But ask the animals, and they will teach you; the birds of the air, they will tell you.”

-Job 12:7

Working Through the Horses Back
By Clay Wright

When encountering problems or dilemmas in the nature of physical balance, mental or emotional states, or while simply trying to improve the horse’s overall state of balance through the correct progression in the overall training process, such as bringing the horse onto the aids and/or into deeper states of collection, there are two fundamental requirements that we need to understand, have the knowledge of and be talented and tactful enough to be able to apply. Continued

The Horse as a Mirror
By Clay Wright

If there were one thing I could reach people with, it would be to help them understand just how very important learning to see the horse as a mirror of themselves is. And what this can do for the individual as well as their horse. There is really no way to explain the profound experiences and positive effects that come from seeing the horse as your mirror until you have experienced it for yourself. When I speak of seeing the horse as your mirror, it seldom means that the horse is acting as you do. Instead, it means that the horse is reacting in the manner he is because of how you are approaching him. Not only does he react to how you are acting, but also to how you are feeling, and what you are thinking deep inside. The horse is reading your true feelings and intentions—the true feelings and intentions that many times the human is not consciously aware of. The horse mirrors your inner states. Learning how to read what the horse is seeing and reacting to in you is simply a matter of consistent un-judged observation or watching. If you pay attention to how the horse is responding, and ask yourself, why would the horse be responding in this manner? You will begin to understand what the horse is thinking and how the horse is feeling deep inside. Continued. . .

Going Beyond Cues and Conditioned Responses to Engage In a Deeper Level of Communication with Your Horse
(This article appeared in the May/June 2005 issue of Eclectic Horseman Magazine)
By Clay Wright with Carolyn Wright