What a horse will teach you about life
âTo ride a horse, there needs to be safety, trust and partnership. They follow you not because of fear or bribery, but because they trust you. When you show them leadership, they look to you when they sense danger, they donât run away and leave you.â
âWhen we first meet someone, we shake hands, same as humans, we need to built the relationship with the horse, let them sniff your hands, eyes down, no eye contact, animals donât make eye contact except when theyâre alerted or try to warn you. Let the horse sniff you first and approach them with the back of your hands facing them, not the front, until they give you a puff of air as a signal of permission for you to enter their space, then approach and stroke them as slow as possible.â âYou have to help them to lower their guard by becoming a part of their energy, drop your human energy.â
âMost animals donât attack to attack they attack when they feel under threat.â
A beautiful day out horse riding in the woods, up to some 700m above sea level overlooking the foggy valley. Learning life lessons from true horsemanship.

Entirely different to my half forgotten 2 terms of dressage lessons that felt like I was either bulling or getting bullied by the horse (being thrown by Howie for instance). When the horse got scared and didnât want to walk forward anymore, rather than kicking it harder (like how I was taught in one of the bigger stables in Sydney âit wonât hurt them kick harderâ), Geoff got off the horse and walked in front of the horse âWhen theyâre scared you need to make them feel safe and protected, you need to show them the way by walking in front of them, thatâs how you show that youâre the leader.â
Safety, trust, partnership, empathy (to be part of my energy), guidance, protection from danger, donât we all need it.
Today I felt like a team with my horse, we both didnât like the downhill and at times were exhausted, and wanted a weeđ. This cheeky little thing (actually, huge) kept biting the bum of the horse in front, and even hopped up when going downhill which gave me a huge freight, but was fun!
Unlike what Iâve learned before, we didnât have to use the rein to steer the horse, but simply point to the direction, we almost never had to kick them but most of the time use the âtsk tskâ sound to signal them, or gently tap. While I donât think cheeky Rocky would listen to me if Geoff wasnât around, itâs nice to know that this loving and respectful way of training worked so well. These horses donât need to wear shoes, they just run around in the mountains on their happy feet. Living freely in their most natural form, how nice â¤ď¸
Itâs an incredible experience making friends with Rocky who kindly took me on his back to hike the mountains, connecting with the nature and noticing the emotions of these beautiful sensitive creatures. Itâs a dream come true.