See it.  Feel it.  Trust it. 

A few days ago we watched the movie Seven Days in Utopia. 

I love Robert Duvall. I love all things Robert Duvall.
I would watch him watch paint dry so my bar is very low.

I also miss my grandpa dreadfully, and Pat teases me about searching for an adopted grandfather.
He's not all that wrong; I like to pretend Mr. Duvall would be my adopted grandfather if only our paths happened to cross.
But back to Seven Days in Utopia. Golf is the backdrop of the movie, and golf is just not my thing (such a small ball, such a small stick, that small hole - what's with that?) but my love for Robert was enough to overcome my feelings about golf.
The story line is about a young golfer (Lucas) whose game goes in the toilet, his relationship with his oppressive father goes too, and when he falls apart in a gloriously public way, he soon finds himself in a ditch in Utopia, Texas.
The movie reviews are mixed; they're either really high or really low and it's rated G y'all.
G. Let that sink in for a moment. You'd be hard pressed to find a movie geared towards an adult audience that's anything near G. No swearing, no drinking, nobody dies.  No wonder reviews are mixed.
So some people loved it, some hated it, and I turned the lessons the movie sought to share from golf into horses. Shocking, right?
Mr. Duvall (I'll call him Grandpa from here on out) becomes the disenchanted golfer's mentor. Under his gentle mentorship he helps Lucas get back to believing in him himself, helps him address the frustration and anger he feels in life and in his sport, and finally, helps him find his back to his love of the game and his confidence.

It's at heart a story about faith, in God, and in trusting yourself.
Grandpa Robert's motto is See it. Feel it. Trust it.
So of course I started thinking about horses, and how many of us have lost our confidence or find that it's a slippery slope.
We worry about making mistakes, about doing 'it' wrong. (Shout out to Mark Rashid here for his 'who cares if you make a mistake, try again' attitude)
We worry about getting hurt.
We worry about all kinds of things. And that worry rolls over onto/into our horses and our horsemanship.
And then our horses worry.
And I thought about faith, and how easy it is to let anxiety override peace and trust. Because worry is sometimes just such an easy place to land.
See it. Feel it. Trust it.
If you've gotten this far down my rambling, I'm pretty confident that you've got the right kind of eyes to see. 

That you understand about feel and how feel is vital in our relationships with horses. 

That great great horsemen like Bill Dorrance believed in feel so much he dang well titled his book 'True Horsemanship Through Feel.'

We tend to mistrust our own abilities in so many ways, in so many arenas. I'm not sure when that gets lots.  

Think about little kids. Think about their curiosity, enthusiasm, and you know what's to the wall approach to things they love.
They see, they feel, and off they go.

Let's try that.
Try it with me.

See it. Feel it. Trust it. And then go. Do. 
Now, of course we need to do our due diligence first - to be honest with ourselves about whether we've chosen our partners wisely.
In humans and in horses.
Some may be flashy and appealing, but aren't for us.
Wise partnership sets us up for building the relationship in a safe and positive way.
But once we've done that, then let's put our heads away for a little bit.
See our partner with fresh eyes.
Feel the energy and the aura of our horses and let it permeate our being.
Breath it in. Bring that kind of 'want to get along' to them as well.
And then, trust it.
Trust that you've got what it takes.
Empathy, kindness, wisdom, fun, curiosity, all the good stuff.
Don't let arena armchair quarterbacks dissuade you from what you've got inside.
What your horse has inside, if only we see it, feel it, trust it.
Be all that and a bag of chips to your horse.
When we believe it, they'll believe us.

What are you up to on this beautiful January day? I'd love to hear where you are, what's up with your horsemanship/life. xoxo