About an hour outside New York City, in the Hudson Highlands, you will find a community called Warwick. Like most of the communities in that part of New York State, the homes are sprawling century old properties which speak of old wealth. The surrounding area is hilly and pastoral. Horse ranches and mixed farming abounds.
A few minutes out of Warwick, you will find Amity Farm, a training facility for budding equestrians (www.amityequestrianenterprizes.com) . It is Amity Farm that attracted us to Warwick, specifically two young ladies, Corey and Christine, who own and operate the business.
Amity Farm is more than an equestrian business however. It is a place for self-discovery through our relationship with horses. Jim, myself and our artist colleague, Tracy, were invited to participate in a day long program facilitated by Corey and Christine which offered participants a unique opportunity to discover more about themselves through horse companions.
Although I am not an expert on horses, this is what I learned that day. Fundamentally horses are no-nonsense kinds of beings. In other words, they get you. They know if you are calm or frazzled, honest or deceitful, grounded or scattered and they respond to you accordingly. They connect with you from the inside out. They will not be bullied or pushed around by you. The only way to really communicate with them is to be truly centered and sure of yourself.
Throughout the day at Amity Farm, we experienced a number of activities with our horse companions which truly did hold up the mirror. Those of us who participated were forced to see ourselves with new eyes, to understand that true leadership comes from deep within and connecting with others rather than be forceful and pushy. We learned about personal boundaries and how easily we allow these to blur when they are challenged.
As for my personal experience, following the workshop I had my first lesson in horsemanship with Corey coaching me through mounting and riding a horse. For some of you that may not be significant but as this was a new experience for me I had some initial trepidation. ROM, the largest of all the horses we played with that day, was my mount – he was very patient with me. Once in the saddle (and this was the greatest challenge for me) Corey gently coached me to get centered, both with my breath and my posture.
Corey, who calls this program “Ride Your Life”, stresses the importance of sitting in your own power. You can only communicate fully with the horse when you know who you are and sit confidently in that place. This is personal power, the ability to see yourself through the eyes of truth, knowing your strengths, gifts and talents and acknowledging them with gratitude. Through their intuition, horses know this about you. I guess that’s what they mean by horse sense.
I share this experience with you, as I am learning that there are many ways in which to discover the truth of who we are and how we play in the world. It had never occurred to me that I could learn anything from a horse, but then, until recently, I did not hang out with horses. This may have to change.
Until Next Time…
Betty