Meandmyhorse

Another concept from Mark Rashid. And one that brings questions.

Mark pointed out to several riders that they were riding on their horse rather than riding with their horse. That they were on the movement, not in the movement.

I realize more and more (again thanks to Mark Rashid and his assistant Crissi) how some energy blocks and stiffness in my joints prevent me from moving with my horse. So to some degree even if my heart and mind are open to becoming this meandmyhorse unity, I wonder whether I can if my body is tight.

I also wonder, if my body is tight and/or energy is blocked, what part of tightness or defensiveness in my mind is that reflecting? Thank goodness this is a forever path of becoming soft. Not an either/or situation. And yes, today, to some degree I can choose defensiveness or softness. But the parameters of this softness I can choose is what will keep changing.

I already notice some differences in my horses, my keenest mirrors here at home. Little things (big things!) like when I reach for my horse through the reins, I can feel him there, responding back to me with a question, an openness: what now, my Friend?

And this is what I wanted from my clinic time with Mark. Something I never did verbalize at the clinic but which I clarified for myself before the clinic. I wanted to know how to change the feeling from Rusty when I ask him for something from 'what now?' to 'what now'?

Ok, so how do I express in two dimensional print media the difference between those two questions?! Maybe I don't. Maybe you can use your imagination to guess what I do not want and what I do want as respresented by those same two words but different feelings, different inflections, different tones of voice...

In any case, I got that from the clinic. And how did I get that? Probably by allowing Mark to direct me, and being open to the softness he brings to every horse, every rider, and aspires to bring to every moment -- every moment. And bringing home with me those memories and my commitment to softness as a way of life.

So, maybe right now I am still "me and my horse" but I am aware of something else, have memories from childhood riding that I know with full confidence I can recapture, no, that I can resume living, of being "meandmyhorse". And I'm actively pursuing increasing my energy flow and reducing the blocks, not just watiing for the magic to happen...