Horse of Peace - David Smet

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David Smet, 2014

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any

form or by any means without the prior written permission of the author.

The information in this book is meant to supplement, not replace, proper training. Like any sport

involving speed, equipment, balance and environmental factors, horse-riding poses some

inherent risk. The author advises readers to take full responsibility for their safety and know

their limits. Before practicing the skills described in this book, be sure that your equipment is

well maintained, and do not take risks beyond your level of experience, aptitude, training and/or

comfort level.

Although the author has made every effort to ensure that the information in this book was

correct at press time, the author does not assume and hereby disclaims any liability to any party

for any loss, damage or disruption caused by errors or omissions, whether such errors or

omissions result from negligence, accident, or any other cause.


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CONTENTS

Contents 4Forward 63 Horses 8

Horse Of Response .......................................................................................................................... 9

The Acute State Of Response In Horses ..................................................................................... 9

The Chronic State Of Response In Horses ............................................................................... 10

The State Of Response In People ............................................................................................. 11

Horse Of Obedience ....................................................................................................................... 12

The Acute State Of Obedience In Horses ................................................................................. 12

The Chronic State Of Obedience In Horses .............................................................................. 13

The State Of Obedience In People ............................................................................................ 14

Horse Of Peace ............................................................................................................................... 15

The Acute State Of Peace In Horses ......................................................................................... 15

The Chronic State Of Peace In Horses ...................................................................................... 15

The State Of Peace In People .................................................................................................... 17

Summary......................................................................................................................................... 18

Being Around The 3 Horses 19A Horse Of Obedience In Your Hands ........................................................................................... 21

Actions To Cause A State Of Obedience ................................................................................... 21

State Of Mind To Cause A State Of Obedience ........................................................................ 22

The Way Out ............................................................................................................................... 22

A Horse Of Response In Your Hands ............................................................................................ 23

Actions To Cause A State Of Response .................................................................................... 23

State Of Mind To Cause A State Of Response ......................................................................... 23

The Way Out ............................................................................................................................... 24

A Horse Of Peace In Your Hands ................................................................................................... 25

Actions To Cause A State Of Peace ........................................................................................... 26State Of Mind To Cause A State Of Peace ................................................................................ 26


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The Way In .................................................................................................................................. 27

Summary......................................................................................................................................... 28

From Awareness To Peace 29Breathing ........................................................................................................................................ 30

Thinking .......................................................................................................................................... 31

Gatekeepers To Awareness ........................................................................................................... 32

Peace With A Horse 34Afterword 35Bibliography 36Practical Sheet 1 37Practical Sheet 2 38Practical Sheet 3 41Practical Sheet 4 43


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FORWARD

orses are great animals. They are gracious, majestic, intelligent, social, strong and

sensitive; all at the same time. They have been our partners, friends and companions

for centuries while we shared fear, victory and joy with them.

I was just a young boy when I fell in love with horses. My dad owned a few horses and competed

with them at local dressage and show jumping competitions. I helped him take care of them,

hung around them in the paddock, rode on them after work and was there with them when foals

were born. It is a love that will never cease. As a teenager I started to ride ponies and horses in

competition. I worked for a trading stable of international showjumpers and owned my own

horses. After an eye-opening meeting with a horse, I started looking for the deeper meaning in

life. I became a reiki master, learned about natural horsemanship and yoga and stopped with

competition. It took me about ten years to realize what that eye-opening moment really meant

and now I am ready to share some insights with you in a little book.

In this book I describe something and make you conscious of it. I am not showing you how to

work with it. I will do that in the next edition of Horse of Peace. Still, without the practical part, I

feel this book is an eye-opener and I hope you will enjoy it. Horse of Peacebecame real because

I was encouraged to make my dreams come true and to set a realistic and empowering goal.

Therefore I would like to thank Ellen Van den Wijngaert, Caitlin Walters, Xander Smet, Danil

Smet, Myriam Rijsbrack, Davinia Smet, Reineke Depr and all the horses I have ever worked

with. You have all made this possible and I am very grateful for that.

A special thanks to Joan Laurie for editing this book. With her adjustments she made this book

even better!

H


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Also thanks to you, for taking the time to read this. If you would like to comment or keep in

touch, you can visit my website and blog or send me an email.

www.horseofpeace.com [email protected]
http://www.horseofpeace.com/http://www.horseofpeace.wordpress.com/mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]://www.horseofpeace.wordpress.com/http://www.horseofpeace.com/


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CHAPTER 1

3 Horses

In my opinion a horse can be in 3 different states of mind: response, obedience and peace. This

view is based on many years of observation of both (semi)wild and domesticated horses. It is

also based on the seven stages of God that Deepak Chopra (2000) describes. You will see

below that they make sense to horse and human.

The state of responseis about flight or fight. A horse will primarily choose for flight and then forfight. The horse of response is a horse that wants to get away from something which is strongly

linked to fear. This state is about survival. Without it we would not have horses today.

The state of obedienceis one step further. In this case the horse is no longer mastered by thesituation, but instead tries to master it. This state is about rules, hierarchy and leadership. In a

herd you can see this. A lot of horse trainers use this principle in order to lead and show the

way.

