Finding (True) Neutral

I want to discuss something that has been on my mind lately and has become a new personal challenge for me, and that is finding my true neutral. When it comes to horsemanship, Pat always says "it's the release that teaches" and going back to neutral is a reward for your horse. Furthermore, going to neutral can help your horse learn to maintain his/her own responsibility. When you are riding and you hands are in neutral it means you are no longer micromanaging your horse with the reins, you have given him a cue and now it is his responsibility to follow through with the objective. The same goes for games on the ground. The circling game is the best example, we ask the horse to maintain gait, and maintain direction, while we stay in neutral until the we ask the horse to make a change, either to come in or to switch directions. Neutral is so important in these cases because it helps clarify what you expect of the horse, which enhances your leadership as a result, and it also helps build confidence for your horse!

So what does true neutral look like, and how is it different from regular neutral!? Well, put simply, true neutral is the absence of all energy. In true neutral, absolutely no pressure is being put on the horse. While you may be saying "uh, yeah, that is what my neutral is all the time!" Think about this example, once when Emily and I were having a lesson, the Parelli Professional we were working with told Emily she needed to go into neutral while Sonny was on the circle. She was confused because she was just standing there passing the rope behind her back with the carrot stick at her side. However, our PP went on to explain that while she felt like she was in neutral, her body was still buzzing with energy, and even though she was passing the rope and not actively pushing her horse, she had not completely relaxed and gone into true neutral....WOW! This was a major observation, and I don't think I completely understood it until now.

So today, while playing the touch it game, I tried to really monitor my energy, keep my belly button positioned away from her, look away, and take all the energy out of my body when I wanted to be in neutral. Finding true neutral is my new challenge of the month and today I found it very difficult. It is even more difficult when riding as I'm finding I hold my breath a lot! I encourage you all go out and practice this, even practice it at home on the couch. The better we can control our energy, the better horsewomen and men we can become!