Zen Mind, Zen Horse: The Science and Spirituality of Working with Horses Author: Allan J. Hamilton MD Robert Miller Monty Roberts | Language: English | ISBN:
B005HN0VUE | Format: EPUB
Zen Mind, Zen Horse: The Science and Spirituality of Working with Horses Description
Mindful work with horses, says neurosurgeon Allan J. Hamilton, can enlighten the human handler as much as it benefits the horse. Evolving over 30 million years to become the quintessential prey animal, equines have developed acute right-brain survival skills, such as leadership, awareness, empathy, and cooperation. In particular the horse has finely honed abilities to lead, communicate, and connect not with words, but with the vital emotional energy described in the Buddhist tradition as chi. When we learn the language of chi, we become more effective as leaders, more attuned to others, and more joyful as human beings.
Zen Mind, Zen Horse begins by examining how the equine and human brains function, often related to their respective roles as prey and predator. Going on to draw insights and wisdom from spiritual traditions such as Zen Buddhism, Ayurvedic healing, and Yaqui shamanism and from the great horse cultures of the Mongolians, Bedouins, and Native Americans, Dr. Hamilton shows the importance of developing right-brain awareness and quieting the left-brain dominance of our Western brains.
Seamlessly integrating spiritual principles and practical applications, Dr. Hamilton shows how to apply the chi-based approach to every aspect of horse-human communication, including:
• The act of grooming as a spiritual practice
• Techniques of alpha-horse leadership that make others gladly follow
• Gaze, stance, and gesture as training tools
• The irresistible power of infinite patience
Ultimately, the author shows the depth of insight humans gain into themselves, as well as horses, after working with these amazing animals.
- File Size: 7700 KB
- Print Length: 321 pages
- Page Numbers Source ISBN: 1603425659
- Publisher: Storey Publishing, LLC (September 10, 2011)
- Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
- Language: English
- ASIN: B005HN0VUE
- Text-to-Speech: Enabled
X-Ray:
- Lending: Enabled
- Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #74,105 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)
- #17
in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Crafts, Hobbies & Home > Animal Care & Pets > Horses - #20
in Books > Science & Math > Biological Sciences > Animals > Horses - #29
in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Nonfiction > Sports > Individual Sports > Horses > Equestrian
- #17
in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Crafts, Hobbies & Home > Animal Care & Pets > Horses - #20
in Books > Science & Math > Biological Sciences > Animals > Horses - #29
in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Nonfiction > Sports > Individual Sports > Horses > Equestrian
Dr. Hamilton has the distinct honor of being gifted with a brilliant mind and compassionate heart. He has used his knowledge of neuroscience, horses and zen to bring a very practical and sensible manual on horse training to the world- with both the horse and rider in mind as a symbiotic unit. Most so called natural horsemanship trainers neglect to mention the spiritual nature of the horse in conjunction with the rider and so fear to tread into the space of 'energy' or 'chi' - I imagine partly because they fear they won't be taken seriously. However, Dr. Hamilton is succinct and pragmatic in his articulation of training methods while also establishing the fact that a person's energy field, i.e. thoughts, intentions, posture, philosophy, etc. will always have an impact on the horse.
Two of the major aspects that seems neglected in training are time and patience. Being with a horse requires one be acutely aware of their human tendencies to want things right away so the horse can 'do' something for them- jump, walk, turn, stop, perform, whatever the case may be as to why you wanted the horse in the first place.
If you're willing to take full responsibility for yourself and your horse, in what kind of horse you helped to create or person you turn out to 'Be', then this book is for you. It is reasonable, logical, accessible, based on human kinds' highest ability to interact with nonhuman life and will help create the opening and ground necessary for you to develop yourself into the kind of horseman/woman that you can be proud of and that your horse would willingly follow- based on the inside out rather than from impersonal conditioning that has trained the horse to do something like a robot, leaving a void, obedient animal in your charge.
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