Hi All,

I haven't posted for a while. I have been following Rene Wright's journey with Cookie, which is at times exactly the same as mine with my mare. I think sometimes our horses are soul joined, which brings me to my latest light bulb moment.

Em and I are learning to do dressage, a very challenging sport most of the time, and for a long time I haven't felt like we were ever going to get there.

I am so very happy to say that with a lot of patience and good advice from my instructor, we can now do so many of those wonderful movements, and Em still has a soft mouth.

The biggest lesson came when I was out practicing one day, in what I call the scary arena. Our arenas are set up on vacant council land, and are surrounded by bush, so you can only imagine the amount of scary things a horse can find.

I have been working hard on moving past my fear from the worst fall I have ever had. The hospital thought I had fractured my lower vertebrae, thankfully I only ended up with very upset muscles and a fantastic bruise. 

I realized after the pain faded that I had been pushing both Em and myself harder and faster than either of us was ready for. I had forgotten that horses and riding need soul, and you don't have soul when you're pushing.

I went back to talking, listening, touching and connecting with Em on an emotional level. I got the soul back in our relationship, and I've got to say with it came the passion again.

Em greets me every time I arrive with a whinny; she evens try to groom me. Every time I walk through the stable gates, I leave the rest of the world behind. I allow the time to be about us and our soul connection. We are both so much happier now. 

That ride in the scary arena was the one where I realized that, yes, I was scared still, but Em was calm, she was encouraging me to move forward, she showed me her soul and I gave mine back. It is a bond that I hope is never broken.

No matter the discipline you follow, remember to connect, that it takes two, and that is you and your horse.

Happy riding, one and all.