Talking with your show horse really does help improve their competition scores!

Many years ago I went to a Pre-Olympic Trial Dressage* Competition and was introduced to a world class upper level Grand Prix dressage horse, Okzident, and his owner and trainer, JP.   

As soon as this man learned that I could communicate with his horse, he dragged me across the arena saying: “You have to talk with my horse!!”

It seems that when they were in practice sessions, his horse was brilliant and perfect.  But when they entered the show arena, he consistently messed up the intricate and subtle movements, causing their scores to be low.  He was frustrated and upset, and he wanted to know why.

His horse told me that he was very angry with JP and went on to outline why.  He loved his work and was very good at it, and he knew what meant to win. He liked being the best, and loved applause.  He also knew that the show arena was the only place he could get back at his owner and not be punished for it.  Among other things, he felt his human overworked him in practice, going over and over the same movements until his horse was sick of them.  He wanted to be rewarded when he did things correctly.  And he wanted an apology from his human.

When I explained his horse’s viewpoint, JP tried to shrug it off with an insincere apology — to which his horse responded by turning his back to us, swishing his tail, clearly refusing the apology.  His human stormed off angrily, and left me there in the stall alone with his horse.

The horse turned back to me and shared that he felt pleased that he’d been heard.  

He was confident that he was right in his position. He suggested that we wait and see what JP would do.  He knew the JP was a good man at heart and that he just needed time to think about it.

Sure enough, about 15 minutes later the man came back.  He quietly acknowledged that his horse was correct in all his points and went on to offer a sincere apology.  I was relieved to witness Okzident accept it when he reached out and touched his human gently with his nose.

The next day I was awakened early by a phone call.  

“I have horses and humans that you need to work with here in Houston.  When can you get here?!”  It turns out that after our talk, they went out and won their competition!  This was the start of my career as a professional animal communicator in 1993.

I specialize in assisting performance athletes achieve their personal best (humans, horses and dogs). Animal communication in combination with BodyTalk healing therapy for both humans and animals helps address the multiple causal factors each individual must overcome, and also in uniting the two so they can think, move and dance as one being.

Performing or competing with your equine (or canine) partner should be a joy for both of you, human and animal.  Easy and effortless, dancing together through a heartmind link, overcoming obstacles…  

We need to listen to our equine partners when they are trying to tell us something isn’t working for them. We can help enhance and improve performance in the show ring by addressing various issues, clarifying the rules of the game, identifying learning styles, and we can even shorten training time by identifying talents, skills, abilities and purposes.

Another major factor in improving performance is identifying and resolving health problems and physical discomforts or imbalances, whether it’s coming from the horse (or dog) or their human.  So many of our horses problems come from their human partners imbalances.  If we are struggling with our horse (or dog), there is something that isn’t working for our animal friend!  Our job is to find out what by listening, and correct it so we can get back to the game.

Our best riding instructors and coaches are right there beneath our saddle!

Why wouldn’t we ask them for help or feedback when we are trying to work through a difficulty?  They know intimately better than anyone observing from the outside what we are doing wrong, if our signals or cues are being misinterpreted or applied in a confusing manner, or if we’re doing something that’s interfering with their ability to perform easily…

Once we know what’s wrong, we can work towards correcting the problems through appropriate care-taking, including using The BodyTalk™ System therapy.  We can help heal trauma, such as from injury, illness, death or grief, by understanding their experiences. We can also help prepare an animal for surgery or other medical interventions so they are able to recover with less trauma and fewer complications.

Using the BodyTalk™ System of healing

Another client excitedly told me that after her and her horses BodyTalk sessions, that they were in total sync with each other mentally and that it was happening consistently, beyond chance.  For instance, if she thought about going out to her barn to see or work with her horse and glanced out the window to see where she was in pasture, her horse at that very moment would lift her head and look at her there in the window in the house.  Then, before she even left the window her mare would head toward the barn to wait for her!

The BodyTalk™ System of healing therapies is a state-of-the-art, safe and effective holistic therapy that allows the body’s energy systems to be re-synchronized so they operate as nature intended.  Each system and cell is designed to constantly communicate with each other at all times, allowing adaptability and flexibility.  Various life stressors compromise these lines of communication, leading to a decline in physical, emotional and/or mental health. Reconnecting these lines of communication enables the body’s mechanisms to function at optimal levels, preventing disease and rapidly accelerating the healing process.

Offering BodyTalk in combination with Animal Communication has proven extremely helpful with all manner of behavior and health problems, allergies, environmental sensitivities, viruses and infections, depressed immune systems, brain dysfunction, musculo-skeletal pain and psychological problems, among many others.

If you and your animal friend could use some help, or if you want to learn more about BodyTalk for both humans and animals, please visit my website, or contact me directly to make an appointment.
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* The term Dressage is a style of classical horseback riding popularized by the Austrian and Spanish Riding Schools.  The Disney movie, The Miracle of the White Stallions, was about the fabulous dancing white Lippizan stallions who were saved from extinction during WWII by General Patton’s men — great movie if you haven’t seen it…

Download my FREE Ebook Hidden Secrets to Communicating with Horses – just click on the picture below!

Bio: Val Heart – Expert animal communicator, speaker, bestselling author & master healer, Val is often called The Real Dr Doolittle™ and Animal Communicator to the Stars. Founder of The HEART System™ for solving problems with pets.

This article was previously published October 21, 2016, and was updated on July 5, 2023

Enjoyed this article about talking with your show horse? Here are three more you may like:

Understanding Your Horse’s Tail
Socialization with Horses, Dogs, Cats With Dr Sid Gustafson on the Real Dr Doolittle Show
Animal Reincarnation and Souls with Jenny Smedley on The Real Dr. Doolittle Show™