Paw in Hand Musings: a mare called Roo on human goals

“Sometimes humans are too goal driven”

Recently I was asked to talk to a beautiful mare called Roo; she was about to embark on a new adventure as she and her person were moving out of state. I spent time explaining to her what was going to happen and towards the end of the communication, I asked her what is the one thing she most dislikes. Being a mare full of personality, she told me that she dislikes taking orders. I smiled but she then expanded into a much more philosophical realm that applies to all of us.

“Sometimes humans are too goal driven” is what she said. I paused to think and asked her to explain. “Achieving a goal is not everything. It’s the journey that counts”. These words truly moved me and showed so much wisdom that I decided to ask her if we could continue this conversation another time.

She was ready and waiting for me.  When I set the intention to connect with her, she was right there as if we had never dropped the original conversation. She explained that goals between a horse and a human need to be aligned. The intention needs to be clear for both. It is much more interesting- in her opinion- if human and horse agree on the goals.

My next question was then: how do we communicate our goals with our horses and how do we know if our goals are aligned with theirs? Roo explained that visualizing the goal and how to get there is the easiest way to communicate. When horse and human are truly bonded, the understanding is just spontaneous.

She believes that the goal has to apply to both the human and the horse; that’s what makes it interesting. For instance, if I decide that my goal is my horse’s physical fitness, then, if I share this goal with him or her and apply it to myself too, it makes it less of a goal and  more of a journey together. Roo reminded me however that she does not like the word “goal”. She seems to prefer the word “intention”; this resonates better with her and it seems she likes the softer approach; as she said at the beginning, she does not like to be ordered about…

According to Roo, it is a mistake to think that humans are here to teach horses or horses are here to teach humans. It is not one way and it is not about teaching; it is about BEING. Roo has chosen to let her person enter her life in the same way her person has chosen to allow Roo enter her life and together they are on a journey of mutual discovery.

Roo is a wild mustang who was collected as a yearling and abandoned in a field for 6 years. Someone picked her up and trained her as a jumper and she is now living in New Mexico with her forever partner, Melissa.