Riding the Paradox

My close friend Dan has suddenly lost his love after only 2 years of being together. He has been writing his experience of this and in my journeying with him I am realising some things.

1) The unexpected gifting in paradox. That when the love of someone is felt and they are gone that love fires the grief and loss for that person as is happening for Dan. Dan describes a third thing emerging at the collision of life, love and death. I replied to his post with an eerie recognition of this illogical paradox.

2) The third thing
I have the same recognition of paradox and emergence of something third coming from nowhere in my work with people and horses when I can trust enough to let go and be taken on the horse human journey. It has to do with prey animals and predators, defences and trust. The paradox of a prey animal and predatory animal using their intelligence (both emotional and intellectual)to talk to each other and meet not in the middle but both discover a "third place"
I dont understand this fully, but like the wind I see evidence of it everywhere it lives.
That a prey animal like a horse that has 60 million years of conditioning to protect themselves from animals like humans can be met with on every level, and I mean every level, physically, emotionally, spiritually and even a third place like telepathy.
Natural horsemanship is the best way I know of to connect in this way. It is more than a method though, because to use it a paradox emerges in us humans. We are called to go beyond our self preservation like the horse in order to be safe, and to trust deeply in something more than ourselves, to let go in our bodies, hearts, minds, and emotions and wait for the third thing.

It would seem by definition that the paradox of riding a horse engages both horse and human in something of the mysteries, something of a third thing from beyond. Is this God? Thank you then for making sure Noah put the horses into the Ark.


May the horse be with you!!


Kate

Horse Whispering & training in Mediation

An interesting article by Robert Benjamin: From The Horses Mouth: On The Nature Of Equine And Human Negotiations:

This alternative gentling approach strategically uses their emotional energy constructively. A comment such as, “This has got to be difficult for you and I know you are doing what you can to make sense of things”, acknowledges the difficulty and giving support to their own efforts to manage themselves. A parties’ self imposed restraint is worth 100 admonitions by a mediator.

Managing the natural energy of the conflict, not unlike horse whispering, requires the use of strategic empathy---entering the reality of the prey horse or fearful party---and shifting that energy to trust.