Control, there is a lot of meaning behind that word. In Jack Brainard's book, "If I Were To Train A Horse," he shares with us some wise words,
"In order to control the horse, you must first control the parts."
Trust me when I say after equine anatomy class in vet school, a horse has a lot of parts! So this simple statement can get complicated. Why do we want to control a horse? First off, when I'm riding a 1,000 lb flight animal, I feel much more comfortable knowing I'm in control. Would you want to drive a car if you weren't in control of the car? I didn't think so. This is the same idea, but unlike a car, in order to control a horse, you have to get control of his body and mind. Once you are able to move each part of his body - his head, neck, shoulders, ribcage, back end, and feet, then you start to gain control of his mind. But to truly gain control of his mind, you need to gain his trust. The hardest part for me of gaining control of my horse's body and mind is that it can only be done when I have control of my body and mind! Oh boy, there lies the problem! It seems that working with horses always comes down to working on ourselves, doesn't it?
Just like the horse has so many parts to control, we also have to make sure that we have control of all of our body parts - our head, shoulders, core, seat, arms (fingers, wrists, elbows), and legs (heels, calves, thighs). That's a lot of body parts to control all at the same time! As I'm learning to improve my riding, I find that I'm learning all the things that I'm supposed to do, but my body just doesn't always seem to listen to my mind! How do I change this? Practice, practice, practice is the answer....and more practice. When I have finally gotten control of all of my body parts (and they are listening to what my mind is telling them to do!) then it finally clicks and feels amazing. At that moment, my horse starts to respond automatically because he's not getting mixed signals. So keep practicing, it will all come together once you develop that control of your own body.
But what about your mind? Taking control of my mind's thoughts and emotions while I'm riding and focusing on what I'm asking of my horse is often the hardest part. I find if my mind drifts to thoughts of "what if," like what if my horse does this or that, then I react to things that haven't even happened instead of reacting to what is happening. And sometimes my thoughts are distracted by my emotions from things that have nothing to do with my ride. In order to gain control of my horse's mind, he has to trust me. And that trust can only be earned by showing him that I am present in both mind and body and focused on our ride.
Once control of your own body and mind becomes effortless, then you start to be able to notice the subtle changes in your horse's body, moods, and emotions. This allow you to start to have more then just control, you start to have communication with your horse's body and mind.
Control of our mind and body, and being fully present in the moment, not only applies to our horsemanship, but it seems to apply to life in general. When we are present in the moment and not distracted by our thoughts and emotions, then our relationships with the people in our lives will also tend to be based on communication and trust just like with our horses. Think how much better our relationships with the people that we love can be if we have control of our mind and body. I'm working on being present with myself and learning how to control my emotions and thoughts in order to be present for the people and horses in my life. And in the end I'm finding that it is helping me be better to myself.
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