Connection > Contact
Are you connecting through the reins, or contacting through the reins?
True partnership requires subtle, refined & intimate communication between two parties.
All too often this is replaced with a forced, one-sided, conversation.
& our poor lesson horses are put through the ringer. Dealing with different riders, different hands, different levels of accuracy, different amounts of pressure.
We use a cold, hard, piece of metal resting on the tongue, threaded between our horses lips, to communicate what we want from them.
This delicate area of the body is susceptible to so much damage, when literally, in the wrong hands.
The mouth, tongue, and jaw may be a smaller area of mass when compared to the rest of the horses body - yet it holds the most importance.
Pull.
Pull harder.
The truest meaning of ‘contact’ appears to have been lost in translation over the years.
By seeking contact, we should be seeking a connection.
By connecting, we build trust.
By building trust, we build a partnership.
In a partnership, we can dance, with our most authentic selves.
Connection, is how we develop precise communication.
Connection, is how we preserve the horses body, and mind.
Soft in the mouth,
soft in the body.
Soft in the body,
soft in the mind.
Unwilling to master the basics,
unwilling to feel,
unwilling to listen,
the illusion of higher jumps comes calling.
Throw all of our balance into the bit.
The horse will do it for us,
if we cannot do it ourselves.
Push them into the bridle.
More leg.
Pull.
Pull harder.
Forced contact.
So much to take.
Is there ever anything to truly give,
if the trust has already been broken?
No way to predict what is coming next,
horses mind says brace.
Brace,
as if your life depended upon it.
Brace,
in an attempt to preserve your precious mouth.
The precious mouth that should be used for foraging,
all-day every-day,
to sooth the constant acid production in the stomach.
Direct (intentional) bracing in one area,
indirect (unintentional) bracing in other areas.
So much bracing,
we cannot ask for a downward transition at a level one,
now we’re asking at a level five,
six,
seven,
- as a default.
So, I ask you, to consider how you are trying to communicate with your horse.
Is it with connection?
Or with contact?
