Liberty Lungeing A Sacred Dance of Trust

“Riding should never be considered an entitlement, but a gift offered from the horse’s heart. To arrive at such a level in a relationship in order to be bestowed this gift is true horsemanship. And once bestowed, it should never be abused.  For the gift is an expression of their reciprocal love.  In this sacred relationship, it is their heart that is cherished above all, and not the riding.”

The Why of Liberty Lunging

Liberty or free lunging is often misunderstood. To some, it seems unnecessary; to Chevalia, it is a profound practice that unlocks deeper layers of relationship between horse and human. Those who dismiss it may never discover its quiet mysteries. But those who approach with reverence come to find that free lunging is not about control at all; it is about honoring the horse with the opportunity to move freely and, within that freedom, inviting connection.It is also important to clarify: liberty lunging is not about chasing a horse around an arena. To the untrained eye, it may appear that way, but in truth, there is far more going on. It is a subtle, energetic conversation, a mirroring of joy, an exchange of rhythm, and a space for mutual discovery.

Meeting the Needs of the Horse: Body, Mind, Heart, and SpiritPhysical Needs

Every horse’s body carries unique needs shaped by their breed, physique, disposition, health and environment. Some horses are fortunate to run freely on vast pastures, others live in smaller paddocks, and unfortunately, many are confined to 12x12 stalls with little room to stretch. While the confined horse not only restricts a horse’s ability to be a horse and move naturally as they are entitled, it causes physical, mental and spiritual degradation and should be banned globally as abuse.  This is another subject for discussion, but for the sake of staying on topic, even horses who bask in large pastures where they belong, they do not naturally exercise themselves to the level that they are properly conditioned for riding or structured work.Honoring the horse with liberty lungeing in an arena allows them to release tension, roll, buck, and stretch before human-guided activity. It is the horse’s own way of preparing, and it also allows us to observe them clearly. Are they stiff, sore, or exuberant? Are they carrying pent-up energy? Do they seem off, or show signs of illness?

Too often, riders mistake natural expressions—playful bucks or leaps—as misbehavior. In truth, these are often the horse’s way of stretching and loosening. Denying them this is both unsafe for them and even dangerous to the rider.  Mounting a cold, stiff horse is recipe for disaster on all levels and is disrespectful and abusive to the horse.

Liberty lungeing or any exercise regiment should never be about work at all. Conditioning is a part of their health and wellbeing and it should always be about joy building, confidence, curiosity, creativity, and connection. A horse may simply need to run in wild abandon, tail high, voice ringing. In those moments, the session is complete. When they come down from their high, praise them, groom them, and honor them by allowing their joy to be the entire gift. Being honored and recognized as a sovereign being, demonstrating that you love and care for them in this way, deepens the relationship on levels that become impossible to quantify.

Our young filly Aditi is a radiant example. Even as a foal, she would rush into the arena and scream her joy to the heavens. At nearly three, still too young to introduce any subject of riding, she delights in the freedom of movement and connection as she runs along with her mother Diva who despite being a senior in her 20’s, runs like a dervish as if she is on a race track of life. Each entry into the arena is their song of vitality. By contrast, Vizcaya, one of our adopted mares, once entered with fear, associating the arena with pressure. Through patience and gentleness, she transformed into a confident, playful partner, looking forward to every arena session with great anticipation. Every horse carries their own story; liberty gives them the chance to write a new one.

Mental and Emotional Needs

Free lunging clears the mind as much as the body. Horses, like humans, hold onto stress, fear, or uncertainty. When honored with liberty, they show us their mental state. Are they anxious? Playful? Withdrawn? Bold? What are they mirroring in me that I need to release?  Observing them in this space teaches us how to proceed or not to proceed.  When starting out for the first 6 months or so, it is vital to be fully present, observing them and how they interact and mirror your own energy.  It should always be a present moment of intense awareness, offering reassurance and praise. 

It is important to realize the delicate balance of flow; creating an environment where the horse is always reassured, and feeling safe to explore themselves, your relationship and eventually your pas de deux.  Force has no place here.  Flow becomes the intuitive spontaneous director and choreograpy between horse and human happen simultaneously in the present moment. Each session is unique and sacred, but the relationship builds and deepens with each dance.  For the horse, liberty builds confidence. They learn the arena is not a place of force, but of exploration. They learn that their feelings matter. And they begin to trust that they can move freely without punishment.

