In a commencement speech Shreve Stockton says, “A secret of life. You can’t avoid pain. Hard times will find you whether you follow your Truth or whether you follow the Rules.” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5rWL80hRh6Y
I am surprised at how much this applies to my relationship with my Horses. Whether it’s in my journey to honor our own personal relationship style, when I consciously try to consider and respect our individual perspectives on opinions and reactions as Horse and Human, or when I apply honest effort and awareness to create a common language and place of stability and comfort for us both.
Learning what has already been experimented with and established in Horse care, training and understanding of Horses for centuries is important. It is equally important to continue to pursue new frontiers in all of these areas. Some things are timeless, some things are archaic, some things need adjustment.
In my effort to find common ground in communication between my Horses and myself, I have experienced many amazing results, some magick… and some pain. What I have noticed is that the more I follow my Truth, the more possibility I see, I also see more risk, because much of our relationship is based on the intangible information of my Souls philosophy. And some of these impressions are not included in mainstream thinking. This leads me to the question, ‘Will I follow my Truth, or will I follow the Rules?’
The more I follow my Truth, the more success I seem to have, though sometimes the success is subtle. Sometimes I am unsure, and I must make a few attempts before I get it right. The more I question my Truth the more uncertainty I have. Its then I find myself again considering the Rules. Some of them are infallible and need to be embraced, some of them are only applicable to those that do not include Soulful participation in the relationship between Horse and Human.
Because I choose to have a relationship that is inclusive of Soul between my Horses and myself, I am intrinsically drawn to follow my Truth more than the Rules. Sometimes they align in harmony, but when they don’t, I must rely on my personal Truth. And I need to be aware that my personal Truth is ever evolving as I expand in my personal growth. Allowing my Truth to lead in my perspective keeps me connected to the Spiritual Journey between us, and this is our reason for being together.