Can you learn to read a body?
Every body expresses a story. The story of everything that came before.
I’ve had many conversations with trainers and riders, where in theory we seem to be on the same page, but their horse’s bodies show me our approaches are quite different. I have been surprised, caught out on more than one occasion, found my feet shuffling uncomfortably in the sand where I think I have a good thing going on as far as training conversations with another human, only to have the reality revealed by the body of their horse. Once your eye and hand are trained to patterns of force and tension, it’s impossible to unsee.
The curve and bulge of certain muscles, the deficit and atrophy of others. The little, knotty balls you feel under your fingers as your run your hands down the length of their neck.
The fullness- or lack of- that sits under the saddle.
The freedom of movement, happiness in the jaw and mouth, contentment in the eye, looseness, and pliability of the skin.
The horse does not need the command of words to gift you with their story.
The same is true for humans, despite our presentation patterns and attempts the cover up the truth. Learning to read the structure of a body- how it changes in the different nervous system states, how the body rearranges itself- will tell you more about a person’s state of being than their words ever will.
Our bodies are the canvas on which we paint our life. There is much to be learned through its careful observation.
Onwards.
Jane
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