Building self esteem in the horse

March 2008

Objective... to develop a powerful, synchronistic working relationship with the horse by building self esteem in the rider.

Why is it important for a horse and rider to have good self esteem?

We believe that a horse without a functional level of self esteem or self assurance is not only an unhappy, insecure horse but also might not have the trust in it's self to react appropriately in a given situation.
The same could be said for a rider who might pick up on the horse's fear and then too will display a certain lack of self assurance.
If this happens we get a negative co-dependency (see Holistequine cycle of fear).

This negative fear cycle can even be a problem while handling the horse on the ground. In order to build self esteem in our horse first the rider must develop high self esteem; that is the rider must value and trust their own sense of worth in order for the horses to also trust.

The horse perceives our "aura" and picks up any "negative hot spots" within our energy field.
Our horse will react to this "sensed" information in many ways; ways we will not understand until we begin to see ourself the way our horse "reads" us.

The personal growth or Whole Body Intelligence component of these programs gently exposes these "hot spots" or missing personal qualities and through energy bio-feedback we can then change our energy field and achieve a new level of self esteem.

If we can develop fearlessness, confidence and trust in ourselves (with an understanding of our horse's mindset established through profiling) we can then instil fearlessness, confidence and trust in our horse.
It will not happen the other way around.

Good horsemanship means establishing this self esteem in horse and rider and should be a prerequisite to everything else we do.
Of course we all try to do this everyday as we ride and exercise our horse but as any rider knows once we have made a mistake with our horse it is often hard wired into our horse's brain to potentially influence any future behaviour.
Not only is this new undesirable behaviour hard to reverse but unfortunately a little trust has also been destroyed along the way.
Prevention is better than cure here; it is a much better idea to be proactive by establishing good habits, trust and respectful communication in the first place.

With the Holistequine interactive groundwork the Holistic Horsemanship programs allows us to re-establish any lost trust and through the sessions we begin to positively rewire the neural pathways of both horse and rider.
By doing the W.B.I. exercises alongside traditional riding programs we can build the necessary components for riding with one mind.
It is the belief of Holistequine Holistic Horsemanship that communication between horse and rider needs to be a "two way street" and that to truly understand our horse's needs we must first interpret what the horses are trying to tell us.

Horses are very sensitive/instinctive creatures so if we can increase our own sensitivity/intuition to equal this we become an intuitive rider and begin to feel the magic of true communication and union.

However before we learn to listen to our horse we must first open OUR own channels of communication to receive the information; only then can we work with our horse in a true partnership.

The Holistequine Holistic Horsemanship (local and online courses) help the rider understand how their own level of self esteem reflects directly and has an immediate bearing on the behaviour or their horse.
Given a series of interactive exercises that the rider can do on-line and at their own leisure we can clear any negative programming and over time replaces it with a powerful new relationship... The result is a powerfully strong bond between horse and rider.

Do you understand your horse or is he/she unpredictable at times?
Over the years of watching and interpreting the dynamics within our own herd interaction we have seen what social elements are missing in most domestic horses when removed from their "parents" early in life. We now understand why these insecurities or "flaws" develop into inappropriate behaviour and how with simple retraining to correct them we begin to build amazing self esteem in the horse AND rider.

Does your horse react through fear?
It is the belief of Holistequine that in many cases using a bit is a precursor to setting up a program of fear in a horse and that if, where possible (of course for various reasons this may not suit all riders) that riding bitless (in a bitless bridle) can replace this fear with a wonderful sense of trust and freedom.

From experience we know that there is no magic bullet in life and that what we put in we will get out.
When we can put a little more time into, and persevere with some retraining we can then eliminate all fears and establish horsemanship with faith.
Your horse develops faith in him or herself and also has faith in you; conversely you as the rider after having increased trust in yourself (or self esteem) find that because of this your horse will also trust you.

Our purpose is not to seek approval or recognition from something outside of oneself but to find the fulfilment within.
The vision of Holistequine Holistic Horsemanship is to create a deep sense of inner connection with the Spirit of horse. Once this connection is acheived the rider can then go on with further training to pursue a career in Equine Assisted Therapy

Contact us for more information about our online horse courses., EquineAssisted Life Coaching (Equine Assisted Therapy)