The state of peaceequals pure awareness. Awareness opens a door to just be. One can see thisin action in a herd, that is, if you can look behind the dances of survival and leadership. For a

domesticated horse survival is not a real issue. For the most part, nor is leadership. Therefore,

our horses can reach peace easily.

I stereotyped these states of mind into types of horses. I will describe the horse of response, the

horse of obedience and the horse of peace. But I am sure you already know them; you have

seen them. Now I would like you to meet them consciously again.


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Horse of Response

The acute state of response in horses

When I was a teenager, I was galloping with Gesina -my dads mare- along an old railroad. We

had passed a couple with a dog, and we kept up the pace. After a few hundred meters Gesina

was bitten in her hind leg by the dog, who seemingly followed us along the way to tackle her in

real wolf style. Before I understood what was happening, Gesina kicked the dog with her other

hind leg. I stopped her, spun her around and jumped off the saddle. I looked at Gesinas legs

and shouted at the dog. Just as I was ready to fight for our right to gallop freely, the dog returned

to his owner.

The acute state of response is not a bad thing. On the contrary, it is very important for a horse -

and a human- to react in the face of danger, as did Gesina with this crazy dog. If a wild horse did

not react when it saw something coming towards him at top speed; then that horse would not

survive. In the end, fear is designed to save lives. That is exactly what it does. Therefore, the

acute state of response is not only natural, it is a lifesaver. Fortunately.

How does this work? In the brain an impulse is primarily processed through the so-called

reptilian brain, the brain stem at the top of the spinal column that horses -and humans- share

with other vertebrates. This part of the brain triggers the endocrine system. Adrenaline is

injected into the blood and the body responds, without real room for reasoning.


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Photograph by Andy Long

The chronic state of response in horses

Ten years ago I rode horses for a trading stable of international showjumpers. We trained a

young bay gelding called Peter Pan. He was very easy to ride, quite flexible in his moves and had

a lot of quality on the jump. He had only one slight problem. He was scared of poles on the

ground. If you rode towards a pole or a series of poles, he tried to break away. With enough

pressure the gelding would do the task, but he speeded up and tried to get it done too quickly.

He went through the standard spectrum of response by trying to flight and fight. Therefore he is,

what I call, a horse of response. I am sure that in reading about Peter Pan you meet a horse that

you have met before and probably know well. For example horses that do not load on the trailer,

that do not want to pass through water or that scare easily over and over again, each time in the

same spot of the paddock.Peter Pan was not in the acute state of response. He was not in danger in any way. Peter Pan

was only extremely stressed about trotting over or near poles. You can imagine that at birth

Peter Pan was not wired with a phobia surrounding poles, perhaps he was hit too many times

with a pole in order to make him jump higher and higher.

The problem is that a horse of response also processes a certain impulse -in Peter Pans case

the sight of poles on the ground- automatically through the reptilian brain. And, as we already

know, that part of the brain isnt logical. Flight or fight is the outcome. It is all about protection of

the physical body.


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As you can imagine, the way to get a horse out of such a state of response is not by getting into

a state of response yourself! In the next chapter of this book we will delve deeper into this and

into the relationship between a human that is in the state of response and the state of mind of

the horse.

The state of response in people

If you look closely you will also see this behavior in people. In the end, humans also have a

reptilian brain; and for some of us life is also all about survival. If life was very hard on someone,

they normally will try to cope with the harsh world. They are enslaved by the situation and they

are only able to react. They try to get away by avoiding, judging, ignoring, fearing, or fight the

situation by getting angry, jealous, vengeful, aggressive, ... If we are honest we see a lot of this

behaviour in the world today. Manny people see life as a struggle and they try to cope with it. It

is not bad to behave like this, there are only other options -not better options. For humans the

way to get out of this state is to acknowledge that they are tired of being afraid and angry. Only

then there is room for another way.

Horses will need help from us in order to move to another state of mind.


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Horse of Obedience

The acute state of obedience in horses

A few years ago I read about clicker training. The theory looked nice and I was wondering what

the practice would be like, so I decided to train my horses with a clicker and some food. I started

with Up to You-my fathers breeding mare- because she had a blockage in her neck. I dreamt

of letting her stretch her back and neck on command like some horses in the circus do. I

commenced by giving her a slice of carrot for coming to me while I clicked the device in my

hand. After three times she got cocky and decided to go after the food directly. She almost bit

my hand; she pushed against my body and went straight for the remaining carrots in my pocket.

The test failed. I repeated it with Vasco -my horse- with a similar result. Vasco hit me hard with

his head and I decided to stop the test. I am sure that many people with all kinds of animals -

dogs, dolphins, bonobos, and horses- reach great results with clicker training but it was not

my cup of coffee.

I do not tell you this story to share with you my opinion on clicker training. I want to show you an

example of an acute horse of obedience. For this horse it is all about power. To reach hisambition, he starts a contest that he is eager to win. By stopping the activity that triggered the

state of obedience, I stopped this state of being. Sometimes it is not so easy to stop. When this

happens you have a chronic horse of obedience at hand.


