In the Midst of Multiplicity: How to Stay in the Saddle

The author asks the question, how is the human psyche impacted by the current rapid cultural change, globalization, etc., that is presently occurring in our world. She describes the relationship between the horse and the rider as an amplification of the relationship between the psyche and the ego in coping with change. How does one build a good relationship? In times of confusion and rapid change, the horse will likely panic and throw the rider if there is a poor relationship between them. She describes some of the clients in therapeutic riding centers, particularly the more vulnerable teenage clients, as being “unhorsed”—disconnected from their positive instincts—and how this form of therapy is particularly helpful because it reconnects them with their “inner horse.” She describes how she learned to develop a bonded relationship with her own horse and how that kind of relationship can operate within a context of the cutting horse competition.