you are superior to the horse, but that does not give you the right to dominate over him.  Soften your control so you can allow the horse to be himself.
• TRUST–When your horse trust you, he relaxes and accepts whatever you ask.  He’ll relax with you and will do what he thinks you want even if you ask him incorrectly.

NOW GO OUT AND HAVE A GREAT RIDE!