[Jordy]

Had my dbt group last night, and at the end of the session T had a great surprise for us! In May she wants us to come to her house for one afternoon and try to do mindfullness exercises with her horses. I'm so excited because from day one I wanted to see her horses, but would never have asked.
I still can't believe this will happen... because of the group setting I don't worry about boundary issues. But I do worry a bit about working with her horses. I have some myself and even though I personnally believe I do things right, not everyone agrees with my way of caring for horses. So I hope her horses are well mannered and I won't have any issues. To be honest my first thought was wishing I could bring my own but that would so much hassle, it's not worth it.

As anyone else done something similar, how did it go?

[Aloneandafraid]

I do mindfulness with her but never at her home - i would LOVE that! Enjoy.

[RTerroni]

When I was in group therapy we where looking into places to go to (such as a bowling alley) during group therapy sometime but we ended group therapy (for a variety of reasons) before we were able to get to that.

[SoupDragon]

I've done mindfulness with horses. It was amazing! I hope you get what you need from the experience.

[Jeff Smile]

Huuummm. How can horses know that they are participating in mindfulness exercises. I have to admit though that most horses are more aware about life then me.

I really don't think your T would have ill-mannered horses--drinking, smoking and making inappropriate comments to the ladies. Just go and enjoy camaraderie.

[UnderRugSwept]

Jordy,

I am very excited for you! I am also curious...can you explain some about what kind of mindfulness exercises are done with horses?

I think horses are beautiful creatures from very, very, VERY far away. I am terrified of them! I would rather have tarantulas crawl on me or hold a snake (I actually love snakes). Anyway, you sound very brave to me.

[tametc]

Originally Posted by Jeff Smile

Huuummm. How can horses know that they are participating in mindfulness exercises. I have to admit though that most horses are more aware about life then me.

I really don't think your T would have ill-mannered horses--drinking, smoking and making inappropriate comments to the ladies. Just go and enjoy camaraderie.

I agree; I don't think horses would behave this way, but I've known some horses' a.s.s.e.s. who did.

[Jeff Smile]

Hahahahahaha !!! ROFLMHAO !!

[Jordy]

Thanks for all your feedback, I'm haven't been home since I first posted as I was waiting for the vet at the stables. He had to cancel due to an emergency, so I slept at a friends house and now the waiting for the vet game has started again... I'll answer more when I get home

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Jordy]

I'm finally back home... with bad news for my own horse, but I try not to think about it.

At the moment I do some really basic mindfullness exercises with my eldest horse, like grooming him mindfully, being aware of how he feels, or his movements. I tend to get lost in the moment when I choose one part of him, let's say one foreleg and try to get that really clean. I can spend minutes just brushing him, removing the tiniest bits of mud that may still be in his coat...
Sometimes also lay against him and just take in his smell, his body heat and so on...

For those who have already done mindfullness with horses, what did you do?

and with ill-mannered horses I meant horses who push humans, step on our toes, try to bite and so on. I can handle that type of horses, but I always worry about the owner's opinion if I have to reprimand their horse.

[IndestructibleGirl]

I used to do this all the time with mine, particularly my older mare. I'd spent hours just being with her, practising exercises that were loosely based on Natural Horsemanship techniques - such as standing very still, right beside her, and gradually she'd shift her weight closer and closer til we were lightly leaning against one another, and stand like that for a long time, taking her in. The satin of her skin, the beautiful horse smell, the ripple of her muscles as she flicked a fly off or whatever. Feeling the movement as she rested a hindleg. Finished with me squashing my face under her mane into her neck, and breathing as deeply as I could to try and inhale her

Other times I'd sit out in the field, listening to the birds and watching them graze and just be horses.

Horses are my medicine, and I definitely find life far more difficult without access to them. I can hardly bring myself to think of my old girl, or my young horse, back at home.

My chestnut mare is connected to my soul. That probably sounds weird to some of you, but she very simply is. She was my eighteenth birthday present from my late mother. I remember riding her on that birthday, our first ride out together, and feeling the energy from the mountain shooting up through my horse into me. Bliss.

[SoupDragon]

I was on a course with some other people. We all went into this large field with some horses who had been rescued from slaughterhouse.

I stood on my own in a spot in the field and tried to practice mindfulness, observing my breathing trying to be present etc..others went over to stroke the horses.
Then I became aware of footsteps coming up behind me. I stayed where I was still trying to be mindful, then experienced the weight of this huge head and neck as he rested on my shoulder. We stayed like that for sometime. It was amazing noticing his breathing and just trying to be really present / in the moment. It was so special that it may me cry and I'm supposed to not have feelings (that's what I maintain with T ).

Horses are so good at picking up really small changes- it's what keeps them safe in the wild - so they do notice if you are not relaxed / calm etc.. I guess it is similar to biofeedback??

I have also done a Monty Roberts / Horse Whispering course which was amazing.

Let us know how you get on?

Soup