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Photograph by Andy Long

The chronic state of obedience in horses

At the international trading stable we also trained a gray grand-prix jumper who had been

injured. He limped while trotting and cantering but not while walking. I do not remember his

name but, I vividly remember his manners as he was a real pain in the ass! We were only

allowed to walk him for thirty minutes each day. Not in the walker or alongside him in the open

air. Nope, on his back in the paddock. While saddling, he bit and kicked. Once you got on hi, he

made it his goal to get you off. Every five to ten minutes he pulled the reins hard and tried to

buck you off his back. In a split-second he gathered up all his power in order to win a contest

that he had conjured up in his mind. It did not matter who rode him or where. Every once in a

while he exploded. As a result he only made matters much worse for himself.

In making this a game of a horse versus a human he was a chronic horse of obedience. At that

time I knew the solution was not getting in the state of obedience myself. Anger, punishment,

greater control (equals bigger iron in his mouth) or brute violence were not going to help. The

only thing that possibly would help was to respect his anger and stop the training sessions.

However, this was not my decision to make. In order to see other options and to solve a problem

one will need awareness and peace. I will demonstrate what that is and how you can apply it at

a later time.

If you have been around horses you probably know many examples of this horse of obedience.

A horse that kicks the door at dinnertime only to stop when his meal is served; horses that go


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into the field and constantly walk back and forth to the gate; a horse that pulls the reins or

speeds up under certain conditions; a horse that pins its ears, bites or kicks every time you

come close: these are all horses of obedience. Again, they did not do any of these things at

birth. Something or someone triggered it; most likely a human being. And most likely a human

being that lives life from a state of obedience.

The state of obedience in people

This state is all about power and ego. The human reacts to a situation with the goal to get more

for himself. It is a contest, a competition, an ambition to win. Maximum achievement is the

ultimate goal. We see this behaviour often in our society. To be honest, a society cannot survive

in this manner. Everything is a contest and everyone wants to get the most out of it. The other is

the competitor; everything is an obstacle; its a constant battle.

It is no surprise that one often sees this behaviour in horse people. How many trainers say that

you have to be the leader, that you are in charge, that you make the rules, that you want to be

the highest in the hierarchy, that you have to win the battle before it starts. It is not bad to be

the leader. But if that is everything you are after in your relationship with your horse, I suggest

you adjust your attitude quickly. If you make the connection between yourself and your horseinto a battle to be won, a horse of obedience is what you will get. And that might be exactly what

you want, however I will show you other options to choose from.

Most people in this state of mind fight constantly on the outside and ignore the inside. It will be

no surprise to you that the inside is our way to what I call the state of peace. Humans have the

ability to reach this state, as do horses.


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Horse of Peace

The acute state of peace in horses

What is this state of peace in a horse?

Last week I went for a walk in the forest and on my way there I passed two beautiful draft

horses. One begged for bread, which she probably received regularly. The other didnt even look

at me, she was eating grass and kept on eating. She was safe. There was nothing to be afraid of

and nothing to compete against. In that moment she was completely at peace. Most of the time

an acute horse of peace has lowered his head and is eating. Some trainers use this trick to relax

a horse. By lowering its head, they bring the horse to peace at a certain moment.

The chronic state of peace in horses

In the more permanent -chronic is a bit negative- state of peace a horse accepts reality as it is,

responds with an open mind and is generally at peace. I will give you two examples.

I co-owned a very beautiful brown mare named Kaiserpfalz. She was cooperative but not easy to

ride. Occasionally we disagreed, but not this day. I was riding her at home and I began to

become very aware of my breathing. I had learned this in yoga class. I breathed in a very natural

way and my mind quieted down. I could feel Kaiserpfalz stop resisting; she started to cooperate

in a very deep and relaxed way. I knew exactly what to ask her and she understood my questions

as if there was no space between us. I was very relaxed, incredibly happy and very aware of both

my body and mind as well as hers. Everything seemed to vanish, except for the both of us. Wemoved as one and it seemed as if time did not exist. Together we reached peace. From that

moment on everything changed for us. We were no longer strangers. We were one, dancing an

ever changing dance. I enjoyed being around my mare and we seemed to understand each

other without communication. I still think back to that moment when we reached peace; that day

at home. It changed my life forever and it is absolutely the reason why I am able to write this

book today. And why I am able to write about the horse of peace. After an acute illness,

Kaiserpfalz passed away. I was there by her side.


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I have met the horse of peace several times; all were very special horses. Tanagra was the first.

She is a mare that my dad, my sister and I had bred from Gesina. Tanagra was sold to a friend of

my fathers. One day my sister and I went home with him after a competition. I helped to unload

the horses and later I ended up in front of a stable with a little chestnut mare. I looked at her

and, without doing anything, we seemed to unite. It was as if time stood still. I had never felt

anything like that before. It took me some time to connect the dots on this experience. It

certainly was a trigger for me to find out more about horses, meditation, yoga and altered states

of mind. I can hardly remember what really happened in that moment. On the other hand I can

vividly remember that very special feeling. Afterwards my family decided to buy Tanagra and to

bring her back home. I tried to train Tanagra for sports, that did not work. But the special

connection between the two of us remains to this day. When I visit my dad I always go and greet

Tanagra. Each time this special connection returns without effort. Tanagra was my first horse of

peace and I am so grateful for the lessons she taught me. Lessons I am now ready to share with

you.

