WHO'S LEADING WHOM?

Let’s talk about leadership. It’s one of those words that people throw around without really knowing what it means. But in the world of the horse, the meaning of leadership is crystal clear. Horses instinctively seek leadership because for them – at least in the wild – it can mean the difference between life and death. A lead horse, which can be either sex, is usually wise and experienced, able to offer guidance and provide safety to the herd. Make no mistake, horses recognize leadership when they see it.

With your domesticated horse, you want to be the kind of leader that your horse trusts. Knowing the needs of your horse will help you become a leader to whom he gravitates. And horses like peaceful leaders, ones that can maintain harmony within the herd. 

Leadership is not defined in the horse world the same way it is represented in the human world. It just doesn't have the same meaning. Once you understand leadership from a herd perspective, you’ve gained valuable insight about equine instincts and dynamics. 

I find it very difficult to teach human students about leadership, because there's a taboo, a kind of stigma that is attached to the word leadership. And it comes from living in the society that we live in where leadership is portrayed as dominant, forceful, authoritarian, where it has the capacity to oppress people. Leadership in the human world requires submission to the leader.

But that is not what the truth of the definition of a leader is. And we have only to turn to the equine world to see the synergy between a stallion and his lead horse (which is often a female), as they work together for the  community of their tribe;  how communication has enabled them to adapt to severe changes to their habitat and living conditions over the course of the millions of years that horses have been here on Earth. I’ve said it many times: there is no reason why we cannot learn from horses how to live in community, in harmony, even as we face challenging obstacles and unwelcome change.

At a True Connection horse clinic, we really encourage students to learn about connection and how vital it is to the relationship you want to have with your horse. The relationship you share with your horse is unique – it’s an individual creation. Creating that connection can feel like a daunting task but here at the Academy, we encourage you to go that distance, to develop an unbreakable connection with a horse that will ironically satisfy the desire for connection that our own human society cannot fulfill.

Great relationships can be established with horses. And we have only to look through history to see how humans and horses have conquered worlds together and become profoundly bonded. Kings, dignitaries and regular folk have been buried with their horses, proof that the human-horse connection can quite literally follow one to the grave! And look at Queen Elizabeth: even at her age, she is most happy and comfortable on the back of a horse. She is a monarch who would rather spend time in the barn than hold court with the dignitaries of the world. 

But back to leadership. It’s because of the relationship and bond that I have cultivated with my horses that I have evolved as a horseman and equestrian, an artist and a seeker, and yes, a leader of horses. And it all came through this mysterious portal that that opens when you're in the presence of a horse and when you can be quiet enough in your mind to see it. What I want to share with students around the world is that if you can summon the “right” kind of leadership, you can build a connection with your horse based on honesty and fairness, where it's a two way street, and your horse has a choice to communicate if he wants, where his wants and his desires are taken into consideration just as yours are.  

The horse is the one animal I have to say will perform not because of what you have trained him to do, but because of this energetic connection that happens between the two of you. There is a oneness that unfolds when you are connected with a horse, when you are resonating in motion as one, as beautiful as a flock of birds wheeling in the sky. When your horse accepts you as his leader, there’s nothing he won’t do for you. It’s that kind of synergy and choreography that we put in motion at True Connection Horse Academy.

If you would like more information on True Connection Horse Academy please check out this video below. We hope you will join us and become part of the herd!

Hoping you and your horse(s) are finding joy with one another,

Linda & The Herd