Your Mind's Eye

What is one of the most powerful tools we have in our toolbox, that comes naturally? Maybe the answer will surprise you: visualization. Most of us think in pictures and have vivid imaginations. We use visualization all the time to create our reality, whether we realize it or not.

Photo Credit: A Sharper Image Photography

Have you ever focused really hard on something you wanted, and had it come to you? Maybe it was your horse, or something for your horse such as a new saddle. Perhaps it was achieving a goal, like scoring a 70% in a dressage test.

We also use visualization to learn. Many coaches use analogies when teaching because it helps riders to picture the objective in their mind, which in turn helps them to execute it with their body. Visualization is a useful tool for memorization as well, such as learning a dressage test, jump course, or working equitation pattern.

Studies have been done where visualization is used instead of physically performing tasks, such as with exercising or playing the piano. There are three groups: one that performs the physical task, one that visualizes performing the physical task, and one that does nothing. The group visualizing the task improves nearly as much as the group physically performing the task! Visualization is such a powerful tool because our thoughts literally create physical results.

What we don’t always realize, however, is that our visualizations also impact our horses. Horses are extremely intuitive beings, and as animal communicators will explain, they tend to think in pictures, since they don’t use words.

Have you ever had your horse pick up on your thoughts? Perhaps you were thinking about picking up canter, and your horse broke into a canter before you physically asked. Or you looked at the corner and worried they might spook, and then that’s exactly what happened next.

Some of this we can attribute to unconscious changes in our body: our muscles start preparing for the canter transition as we think about it, before we intentionally ask. Or we tense slightly in apprehension of a spook and then create the spook from our own tension and gaze travelling to the corner.

But what about when we aren’t physically in contact with a horse, and they still pick up our thoughts? I have had multiple instances where I am teaching a lesson, and the horse reads my mind instead of their rider’s, such as when I think about telling a rider to do a transition and the horse does it before I speak. There is no way I influenced the horse with my body since I am not the one sitting on its back.

Another example is when I let my attention be drawn to something that could spook a horse and the horse then looks over at it and spooks, prior to the rider becoming aware of the object. The object was there all along, it was only my change in focus that changed the horse’s focus. These occurrences have happened often enough that I cannot call them a coincidence anymore, and I have begun to realize just how psychically intuitive horses actually are.

Animal communicators tell pet owners who are going out of town and leaving their pets at home to visualize how many sunrises and sunsets they will be gone for, to let their pets know when they’ll return. Likewise, if you want to explain something to your horse, they will instruct you to picture it in your mind and show them through thought what you want them to know.

Whether we do this intentionally or not, we are constantly communicating with our horses through our thoughts. This can have a positive effect, when we are thinking about something we want to happen and are excited about it. But it can also have a negative effect when we are thinking about something scary or stressful.

We can also affect our horse’s self-confidence by how we think about them. If we see them as smart, strong, and capable, we can inspire them to do better and feel proud of their work. But if we think they are dumb, lazy, or a jerk, they will pick up on that too. Some will respond with belligerence, others with a lack of confidence, and some will shut down and stop trying.

One of the greatest ways we can help others is by seeing them for their best selves, and the same goes for our horses. If we can focus on their positive aspects, appreciating them for their best qualities and help them work through the less desirable moments with compassion and guidance, we can help them to reach their full potential.

I have learned this through experience with Lacey. Words have power, as do our thoughts. I have inspired her through positive thinking, and I have also diminished her spark when I doubted her abilities. I now work very hard at managing my thinking and seeing the best possible version of her.

Just like our image of ourselves can shape our lives, so can our image of our horse shape theirs. We have the power to choose the thoughts we project to our horses. What do your thoughts tell your horse?