Tanagra (left), Musica (right) and I, in peace


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The state of peace in people

First some words on the state of peace in humans. This person discovered restful awareness by

stopping the focus on outer activity and discovering that peace lies within. In peace someonebecomes a silent witness who is calm, silent, meditative, conciliatory and centred. The outer

world does not change, only the interpretation of the world changes. It comes through pure

awareness, the awareness that all this outer things take place against a background of no

thought. It is something you cannot be forced into (horse of response) nor something you can

pursue (horse of obedience). It is something that one needs to be open for. Then it happens

when the time is right. When one asks the right question, the answer appears.


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Summary

The ultimate value of life depends upon awareness and the power of

contemplation rather than upon mere survival. - Aristotle

GOAL MEANS RESULT ACTION

HORSE OF RESPONSE Survival Flight orfight

FearMake someone do

something

HORSE OF

OBEDIENCE PowerReaction -

ContestStress

Tell someone to do

something

HORSE OF PEACE To be Restfulawareness

PeaceAsk someone to do

something


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CHAPTER 2

Being around the 3 Horses

f you have been with horses, worked with them or observed them, then you certainly have

noticed that horses react to the circumstances around them. It is part of who they are.

Because horses are prey animals they received the gift of awareness. If a wild horse is not

aware in the here and now it will die. If you combine this awareness to the fact that horses are

depending on the group to survive, then you understand why horses are so sensitive to

everything that happens around them and within the group. For domesticated horses we are the

herd so they react to the circumstances within this herd, including the things we do and the

state of mind we are in.

Am I saying that a horse turns into a horse of response if you are stressed, angry or scared? Yes,

I am. Does this also mean that horses become a horse of peace when you are fully aware and

accepting the here and now? Yes, it does.

But before we start to think that this is a very simple and simplistic situation, where one merely

has to be relaxed in order to solve all the problems in the world, let us look at this closer in order

to see how it works.

I will take the horse of obedience as a starting point for several reasons.

First. Systematised horse riding originated in the army. Horses were bred, ridden, schooled andtrained by militarists for use on the battlefield. And in the army everything is structured, rules are

clear and orders must be followed, for very obvious reasons. So power and control became a

normal part of horse riding due to its background.

Second. A horse is much more powerful than a human. Working with horses can be dangerous.

Attempting to be in charge, to have the power and to be in control, then is a logical decision.

Third. Starting with the horse of obedience makes it easier to clarify the relationship with the

horse of response and with the horse of peace. As I said before there is no hierarchy between

I


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the 3 horses. One is not better than the others. But they are related, which means you can go

from one horse to another.

To go from a horse of obedience to a horse of response is to go from the intention to control to

the reaction of fear. Peter Pan is a good example of this process. He was handled around poles

with the intention to control, but he reacted with fear and so became a horse of response.

To go from a horse of obedience to a horse of peace is to go from the intention to control to

peace.

The horse of response is our entrance point into this model for the reasons I stated above.

Below you see a visualisation of this.

Horse of obedience

CONTROL

Horse of peace

PEACEHorse of response

FEAR


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A Horse of Obedience in your Hands

You remember the horse of obedience, he seeks power and control. He wants to be in charge.

You see this behavior in a herd with an authoritarian leader. The leader leads with force and all

the other horses use a similar amount of force to keep their position in the hierarchy of the herd.

It seems to be a normal thing in nature. We also see this kind of behavior in humans in the state

of obedience. He or she is the leader, the one in charge. What he or she says is the law.

Is this a bad thing? Absolutely not! There is a need for order and for rules. Sometimes there

must be a line that cannot be crossed. But even rules can be made in peace, in freedom, with

mutual approval. Even borders can be firmly marked without the need to control. If we talk

about the state of obedience we talk about the unilateral dictation of rules. This will always

result in some kind of friction, some kind of uneasiness. In our society we often see this.

Here we are talking about the relationship between horses and humans in a domesticated

environment. Now we will talk about a humans actions and state of being that relate to a horse

of obedience. For the most part the actions and the state of mind in a human are related and

the same. Because you want to be in control your mindset is all about control and with your

actions you do things to achieve control.

Actions to cause a state of obedience

Every action with the goal to obtain something without discussion causes a state of obedience.

It is not about the action itself, it is about the intention. The intention is to be the leader, the one

in charge without being challenged. I will give you some examples to clarify this: pulling the reins

firmly to control a horse, hitting a horse in the chest to make it walk back, using a whip, shouting

at a horse to intimidate it and be in charge. All these actions cause stress in the horse. Perhaps

less and less stress over time, but they indeed cause stress.And then you will meet the horse of

obedience. When a horse links these actions to certain events, you will have a chronic horse of

obedience on your hands.


