Feeling Stuck? Transform Your Horse Time Today

Feeling stuck in your horse routine? Discover practical, science-backed ways to refresh your horse time. From simple changes in daily habits to mindset shifts, learn how to reignite your passion and deepen your connection with your horse through novel experiences and mindful practices.

Key Takeaways

• Small changes in routine can create a welcome shift in your nervous system
• Non-habitual activities create new neural pathways and enhance awareness
• Mindset shifts can transform your horse experience
• Challenging limiting beliefs about yourself and your horse opens new possibilities

• Engaging all senses deepens your awareness
• Playful approaches can reignite passion and joy with your horse 
• Importance of aligning activities with personal values

Resources:

💥Learn how the Feldenkrais Method can help improve your seat, position, and balance on your horse! Free rider videos masterclass: https://www.marydebono.com/rider 💥

Email mary@marydebono.com

All information is for general educational purposes ONLY and doesn't constitute medical, veterinary, or professional training advice. Always use extreme caution when interacting with horses. 

About the Host:

Mary Debono is a pioneer in animal and human wellness, blending her expertise as an international clinician, best-selling author, and certified Feldenkrais Method® practitioner. With over three decades of experience, Mary developed Debono Moves, a groundbreaking approach that enhances the performance, well-being, and partnership of horses and their human companions.

Recognizing the profound connection between equine and human movement, Mary's innovative approach draws from the Feldenkrais Method®, tailored specifically for the equestrian world. Her methods have helped horses and humans:

• Improve athletic ability and performance
• Enhance confidence and reduce anxiety
• Reduce physical limitations and discomfort
• Deepen the horse-human bond

Mary's flagship online program, "Move with Your Horse," offers equestrians a unique opportunity to experience the benefits of Feldenkrais® while also learning her signature hands-on work for horses. This transformative approach has helped riders and their equine partners achieve harmony, both in and out of the saddle.

As a speaker and educator, Mary has touched the lives of equestrians across the globe, empowering them to unlock their full potential through mindful movement and enhanced body awareness.

Discover the power of Debono Moves and transform your equestrian journey. Visit https://www.marydebono.com/you-and-your-horse to learn more about Mary's unique work.

Because you and your horse deserve to feel great. Together. 

Transcript

Hello. Do you ever find yourself in a bit of a rut? I mean, it happens to virtually everyone. At some point, you feel like just doing the same old thing over and over. It's like one day just bleeds into the next. Well, today I'd like to give you some simple, actionable tips to help get you out of that rut. And in case we're meeting for the first time, my name is Mary Debono and this is the Easier Movement Happier Horses podcast.

Yeah. So, you know, maybe you are feeling a little stuck, a little stagnant, if you will. Well, there's just some simple things you can do to kind of like awaken your nervous system a little bit, start to pay attention to new things. So here's some examples. Like what if you took a slightly different route to the barn? Like this is assuming you're driving to the barn. Okay, maybe you have your horse at home, which that's awesome as well.

Well, you just maybe take a slightly different path to the barn, to the paddock where your horse is, or maybe take a different commute to work. But start to change things up and like what you physically do, start to change that even in these little ways, it actually really gets the attention of your nervous system. So start to change things up again. Maybe drive a different route to the barn or to work or something like that.

Another one is, you know, again, this, this builds on this idea of non habitual activities, get the attention of the nervous system. So what if you started using your non dominant hand to do more things? A lot of times we just kind of keep it as like the helper hand. Right. And we don't really actively use it as much. So like, even for everyday things at home and certainly at the barn, can you start using your non dominant hand and just notice what that feels like?

Notice how you pay a little more attention or maybe a lot more attention when you do that actually starts to change things in the brain. Okay. Another non habitual thing you could try is to halter your horse from the offside. You can do that simply by turning a halter inside out. They do have halters that are made that buckle on either side. You know, things like that. Make sure you teach your horse that this is okay.

Some horses are startled when you do it. And even if you put the halter on from the near side, can you start to walk your horse from the offside? So many of us are so habituated to doing everything from the horse's left side. What if you started doing more from the horse's right side. And again, I want to encourage you to be very careful and you know, maybe work with somebody who knows how to help you train your horse, that this is okay, that this is fine, this isn't alarming.

And most horses are pretty tolerant of being led from either side. Although many times my students have told me that their horse tries to put them back on the quote unquote correct side. So just have fun, play with it. Notice how you feel when you're leading your horse non habitually. You know, it's a kind of a novel thing for many of us also. Now this, you'd really need to be careful.

