Picture a sunny May morning just before 7 am. Sand ring freshly dragged. Classical music filling the air. A rendition of All the Pretty Little Horses.
The lesson today is to dance with your horse. Don't worry about what direction you go. Walk, bend. Halt. Rein back. Walk on. Trot. Canter. Scared of our own shadow. Sit. Breathe. Relax. Feel the music.
Working on halt. Soft seat sends energy down, close hands, release.
I tend to get stuck giving the aid and forget to release. But not a release that throws it all away.
It's a release that softly gives the energy back to the horse. Lob the ball to her and she catches it and lobs it back.
Suddenly the penny dropped.
Halts, turns on forehand, reins loosely held in one hand. Sharing the energy back and forth. I breathe and Luba breathes. I ask halt, Luba halts and our energy goes quiet. You don't make your horse halt. You ask your horse to halt and she obliges.
We walk over to Sonja and Luba starts giving releases like when she gets body work. Soft eye, slow blinks, lick, chew, yawn, sigh.
Be.
Putting away my gear in the trailer and Sonja brings me a gift. She pins it to my shirt and says this is to mark the day I became a Feeling Rider. Keep it with me when I ride to remind me of how to feel when we ride.
Thank you, Sonja and Horses of the Sun.
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| Sonja's gift for Nancy, the Feeling Rider |
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