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State of mind to cause a state of obedience

When a human is in a state of obedience he or she is stressed. Stress occurs when we are in a

situation that we are either not willing to change or we are not able to change. We feel we are a

victim of the circumstances and that we can only react. Stress will cause more stress. This is

exactly what I saw while observing people with their horses. I have seen many competitors

stressing out because they could not control the environment they were in. They wanted to win,

to be at their best, they were afraid to fail! Then you see horses who move like dancers at the

beginning but turn into uncontrollable objects just before the start of the competition.

If you have a horse of your own or work daily with horses, you have certainly experienced the

horse react to your state of mind. If you are stressed, for whatever reason, your horse will also

be stressed. It will not be so cooperative during training, it will spook faster and surely be

tensed. It reacts to your state of mind.

On the other hand I have seen people compete at their highest level after fully realizing that

winning itself is not the goal; that failure is just an illusion. It is all part of a journey and the

result is not at all the most important thing. If one can really experience this -beyond

understanding- then stress goes away.Without stress we reach peace.

The way out

The way out is obvious. If you are able to see that life is not a battle, that it is not about

controlling but about being. And if you are able to let go of the stress, then you are able to reach

peace. The key to this is awareness.

Becoming aware means that you start noticing what you do or what your mind-set is. You go

form unconscious living to conscious living. And that opens the door for peace.

You start asking questions about the situation. Why do you act like this? Is this the only possible

action? What else is possible? What are your beliefs about the world and horses? Are these

beliefs real? What else is possible?

Becoming aware of your breath and your body is a crucial part of this process. Then become

aware of issues that keep you from reacting differently to the circumstances in your life. In the

third chapter you can experience this and open the door for the state of peace.


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A Horse of Response in your Hands

As we have seen above, a horse of response reacts to a situation where it is threatened in its

survival. It feels fear and tries to flight or fight.

Actions to cause a state of response

Everybody knows what to do in order to cause fear in a horse. Use violence, make a lot of noise

or movement, do things that they dont expect. Than you will see an acute horse of response inaction. When you hang around places where a lot of horses are handled, such as shows, riding-

schools or competitions, then you will certainly see some people use fear to get a horse to do

something. They use a whip or wave with a jacket to load a horse, they start shouting to make it

move faster or they hit a horse that is not cooperating. The difference between the actions to

cause a state of obedience is not the intention, but the reaction. The intention from the humanstill is to control, the reaction from the horse is fear. And as you know they will react with a flight

or fight response.

If these actions are repeated over and over, a chronic horse of response will develop. Horses

then process a stimulus directly through the reptilian brain and they will always try to flight or

fight if a stimulus occurs. I told you about Peter Pan, he was probably scared too many times

around poles.

State of mind to cause a state of response

A similar thing occurs when a human is in a state of response. In this state people see

themselves as a victim of the situation. They can only react. They try to get away from the

situation by avoiding, judging, ignoring, fearing, or they start fighting the situation by getting

angry, jealous, vengeful, aggressive, ...

I have seen people ride towards an obstacle in absolute fear or stress resulting in a horse that

did not jump the obstacle. Another rode on this same horse and approached the exact same

obstacle, but with confidence instead of fear, jumped the obstacle gracefully. There were no


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actions to cause fear in the horse, only a state of mind. Fear causes fear. A state of response

causes a horse of response.

The way out

What happens when you are in a state of response yourself? You get ready to react. In order to

do that, adrenalin pours into your bloodstream, your brain sends blood to your muscles, your

heart rate goes up and you start breathing faster. It is possible that you hold your breath for a

moment when the shock is the biggest.

It is no surprise that a horse, that owes its survival to the talent to notice every slightest

difference in its environment, will react to this. If the herd -and the human is in a domesticated

world part of the herd- is in a state of response so will the horse be.

In order to change these reactions of both horse and human, one needs to start by breathing

normally again. Only then can you become aware of the issue to which you react, only then can

you resolve them. In the third chapter I will show you a few ways to do just that. Then you are on

your way to leave the states of response and obedience behind and reach the state of peace.


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Actions to cause a state of peace

Actions that come from acceptance of life as it is, open the door to peace. And they all come

from awareness. The only thing that matters is that you do the thing that is 100% right in thatmoment. Only you can decide this. Make sure that your action is the only correct one that can be

taken! You can only be sure if you are aware.

An example. You want to load an unknown horse onto a trailer. You are confident, responsive

and you take your time. You bring the horse in front of the door and it stiffens. You can do a lot

of things.

You can start pulling the rope, without even thinking about it. You can search for the reason why this is happening. Are you scaring the horse? Is there

something else?

You can seek help in order to speed things up a bit. You can do nothing and wait. You can stop and put the horse back.

What is the best decision? I dont know. Only you can decide in that moment, given all the

circumstances that you are in. In the next chapter I will give you some tools to become more

aware.

State of mind to cause a state of peace

It is impossible to separate the actions and the state of mind that cause a state of peace. The

state of mind is awareness and that is what is needed in order to take the right actions.


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Musica and I, once again

The way in

The only way in is through awareness, responsiveness and willingness to change. The next

chapter is entirely about this way in.


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Summary


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CHAPTER 3

From Awareness to Peace

Pure Awareness is the consciousness with which you experience everything. It is formless and

has no boundaries. Most of the time we are unaware of pure awareness.

