Five years ago the “Make a wish foundation” gave my daughter Pernille a horse. He was a difficult horse. Very stubborn, afraid of many things as plastic, bicycles, new things and he wouldn’t let anyone except his previous owner ride him. She was a very skilled rider, working with her horses as a horse therapist and still she had trouble riding him! Now he is the most caring and calm horse and Pernille rides him bareback, only with a halter and he is not afraid of anything! Pernille will often go to the horses and ride him while having my horse in halter and rope in her hand. She will ride the horses through our shed into our garden where they often spend the day eating our herbs and raspberries. Sometimes they even come into the kitchen for a cup of tea!

One day Pernille came home with the horses very exited. There had been roadworks on the way. They had dug up the whole road, huge machines and many men were everywhere. Pernille had rode the horses straight through the middle of this inferno. Through holes, over iron plates and in-between working machines and men. As she approached the scenery one of the workers looked up and saw this tiny girl coming bareback on one horse and with another horse in her hand and he panicked. The horses picked that up immediately and started being uneasy. Pernille instantly expanded out, providing the space and the calm needed and the horses just calmed down and continued without paying any more attention to the inferno.

Total communion with your horse, how is this possible? We both went to a Conscious Horse Conscious Rider class with Gary Douglas in Texas 3 years ago. That changed everything for us – also around horses. We now have a completely different way of being with horses with ease and fun. The communication, the connection and the contribution between the horses and us is clear and easy! In the situation with the road work Pernille was willing to be the leader, she had the energy flow running through the horses and her, she was expanded out to the zone of the horses and as she felt the panic they picked up, she held the expanded zone and clearly communicated to them that everything was okay….

The road workers looked flabbergasted at the scenery as Pernille is a tiny girl with a thin and crooked body and they were definitely expecting trouble with 2 geldings with no bridle or bit, this tiny girl and all the noise, machines etc.

This is a very good example of how much your perspective around horses and your way of riding and working with horses can shift in a Conscious Horse Conscious Rider class and how it actually is possible to be with the horses in a completely other way than you normally see, when communicating with them in their language and based on question, choice, possibility and contribution.

The horses wish to contribute to us. They flow massive amounts of energy to us and they will let you know if you are not present, if you are contracted or if you are not being and clear in what you choose. How does it get any better than that? I will never forget the look in my horse’s eyes the first time I rode him after the CHCR class. He turned his head and looked at me with an expression of happiness, surprise and gratitude. Saying ”YES – you finally got it. How much fun can we now have?” I was with a carriage with some VIPs and 2 white stallions in front as spectators to the Hubetus hunt in Denmark last year. We parked in the middle of a crowd of 40.000 people overlooking the area. As the horses in the race came thundering past us one of the stallions in front of the wagon panicked and started balking and jumping around. Normally it could calm him down if we started moving, but that was not possible as thousands of people were standing very tightly around the carriage. By putting a hand on his forehead and, like Pernille did, expanding the zone providing the space and energy flow he needed, he calmed down. What else is possible?

Imagine the change and the possibilities we are capable of providing with these tools, how many misunderstandings and difficult situations we can change, how many horses lives can we contribute to…? I am so grateful for the tools from the Conscious Horse Conscious Rider class and for the endless possibilities it brings of being around horses in a different way with so much more fun and ease for the horses as for us.

—————-

Pernille and I are working with these tools all the time now. With our own horse, with other horses and by facilitating Conscious Horse Conscious Rider classes anywhere it is asked for.

How much change can we create in the horse world with these tools?! ! How much fun can we have playing with this? How much can we and the horses contribute to each other? And how much ease, joy and glory can we contribute to these amazing animals?

by Pernille and Hanne Stigaard