Awakened Equestrian

30/07/2026

What you say or do isn't the most important thing. What truly matters is how others feel in your presence.

This applies to both animals and people.

Whether you believe in energy or not, it plays a powerful role in shaping how others experience being with you. We can ignore these subtle signals for a long time, convincing ourselves they don't exist. But our bodies are wise, and so are our souls. They naturally guide us toward the people whose presence feels safe, peaceful, and genuine.

This is especially important when we work with people or animals in a therapeutic setting. We often have only a few moments to make a first impression, and those moments determine whether our client feels safe enough to relax, trust, and cooperate—both consciously and unconsciously.

Unfortunately, there is no magic formula that makes someone energetically pleasant to be around. It requires honest inner work. Connecting with yourself. Facing your inner conflicts. Bringing your life into alignment—often in ways you never expected.

Does that mean you have to become perfectly calm and enlightened? Not at all. Very few people are. The key is authenticity. Being honest with yourself. Living in alignment with your inner truth. Not because you have everything figured out, but because you're willing to discover who you really are without masks or pretence.

And when you're able to set your own story aside and be fully present for another living being, you create a space of openness, acceptance, and understanding.

That's where the real magic happens.

K.

📷 Photo by .dohn from the Conscious Energy Work Retreat.

28/07/2026

🐴 Every new lesson is a challenge - but it doesn't have to become chronic stress.

Research shows that the way we train horses has a major impact on both their welfare and their relationship with people. As young horses began to understand new tasks, signs of fear and stress decreased. Learning itself wasn't the problem - clear, fair, and gradual training was.

Long or overly demanding sessions, however, increased physiological signs of stress. Even good training can become too much if we forget the importance of rest.

Researchers also found that horses who actively sought contact with people during training had higher oxytocin levels - the hormone linked to trust and positive social bonds.

💡 Great training isn't about how quickly a horse performs. It's about creating an environment where the horse feels safe, understands what's being asked, and learns to trust the person beside them.

📚Source: Hall, C., & Kay, R. (2024). Living the good life? A systematic review of behavioural signs of affective state in the domestic horse (Equus caballus) and factors relating to quality of life. Part 2: Horse-human interactions.
📷 Photo: Pixabay

23/07/2026

🤝🐎 A bond with your horse isn't built only during training - it grows in every moment you share.

Researchers didn't just study horses during training sessions. They also looked at everyday interactions: Does the horse choose to approach a person? Does it seek contact? How does it respond simply to someone's presence?

The findings were clear. Horses with mostly positive experiences around people were more likely to approach voluntarily and show interest in working together. Repeated negative or unpredictable interactions, however, often led horses to avoid people or lose interest in connecting.

One particularly interesting study showed horses videos of people interacting with horses either gently - such as during grooming - or during unpleasant veterinary procedures. The horses responded differently both behaviorally and physiologically, suggesting they can recognize the emotional meaning of these interactions even when they're only observers.

Every interaction leaves an impression. Trust isn't built in one big moment - it's created through hundreds of small, positive experiences that teach your horse you're a source of safety, consistency, and respect. ❤️🐴

📚Source: Hall, C., & Kay, R. (2024). Living the good life? A systematic review of behavioural signs of affective state in the domestic horse (Equus caballus) and factors relating to quality of life. Part 2: Horse-human interactions.
📷 Photo: Pixabay

15/07/2026

🐴 Horses understand our emotions better than we think 👀💙

Do you think your horse only responds to the reins, your voice, or a treat? Science tells a much more interesting story. Horses can read our emotions through our facial expressions, tone of voice, body language - even our scent.

Studies show that horses are more willing to approach people who appear relaxed, friendly, and calm. On the other hand, an angry expression, a harsh tone, or a dominant posture can make them hesitate or keep their distance.

Even more fascinating, horses can combine information from different senses. If they hear an angry voice but see a smiling face, they notice the mismatch. That suggests they're not just reacting to individual signals - they're interpreting our emotional state.

💡 The takeaway? Your mindset matters. A calm, predictable, and positive attitude helps your horse feel safe and encourages trust and cooperation.