There is of course a theoretical frame for awareness. But I suggest we skip the science and go

right to the practice. It is very nice to know what a horse is, but this knowing is not important at

all if you have never been around a horse. Have never seen it, touched it, connected with it, rode

it or walked along with it.

There are a lot of techniques you can use to become aware. It is not the intention of this book to

cover awareness or peace in total, so I will share with you 4 techniques that will bring you onto

the path of awareness.

The first 2 are made to become aware. Becoming aware of your breathing and becoming aware

of your thoughts. Breathing is the single most important thing on earth, for the simple reason

that you will die very fast without air. Because we constantly think, thoughts make up a great

deal of our reality.

The other 2 techniques will give you the opportunity to change your reaction when you are in a

state of response or obedience. With these techniques the reasons to react or to fear vanish

quickly and naturally. And that makes a big difference.I will not cover the phase that takes these techniques to the horse. This book is too small to do

that.


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Breathing

We begin with an action that literally takes 5 seconds. You can find a guide for this exercise on

practical sheet 1, at the end of the book.

Breathing brings you into the moment. You can only breathe here and now. Therefor the body

and mind relax. Relaxing gets you out of an action modus and into a receiving modus. You can

do this whenever you have time or feel a need for it. You can also repeat this breathing exercise

for as long as you like.

When you are around horses conscious breathing or the 5 seconds-refresh can work wonders. I

suggest that you take your time to breath consciously in and out when you are working with a

horse. Then, notice what is changing. When you relax, your horse can also relax . This puts many

things in a different perspective. When you give up control and become aware, you format a

great soil to grow peace


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Thinking

To experience pure awareness, all you have to do is become aware of it. (I am not joking!) And

you can experience it in the gap between thoughts. Noticing that there is a gap between

thoughts is the first step. Then you can explore this gap and that is what I will show you in the

exercises you find on practical sheet 2. We CONNECT with awareness. I would really like you to

experience it. Reading about it, contemplating on it will not change anything.

If you start experiencing with awareness as in the exercises on practical sheet 2 at the end of

this book-, you will notice that you are able to really be in the moment and make the choice that

is perfectly right for that particular moment. This is exactly what we talked about when we

discussed the horse of peace!


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Gatekeepers to awareness

Awareness is all around us. Awareness is all that there is. You have experienced it. But most

people have no idea what it is and how to use it consciously.

But why is that? Awareness is natural, so what keeps us from being aware of it? I see two

reasons. The first is that we are afraid to go deep into an experience. The second is that we

connect so strongly to an experience that it becomes a part of who we are. I will give you an

example of each.

Pete is 10 when he sees a rat on the street. He comes back from school and is on his

way home. The rat scurries over in a hurry. Pete sees the rat; his breath stokes and he

stands still. His heart rate goes up. He thinks of what would have happened if he was just

seconds earlier. He looks around to see if more people saw the rat, he is all alone. Pete

walks home quickly and locks all the doors. He hopes he will never meet a rat in his life

again.

Sandra is also 10 when she and her sister Esther have a big fight. Esther took Sandras

doll to school and told everyone that it was hers. When Sandra found out, she was

furious and started hitting Esther. Her mom and dad came to the rescue. In an attempt to

separate the fighting girls her dad hit her in the arm. Her mom sent Sandra to bed. In her

room she started crying. She tried to figure out what had happened and why. The reason

was obvious, everybody hated her. And she hated everybody. She had been hated before

and she probably will be hated a lot more in the future. She could feel it from the top of

her body to her toes.

If you look at Pete it is clear that he tries to avoid the fear he feels. Sandra, on the other hand,

feels hate in every cell of her body, she connects to her feeling. She is a part of the emotion and

it is a part of her. In the case of Pete we will use the DIVE technique, we literally dive into the

emotion to arrive at awareness. The DIVE technique is developed to do this without stirring it all

up and creating an even bigger emotion. In Sandras case we will do just the opposite. We will

use the FLY technique to make room for the emotion and awareness.


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CHAPTER 4

Peace with a horse

If you have come so far in this book, you can recognize the 3 horses with your eyes closed. You

know why they exist and what you can do about it. You have even experienced awareness. I will

not take you by the hand and guide you further, but that doesnt mean I will not help you figure

things out.

Let us put all the things we talked about together. I will show you how I consciously open up to

invite the horse of peace

Imagine you are with a horse.

1. Notice the state of mind it is in. Is it a horse of response, obedience or peace?2. Notice your own state of mind? Are you scared, reacting from an experience that

happened in the past? Are you the one in charge, convinced that handling horses

means being in control? Are you aware, trusting, open?

3. Become aware of your breath. Inhale and exhale naturally.4. Become aware of your body. Align it. You might feel things in your body that can

tell you something about the state of mind you are in.

5. Become fully aware of the moment, use the CONNECT-technique to do that.6. Remove any gatekeepers with the DIVE or FLY-technique.7. Become aware of the action that you should take. Then act upon it!8. Stay in full awareness, breathe naturally and keep your body aligned.9. If you notice that issues pop up, use the DIVE or FLY-technique.10. Trust yourself and go with the flow.


