How You Do One Thing Is the Way You Do Most Things

By Suzanne Holman

One of the highlights at Miraval Resort in Tucson, Arizona is the Equine Experience.  I did NOT want to miss this opportunity.  I gave up my appointment for a spa treatment because it conflicted with this activity.

Purple Sage Ranch is just a dusty road away from the main resort.  Wyatt Webb, best-selling author and psychotherapist met us, loaded us up in the van and off we went to meet the horses.

We weren’t there to ride the horses, but to do simple tasks with them.  Interacting with a horse gives you insight into yourself.  The idea of the Equine Experience is that the way you do one thing is the way you do most things.

Although I hadn’t had any traumatic experiences with horses, I really didn’t have much confidence because I hadn’t even been riding for over 30 years.  And I’ve never groomed a horse.

So, our assignment was to pick out dirt from a horse’s hooves, brush him a couple of different ways, and lead him around the ring.  Later, we did another activity, lunging,  that I’ll describe in my next blog post.

Cherokee was my horse, a beautiful brown and white.  He had quite a personality, seeming to talk to us and often interacting with the fence to get our attention.  

HOWEVER, he was not about to lift his hoof for me to clean it.
I followed the described procedure.  Hoof stayed firmly planted.
I felt as though I was assertive and he should have gotten the message.

When he didn’t, I started feeling as though this wasn’t going to work for me.
AND caught myself.  Yes, I can do this.   I walked away from the horse and approached him again with the thought in my mind that he definitely was going to need to pick up his hoof and he did!    And I did the same with the second hoof.  First try.  Yay!
So, when I was really DECISIVE, he got the message.

The same thing happened when I was about to walk him around the ring.
Hmmm, I’m pulling and he is standing still.
“OK, Cherokee.  We are going for a walk and here we go.”  My assertive steps soon had his following mine very nicely.

It was really clear to me that if I were more decisive in the actions I take in my business, that I would most likely see more positive results.  Doubt and uncertainty can certainly make an announcement to all involved that they don’t want to go along with an indecisive person!

Our attitude has a lot to do with our brain health.  Thinking positively and focusing on what is going well can make a huge difference in the clarity of our thinking.