Unlocking Harmony: Improve Your Movement, Improve Your Horse #82

In this episode, you'll learn all about Step 1 of the Six Steps to Creating Horse-Human Harmony.

You'll hear Mary explain how enhancing your body awareness can lead to better communication, trust, and overall well-being for you and your horse.

Mary Debono, an expert in the Feldenkrais MethodⓇ and creator of Debono Moves, guides you through practical strategies to improve your self-awareness and movement, ultimately enhancing your horse's comfort and performance. 

Key Takeaways

1. Self-Awareness and Movement: Developing self-awareness and improving your movement through the Feldenkrais Method is crucial for effective and compassionate horsemanship.
2. Embodied Understanding: Enhancing your body awareness allows you to understand and feel the benefits, leading to better athletic performance and overall well-being.
3. Enhanced Sensitivity: Improved self-awareness increases your sensitivity to your horse's subtle cues, enhancing communication and interaction.
4. Building Trust: Recognizing and respecting your horse's physical restrictions and movement habits fosters trust and paves the way to easier, healthier movement for your horse.
5. Problem-Solving Skills: Developing self-awareness makes you a more creative and effective problem solver in handling various equine issues. 
6. Clearer Signals: Improved movement leads to clearer and more discreet signals to your horse, making your aids more effective.
7. Safety and Responsiveness: Enhanced body awareness improves balance and responsiveness, increasing safety for you and your horse.
8. Mindfulness Practices: Regular mindfulness breaks and body scans help reduce unnecessary tension and develop better body awareness.
9. Compassionate Interaction: Greater self-awareness promotes more sympathetic and compassionate movement, leading to a deeper bond with your horse.
10. Stress Reduction: Improved self-awareness and movement help regulate your nervous system, reducing stress and promoting relaxed breathing, which positively impacts your horse.

Subscribe to "Easier Movement, Happier Horses" and ensure you don't miss the upcoming deep dives into each of these transformative steps.

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Remember, you and your horse deserve to feel great. Together!

Resources:

Free rider videos masterclass: https://www.marydebono.com/rider

Email [email protected]

All information is for general educational purposes ONLY and doesn't constitute medical or veterinary advice.  

TRANSCRIPT:

If you listen to last week's episode, I talked about the six steps to creating horse human harmony, and I mentioned that I would go into a deeper dive on each of the steps in subsequent episodes. Well, today we're starting with step number one, which is the importance of improving your own movement and your own self awareness through the Feldenkrais method to best help your horse and be an effective, compassionate horse person.

And in case we are meeting for the first time, my name is Mary de Bono, and this is the easier movement, Happier Horses podcast. So, yes, let's talk about that first step. So the first step again, is to develop your own self awareness, your own ability to move with ease, to get rid of your habitual movement patterns that are holding you back and creating, creating restrictions, aches and pain, tension, things like that.

So let's break it down, though, why that's so important? Well, number one, when you work with yourself, you get an embodied understanding of this work. You feel why, paying attention to how you move and having options in that improves your overall well being and improves your athletic performance. So you really get that full sense, you get that real deep knowing. And so then you could use that knowledge to help your horse.

Okay? The other thing you develop is you develop greater sensitivity, so you can literally feel more, you're more sensitive to your horse, including those subtle cues that your horse is telling you, right, is using. So your communication is greatly enhanced. Okay? And this is true with, you know, hands on work that I teach, right. You become so much more skilled at it. The, any groundwork you do, any interaction with your horse, and certainly riding as well.

So all of those things, it's so important to take some time and really work with yourself to develop that level of sensitivity. Okay? That self awareness, super crucial. The other thing it does is it helps you build trust between you and your horse. And I'll explain that. So, a lot of times when people are working with horses and they're noticing, for example, maybe their horse is stiffer to one side, and some people will tell you to work the horse harder or longer or more often on that stiffer side, or they'll tell you to use stronger aids or something like that.

