How would you describe the word “intuition” to someone else? Would you say that it’s something mystical that can’t be explained, or a feeling in your belly that’s usually right (or wrong)? Maybe you wouldn’t know how to describe it and maybe you don’t believe it exists at all – whichever way, there is something substantial that has been used by horse whisperers for centuries to establish a beautiful and trusting relationship between human and animal, something which they call “intuition”.
Intuition: a thing that one knows or considers likely from instinctive feeling rather than conscious reasoning. – Oxford Dictionary
Behaving Like Prey
In one of the articles I came across whilst writing this post, Franklin Levinson responds to a reader’s question about the intuitive capabilities of horses and says that it’s easy to understand their intuitive nature because horses are prey animals. Meaning that they use their intuition constantly because they have to question whether they are safe. After reading this I was struck with the thought that as early humans, we lived vulnerably amongst other animals too – kind of like prey, and intuition is something we would have used too, because of our unsafe surroundings. Then, as we started farming and forming safe settlements, our intuition started giving way to the trust of others (especially those watching the camp at night!).
Intuition or Logic?
I asked a friend of mine what her feelings were about intuition and she said that whenever her intuition tells her to go one way, her logic tries to push her another. We start second guessing ourselves because our surroundings have conditioned us to consider the consequences of our choices before we make them. But what if we still lived in an environment where we had to follow our intuition and make a choice before we could think about it? It may not always be the right choice, but in my experience, weighing up consequences doesn’t always lead to the right choice either.
Remember Bhoomie friends, our intuition has never changed – it’s always been with us, what has changed is our ability to trust it. If you find yourself reasoning with your intuition, try to think about our intuitive connection with horses and follow your inner music back to your prehistoric self.
Happy horsing around!
Zellie xxx
