MINDFUL RIDERS

As we said about Conscious Based Horsemanship, we believe everything matters with horses. Who we are being when we are with our horses also matters, whether it’s our body, our mindset, our emotions, our knowledge, our skillset.

Too often, people blame their horses for problems that originated with the rider. Science shows us that a rider’s imbalances get mirrored in the horse’s body, potentially causing pain, injury and limitations. Our psychological and emotional states also affect our riding as well as our horses. We might be able to fool our spouse or a friend or ourselves, but we cannot fool horses. The are supreme masters of congruence. If we bring tension, they will mirror that back to us. If we bring mindfulness, they will mirror that too. If we are unbalanced, they will struggle to be balanced.

Harmony is a mechanical horse that Gillian designed to help people understand and feel the impact of their posture and balance while riding. Harmony is the perfect School Master. Depending on how one rides, Harmony tips in the direction of the rider’s positional imbalance. Harmony offers riders the unique ability to explore the dynamics of posture, tension patterns and balance, safely, while incorporating the changes of movement in combination with other modalities like acupuncture, myofascial release, tapping and Feldenkrais.

Riding in Dynamic Balance is a unique therapy combining dynamic acupuncture/acupressure and breathing techniques on Harmony so that riders become of aware of and release areas of chronic tension, old injuries, or otherwise compromised parts of their bodies to allow a more balanced and fluid ride that benefits the rider and ultimately the horse.