But think about that from the horse's point of view. So if the horse is having difficulty, maybe they're a part of their back is sore tight. It just does not feel good. Right. Maybe there's something with it, you know, in the rib cage, in the neck, you know, could be any number of things, and you're listening to someone else or you think it's the right thing to do, and you're insisting that your horse bend that way, despite the discomfort.

Oh, that is a road to mistrust, if there ever was one. I mean, it's like you literally don't have your horse's back. You are just destroying trust. You're trying to force your horse into something that your horse finds deeply uncomfortable. And maybe it is even. This happens a lot. It's become a habit that the horse is more restricted on that side. It doesn't matter if the horse's nervous system thinks it needs to hold onto it.

Trying to force the horse out of that, trying to insist that the horse does bend that way or do something else is going to build mistrust. It's going to destroy any rapport you have with your horse. So what we do in the work that I teach is we don't do that, right. We recognize when the horse is feeling that. And I teach people how to do this in my move with your horse program.

But we support the horse, and we find help the horse find new ways of moving, and they can let go of that maladaptive pattern, and then suddenly, they can bend easily that way. And it's all an easy, pleasurable experience for the horse. So the horse's nervous system will want to do that again and again. Okay? And it builds trust. So when you work with yourself, when you develop this idea of, you know, your own movement, you become more attuned to yourself, and you discover, through the Feldenkrais method that I teach you.

Discover. Oh, wow. Instead of forcing myself to be a certain way, I can discover easier ways to be. And then my nervous system just adopts that. And you may not even know that intellectually, but you embody it. You experience it. So this is a great way to build trust with your horse. Okay? It's like you're each listening to one another, and you're finding these new possibilities together. It's super cool.

I can't even emphasize enough how cool that is. So that's what happens. So, again, it's you learn how to guide the horse into healthier movement options. Okay. Instead of trying to force the horse to, quote unquote, listen to you, it's very different, and it's much more compassionate. It just feels so good in your heart and your soul. It's. You know, I often think of this work as, like, really affecting body, mind, and spirit.

I mean, you. You can create such a lovely, deep connection with your horse when you think like this. Okay? You replace you know, fear. And, you know, having the horse to have to listen to you right out of fear with real compassionate understanding. But that really, the foundation for that is working with yourself to become that sensitive and to experience it within your own nervous system that you can improve effortlessly.

Okay? Then you can help your horse do the same. Okay? So super important to really learn how to embody that knowledge. And again, it could be conscious knowledge. Like, you could actually talk about it, or it might just be unconscious, but your nervous system has gone through it because you've done the Feldenkrais method, what we call awareness, through movement lessons, or ATM, they're often called. Right. So you felt it in yourself.

Okay? So that's pretty cool. And then another reason why it's so important to develop your self awareness like this and improve your movement is because you become a more creative and more effective problem solver, okay? Because, again, your brain has puzzled out how to improve yourself, and you can take that knowledge and help your horse more creative, more creatively. And so it's like, instead of these issues being like this, oh, this horrible thing, my horse, this.

And this is happening, you know, whether it's behavioral, performance, whatever, it's like, it becomes more interesting, and you get really curious. I mean, this work really helps develop your curiosity. I often say that curiosity is your greatest tool. And so you learn to be more creative, and you become a better problem solver. You can troubleshoot issues. Okay. And best help your horse. Okay. So it's like you just develop this keen sense of responding in the moment.

So, again, it's pretty cool. So now, how do you develop self awareness and improve your movement? Well, I've mentioned several times, right, about the Feldenkrais method. And awareness through movement lessons are a fantastic way to develop it. I mean, completely life changing. So that's where we start. It's very gentle. The movement lessons can always be done in a gentle, easy way. They're effective for anyone at any age or level of condition, because there's always ways to modify them.

