Books with Spirit – Joyfulness between horses and people

Hey everyone, if you have ever been confused about where to set the boundaries with your horse (either yours or theirs) you have just got to check out Carolyn Resnick’s blog  this morning – it shines a whole new understanding on the subject – brilliant!  Carolyn slips in the really big punch line without much emphasis, so read carefully.

If you are brand new to the concept of boundaries, it is about when you say “no” or “no thankyou” to your horse – and it is a completely personal thing. 

It might be about how close he or she is allowed to come to you while you are putting the feed in the feedbin.  It might be wanting your horse to stand in one place while you you tack up, as a manners thing.  (If they were moving away because they were afraid or uncomfortable in the tack, then that would not be a manners / boundary issue.)   It might be about how close that you are happy for them to be when they are jumping and rearing and playing about (which I love to watch and be part of, but not too close to me, thanks).

When your horse was young, someone set boundaries (hopefully!!) that said it was not OK to kick or bite the human. Also hopefully, they set these boundaries clearly and without traumatising or confusing the foal.  Click here for a great story about solving a problem with a really badly biting horse.

Our horse has boundaries too – which many of us humans go trampling all over in our size 9 boots, which doesn’t do much for our relationship with our horse (and there is the understatement of the year). 

Here is a REALLY big question for you to think about.  What do you think are boundary issues for a horse?  How does your horse tell you that you are trampling all over his or her boundaries?  How does your horse tell you when you are crossing or about to cross the line?

Think about that and then come back to the comments button below this article and tell me what you think.

You can probably tell that I much admire Carolyn Resnick’s work, you only have to look at the way horses move with her, to know that she is a brilliant horsewoman.  Our book “Zen Connection with Horses” fits with and adds to Carolyn’s work by teaching “feel” really well - by teaching you the following things:

• how to know when it’s time to do something,
• how to figure out what to do, which technique (if any) to use,
• how to know when it’s time to back away,
• how to know when it’s time to take a break,
• how to know when it’s time to stop,
• how to know when it’s time to start again,
• and much, much….  much more. 

Zen Connection with Horses, the book which comes with audio lessons, takes you step by step through developing a really close connection and communication with your horse – and then you add that “feel” and timing and philosophy to get great results from everything that you do.

Click here to go to the bookshop for Zen Connection with Horses  Or browse around People’s Stories and Readers Letters (see the buttons on the right hand side of this page) to see the wonderful results that people are getting from this book and this way of being with horses.