And again, I suggest you work with somebody trained that can train your horse with you. But to mount and dismount from the offside, you know, some horses are fine with it right away. And some horses, it's like, oh, what are you doing? And they might get startled. And you're very vulnerable when you're mounting and dismounting, so you need to be extra careful. But that's something to think about.

And some people, it's so funny, they're they. When I've been, I've been promoting this for more than 30 years, like that, that idea, and I've certainly been doing it my own life. And people will say, I don't think I'd know how to mount my horse from the offside or dismount for that matter. So it's really good for you. It's really, really good for you. And it just changes things up a bit, right?

So even something, another thing you can do sounds simple, but groom your horse in a different area. Like if you always go to the same spot to groom, to tack up, change it up, do something different, you know, and, and then just notice how you do just everyday activities, whether around the house or around the barn. Like, notice how you get up from a chair. Maybe you're sitting on your tack trunk and you get up.

How do you do it? Start to be more mindful of your movement. Again, this starts to get the attention of your brain in a good way. Another one I like to share with my students, like at a clinic especially, is when you're riding, can you hold your reins differently? And by differently, I usually mean like driving style. Like many of us hold our reins so that the, the rain comes in between our pinky and fourth finger and then out over the index finger and the thumb is on top.

What if you change that? And the. Excuse me, the rain. And the rain came from the top, from your index finger. And then out the bottom. So like, imagine someone is driving a horse, right? They hold the reins that way. So notice how that feels when you do that. It changes a lot of things in your whole, the whole shoulder girdle, like your whole feeling of that, of holding the reins will change.

You could even do one one way and one the other way. You know, again, I just want to stress safety. So only do this if you feel comfortable, if your horse is okay with that. But it can be a really nice kind of wake up for your nervous system to hold the reins that way. And many horses, by the way, really appreciate it because you tend to lose the compulsion, if you will, the habit of being too, too hard on the reins, okay.

Of holding your hands too tightly when you hold driving style, there's there generally it's much softer. You don't have the same kind of power, so you don't automatically start grabbing the reins. So anyway, it's something you might want to play with for sure. And then you can think of other ways of also engaging your senses in a different way. We're such a visual species. We rely so much on our vision.

What if you really started paying attention to what you hear? So when you're at the barn, what if you start to really focus in on what do you hear? What's the softest sound you can hear? Right? What, what, what do you smell? There's all kinds of wonderful smells at the barn, right? What do you smell? What do you taste? Maybe you're sharing your horse's apple, you know, what do you taste?

Start to bring in other senses. Because again, it's wonderful that we have vision and that's our primary sense for most of us. But can we start to encourage the, you know, having sensory acuity more broadly, noticing more, Right. This will also help you notice more things with your horse. By the way, I've talked about that in previous episodes, something called RAs, the reticular activating system. It's kind of like we're, we're training it to filter in a new way to bring in more information for us.

So start to pay attention to your, what do you hear? What do you smell? Perhaps what do you taste? And certainly what do you, what, what, what do you touch physically? Like how, what are you noticing with your hands, with other parts of your body when you're on your horse, for example, but start to notice, like, even pay attention to your horse's texture of their coat, you know, or the feel of the saddle, certainly the feel of the reins.

Like, what are you Feeling. Right. So notice different things and. And really be mindful about it. This will really wake up your brain in a delightful way. Okay, super good. So. So you want to think about, you know, how you touch different textures and, again, be intentional about it. Another thing is, this is really important, too, is how we use our mindset. Like, we can change our mindset.

A lot of times, people will end up getting kind of stuck in this idea that, oh, I. I have to go to the barn. Like, they start to feel a sense of obligation more than a sense of joy. And of course, yes, we. We are obligated. It is your responsibility to take care of your horse in a, you know, really wonderful way, a really healthy way. But notice if you're starting to think of going to the barn as something you have to do rather than you get to do, right?

And so it doesn't mean you stop going, but what you do is you start to change your mindset. You realize, oh, wow, I get to have a horse. Like, how awesome is that? Or, I get to. Maybe the horse isn't even yours, but you get to ride, or you get to interact with horses. I mean, how awesome is that? So you start to change your mindset around it, and you realize, like, think back to when you were a little kid and you just couldn't wait to spend time with a horse.

Right? Now you have that opportunity. So really think about your mindset as you're on your way to your horse. Like, what. What is your mindset about? This? Right? And keep it. Keep things fresh. So. And then the other thing about mindset is a lot of times we have really entrenched stories about ourselves and about our horses and about other people, too, by the way. But we certainly have stories about our horses.