Okay? And they're just. It's really a mindfulness based approach to movement. So it's really, really learning how to hone your attention. And this is why it's so important to remember that you can improve at any age and any level of condition you're at currently. And that's because the work is working on the level of the nervous system. So, for example, maybe you have an injury or some kind of condition that you just can't do a lot.

But even doing tiny, tiny movements from the Feldenkrais movements, you know, if you do them with a high level of attention, even if it's just one or two, that's going to start changing your brain and laying down new neural pathways for you. And sometimes, you know, I work with people that they can only do certain things in their imagination at first, and that still works. Still works. And we know through functional MRI imaging and things like that, that when you really clearly imagine movement, you're lighting up parts of the brain that relate to actual movement.

So you start to lay down the foundation for healthier movement, even by just imagining it, right. And then little by little, you start to do a little bit of it, and it's done in a very safe, pleasurable way so you're not alarming your nervous system and saying, oh, no, no, we can't do that. That's going to hurt. It's going to be dangerous, but we're staying in the level of safety.

Okay? This is really important. So, again, I. We do the Feldenkrais awareness through movement lessons all the time in my move with your horse programs. Okay, super, super important. And I'm gonna say from my own experience and hundreds, thousands of people, thousands of people I've worked with over the past 30 years can be totally life changing in a really positive way. And then again, you can be a better horse person because of it.

So, super cool. Okay. Another way to develop this self awareness is through what seems like a simple thing, a body scan. Okay, so, again, this is often part of the Feldenkrais lessons we do. Usually we do it at the beginning, the end, and in the middle when we're taking these rest breaks. But even just, like, lying on your floor, like, in a comfortable position, if you could lie on your back, if it's easy for your legs to be long, if it's not, bend them up or put a bolster under them.

But even just, like, from head to toe, just putting your attention, directing your attention to different parts of yourself and asking yourself, can I let go of unnecessary tension? Because many of us, like, we hold tension. We're constantly, as a habit, to contract muscles unnecessarily. And that leads to, obviously, tension, including emotional tension. It leads to restrictions in our movement. It's like we're literally fighting ourselves. It leads to aches and pains.

It leads to wear and tear damage over time, all kinds of bad stuff. But you can start getting a handle on it. I mean, this is just the first step. Of course, we do more in depth things, but by doing a simple body scan, taking time to lie on the floor. Just sense how you're lying and then start to, you know, part by part, ask yourself, can I let go?

Can I release unnecessary tension? Can I breathe easier? So it's not about correcting yourself or trying to change it. Just, can I let go more and more. And you'll find that as you do this, you will be able to let go. And then your nervous system starts paying attention. So this is where you're developing body awareness, because in the beginning, you might not notice much, but over time, you start to hone your sensory acuity, and you can feel.

And when you feel, when you sense something, then you start to have more control over it and you can let go, because again, often we're just holding ourselves as if we have to fight some battle, right? And we lie on the floor and we're still holding ourselves in that way, and it's not necessary. So a simple body scan can actually work wonders for you, especially if you do it consistently and it feels good.

You know, it's like a way to relax and to really ask yourself, am I letting the floor support me? Am I really letting go? And again, it's very helpful if you go part by part. Like even think as your arms are resting on the floor, can I let go of my right pinky finger? You know, and then the ring finger, you know, and you work your way through and you notice.

Also, it's very nice to ask yourself, is my right arm lying on the floor the same way my left arm is? It's not that one is right and one is wrong. Okay? So don't start judging yourself as you do this. You just notice because you learn by noticing differences. So you just start training your brain to pay more attention to your bodily sensations, okay? This allows you then to just feel at a.

At a more sensitive level. And again, that's going to translate when you're interacting with your horse because you'll be able to feel and sense a lot more. Okay? So that's a really important way of doing it. And just excuse me for a second while I move my papers, because I have notes, because I don't want you to miss anything. Okay? I'm a note gal. Okay? So another way to improve your body awareness, your.

