Being around horses makes humans feel better. These big, gentle, forgiving creatures tend to something in our biology as herd animals to make us feel seen and understood and a sense of calm that is difficult to replicate. In conjunction with those warm fuzzy feelings, they also push us. They push us to communicate clearly in a world full of polite metaphor. They push us to know what we want and ask for it with no negotiation, a skill seldom taught in schools. They teach us to be the authority but to lead kindly.

Horses, paired with a knowledgeable human, teach us to understand our bodies. They give us access to muscles and strength we previously didn't know we had command over. They show us where the patterns and habits we've allowed in our bodies affect our health and our mind. Lessons in riding are lessons in calming your nervous system on demand, through your muscles and joints. These skills then carry into stressful presentations, meetings, or simple anxiety. In a world so obsessed with brains and minds, horses and the humans to translate their teachings give us lessons in having a body.