The Power of Play with Our Horses

  this branch focuses on social engagement, play, and connection as essential to survival, and innervates the facial muscles (for expression), and the mouth, throat, and heart. This is the part of our nervous system we connect to and strengthen when we interact playfully with others

When we are working with horses, it is important to consider whether the environment we are creating internally and externally is conducive to connection and therefore to learning. Physiologically, you and your horse do not learn well in stressful, fear-based, disconnected environments. More research is coming forward to indicate that learning and adaptation is substantially reduced in situations where either the sympathetic nervous system (flight-fight) or the dorsal vagal branch of the parasympathetic nervous system (learned helplessness/shutdown) are activated. So, let’s go back to where learning and growth happen in abundance — creative play and social engagement.

How do we play with horses?

I like to think of playfulness in the bigger context of social engagement and connection. Essential to my ability to connect are relaxation of my own body and mind; my willingness to step outside of the box, be silly and weird, and “listen” to my horse; my ability to let go of rigid expectations or timelines, and be creative and inspired by my environment and horse; and my desire for activities and experiences that focus on connection and being together. With my own horses, play might look like a trail ride, a technical ride of playing with a cool new skill, a massage or butt scratch, a quiet wander or a fun gallop around the field, liberty work, or clicker training with a toy. I try to listen to what might feel interesting and fun for me, and I listen to my horse (body language says a lot!) about how she would like to engage on any given day.

Be curious about the state of your nervous system and that of your horse — you may notice a tendency to move into a hyperactivated sympathetic state, or into a shut down dorsal vagal response. All of this is great feedback, and allows us to “play” with new engaging ways of interacting that facilitate connection and presence. When we play in this way, being creative without fear of having to get something perfect, just for the fun of it, we allow room for learning and mistakes, and the potential awkwardness of trying out something new.