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AFTERWORD

I have really enjoyed writing this little book! The timeframe was short, but it was full of great

experiences. I hope this book brings you and your horse on a magnificent journey too.

This certainly is only a beginning. I will keep on blogging athorseofpeace.wordpress.com and I

will expand this work about the 3 horses. I hope you will join me again next time!

Most of all I hope this will bring something to you and to your horse. If so, please keep me

posted on your experiences.

In peace

David Smet

Maldegem (Belgium), February 3th2014
http://localhost/var/www/apps/conversion/tmp/scratch_6/horseofpeace.wordpress.comhttp://localhost/var/www/apps/conversion/tmp/scratch_6/horseofpeace.wordpress.com


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BIBLIOGRAPHY

Bartlett, Richard (2007) Matrix Energetics. New York, Atria, 212 p.

Chopra, Deepak (2000) How to know God : the soul's journey into the mystery of mysteries.

New York, Harmony, 320 p.

Gurney, Carol (2001) The language of animals : 7 steps to communicating with animals. New

York, Bantam-Dell, 244 p.

Hempfling, Klaus Ferdinant (2001) De Boodschap Van De Paarden. Karnak, 176 p.

Kinslow, Frank (2008) The Secret Of Instant Healing. Triad, 132 p.

Kohanov, Linda (2001) The Tao of Equus. Novato, New World Library, 363 p.

Kohanov, Linda (2003) Riding Between the Worlds. Novato, New World Library, 253 p.

Lovejoy, Asara (2007) The One Command. Dallas, Wisdom House, 276 p.

Macy, Joanna (2007) World as lover, world as self. Berkeley, Parallax, 206 p.

Parelli, Pat (1993) Natural horse-man-ship. Western horseman, 223 p.

Patel, Mansukh (1999) Your personal peace formula. Bilston, Life Foundation, 151 p.

Ransley, Meredith (2013) Release Focused Training. Quantum Savvy, 72 p.

Rahid, Mark (1993) Considering the horse. Boulder, Johnson, 212 p.

Stone, Tom (2007) Pure Awareness. Carlsbad, Great Life Technologies, 97 p.

Swift, Sally (1985) Centeredriding. Vermont, Trafalger Square, 207 p.

Tellington-Jones, Linda (2006) The ultimate horse behavior and training book. Trafalgar

Square, 322 p.

Van Den Eynden, Kim (2011) Het paard als therapeut. Systemische paardencoaching. Cap,

April 2011, p. 42-46.


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PRACTICAL SHEET 1

5-seconds refresh

Become aware of your body and align it. If you sit, sit straight and relax. If you stand, stand

straight without overstretching any joints and relax. Now breath in for 2 seconds, hold your

breath for one second and exhale again for 2 seconds. Dont count, let it happen in a natural,

relaxed way.

Now lets do this together. Align yourself. Breathe in, hold for a second and then breathe out.

How does this feel? What do you feel in your body?


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PRACTICAL SHEET 2

Connect

You can do this exercise on your own, but it works best with a partner. It is best that someone

reads this for you or that you record your voice and play your recording. To do this alone you first

read the entire exercise and then remember it as you go along.

Please do this exercise slowly, allow yourself the time to really experience it. Make sure you do

this -at least in the beginning- in a calm and serene environment, where there are no

distractions.

Ready?

Experiencing the gap between thoughts

Experiencing pure awareness can only be done in the now, in the present moment. So become

aware of this moment, it is all that there is. If you want you can close your eyes. Breathe softly in

and out.Let your breath come naturally fluently and very softly. Keep breathing in a

relaxed way. Now align your body. Make your back straight and relax your joints and muscles.

Give yourself the time to align your body, so that you feel the energy flowing from the bottom to

the top and back.

Notice that thoughts come and go. They come naturally, without effort. They come from nothing,

from pure awareness. Between the thoughts there is a small gap, a gap of nothing. Becomeaware of this gap, it is pure awareness. It is nothing and everything at the same time. It is small

and immense. Let your thoughts come as they come, dont resist. But every time you return to

this gap between them, to pure awareness. You will notice that you start to feel bliss, pure

happiness. Allow it to happen. This emotions has no physical or mental source, it comes from

awareness. Keep returning to the gap between thoughts. As you see it now, you experience

flashes of awareness against a background of thoughts. But the real image is different. What

you really are experiencing are flashes of thoughts against a background of pure awareness.

The thoughts pop up, but the awareness is there all the time. Can you experience that? Discover


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this awareness, explore it. What do you feel in your body? Go into that feeling and just become

aware. Give yourself all the time you need. Can you feel the area around your body, just a few

inches from your skin? Become aware of it. Now become aware of your thoughts, let them pop

up. You know that they arise on a background of pure awareness. You can always experience

pure awareness. It is there all the time, everywhere. When you are ready, open your eyes and

allow yourself to come back to this moment

You have now experienced pure awareness. Very nice!

You can always experience it again, with the exercise above or on your own. Do this exercise a

few times before you go to the next exercise.