Your movement is through exploring movement variations. So, of course, we do this in the Feldenkrais awareness through movement lessons. But you can do this even just on your own, like as a standalone kind of thing. Like you do the body scan, standalone if you want. You can also think about how can you do things a little bit differently? I'll tell you something I often do with my riders when I'm doing a mounted clinic.

I'll have them hold the reins differently than they normally do. Like, one way of doing this is to hold the reins in a, what they call, like a driving, like, if you're, if you're driving a horse. So the, the rein comes instead of coming from underneath and in between your pinky and ring, finger it out in between your thumb and forefinger. It, it comes from the top down.

So you're holding them very differently than you normally do. And that changes so much. Okay. That changes so much because we have a whole pattern around how we hold the reins. It's not just even in our hands. It's in the forearms, it's in the upper arm, it's in the shoulder, and it doesn't end there. It's in the neck, it's in the back. It's even down into the pelvis, which, of course, affects the legs of.

So simply holding the reins in this, like, driving position, if you will, changes things. And some people, right away, they, they, they are uncomfortable. They say, I don't feel like I have the control, so only do it if it's safe for you to do, if you feel like your horse and you are safe while you do that, of course. And you can even do it off your horse, you know, just pick up the reins and, and play with that.

You know, you could hang your bridle on something and just play with that, feel how different it is. And then I even go a little further. I have the person hold one rein their habitual way, the normal way they hold it, and the other reign the other way. And then we do all kinds of different things with their stirrups and feet and all kinds of stuff. But it's, exploring variations is very powerful.

It gets the attention of the nervous system, and you start to learn, like, you can do things differently. You don't have to have a death grip on your reins, for example. And again, it changes your whole movement pattern up into your, you know, the rest of yourself, up into your neck, your trunk, pelvis, etcetera. So that's just one little example. But even, like, changing how you sit in your chair or in your truck, right.

Having some different variations of how you're moving, sitting, standing, can be very impactful for you. Okay? So that's another way to develop your sensory acuity, your body awareness, and, you know, have a real positive effect. So, and then another way of doing it to develop it is by having, you know, little mindfulness breaks, if you will. Like, like, throughout your day, just start to become more mindful. Like, you pick up a glass to take a glass of, you know, to have a drink of water, you know, how do you do that?

Are you doing it just from your shoulder? Are you bringing your whole weight forward? Like, start to be more mindful? Are you gripping the glass unnecessarily? Can you relax your shoulder a little bit? Maybe relax your neck? You know, start to be more mindful? And then here, you can also think about variations. Maybe you pick up the glass with your non dominant hand and drink with your non dominant hand.

You know, things like that. You can just weave into your day and they're going to help you improve your self awareness. Okay? So that's some really fun ways of doing it. So I think I've been pretty clear by now. I think I've given you a lot of information about why this is so important. Like, developing your awareness is so important to helping your horse. But let me give you a few more ideas for as a rider, because the other way was for anything you do with your horses.

So again, whether it's hands on work, like the work I teach, or some other hands on work you're doing, or it's groundwork or it's riding. Excuse me. Or it's just leading your horse or something like that, these are all important and riding as well. But now let me give you some more specifics for being in the saddle, okay? That this will apply to when you have that improved awareness and improved movement, your signals to your horse, your cues, your aids will be so much clearer, a big one.

And this is something I do spend a lot of time with my students on, is your weight aids? So many people have, they're just not aware that they're crooked in the saddle. Because sometimes you can look balanced, you can look straight, but your weight is off. You have more weight on one side than the other. When you develop greater awareness, you start to recognize that, and you learn how to balance yourself out so that you are more even in the saddle.

And you can be clearer with your aides. It's much kinder to your horse. It's much healthier for you and your horse to be even in the saddle, unless you want to specifically use your weight aids very discreetly. Okay. That's another thing. You learn how to have much more discreet aids, okay? Because they're clear and you're more. You're moving with your horse. Hey, the name of my program is move with your horse.