Spiritual Needs

Here lies the deepest mystery: why would a horse, when loosed either in a large pasture or arena, ever choose to return to us? Why, with freedom before them, would they circle back to the human to engage in the center?The answer is not in technique. It is in resonance. When we surrender agenda, soften our bodies, clear and quiet our minds, and become truly present, we stir up the divine essence of the zero point field, where infinite awareness, creativity and joy reside.  The horse recognizes in us the same frequency that lives in nature itself. In that space, they choose connection—not because they must, but because they want to. The horse seeks mutual connection; shared Divine resonance.  This is the moment where the veil of separation falls away and communion and oneness is revealed.

Time and again, we have witnessed horses blossom from fear into freedom. Their transformation is not just physical; it is spiritual. To watch a horse canter free, rear, kick out, and then turn to face you, become still and then walk quietly, reverently and sacredly to meet you in this shared Divine resonance is to witness the Divine Herself.

The Energetics of Liberty

Free lunging is not only physical; it is an energetic dialogue. Horses respond to music, to breath, to body language, and to our inner state.Music sets the tone. Many horses resonate with Celtic music —lighthearted, whimsical, and evocative of nature, like the instrumental sounds of Riverdance. This music mirrors their own spirit of freedom and joy. Classical music and earth-tribe music is also igniting. But in our experience, we have come to learn that Celtic instrumental music with upbeat, light-hearted ethereal and earthy whimsical sounds seem to whisper and tap into the wisdom of their hearts.

Position, Presence and Intention

Equally important is the way we hold ourselves. Our posture, shoulders, and energetic attunement in the present moment radiate intention. A lunge whip may be used not as a tool of contact, but as an extension of energy—tracing great arcs like rainbows in the air, inviting the horse to move forward.Position matters. If your stand rigid with shoulders squared perpendicularly to the horse, you block their flow. Instead, keep your inside shoulder (the one toward the center of the arena) aligned to the arena’s heart, and your shoulders and hips parallel with their hindquarters. Keep your knees soft and pliant and your spine tall but flexible.  Your focus should be more of spacial awareness and not with tunnel vision.  Allow your body to become breath, intending forwardness, free flowing, and light.  This opens an energetic doorway for movement. 

To increase energy, you may lighten your own body—just through visualiztion, intention, and imagination.  To release any tension, go ahead and be silly.  For those who are new to energetic signature and frequency awareness, they don’t understand what it means to be truly relaxed and present, but when they dance and shake their bodies, they find that there was blocked energy in their joints and they feel much more liberated and free from tension.  So, leap, dance, let go, and show joy. The horse might wonder what happened to you at first, but then when they see your energy shift and you become lighter, you will find that nothing else matters than becoming the energetic state that opens up the dialogue with your horse.  Your horse wants you to let go and align with the Divine frequency, and you will love the shift within as a result.  You then find the horse actually guiding you on this journey of pure bliss.  This is when synchronicity happens and you can eventually, transition between walk, trot, canter, trot, walk, seamlessly and beautifully.  It becomes the dance.  

To decrease energy, slow your breath, soften your body, and your horse will come down in rhythm with you—trot to walk, walk to stillness. If you stop, often they will stop and turn to face you, showing readiness to engage.Changing direction is another conversation of energy. By moving toward the horse’s shoulder, positioning yourself more perpendicular, you invite the turn. Reversing sides is essential, for every horse has a strong and a weak side, a stiff and a supple side. Like dancers, they must balance both.Sometimes, the horse explodes in joyful freedom—bucking, kicking, galloping wildly. This too, must be honored. Better they release this at liberty than with a rider on their back, where both could be injured. Other times, an experienced or mature horse may signal, “I do not need liberty today. I am ready for line lunging or under saddle.” Stewardship means listening, honoring, and adjusting to what they need each day.Above all, free lunging requires you to leave your ego at the door, enter in with a lighthearted attitude, a willingness to learn, and authentic presence. If you carry distraction, arguments, or inner baggage, you dishonor the horse. Enter their space only when you can offer your true authentic self and enter into the Divine present moment with the horse as the teacher, guide and center of your world.

