Owning Our State of Mind/Heart Before We Act

In the last edition, Wherever or Whatever You Are Looking At, we used horse-riding as a way to demonstrate that what we look at is where we go, where we head. If you remember, reins follow hands which follow our eyes -- what we look at. We drew a parallel to life. The proverb is simple but profound, “Whatever we look at, consciously and unconsciously, that’s where we head in life.” So we raised the question, “What you are looking at? Do you like what you are looking at?”

In this edition, we again use horsemanship to teach us another powerful lesson. That is, long before we look to where we want to head, we already are projecting our thoughts and emotions of where we want to head as energy.

If you’ve spent any time around horses or mules, you quickly learn that they are very sensitive, very intuitive. It’s almost as if they know what we are thinking before we do something. Actually, this is true of most animals. How is this so?

Think of it this way. Before you look and move your reins, you’ve already broadcast your intent to your horse. Before you pet your dog, your dog senses your intention. Your horse perceives that you are about to make something happen. Your energy begins to pick up, and you broadcast that non-verbally.

Do horses or mules or cats or dogs read our minds? No, they read our energy.  We are energy beings. We emanate energy that is focused through thought and intensified through emotion. If a person isn’t aware of how horses pick up on their thought/emotional state, especially their fear, the person will not understand why their horse reacts to their fear by running away, bucking, shying, etc.

So how do we know what we are thinking and feeling before we ask our horse to do anything? We have to be fully present to ourselves. We have to be aware of our mental/emotional state – whether it’s impatience, frustration, anger, fear, doubt, uncertainty, dominance, etc.

When you walk into a round pen with a horse, you have to know what your state of mind and heart is, and what you are projecting to the horse. Horses connect; they sense what’s going on in their environment. They have to know whether they are safe, can relax and trust, or if they have to stay on edge around a person and be ready to run.

In other words, before a person enters a round pen with their horse, they first might have to make an attitude adjustment. If they don’t, then their horse could get a little reactive. And then they may end up having to discipline their horse’s reaction to their negative state of being instead of having already corrected their own state of mind before they entered the round pen.

But isn’t that how we often act around other people? We fail to monitor our own state of mind/heart. Instead, we expect other people to adjust to our negative frame of mind and make us feel better. And when they don’t, we become frustrated with them and sometimes try to discipline them. Ever take some of your emotional crap out on your kids, when it was some thing you failed to own?

Now that’s not to say that a horse or other person can’t have issues of their own. My horse, Bob, was probably started by someone who was very rough-handed with him. He tends to be anxious. My guess is that when Bob became frightened as young colt, his handler(s) didn’t take time to walk him through his fear. Instead, they beat on him. So instead of bonding with me and trusting that we can get out of a scrape together, like a deer suddenly jumping out of the brush, he bolts out of fear. That’s Bob’s stuff. And all horses and people have some kind of stuff.

So now, not only do I have to monitor my own state of mind (and obviously being anxious doesn’t help a horse like Bob), but I have to account for his state of mind as well and factor that into how I work with him.

But I know one thing. Whatever state of mind/heart Bob is in, if I don’t stay calm and relaxed and positive and confident, neither will he. That’s for sure. It’s my belief that no matter how animals or people act, or from what past experiences they are responding, it’s up to me to project energy that is going to be beneficial to them, that will bless them, calm them, and that will help them change for the better.

I’ll close by paraphrasing something that Jesus said. He said, “Come to me all you who are struggling inside. I will help you to find rest. Let me put my saddle on you; it’s really light, you’ll hardly know it’s there. Let me put my bit in your mouth to guide you; my hands are gentle and you’ll only find a gentle pull. For I am a gentle hand. I have a calm, gentle heart. I only want the best for you. Slowly and with my training, you’ll find that your insides settle down. And little by little, you will move out in a more positive direction that helps you find fulfillment through my guidance.”

It was Jesus’ way of saying, “My calm energy becomes your calm energy.” That, my friends, is how we use our positive energy to work with horses and people.

Blessings. Steve Bull. Transforming Lives. 6/17/2022