Sometimes the first thing to change isn't the horse - it's ourselves. ❤️🐴

📚Source: Hall, C., & Kay, R. (2024). Living the good life? A systematic review of behavioural signs of affective state in the domestic horse (Equus caballus) and factors relating to quality of life. Part 2: Horse-human interactions.
📷 Photo: Pixabay

07/07/2026

🐴 Can a horse’s facial expression reveal how it feels?

Similar to humans and other animals, scientists are exploring whether a horse’s emotional state can be recognized through facial expressions. One tool used for this is the so-called Horse Grimace Scale, which tracks changes in facial muscles.

Research suggests that certain signs may be linked to discomfort or stress, such as:
➡️tense chewing muscles,
➡️changes in ear position,
➡️or wrinkles above the eyes.

However, interpreting these signals is not always straightforward. For example, during grooming – which we often consider a pleasant activity – stress hormone levels were not always lower than in other situations.

In addition, facial expressions may vary depending on breed or type of horse, which makes interpretation even more complex.

The research suggests that facial expression can be a useful tool in assessing welfare – but further studies are still needed to interpret these signals reliably.

Source: Hall, C., & Kay, R. (2024). Living the good life? A systematic review of behavioural signs of affective state in the domestic horse (Equus caballus) and factors relating to quality of life. Part 2: Horse-human interactions.
Photo: Canva

01/07/2026

YOU’VE MISUNDERSTOOD IT — AND THAT’S WHY IT ISN’T WORKING

A slightly clickbait headline, perhaps, but hopefully I have your attention now. Because this is important. Really important.

People often come to me wanting to learn how to communicate with animals, most commonly with horses. Before we begin, I always explain one crucial thing.

The kind of animal communication I teach is not primarily about getting your animal to obey you better or follow your commands more effectively. That isn’t communication—it’s manipulation. Sometimes manipulation may be necessary, of course, but the communication I teach is about something very different.

It is about LISTENING. About truly hearing your animal. Seeing them for who they are. Accepting that some things—their feelings, experiences, and inner processes—cannot simply be changed or switched off. Perhaps they can only be understood and accepted.

It is about mutual understanding. About recognizing that your animal has the right to say no without being punished for it. About COOPERATION. About how a shared YES can emerge from what first appears to be a one-sided NO.

It is a process, a journey—one through which you discover so much about yourself. And because of that, you begin to hear and perceive even more.

Will communicating with your horse automatically mean that they will happily walk into a stream without hesitation? Maybe. Or maybe not. But you will be in it together. You will understand why, and you will gain insight into whether—and how—the situation can be changed.

So when someone teaches you to “communicate” by chasing a horse around a round pen with a whip, don’t be surprised if you can’t hear what the horse is trying to tell you. Dominance shuts down authentic communication.

And if you can hear your horse, but they still refuse to cooperate, it doesn’t mean you have done something wrong. Perhaps you are simply at the beginning of the journey. Perhaps your horse has a reason.

Don’t give up.

Our animals want to communicate and cooperate with us. They simply need the right conditions to do so.

K.

Photo: .dohn 📸

29/06/2026

PERFECTION EXISTS 🦄

Gallardo posing at the Lednice Castle in 2022.

Getting up at 3 a.m., leaving the stable before 5, arriving at a still-sleepy castle—unusually quiet and peaceful. The gardens were empty; there was no one around except the birds, us, and a group of photographers.

I had only started teaching him to rear a few days before. I don't believe this is a movement that horses should automatically be trained to perform—it can easily backfire on the rider. However, Gallardo is not that kind of horse. With him, my concern was more about the order of movements. I wanted to introduce the levade only after piaffe and passage (although a true levade looks quite different 😉).

But when the best horse photographer Katarzyna Okrzesik-Mikołajek comes with her workshop, sometimes you simply rise to the challenge. In reality, we had only about three training sessions to prepare (and this is definitely not something you can practice for an hour at a time 🙂).

