The Path of Horsemanship
Building real trust between horses and humans

Horses, being prey animals, live entirely in the present. For them, being fully aware of their surroundings is a matter of life and death. To match their extreme sensitivity and communicate effectively with them in a way that they naturally understand, we have to develop an awareness that matches theirs. We have to train our body, developing feel, timing and balance, so that we can move as precisely and gracefully as they do. We have to train our breath, so we can breathe with them, gaining their respect and trust. We have to train our minds to be able to deal with them with calmness, fairness and equanimity. This is the path of horsemanship.
This path led one of America's top clinicians and horsemanship writer, Mark Rashid, to take up Aikido, and now, having gained an Aikido black belt, he runs Aikido for Horsemen workshops. Another follower of this path, Chris Irwin, writes in his "Dancing with your dark horse" book on the subject of martial arts and horsemanship: "Both offer mental and spiritual discipline. Both offer a way to unite body and mind. And both offer a spiritual path as well." Indeed, combining horsemanship with some form of body centered self development technique is an increasingly popular idea amongst "Natural horsemanship" circles.

At Macalla farm, we have been running yoga courses for many years, and two years ago, started combining yoga and Positive horsemanship in a course aimed at people who want to build or improve a connection with horses. We have found that yoga complements the work we do with horses in many ways.
First, through the practice of Surya Namaskar (sun salutation) and asanas (postures), we learn how to relax and become more aware of our bodies, and how we move them. Because horses are masters at reading body language, being more attuned with our own bodies is essential to improve our communication with them, whether we are on the ground or in the saddle, and some point, as Mark Rashid found, training our bodies becomes essential to improve our horsemanship. Klaus Ferdinan Hempfling, a master in the art of communicating with horses using body language puts it in these terms in his "Dancing with horses" DVD: "This means that you, of course, need an at least partially schooled, trained, soft, elastic body which can very precisely convey the body signals coming from within to the horse." Regular yoga practice also helps to build and maintain fitness for riding, and some yoga postures are very beneficial to improve your seat.
On another, more subtle level, through the practice of pranayama (yogic breathing), we learn how to relax and become more aware of our breathing, and the horses certainly notice! Yogis have always known that mind and breath are intimately connected, and that any emotional disturbance will alter our breathing patterns. Horses are very aware of their handler's or rider's breathing, and we have found that using yogic breathing techniques when handling horses helps them to relax and trust us. Yogic breathing also increases concentration, and with better focus, communication with the horses becomes clearer and easier. 
Frederic Pignon, a founder of the famous Cavalia equine show, and one of France' leading horse trainers, writes on the subject of breathing and concentration in his book "Galloping to freedom":
"... I often use breathing to relax both the horse and myself and to develop concentration.  I breathe out in a way the horse can understand and copy... All my horses learn to do this...." .
Finally, through the practice of meditation, we learn to develop mindfulness and a non-reactive mind. As Linda Kohanov puts it in her book "The Tao of Equus", "In their dealing with the human race over the past six thousand years, horses have become even more sophisticated in the non verbal language of feeling...  even the most secure horse knows that any two legged creature who is conveying the gestures of one emotion in order to hide another is either up to no good or delusional enough to be dangerous to herself and to others." So being aware of our own emotion is absolutely essential when dealing with horses. Once we are aware of our own emotional state, we can make better decisions in our dealing with horses. More than two thousand years ago, Xenophon advised horsemen to "Never deal with a horse when you are in a fit of passion. A fit of passion is a thing that has no foresight in it, and so we often have to rue the the day when we gave way to it". Horses are flight animals. Their main emotion is fear, which in extreme cases can completely overwhelm them to the point where they become blind and oblivious to physical pain. The antidote to fear is trust, but how can a worried horse trust a handler who is in an heightened emotional state of anger or fear?
Being aware and in control of our emotions is essential to build trust with horses, and particularly when training them or otherwise putting them through new situations. In these situations, our own confidence and emotional balance make all the difference. Yogic breathing is the tool we use to help control our emotions and retain our emotional balance.

One important, though often neglected, part of any transformative path is ethics. We must keep in mind that we humans have completely shaped the world in which our horses live and that we make most of their choices for them. We therefore have complete responsibility for their physical and emotional well being. When dealing with horses it is easy to follow conventions without putting much thought into why we are doing something in a particular way: we rarely reflect on how the way we feed, keep and care for our horse affects them on different levels. And while anyone walking the path of Horsemanship with integrity will never beat up a horse or let them go hungry, it is still all too common to see well intentioned horse people actually harming their horses unwittingly through inadequate choices in matters of boarding, hoof care, veterinary care or even feeding. Anyone walking the path of horsemanship should educate themselves in all horses related matters, and make a point of looking carefully at all aspects of horse care, questioning conventional wisdom, and always keeping the horses' best interest, rather than their own convenience, as their guide. This genuine, thoughtful kindness will always be paid back, because as Pat Parelli says,  " horse doesn't care how much you know until he knows how much you care". If we put time and thought into giving our horses the best life we can, in the long run, they will no doubt thank us for it.

The path of horsemanship is a path of transformation. Transforming our relationship with horses takes courage and practice. The reward, of course, is true partnership.

Reference / further reading:
Many people have walked the path of horsemanship, amongst the most notable are:

• Mark Rashid, Any of his books are well worth reading, but his last two, "Horsemanship through life" and "Nature in horsemanship" deal more specifically with the relation between horsemanship and aikido

• Chris Irwin and Bob Weber, Dancing with your dark horse. Chris Irwin practices meditation daily and runs courses in Equine Assisted Personal Development

• Linda Kohanov, The Tao of Equus. Linda  Kohanov is a founder of Epona, an organisation that runs educational programs that employ horses in teaching people leadership, assertiveness, personal empowerment, relationship, intuition, and emotional fitness skills.

• Frederic Pignon, Magali Delgado and David Walser , Gallop to Freedom: Training Horses with the Founding Stars of Cavalia. The six golden principles of horse training presented in this book form a sound basis for an ethical relationship with horses.

• Klaus Ferdinand Hempfling, Dancing with Horses: Communication by Body Language

• Xenophon, The art of horsemanship

Exploring the idea further:
Vanessa Bee  (www.positivehorsemanship.com) and Christophe run courses exploring the Path of Horsemanship at Macalla farm, in Co Mayo. See www.ecofarm.ie/horses for more details.

Christophe Mouze for Horse and Pony Ireland