COMMUNICATING WITH HORSES
The first week in May I will celebrate the one-year anniversary of True Connection. It’s been nothing short of a journey; one that I look back on with amusement at the fears I felt, the highs and lows of the doubts and knowings, and the emotional bruises from hitting the boundary wall at full speed! (Not to mention all the bites and kicks along the way…)
Horses will give you an education – if you’re open to it – about yourself. There’s no doubt that horses are fun and easy to communicate with, but they are also profound, sentient beings. You may not acknowledge it, but you are already an animal communicator, yet you may not be aware of what you are communicating to your horses, or they to you.
Communication is one of the greatest common denominators across species. We all know that horses communicate within the herd, and with us, but even earthworms communicate! Everything communicates somehow, and one of the greatest gifts we can give our horses – and each other – is to learn each others’ language. You might think you know how to communicate with a fellow human being, but do you? Does everyone understand where you’re coming from 100% of the time? Of course not! It’s the same thing with your horse. You might think you’re asking for one thing, but your horse might understand it as a demand for something else. By learning the language of the horse, by opening yourself up to the lessons your horse is willing to share, you create a connection and a bond deeper than anything you’ve ever known.
My entire life and lifestyle revolves around horses and family. True Connection came from all the equine friends I have had the honor to learn from; however, my own horses remain my premiere teachers. It was through horses I began my journey into the world of animal communication and it was because of horses that my work evolved into learning – and teaching – the language of the horse. Together, we have learned enough of each other’s language to communicate how we want to move and travel with one another.
The language of motion is especially important when playing with horses: they’re big, fast, and they can be dangerous if you happen to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. When it comes to horses, our language is mostly non-verbal, filled with lots of trials and errors, but it is through guessing, following our instincts, and trusting ourselves that we will find the communication we are seeking. Communicating with animals is not complicated, but we are! We try to intellectualize simple communications and we are no more successful with horses then we are with one another. Communicating with horses/animals requires us to leave our intellect behind and to find the “feelings” that are seeking solutions. Words, in fact, are often inadequate.
Communicating with horses can put me in a very unfavorable spot sometimes. How would you react if you found out your horse does not want to be a hunter/jumper anymore or never did? I can promise you if you are looking to share a mutual, deep and profound connection with your horse, and you want to continue as a hunter/jumper, then decisions have to be made for both you and your horse. This is where life can become unglued for horse and human. My experience has been the horse will do it for you anyway as they have such compliant and giving natures; however, don’t fool yourself. Your relationship and connection according to your horse will not go any deeper. The truth of the matter is you will love your horse more because he willingly does for you what you want, however your horse’s feelings for you will not grow. You would feel the same way if the roles were reversed. Horses are kinder to humans then we are to horses.
With human clients, I like to stretch them beyond their wants and to honor their horse’s desires and see where that takes them. Horses provide us with exceptional opportunities to discover more about ourselves than just our wants that are often at their expense. Obstacles to our wants are often the way to opening ourselves to our true path in life. Take the story of my own horse Gramsey who broke her front ankle. I was not a practicing animal communicator even though I heard her plea to give her a chance at life, even as many respected veterinary professionals were telling me the horse could not be saved. They couldn’t hear her, but I could. Sharing a true connection with a horse can point the way to your life’s vocation as it did for me. That is the power of horses and communication at its best.
Moving forward in my journey after the epiphany with Gramsey, I had “chosen” my personal desire to be a horse trainer. I wanted it and I got it. I studied with great horsemen such as Mark Russell, Kim Walnes, Frederic Pignon, Carolyn Resnick, and local horsemen such as Robbie Potter. I especially loved and taught Carolyn Resnick’s method which is a way of connecting with horses at liberty. I was living my dream and traveling abroad, teaching with horses, which is what I love most. Because I was meeting people and changing the way people were relating to horses, I left my animal communication behind as if didn’t belong until another wake-up bell rang. This time it was from Gramsey’s son Shadow who became crippled with laminitis.
Shadow is the horse I share the greatest communication with, and it was communication that came to the rescue when Shadow revealed why he was not getter better. He communicated that he did not want to live without his mother and he could not get well because I needed to receive healing myself. This was my second “bitch-slapping” moment from the mother-and-son duo I have the honor to care for. It was enough for me to stop the glamorous life I once had to dedicate myself to their care, only this time I had to take my own care into the equation, which is something that feels unnatural for moms and horsewomen alike.
How could I have missed the communication? Me? I tortured myself with questions of why I did not know what they know? The truth is I couldn’t hear it. When life is grand who can hear? It’s not until the obstacles from the challenges of our self-created life appear and block the path toward our purpose, that we are forced to pay attention. I have hung up my boots as a liberty horse trainer but the time invested was not lost. I learned valuable lessons about learning from and playing with horses.
As I celebrate the one-year anniversary of living the life of True Connection with horses I want to thank all the students, teachers, and horses who have helped me evolve from animal communicator, to liberty horse trainer, and now True Connection by Linda j Salinas. We are connected in life whether we like it or not, and what we do to each other we do to ourselves— so reach for the brightest star that will help all of us shine. That’s the real message our horses and I have to share. Stay tuned...more horse bits to come from my herd and the Garden of Eden we share together.
Be Beauty-FULL,
Linda