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 Post subject: Self Presence
PostPosted: Sun Mar 13, 2011 5:31 am 

Joined: Wed Feb 09, 2011 2:28 am
Posts: 9
Self presence is something that I have been trying to describe to people for a while now but have just really gotten a hang of it myself. So what does this mean?

To me, self presence is made up of five major sections.

1) The amount of your "self" you show
2) How you live in the moment- and whether or not you truly do
3) Your character
4) Your current mental and emotional state
5) Whether or not you open your self to the world

In number one, when I say "self" in quotations, I am not speaking of your physical body but of what you are born with. Your self is often beautiful. It cannot be changed, it does not have major flaws, and does not carry emotions or habits such as anger. Your self is what you are composed of- what makes you. You can hide your self from you or from others, but horses see right through the masks and they see right behind the walls they put up in front of pieces of your self. They do see it- but they become aggravated with anyone who is not able to be honest about themselves. People who do not show them selves, by horses, are not considered honest. There are two things that equal how you speak to horses: your self presence and your body language. Your inside and your out.

When I say "living in the moment", many people do not completely live in the moment. They are so worried about what they could be doing or how it would be just a bit more perfect or dwelling in their emotions or thoughts or thinking about either tomorrow or yesterday... and they forget to be truly here, in the now. When you begin to live completely in the moment you find that each moment is beautiful, and all of the good moments in life make up for the few bad ones that everyone must go through sometimes.

Your character is not exactly your self, but simply a deeper set part of your personality. Your character is based on your actions, your thoughts, your emotional and mental, and how you naturally respond to things. Your personality is what your character has developed into over time- with habits, your way of life, the way you move throughout the day, and how you have learned to respond to things.

Your current mental and emotional state is fairly obvious- if you go out to your horse very mentally scattered or emotionally negative, they will not want to be with you quite as much as they would have if you were mentally at peace and emotionally positive. You are not as happy if you are mentally and emotionally scattered- quite a simple thought.

Whether or not you open yourself to the world is also something a little harder to describe. It is basically whether you keep all of these components "locked away" inside of you, or whether you free them and yourself. The feeling of freedom is one of the most pleasurable of all... And the horse knows this. They relish in your joy when you are free and at peace.

I have decided to add a sixth section-
6) Energy

So- self presence, a fairly complex idea, when broken down does not seem so complicated. So what does it have to do with horses? Absolutely everything. Whether my self presence is just right for each horse or not (and it does have to be slightly different for each) depends upon how well the partnership continues and how good I am at using the lightest touch, softest leadership, strongest love, most forgiving and understanding attitude... etc. Self presence dictates whether or not the horse thinks of the lesson as positive or negative and their expression the next time I go to play with them. For me, self presence is a part of every day life. It is something that I pay conscious attention to all of the time now. All of us pay attention to self presence- we just do not pay much attention to it consciously.

I hope that made some sense.

Smiles,
Kara

_________________
Smiles,
Kara
(the fifteen year old girl)

~There is no such thing as impossible.


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 Post subject: Re: Self Presence
PostPosted: Sun Mar 13, 2011 6:26 am 
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Joined: Mon Apr 12, 2010 4:08 am
Posts: 122
Location: Alberta, Canada
Beautiful post Kara,

I think I definitely need to be reminded of this concept from time to time. Sometimes I forget to truly trust and honour who I am and how I am feeling.

I hope to be more aware of my self, and to know and accept myself, and that this will help me be the best partner for my horses!

:f:

Lisa

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http://www.tenderlovinghorsecare.com


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 Post subject: Re: Self Presence
PostPosted: Mon May 09, 2011 1:29 am 
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Joined: Tue Apr 29, 2008 2:32 am
Posts: 3270
Location: New York
Nice!!!

Really wonderful thoughts here, Kara!

_________________
"Ours is the portal of hope. Come as you are." -- Rumi
www.imaginalinstitute.com


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 Post subject: Re: Self Presence
PostPosted: Mon May 09, 2011 1:50 am 
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Joined: Fri Sep 21, 2007 4:10 am
Posts: 3688
Location: Pacific Northwest U.S.
Hi Kara,

Thank you for sharing your views. You sign off "The fifteen year old girl."

You seem to be a young woman to me, exploring and examining these basic concepts and values.

Possibly from time to time you may lose sight of what you've examined and have to come back to them. A little regrouping.

I speak from some experience, though I see you are getting started about 4 years sooner than I did at nineteen.

I'll sign off as,

"The seventy five year old man."

_________________
Love is Trust, trust is All
~~~~~~~~~
So say Don, Altea, and Bonnie the Wonder Filly.


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 Post subject: Re: Self Presence
PostPosted: Sun Jul 03, 2011 1:59 am 

Joined: Wed Feb 09, 2011 2:28 am
Posts: 9
Donald,

I have already found that to be true sometimes, where I just so happen to begin to teeter off... This was actually just what I needed to see today, as within the last couple of weeks, I have begun to lose confidence in my self and in going and just being with the horses.

Your sign off made me smile. :) Thank you for your words.

_________________
Smiles,
Kara
(the fifteen year old girl)

~There is no such thing as impossible.


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 Post subject: Re: Self Presence
PostPosted: Wed Nov 23, 2011 9:26 pm 
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Joined: Sun Nov 13, 2011 10:38 pm
Posts: 64
Location: Washington State, USA
I loved your post, Kara! You're a great writer, wonderful description. Horse's can definately help teach people to be in the moment, but of course we need to make the effort to be in the moment whenever we're around them. They can tell when you've got any extra baggage, that's for sure! I've kind of been trying to hold off the negative energy in my life when I'm trying to train, and it's not easy! But in the end, that emotional freedom is totally worth it.


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 Post subject: Re: Self Presence
PostPosted: Sat Apr 20, 2013 9:31 pm 
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Joined: Thu Apr 18, 2013 2:21 pm
Posts: 206
Location: Devon, United Kingdom
willowsong wrote:
So- self presence, a fairly complex idea, when broken down does not seem so complicated. So what does it have to do with horses? Absolutely everything. Whether my self presence is just right for each horse or not (and it does have to be slightly different for each) depends upon how well the partnership continues and how good I am at using the lightest touch, softest leadership, strongest love, most forgiving and understanding attitude... etc. Self presence dictates whether or not the horse thinks of the lesson as positive or negative and their expression the next time I go to play with them. For me, self presence is a part of every day life. It is something that I pay conscious attention to all of the time now. All of us pay attention to self presence- we just do not pay much attention to it consciously.

I hope that made some sense.

Smiles,
Kara


Kara, you're right - self presence is so important and has absolutely everything to do with horses! It's something that I am very aware of because I know that I still have inhibitions that jump in and interrupt me and the equines I work with right at the wrong time. If my self presence can take on some stronger foundations, it will directly impact my horsemanship immediately i'm sure.
It's definitely an important aspect to be aware of, and you can be absolutely sure that all the people who horses choose to truly connect with always have a beautiful abundance of self presence. x x x


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 Post subject: Re: Self Presence
PostPosted: Fri Feb 28, 2014 3:04 pm 

Joined: Fri Jan 31, 2014 9:24 pm
Posts: 1
Hello Kara

I'm currently writing a book on Equine Dharma: riding and horsemanship as spiritual practice. I very much like what you say about Self-presence, and I also really like another post of yours from March 18th 2011 about The Horse Seeks Me. I wonder if you would very kindly allow me to quote some excerpts from your posts, in my book? I would be very grateful if you would please contact me directly about this. My email is cait@globalnet.co.uk . Many thanks and all good wishes!


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