Flexibility and Preparation

Flexibility is key—not only for the horse, but for us. Before engaging with horses, we must prepare our own bodies with stretching. Stretching warms the muscles, releases tension, stuck energy, builds circulation, and prevents injury. Many who exercise without stretching discover painful consequences later, as ligaments and joints are forced into movement without

readiness.

Stretching is not only physical. It loosens the mind, making us flexible mentally and spiritually. When we prepare ourselves this way, we align with the horse’s own need to stretch. Too many people simply throw a saddle on a horse who has not been ridden in weeks or months, expecting them to perform in peak form. This is pure ignorance and unfairness. Stewardship requires that both horse and human come prepared — physically supple, mentally clear, spiritually open.

Liberty for All Ages

While riding should not even begin until a horse’s growth plates are fully developed — usually between seven and ten years old — liberty lunging is a gift for all ages.

- Foals may free lunge at their mother’s side, very briefly, for only a few minutes at a time. 

- Young horses benefit from short, playful liberty sessions that encourage balance and body awareness. 

- Mature horses use liberty to stretch, release tension, and prepare for more focused work. 

- Senior horses, no longer ridden, still crave and cherish liberty. It conditions their bodies, keeps their joints supple, and offers them the sacred joy of rolling in the sand, stretching, and expressing their spirits freely.

Liberty lunging builds body awareness. Horses learn how to move their legs, shift their balance, and carry themselves in different gaits. It conditions their bodies gently and keeps them attuned throughout life. Horses ask for this; they crave it. And when they are finished, they will tell you. That is the beauty of liberty: when they are done, you honor that, and nothing more is asked.

Training the Steward

Liberty free lunging is not training for the horse alone. It is equally a training ground for the steward. It teaches us body awareness, energy awareness, and breath. It forces us to examine our posture, our clarity of intention, and our ability to remain in the true present moment.A horse that continually avoids you during liberty is showing you something about yourself. It may mean your energy is cluttered, your thoughts distracted, or your presence is insincere. In these moments, the horse becomes your mirror: inviting you to cleanse your mind, to release your baggage, and to enter with authenticity, integrity, and loving intention.When the horse turns, faces you, and softens, you know you have arrived. You have aligned not only with them, but with yourself. Liberty lunging is as much for human growth as it is for equine joy. Never take this moment for granted, however.  Once obtained, it is easily dismissed and doubted.  But when you surrender the ego and enter each time into this sacred moment, the experiences build upon themselves, validating this truth, enriching your relationship, and transforming your entire world.

From Liberty to Dance

Free lunging is the precursor to liberty dance. Like a ballerina stretching at the barre before performance, the horse stretches at liberty before moving into refined art forms of expression.At first, free lunging serves the horse’s own needs: to stretch, roll, buck, kick, and release energy. Once those needs are met, something beautiful happens—liberty organically flows into liberty dance. The horse begins to invite interaction, engaging with you, responding to your cues, and shifting tempo in harmonic resonance with your energy.This is not about an end goal. The goal is never to “get to liberty dance” or even to ride. The true goal is always the present moment—the shared joy of being together, however it unfolds. Yet as this deep relationship develops, it naturally enriches everything else, including riding.Still, liberty dance is not as easy as it appears in videos. When performed by those without true body awareness, it can become dangerous or even harmful. We have seen disastrous attempts at liberty dance where the human places themselves in dangerous positions, lacks any energetic responsibility, and has not developed respectful boundaries and respectful relationship with the horse.  In most cases the human can be hurt severely.  This is why such practices should only be undertaken with the guidance of a qualified professional—someone who understands energy, safety, and the sacred nature of the pas de deux between horse and human. 

As a former dancer, choreographer, and director of a ballet company, as well as an energy worker for many years, I have found that the skills of body awareness, flexibility, conditioning, and energetic attunement translate directly into dancing with horses at liberty. While it is not necessary to have a background in ballet or energy work in order to play or dance with horses at liberty, it is essential to be guided by someone who understands both.

