Nowness

Horses live in the present. No past. No future. This is true of all prey animals. When we approach our horses, we must do so without thinking about something good or bad from the past or some what-if future. Horses need us to connect with them now, not thinking about something we did in the past with them or some imagined future yielding. Horses see us as distracted and not connected to them if we are not focused on now. This is one of the great joys of working with horses, they force us to not worry, brood, or imagine a future of fame or misfortune. We must leave our agendas and desires at the gate and just be.

Nowness to Yielding: Being right now, no past, no future requires us to be calm and focused, just the right state of being to ask our horses to yield.