And that that works on many levels in the saddle and out of the saddle. So that's one thing. And you're, you also, you can adjust much more easily. You're much more responsive. Okay? So your body has learned, because now you have more movement options, so you can be more responsive and adjusted what you're doing in the saddle much more easily and discreetly. You don't have to use these big movements.

Right. You could be really subtle and clear with your horse. Your horse will greatly appreciate it, let me tell you. And then another big benefit is it's safer. Okay? You have enhanced safety because when you can adjust yourself in the saddle, when you can be more balanced, when you can let go of unnecessary tension, now you can respond. So if your horse moves suddenly, like your horse spooks or something, right.

You're more equipped to be able to follow your horse spontaneously without having to think about it. Like, your pelvis can move, things could be freer, and you just go with that motion. So it definitely has enhanced safety. And then another thing is you get really good at problem solving. I mentioned this earlier about you become much more creative, and you start to really recognize because you felt it in your own body.

So you can start to be more proactive when you're riding and working with your horse, because you understand it more. You understand about body mechanics more and how one part affects the other. The tongue affects virtually every part of the body. The visual system affects virtually every part of the body. You know, it's like all these things are connected. Your hands are not just your hands. It's. It's like how you're using your your.

And organizing your back and your pelvis affect your hands. You know, same thing with your feet, same thing with. Maybe you lose a stirrup, right. That often comes from an unbalanced seat, you know, which can come from using your ribcage differently. Right? So there's all these puzzle pieces, and you learn to understand that in yourself. And a lot of this understanding, by the way, I want to say, is unconscious because you're just kind of puzzling it out on the level of the nervous system.

And some of it is conscious and intellectual, but either way, it allows you to be a better partner for your horse. Okay? You understand and can adapt and help your horse be more supportive with your horse. And, you know, again, you have a more balanced posture, a more elegant posture on your horse. The improvements, by the way, they're effortless. So it's not, you're not feeling like oh, I have to hold myself a certain way?

No, you just are a certain way, because your nervous system has been allowed to have an efficient, elegant posture and be more balanced. Okay? So, and the other thing, and this one, again, they're all really important, but this idea that your movement with your horse becomes more sympathetic, more compassionate, if you will, because now you're more sensitive and you can feel more. You recognize when you're being harsh with your horse, you know, you often see people and they're using their leg aids in a very primitive way.

So this idea of more sympathetic or more compassionate movement is so important because sometimes people, they're just unaware of how harsh they're being with their horses. Like, their aides are over the top and they don't even realize it. So. And not even just your aids, like, just the way you're moving with your horse, or many people are actually moving against their horse, okay? And not with their horse.

And when you improve your awareness and your own movement, you can move with your horse. So it's, again, much healthier, it's much more compassionate, humane way to ride and better for both of you. And, and again, I want to emphasize, in addition to all that, you're developing a much deeper bond with your horse when you have that level of awareness, okay? And for all the reasons I mentioned earlier, okay, you're developing that, that deeper bond, that deeper level of trust.

And, I mean, that's such a beautiful thing, right? That, isn't that why you want to be with your horse, right? To have that harmony with your horse, okay. Feels really good. So, and then another thing, and I'll probably end with this, is that your stress gets so much less, okay? You really learn when you have more awareness, you really learn how to regulate your nervous system, and you learn how to lower your stress level.

And now your horse will feel that. Your horse will notice that immediately, okay? And then your horse can feel calmer as well, and, you know, wants to interact with you more because you're just a better person to be around, you know, let's be honest. So that's another really cool reason that you want to develop your own awareness and improve your own movement. And then also, you know, and this goes hand in hand with stress reduction, is that you'll breathe differently.

You will breathe differently. You won't be forcing yourself to breathe a particular way. Your breathing will adapt to whatever physical demands you're under, but you'll have more relaxed breathing. And again, this will be noticed by your horse. I remember when I first 1st rode my horse, breeze, this is many years ago, and he was, you know, he was a very abused horse. He was very difficult for most people to deal with.