Liberty work is not simply a matter of technique — it requires a steward who is attuned, present, and energetically coherent. Body awareness alone is not enough; nor is energy awareness by itself. It is the integration of both — the refined alignment of a dancer and the sensitivity of an energy healer — that creates safety, flow, and harmony.

Energy awareness does not come overnight. It expands gradually, as we learn to soften, to attune, and to open to resonance. With guidance, this awareness can be cultivated, allowing us to engage with horses not from a place of force, but from a place of coherence. In this way, free lunging becomes not only preparation for liberty dance, but the doorway into it.

At Chevalia, liberty dance is taught in this way: not as a trick, but as a spiritual, physical and mental discipline of the human steward. It is a path of attunement that opens the door to a profound communion few ever experience.

The Four Stages of Work

Like a symphony, true horsemanship unfolds in movements, each brief and purposeful, always honoring the horse’s limits:

1. Liberty Lunging (5–15 minutes) — offering freedom, stretching, and joyful expression. 

2. Line Lunging (5–15 minutes) — adding soft guidance, rhythm, and communication. 

3. Work in Hand (5–15 minutes) — introducing focused exercises that strengthen, balance, respectful boundaries, and stretch the horse in preparation for gentle riding. 

4. Undersaddle / Center Work (5–15 minutes) — a deep meditative practice of Centaurism, becoming one, where natural balance is needed to realign the added weight of a rider. 

The responsibility of getting out of a horses way with proper saddle or bareback pad with the proper position of the rider/steward is essential. Not every day will include all four stages. Some sessions may end with liberty alone. Others may progress further. The measure is not time, but joy.

A Russian horseman once taught that a horse should be worked only 15 minutes at a time. While trail rides and mountain rides can stretch longer depending on the horse’s breed and enthusiasm, the principle holds: the horse’s joy is the boundary line.

Arabians may happily go all day, eager for more. Andalusians often prefer shorter, concentrated sessions. Quarter Horses, though strong, are often overworked on long trail rides. The key is not endurance for our sake, but honoring their willingness. Once it becomes labor instead of joy, we have already gone too far.

The Art of Letting Go

Free lunging teaches us that when we release control, connection deepens. When we stop seeking outcomes and demanding perfection, the horse meets us in the present moment .Our breath becomes the anchor. Presence becomes the offering. And in this sacred state, horse and human meet heart to heart. The paradox is this: the less we force, the more we receive. By honoring the horse and honoring the moment, we are given far more than we could ever have asked for.

Closing Reflections

Liberty is both exercise and meditation. It is conditioning and communion. It is relationship, reflection, and revelation. It is the place where horse and human, body and spirit, come into resonance with the eternal rhythm of life.

At Chevalia, we offer in-person and online tutorials for those who wish to deepen their understanding of free lunging and liberty dance. These are always offered for people working with their own horses. Our horses are not “school horses” but beloved family members and teachers in their own right. To place them with novices who have not yet learned the divine dialogue would burden them unfairly. They would be forced to absorb another’s tension, emotional baggage, or uncertainty — a betrayal of the trust we protect so carefully.

Think of it like ballet: when two dancers have spent years learning the nuances of a pas de deux, they move with resonance and shared understanding. To suddenly change one partner for a beginner who does not yet know the form can cause confusion and stress for the seasoned dancer. The same is true for our horses, who already know how to “dance.”

By contrast, when a Chevalia teacher works with a novice steward and their horse — a pair who have never yet explored liberty dance together — the experience is entirely different. In this case, the teacher becomes a catalyst, guiding both steward and horse into a new dimension of partnership. The teacher helps unlock the pas de deux within their own relationship, rather than placing the weight of teaching on a horse.

In this way, our horses are protected, while each steward learns to cultivate resonance directly with their own horse — where it belongs.

For those who are ready, who have horses of their own, and who wish to learn how to cultivate this resonance, we are honored to guide. We can speak the divine dialogue that horses recognize immediately, but each steward must develop this language with their own horse. In this way, the sacred responsibility remains intact: our horses are protected, and your horses can become your greatest teachers.