Product Description

Margrit Coates is internationally acclaimed for her work as an animal healer and communicator, and is the author of Healing with Horses and Horses Talking. Now, for the first time, she explains how horses can offer healing and guidance to us, the people in their lives. Connecting with Horses explores the key lessons that we can learn from these magnificent animals. When we really understand how to interact with horses and how to interpret their roles in our lives, we will learn how to improve our relationships with others and much more. This extraordinary book draws upon powerful true stories and practical experience to explore themes that range from creativity through to potential and success. As you will discover, even your own horse or pony is an incredible animal that has much to teach you...

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #88890 in Books
• Published on: 2008-03-06
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 176 pages

Linda Kohanov, author of THE TAO OF EQUUS
CONNECTING WITH HORSES shows compassionately, intelligently and critically the many ways that horses help humans, teaching life lessons beyond the barn...I recommend it wholeheartedly.

About the Author
Margrit Coates has over 20 years of experience in animal healing. She lectures and gives demonstrations on both sides of the Atlantic, and also runs courses for animal physios, vets and vet nurses. A former Head of Marketing/PR for a company involved in equine sponsorship, as well as having worked with the animals of high-profile clients, Margrit has an excellent network of contacts. She has been featured many times in the media, including on the Discovery Channel and in a wide variety of magazines, such as Here's Health, Woman's Weekly, Horse and Horse and Rider. She lives near Salisbury in the UK.

Excerpted from Connecting with Horses: The Life Lessons We Can Learn from Horses by Margrit Coates. Copyright © 2008. Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
EXPLORING CONNECTIONS

No matter what our concept of horses, when in their proximity, we are connected to them through fields of energy. With that connection are varying levels of communication and understanding. There is a continuous analytical process taking place from the horse's perspective, which leads us to an adventure in consciousness.

The term `connection' is used frequently in the horse world as a means of measuring how we get on with a particular horse. Trainers, instructors and workshop leaders use this word to explain that to link with the horse we need to be open to feedback. The presence we project is instrumental to good communication and, on the whole, horses are more aware of the human energetic presence than humans are of the horse's. However, presence is far more than a momentary union. It is about allowing an emergence of information that we would not normally be aware of, increasing the scope of our knowledge beyond normal preconceptions. This means that instead of making assumptions or following routines, we find we have access to a more pertinent level of existence. Connection can take place irrespective of whether we ride, care for a horse or have a fleeting contact.

Horses look for authenticity in order for them to want to connect with us. Authenticity can be defined as being keyed into our energetic presence, correlating and amalgamating inner and outer emotional states, without conflict at any of those levels. When authenticity is expressed, we are able to `see' the horse within and from within ourselves.

Unlike humans, horses are unwilling to accept incongruence of any sort as it takes them into a state of agitation. Humans frequently pick up inconsistent information from others, it's just that we often either ignore it or don't act on it. For my own part, whenever I do either, I get into a mess, making me resolve that I must always follow the horse's example by discharging what I feel rather than letting it sit with me as an unwanted burden.

Ebb and flow
There are different levels of connection, sometimes fluctuating and other times holding fast. Even if we are fully aware, it can feel like watching the ebb and flow of the tide, as one minute things seem to be going well, then suddenly they go awry. Louise, studying horse management, found this with a horse called Sonny who did not trust people, due to past abuse: `Some days I thought that I had connected with Sonny, albeit only briefly. I show my fear easily and was wary of going near the horse so as not to upset him. One day I decided to sit in the field watching him and when I got up he followed me as if there was some sort of connection between us. Since this event I have found it easy to ride him, yet he is violent towards other people.' All relationships are unique and need continuous work to keep them harmonious. It's a question of constantly listening, offering love and being open to see which horse will want to bond with us ... hopefully all of them!

If we seek a `perfect horse', we first need to be a perfect human.

Decisions
There are many reasons why we may or may not relate to a horse. Our thoughts and feelings, although hidden from others, are constantly tuned into by the equine radar and the bar to closeness may therefore be created by what is happening within us. However, if there are issues, then equine pain and illness must always be eliminated for we are not going to have the best connection possible with a horse that is not happy with life. Each horse will have limitations, just as we do, and our expectations should not be inflexible. As with any relationship, if expectations are unrealistic, we are prone to being disappointed. When we are adaptive, life offers endless adventures, as Lin discovered:

This morning we went out for a ride, the first in five weeks due to the lambing season and my dog having puppies. It was not long and at a gentle pace, but on the way out we had to pass a truck unloading a tractor mower with big suction tubes. Rowan didn't like it very much but nevertheless continued. As we returned, the mower was making a huge noise and hitting stones. Rowan hesitated, then spun round to head in the other direction. Rather than have a confrontation I decided to make a detour back home, a longer route, but after we had gone a short distance Rowan stopped, then turned back towards the noisy machine. Patting his neck I sensed that he wanted to go past, so I let him have his way. I was absolutely amazed because without any encouragement from me, he walked by the machine as if saying to me, `Come on, we can do it.' I feel such a connection with him that I did not think would be possible.

Lack of confidence or fear can hold us back and, of course, we must always be aware of safety issues that the horse may not consider. When partnered with trust, horses have the opportunity to show facets of being able to look after us. All we need to do is absorb and feel, and interpretation of the horse's vision becomes accessible. Horses express purposefulness acted upon in the present moment, which can lead us to developing our own synchronicity of emotion and thought. Ultimately this leads to unison, one with the other.

Customer Reviews

best book yet
My copy of Connecting with Horses arrived 2 days ago and I have not been able to put it down, so hooked on it that I have been reading until the early hours.

The empathy and horse understanding of Margrit Coates shines from every sentence. For any one who wants to know what connecting with horses means, this book is a revelation. I have one horse that I share hacks with, with no experience of the psychology side to horse ownership, but this book has opened my heart and mind to many things I had not previously considered. As I turned each page I learnt something new, and shed a tear or two along the way.

This book is essential reading for all horse lovers, no matter what their experience or background, whether equine proffessional or weekend hobby rider like me.

Truly awesome!

Pure Magic
This a wonderful, magical and heartwarming book, full of useful and factual information backed up with scientific evidence on how horses can connect to us and help us heal. The true stories of how people and Horses have helped each other made me cry they were so moving.

It is wonderful that someone at last has recognised not only the nobleness and the beauty of horses but the fact that they are so intelligent, and despite what we sometimes do to them in the name of training and Love, they still want to be with us, and help us if we allow them to. Real horse sense!

This is a must for all equine lovers.

Wonderful book
This book offers a unique blend of science, warmth, compassion, personal experiences, and spirituality. Margrit Coates provides insight into the psychologist Jung's collective unconsciousness and belief that horses are healers of humans. Through this book she offers a sound base for practitioners of equine assisted psychotherapy and equine facilitated learning to begin to explore and develop their practice. I could not put it down, and as I read it, I experienced a range of emotion from tears to joy. I finished this book believing that Margrit has pushed us a step closer to truly understanding what is meant by connection.