Rewild Dressage, part I
Are you ready to enter a world of magic, horses, lore, and love? Join me in my new series “Rewild Dressage” In this journey I will guide you with powerful questions that will support you in reflecting on your own horsemanship journey of rewilding. It is up to you how much time you give to journaling and reflection. I suggest buying a journal just for this journey.
Introduction
Are you ready to take your horsemanship to a new level? Are you seeking to overcome perceived emotional and physical challenges to have the best partnership you can with horses? Have you been searching to restore art and magic as an equestrian?
If you answered yes to any of these questions you are probably ready to rewild dressage.
I dare you to unlearn your multiple internalized “isms” as well as let go of your anger, fear, and lack of trust in yourself that holds you back. No deadlines, no stress, no pressure. You can learn how to listen to your horse, your body, and your soul and return to the path of horsemanship you are meant to walk.
There are just three tenants that must be followed in order to rewild dressage: be present, be yourself, and love.
Be Present: A new way of working with horses
Redefining horsemanship demands that you be present in the actual experience you are having, not the one you prefer to be have, or the one you see someone else have. Horses are waiting to help us find ourselves again and pave the way to healthier relationships with them, ourselves, and ultimately help heal our Earth.
Be Yourself: I give you permission to be you
There is only one you. You are perfect just the way you are. You are unique as your horse. Be wild. Be Wonderful. Be Free. Hold your head up and face the world as yourself. Your wisdom holds the key to your own path. Listening to the echoes of horses will help you find your path again. You may feel imperfect, flawed, fearful, or lost. That’s okay! You are right where you are supposed to be. Start right now and right here.
Love: The only way to approach life
There is no photoshopping while rewilding. No filters. This is a raw place full of mud, blood, sweat, and tears. I was once told there is no tears in dressage. There is too! It’s okay! Once we get past our complaining, past our fears, past the black and white, and past the judgements we can open ourselves up to finding center, finding our ground, finding our intuition, and finding our WILD. Love and acceptance is the only way to grow in the art we seek with horses.
The Importance of Story
“It’s all a question of story. We are in trouble just now because we do not have a good story. We are in between stories.
The old story, the account of how we fit into it, is no longer effective. Yet we have not yet learned the new story.”
Dressage, and horsemanship in general, is not a method, not a way, but a story. A story we can write ourselves for ourself and the horses we care for. When we begin to rewild dressage we start walking the path of harmony with ourselves, horses, and the Earth. We become dedicated to the voice of the horse and ultimately the voice of ourselves that we have forgotten how to listen to.
We need to redefine who we are compared to the natural world and who we are compared to Horse.
We need to look at the direction we are taking our horses and redefine our relationship to them. For truly, they have lost their use to mankind. We, ourselves, are separated from our natural world. Horse is still wild in their heart and they are the key to finding the wild in our heart however that may look for you. It is not about freedom for we are all free. It is about wild.
To rewild dressage we must explore self and the horse human relationship. Your logical mind has taken you far in this world. For this journey you must let go of your logical mind and embrace story, lore, and myth.
The Power of Story: An Essay
I picked up a book by Mark Rashid and opened it up. Words on stark pages. Stories. Rambling talk. What? But I read on. I learned. In those stories is horsemanship. Not a method, not a way, but horsemanship.
I could parrot George Morris, Bent Branderup, or Pat Parelli all day. You probably would think what I good rider I am because I have all this knowledge I can parrot. But learning doesn’t come from parroting. Learning comes from life and experiencing. Until you get “that horse” you don’t know. You could have read about those types of horses and have some ideas of how to handle them but you really don’t know. When things become part of your story then they are yours to keep, not someone else’s.
There is an amazing amount to be learned through story. Most people don’t write about the easy horses. “I rode in textbook equitation and my horse responded in a text book manner.” True, these books can be helpful. George Morris’s Hunter Seat Equitation comes to mind. Because I can no longer support George Morris as a person I suggest you buy the book used. It is a must read, even for dressage riders.
These manuals help you, the human. But I guarantee you that your horse didn’t RTFM.
The best stories have in them: “I didn’t know what to do.” “I messed up.” “The horse refused.” Those are the true learning moments that serve as the catalyst for change. This is where the heart of horsemanship lies. It lies in the unknown. That actually is a very uncomfortable place for many people. We want to know!
Journal Exercise:
What is your horsemanship story so far? What events in your story are the most memorable? Journal your story. Draw your story. Be creative! Don’t get caught up in perfection. Just draw.
Where are you in your story right now?
Do you remember moments in your horsemanship journey where your horse refused? How about when you really didn’t know what to do? Write about it.
I hope you enjoyed Part I of Rewild Dressage. Please take the time to do the journaling exercises before joining me for Part II where we will talk about perfectionism and social media.
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