You can also use this exercise to connect in pure awareness with a horse or anything else you

want to connect with. You can do this with an imaginary horse or a real horse next to you. I

recommend you do this live with a real horse. If that is not possible, then you can work with a

horse that is not present. You can do it both with a horse you know or a horse you dont know.

Everything is possible!

Connect in pure awareness

Become aware of your breath. Breathe in and out in a comfortable, natural way. Close your eyes

if you want to. Align your body so that your back is straight and your joints are soft. Take your

time to feel comfortable and at ease. Keep breathing naturally.

Let your thoughts come and go. Experience awareness in the gap between thoughts. Take all

the time you need to experience this fully. Then become aware of the awareness that lies in the

background. The awareness that is present all the time and everywhere. It is the essential

nature of everything that exists. This awareness is also present in the area around your heart.

Now become aware of this part of your body and experience pure awareness there. Let it

expand and fill up your whole body. Notice how your body feels. Does it feel differently? If you

can feel this awareness in your whole body, then follow it outside your body to the room or area

you are in. Become fully aware of this place. You notice there is also a horse in this place.

Become aware of the horse. You experience this horse in pure awareness. In the awareness

that is present in everything. In you and in the horse. You and the horse are one. Become aware

of this oneness. What is the one question you would like to ask to this horse? Ask it. Let it pop

up in pure awareness, without expectations, in pure freedom and peace. Your horse answers

your question in pure awareness. Let this answer come to you freely. Open yourself to receive it.


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Become fully aware of your question and the answer form your horse. Does this answer imply

an action? Become aware of this action and the connection in awareness you have with your

horse. You and your horse know that you can act in harmony, peacefully, if you connect to

awareness and act from it.

Become aware of your breath again. Smile if you like, you have connected in awareness with a

horse. Come back to this moment and open your eyes when you are ready.

Did you feel this? What exactly did you feel? Do you see that this connection can be the base for

a new way of being together with your horse?

The possibilities in this connected awareness are endless.

You can ask a question and get an answer You can just explore the connection between the two of you You can bring a problem or question to the front and be open for a solution You can search together for solutions in awareness You can just be in awareness together You can both become a horse of peace in awareness


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PRACTICAL SHEET 3

Dive

Go to the core of something

Become aware of your breath and start breathing gently in and out. Close your eyes. Relax and

align your body. Keep your back straight and your muscles soft. Take your time to totally relax.

Keep your breath easy and natural.

The fasted and most profound way to connect with an experience is through your body. This is

because everything we experience happens in the now and through our body. Become aware of

an experience that you had in the past or an experience you are having in the present. This

experience actually is energy, only energy. Allow yourself to become aware of this energy in your

body. Somewhere in your body there is an area that reacts to this energy. Put your hand on that

area, breathe into it and become fully aware. As you notice this energy it can become stronger,

stay the same or become weaker. Whatever happens, just allow it and relax because it is only

energy. Allow yourself to notice that in this area there is a spot where the energy is the most

intense. All you notice is energy. Zoom into the spot you have located. Whatever happens is fine.

With your awareness, you dive into it. You keep on going deeper. You keep on zooming in, like

you would do with a microscope, until you reach the core of the energy. Become 100% aware of

the centre of the energy. Accept its existence fully. Now notice what changes. Take your

awareness back to that area in your body. How does it feel? What has changed in that spot?How has the energy changed? And the memory of the experience? Just become aware, there is

no good or bad.

When you are ready, come back to this moment. Become aware of your breath again and open

your eyes.

This exercise usually brings a profound change in the energy of an experience. But everybody is

different and so is their feeling during and afterwards this exercise.


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As you make space in your energy body, you make space in your physical body too. Your body

might adjust itself by needing time to rest, by detoxing, yawning, burping, sleeping more, Just

allow this, it is a natural reaction.

Please use this exercise as much as possible. It will connect you more to awareness and it will

change the energy of experiences where you didnt dive into the energy.


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PRACTICAL SHEET 4

Fly

Letting go

Become aware of your breath and start breathing gently in and out. Close your eyes. Relax and

align your body. Keep your back straight and your muscles soft. Take your time to totally relax.

Keep your breath easy and natural.

Your body is the fasted and most profound way to connect with an experience. Because

everything we experience happens in the now and through our body. Become aware of an

experience you had in the past or an experience you have in the present. This experience

actually is energy, only energy. Allow yourself to notice this energy somewhere in your body.

Somewhere in your body there is an area that reacts to this energy. Locate it and feel how big it

is. Now search for the outer edge of this energy. This edge might be outside your body. Take

your awareness a little further than the outer edge of the energy. Notice that there is stillness

and peace there. Become fully aware of this stillness.. Notice how big it is. It is all around you.

This stillness is pure awareness and it is all there is. Explore the stillness even more. You can go

from one side to the other. Experience it as pure awareness

Become once again aware of your breath and this moment. When you are ready you can open

your eyes.

As in the DIVE technique this technique is all about energy. Give your body the time and space it

needs to adjust to the energetic changes. Use this technique whenever you feel like it.

If you are not sure whether to use the DIVE or the FLY technique, use them both! They take just

a moment to do.

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Horse of Peace - David Smet