So we. We might think, my horse always does this or my horse never does this. Both. In both cases, we're kind of exasper. Exasperate. How do you say that word? Exasperated. Exasperated. That's it. So you start to realize, oh, wait a minute. Is that really true all the time? My horse is never enthusiastic. My horse is never responsive. Really? And start to find opposite examples. So. So start to find evidence that contradicts those.

Oh, my horse always does this, or, my horse never does this, or whatever label you want to give your horse, whatever story you've talked, you know, you've made up about your horse, can you find evidence to the contrary? And we're talking about negative stories, okay? Not. Not the one that says, my horse is the most wonderful horse in the world. No, no, no. That one you want to keep.

But we're talking about the ones that kind of drag you down a little bit and certainly drag your horse down, right? Because it changes how you interact with your horse. Okay? So. So think about the stories you're. You're saying, and then find evidence that contradicts those stories, okay? Even little tiny bits of evidence will start to, like, crack open and change that story for you, and you'll be really pleasantly surprised at how your horse changes.

And you can apply the same thing to you when you have stories, because we do. We have limiting beliefs about ourselves. Start to find evidence that contradicts those limiting beliefs and start to, you know, crack them apart, if you will. Okay. And start to build up more and more evidence to the contrary. Okay? And then, you know, ask yourself, like, well, what if I did such and such with my horse, whatever that is.

Like, maybe you think, oh, I could never do that, or, my horse could never do that, but just start to play with that. Like, well, what if we did this? And maybe take one little tiny step in that direction, okay? And then also, and this is really important, review what you're currently doing with your horse. Because a lot of times when we get stuck, we're not really happy with what we're doing.

Like, maybe it's. Maybe we felt compelled, maybe because the trainer at our barn or peer pressure, or just you've always done it a certain way, but you're doing something that isn't really totally aligned with your values. So ask yourself, is what I'm doing with my horse really aligned with my values right now? Maybe I didn't know any better five years ago, but now I do, or whatever it has to happens to be.

So ask yourself that. Ask yourself, is this really what I want to do? Right. Don't just assume because you've always been a certain way, you know, and done things a certain way that you have to continue. That way you can radically transform. Okay? I see it over and over again. You know, you might have pressure, for example, to show. Maybe you're at a show barn and everyone else is showing and you have a nice horse and everyone tells you you have to.

Or maybe, you know, there's certain ways of riding that you'd rather not do, but people say to you, you know, this is what you should do, or it's even just internal pressure. So start to reevaluate what you're doing, okay? And then, you know, it's really nice to just set aside. Set aside some time for just novel Experiences novel. Just see, just what if you didn't have a big agenda?

You go to the barn and you're not sure what you're going to do. And you. You think back to when you were a little kid, right? Maybe as a little kid, you were dreaming of having a horse. What would you do with that horse? Right? In your mind's eye, what would you be doing with that horse? Would you be running around with that horse? How would you be playing?

Would you just be sitting and just delighting in your horse's presence? Start to bring those things back, and then, you know, ask yourself how you can kind of just play with your horse, Just have fun with your horse. What does that mean to you? I mean, when my horse Breeze was alive and previous horses to him as well, I did a lot of playing. Like, a lot of playing.

I used to call it liberty play. It's like, we just have fun together. Now. You have to be safe when you do it, right? Because in my case, it involved a lot of running around and jumping over things and all kinds of fun stuff. But it was really fun. Like, we both just, in Breeze's case, we both just really, really enjoyed it, right? And it was just that element of play made it so joyful.

Okay, so ask yourself, what would you do? And then maybe even just learn something new, like think outside the box. Again, this goes back to reevaluating what you were doing. Maybe you want to learn another discipline. Maybe you want to go to a clinic, someone that you thought, oh, I'd never go to that clinic. It's not in my discipline or whatever. But start to expand your thinking about horses.

What are some new ways that you can interact with your horse? And again, just start small. Start small. Just implement small changes and see how you feel. And start to really tune into how your heart feels. How does your heart feel? How does your gut feel? You know, start to develop that interoception, you know, that internal sensing of yourself, and notice how these changes affect that. And you really will learn to start listening to your gut and choosing things that are more aligned with what you and your horse really want to do.

And that will definitely help you get out of a rut. So let me know what you're dealing with. Maybe you're in a rut. Tell me how you got out of it, or maybe you have some other challenge you're dealing with. I'd love to hear about it. And we could do a podcast episode for you as well. So thank you so, so much for listening. Please share this episode with a friend, and I look forward to talking to you again soon.

Bye for now.