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How do you
FEEL about this?
Thinking about your
definition of FEEL
- By Patrick King
Watch your horses in a pasture.
Watch how they act and interact with each other. When one of the
horses notices something, how do they respond to it? How does that
affect the other horses? How do all the horses act with each
other? Is there a horse that the others really like? How about
one that the others try their darnedest to avoid? Is there a horse
that is somewhere in the middle of both of those ends of the
spectrum? Watch them all and notice how they all feel about each
other and what goes on, in all situations, and how they respond and
react.
An important
concept and word that we, as horsemen, need to be sure we have in
our vocabulary and in our mind is FEEL. FEEL is something that we
have all probably heard talked about or, at least, referred to.
When horses approach their world, they do it through this concept
called FEEL. When horses respond or react to their world and each
other, they do it by and through FEEL. Have you got a definition
for the word or concept that is ‘FEEL’?
At many of my
clinics, I ask folks to think about their definition of FEEL.
Almost every single participant will tell you that their definition
of FEEL has changed at the end of the clinic from what it was at the
start. FEEL is something of an evolutionary concept. As you go
on and learn new skills and concepts, you carry your definition of
FEEL with you – many times not even noticing how much it changes as
you progress. As far as I can tell, this will always be the
case. What I now think of as FEEL is completely different from
what I had originally thought. My definition has changed a
multitude of times as a result of all my experiences dealing with
hundreds of horses and their humans. Nearly every time I work
with a horse, FEEL evolves to take on new meaning.
How does feel
affect your horse? What you’ll notice in watching your horse is
that he is constantly FEELING his way around his world. A horse
responds through FEEL and responds with FEEL to everything. I’m
not meaning a direct, touching kind of FEEL…more of a
mental/emotional kind of FEEL. Tone, approach, context, timing and
more all have a great effect on FEEL. (If you’ve ever dealt with
emotional preteen and teenage girls you’ll know what I’m talking
about here!)
When you’re with
your horse, how does FEEL affect the situation? Do you FEEL of
your horse? Does he FEEL for you? Do you both FEEL together?
This is a concept
that will be ‘pretty far out there’ for some folks – and that’s
perfectly okay. As folks advance themselves in their horsemanship,
FEEL is something they become aware of naturally. What may seem
like a far out, esoteric concept early on in a person’s journey will
someday become a natural daily part of their thoughts and
interactions with a horse. To infants who are only just crawling
around on the floor, walking would seem like a far-fetched idea… but
it’s something that they all get to when the time is right. When
the time is right, if they are on the path to horsemanship, all
folks will get to the point of having some concept of FEEL.
So take a moment
and think about your definition of FEEL – no definition is wrong.
Then go back out into the pasture and watch your horses and see how
your idea of FEEL fits into their world. |