We laid the groundwork, and at home Gallardo quickly figured out what the carrots were paying for, happily offering little rears. But that morning in Lednice, he got stuck. He wasn't sure about it, didn't really feel like doing it, and only lifted himself slightly and cautiously. We didn't make a big deal out of it—if he didn't want to, then he didn't want to.

But we decided to try one more time at this particular spot.

And suddenly, something clicked.

The moment he lifted himself higher, the photographers let out a collective gasp of admiration. That sparked something in Gallardo. For a moment, it looked as if he might take off and fly away. 🙂 He offered one rear after another, thoroughly enjoying all the attention and admiration.

And that's how this beautiful photograph by Aga Karmol Art was created. ❤

Gallardo in his full power—confident, balanced, magnificent, magical, and with the sexiest mane wave imaginable.

Divine.

Mine. ❤🦄

Thank you. 🙏

28/06/2026

Everyone wants to communicate with horses.

We learn techniques.
We study body language.
We look for signs and messages.

But there is a question we rarely ask ourselves:

Are we truly listening?

Not listening to what we hope to hear.
Not listening to confirm our beliefs.

Simply listening.

Listening requires something many of us struggle with in today's world:
presence.

Because horses communicate in the present moment.

They don't care how much we know.
They don't care how many books we've read.
They don't care what we think we understand.
They respond to who we are when we stand beside them.
The quieter we become, the more we begin to notice.

A change in breathing.
A softening in the eye.
A moment of trust.
A gentle invitation to connect.

True communication doesn't begin when we learn to speak to horses.
It begins when we learn to listen.

This idea is at the heart of my ebook:

🧘 Meditation (Not Only) With Horses for Beginners

A gentle guide to mindfulness, presence and deeper connection with horses.

If you feel there is something more to discover beyond techniques and training, this ebook may be for you.

👉 https://awequestrian.com/e-books/meditation-not-only-with-horses-for-beginners

Learn simple meditation techniques designed for horse riders. Calm your nervous system, reduce tension and build a deeper connection with your horse through mindful awareness.

23/06/2026

It matters who is working with the horse.

A horse’s response to handling may not depend only on the procedure itself, but also on the person performing it. Research shows that horses often react differently to familiar and unfamiliar people. 🐎

For example, in tests involving new or potentially stressful situations, horses showed less avoidance behavior when handled by a familiar person they had long-term experience with.

Similarly, some simple interactions – such as:
➡️gentle scratching at the withers,
➡️rubbing around the eyes,
➡️or offering feed

were able to reduce stress-related responses during simulated medical procedures.
Interestingly, these behavioral changes were not always reflected in physiological indicators such as heart rate. This suggests that a familiar person may help the horse cope better outwardly, even if the internal stress does not fully disappear.

A long-term relationship between horse and human can therefore be an important factor in creating a sense of safety and reducing anxiety in new situations.

Source: Hall, C., & Kay, R. (2024). Living the good life? A systematic review of behavioural signs of affective state in the domestic horse (Equus caballus) and factors relating to quality of life. Part 2: Horse-human interactions.
Photo: Canva

10/06/2026

🐴 Double or snaffle bridle – is there a right answer?

A study following 135 horses during dressage competitions aimed to determine how the type of bridle influences the occurrence of conflict behavior – expressions linked to stress or discomfort.

However, the result is not black and white.
👉 It’s not just about the bridle.

It turns out that horse behavior is influenced by a complex interplay of factors:
– rider experience 🧑‍
– competition level and type 🏆
– head position during work

In addition, a full range of behaviors (an ethogram) was analyzed, divided into 9 behavioral categories. These appeared across all competition levels.

Yes, the study has its limitations (e.g. recording quality or subjective assessment), but it brings an important insight:
💭 Signals from horses during performance are not “noise”.

They are information.

And horse welfare does not begin with the choice of equipment,
but with the ability to perceive these signals and respond to them correctly. 👀🐎

Source: Rifka Faithfull, et al (2025). Influences of Double Versus Snaffle Bridles on Equine Behaviour at Dressage Competitions and Factors That Interact with Their Effect. Animals.
Photo: Pexels