And I remember I rode him. I was in a saddle, but I just had a halter on him, and I was in a round pen. I'm not a huge fan of round pens, but that was safer at that time. And I, you know, I had gotten to know him a bit, you know, on the ground. Of course, I don't just ever get on a horse. I'd known him for a little time at this point, and I rode him, and he was just frantic, frantic, frantic, frantic, frantic.

And I just focused on my own breathing and was thinking about this idea of my breath and his breath as like a figure eight. Now, he was breathing in a crazy way because he was just frantic. But I thought, I'm just going to focus on my own breathing. And I was rising to the trot. I wasn't trying to sit the trot or anything, and wanted to make his life as easy as possible.

And it was really almost magical how he just started to, like, focus on me, and he stopped being so frantic and there was somebody watching, and they were like, what just happened there? Right? I'm like, oh, just doing my thing. And it was really funny because, you know, but I was really intentional about this idea of, like, a figure eight. You know, that's the image I chose and how my breath was, you know, coming in and going out, and I was imagining it going through him and this whole thing.

Now, full disclosure, I do do a lot of what I call connected breathing with horses and dogs and other animals, and I often do picture that whole idea of me taking a breath in, exhaling, then the horse taking it in, exhaling, and we have this thing. So I just started doing that in the saddle. But again, I was really mindful about it, so I'm sure that helped change my physiology, which breathes noticed.

And then he. His physiology started to change, and we started to become more tuned into each other. The other thing, I'll say about that, that was a funny time because I realized, oh, my goodness, everyone had said all these horrible things about this horse, but I just thought he was so amazing because he was so sensitive. And I noticed that when I was, you know, sitting in the saddle, if I put even ounces of pressure more in one seat bone, he would spin that direction, didn't matter which one.

He was just amazing how sensitive he was. And because I had done the Feldenkrais method for so many years, I'm very sensitive with how my weight is in my seat bones, because that was a huge problem for me before Feldenkrais. Huge problem. And I didn't even know it. I rode for years and years without knowing that. And I was very biased to my left seat bone. Like, crazy biased, even though I looked straight on a horse.

But anyway, at this point, I had gotten over that. I was really balanced, and I could put, like, just refine it so much. A few ounces more in this one or that one. And breeze was so responsive. And his current person was outside the round pen watching. And I said to her, he's so amazing. And she said, no, he's not. He's horrible. And she said. And I said, but, you know, he turns so easily.

And she said, no, he only turns in one direction. What I found out later, because I gave her a Feldenkrais lesson, was that she was more biased on one seatbelt, and he was just responding to that. But she didn't know. She didn't feel it. She looked good on a horse. I mean, you know, and no one had noticed that about her. So, again, you know, I know I keep saying it, but the Feldenkrais method can help you have that level of sensitivity so you can be more balanced and then be really communicating more clearly with your horse and being, quite frankly, kinder to your horse, because they're not having to work against you.

So this went on longer than I expected. So, if you're still with me, thank you so much. But just to wrap up, I just want to say the number one reason why improving your movement and your awareness is so important. And that's because you and your horse deserve to feel great together. And it starts with you. So tune in. By the way, I'm going to be doing bonus podcast episodes, so you don't have to wait a whole week to find out about step number two.

Right. And this will involve working with your horse directly. Okay, that's in the next episode, so please check. Make sure you subscribe to easier movement, happier horses, so that you get notified when the next episode drops. And again, I want to thank you so much for listening, subscribing, and sharing this work. I love teaching it. It's absolutely life changing. I'm so grateful to all my Feldenkrais teachers, to doctor Moshe Feldenkrais, for developing the work and for all the students and, you know, people I've worked with and their horses over the years.

So, thank you all, and I look forward to seeing you very soon. Bye. For now.