Balanced Connection Horsemanship with Devon Roffler

MY WHY

This is why I do what I do and love what I do.

"You can be a leader without being intimidating. The horse can be your partner without being your slave. I’m trying to keep the best part of the horse in there. I’m not trying to take anything away from him."
-Buck Brannaman

When I have the honor of working with someone and their horse, everyone always ends up feeling good about it.

Too many times horses interactions with humans are confusing, discouraging and just plain yucky.

This can leave a bad 'taste' of us for the horse that can look like not wanting to be caught, shut down, aggressiveness to name just a few.

We want a 'flow state' where the conversation between horse and human can flow with understanding and compassion.

A place where the horse can truly be asked questions and the horse can truly express how they feel.

We don't want to come in and try to just fix and reprimand and think we know more than the horse. The horse has reasons, VERY VALID reasons to feel the way they do and act the way they do.

We want to come in and offer something most horses have never had before...

A human that listens.
A human that is aware.
A human that doesn't operate out of emotions.

Confusion is anxiety.
Clarity is peace.
Truth is freeing.

Every horse is a good horse if you would let them be- peace by peace.✨

Pictured here are Karina and Midnight soaking on some very good feelings and deeply processing and enjoying all those good interactions their humans are bringing to them thanks to a balanced connection.

WHERE’S YOUR MIND?
PART 3 OF 5

A horse needs to understand there is an end to the rein/rope.

And that when they meet the end of it, they prepare for a hind end.

Before the hind end even starts, there is feel and intention in my thoughts and body.

During a hind end, the feel down the rope connects the inside nose to the inside hind foot and allows the horse to bend softly while keeping the inside shoulder free and ending with the horse's body completely under themselves and the rider- where two become one.

The hind end is a deeply healing thing for all creatures.

The hind end allows many things to happen, for now we will focus on how having a hind end allows me to have a loose rein and see how a horse really feels about things.

Because in the end I am riding the horse's brain and I want the shortest path to that goal and a loose rein reveals all.

It is more work this way but it is also the truth.

A split second after the horse disconnects his thoughts from mine, I can use a hind end to reconnect.

It is all a conversation and as soon as I feel the horse drifted away from the conversation I say, we were still talking and they come back and we start conversating again.

In these particular videos we were doing hind ends together but I can assure you before these nice ones there was lots of walking and trotting around where he got 'lost' and we used a hind end to be 'found' again.

Peace by peace.✨

WHERE'S YOUR MIND?
PART 2 OF 5

When we want to get along with a horse, it requires taking two minds and making them one.

Midnight has lots of questions and thinks he should move really at any moment.
I, on the other hand, have no questions and I am not moving in this moment.

How many times do you allow your horse to make a move you didn't ask for?

Anything the horse 'takes', I 'take' back.
I exchange their answer for something so much better.

In the end, he understands he truly can just stand calmly and wait for direction- how wonderful is that?

I take the movement and bring quiet.
I take the question and give an answer.
I take the confusion and bring clarity.
Peace by peace. ✨

WHERE'S YOUR MIND?
PART 1 OF 5

Midnight here is very sweet but has some misinformation.

His three main things are:

He thinks he's got to go every time you touch the reins.

He must do more than what you're asking.

And lastly, he can't (won't) stand still.

All these things point to no brain and no peace and many misunderstandings.

So we get to getting his mind on us and bringing peace.

We will dive into how we get there in the following parts. Though the photos below will give you insight.

Peace by peace.✨