Pas de Cheval, Curriculum Manual, A Practice for Life, Module 1

The Dance of Remembrance

MODULE ONE

LEARNING TO SEE AGAIN

Relationship Before Technique

Welcome to Pas de Cheval

You are here.

Whatever brought you to Pas de Cheval—a desire for a deeper relationship with your horse, a sense that conventional horsemanship has left something essential unexplored, a difficulty within your present relationship, or simply a knowing that there must be another way—we begin here.

Pas de Cheval does not begin by asking:

How do I make the horse do what I want?

It begins with:

Who is this being before me, and what becomes possible when we truly learn to meet one another?

Pas de Cheval is not a method for fixing horses. It is not a collection of techniques for producing a quieter, more obedient, or more compliant horse.

It is the development of a relationship between two sovereign beings through mutual respect, respectful boundaries, honesty, responsibility, integrity, authenticity, congruence, discernment, presence, and eventually movement together.

The movement will come.

The dance will come.

But relationship comes first.

And here is the reason why.

1. Relationship Reveals the Horse

A horse can be taught to obey without learning to trust. A horse can be conditioned to stand still. A horse can learn that resistance brings greater pressure. A horse can become extraordinarily compliant.

None of these things, by themselves, prove relationship.

Trust is something altogether different.

When a horse begins to trust the human, the horse does not merely become easier to handle.

More of the horse begins to appear.

The horse becomes more vibrant, curious, playful, expressive, communicative, and joyful. Personality begins to shine. Preferences become clearer. Humor appears. Affection may deepen. The horse begins offering things that were never requested because there is room within the relationship for the horse to participate rather than merely respond.

The relationship itself becomes a thing of joy and beauty.

And communication deepens.

We may begin believing that we are learning how to communicate with the horse, only to discover that the horse has been communicating all along.

We are the ones learning how to listen.

2. The Horse Has Pearls

Horses possess extraordinary intelligence.

But intelligence is not enough of a word.

They possess wisdom.

They can be extraordinarily stoic. They observe. They wait. They assess. They do not reveal the fullness of themselves indiscriminately.

There is an old expression:

Do not cast your pearls before swine.

The horse has pearls.

Intelligence.

Discernment.

Humor.

Sensitivity.

Memory.

Curiosity.

Perception.

Awareness.

Communication.

Wisdom.

And a deep knowing of life.

Through my years of living among horses and learning to listen to them, I have come to understand that horses know far more about the nature of reality than human beings have generally recognized.

They are divine beings who know their divinity.

They do not need to name it.

They do not proclaim it.

They do not construct an identity around it.

They simply live within what they are.

And because they live so intimately within the greater Field, they perceive far more than we ordinarily perceive.

3. The 360 Senses — Seeing Beyond the Physical

When I speak of the horse’s 360 senses, I am not simply describing superior hearing, smell, peripheral vision, or other heightened physical senses.

I am speaking about something much more expansive.

Horses perceive through subtle sensory fields.

They perceive energy.

They perceive frequency.

They perceive vibrancy.

They perceive color.

They perceive auric fields.

They perceive intention.

They perceive subtle changes within another being.

And they perceive beyond the dimensions ordinarily available to human physical sight.

They can see the unseen.

Within my understanding and experience of horses, their expanded perception reaches into the spirit realms and across dimensions that exist simultaneously with the physical dimension we ordinarily experience.

Reality is not limited to what the human physical eye can see.

Different dimensions and frequencies coexist.

The horse can perceive across them.

They may perceive spirits and beings of higher frequency.

They may also perceive spirits or energies of lower frequency.

They can become aware of presences that remain completely outside our ordinary physical perception.

A horse may therefore focus intensely upon what appears to us to be empty space.

The horse may follow something with the eyes.

Turn toward something.

Become alert to something.

Soften toward something.

Or become cautious about something.

And the human looks into the same space and says:

There’s nothing there.

But that statement assumes that human perception determines what exists.

It does not.

What we can truthfully say is:

I cannot perceive what the horse is perceiving.

That is a very different statement.

And it requires humility.

The horse does not need us to explain away everything we cannot see.

Sometimes we simply need to acknowledge:

The horse may be perceiving something beyond my present capacity to perceive.

4. The Horse Lives Within the Field

The horse does not need Pas de Cheval to teach them how to enter the Field of Presence.

The horse already lives there.

Animals and nature have not separated themselves from this expanded field of awareness in the way human beings have.

The horse lives within awareness of the Earth, environment, herd, movement, intention, energy, frequency, vibrancy, subtle sensory information, and dimensions of reality that we may not consciously perceive.

We are the ones learning to return.

This is why the horse can appear mysterious to us.

The horse responds to something before we see it.

The horse knows something has changed before we identify the change.

The horse perceives something that remains invisible to us.

The horse responds to a person who is outwardly smiling and gentle while something entirely different is being radiated underneath.

And we wonder:

How did the horse know?

The deeper question may be:

How did we stop knowing?

Pas de Cheval is, in part, a remembrance.

The horse has not forgotten.

We have.

5. The Greater Mystery Is Not Limited to the Horse

Nor is this mystery exclusive to horses.

The horse is where we begin because the horse is the relationship at the heart of Pas de Cheval.

But animals and all of nature participate within the greater mystery of life.

Other animals have their own forms of intelligence, perception, communication, and knowing.

Trees communicate.

Forests exist as living communities.

Plants respond to the world around them.

Animals perceive realities beyond our ordinary senses.

Life communicates with life.

Human beings are only beginning to rediscover how much communication, relationship, and intelligence exist throughout the natural world.

There is a greater mystery here than many of us were taught to recognize.

The Divine is not confined to humanity.

It moves through the horse.

Through animals.

Through forests.

Through trees.

Through water.

Through Earth.

Through us.

Through all life.

The horse becomes one doorway through which we begin remembering how to see.

Can we imagine walking past the Divine every day and seeing only property because we have forgotten how to recognize what is standing before us?

A riding horse.

A competition horse.

A broodmare.

A stallion.

A lesson horse.

A useful horse.

A difficult horse.

A valuable horse.

These are human classifications.

They do not tell us what the horse is.

The horse’s divinity does not depend upon our recognition.

But our ability to experience the fullness of the horse certainly does.

6. Trust Allows the Pearls to Appear

When a horse is continually treated primarily as property or utility, the horse may learn to live within the narrow boundaries of what is expected.

Stand here.

Go there.

Perform this.

Carry me.

Do not react.

Do not question.

Do not express.

Obey.

Eventually we may look at the horse who has adapted to this existence and believe that what remains is simply what a horse is.

It is not.

There is so much more.

When the horse begins experiencing mutual sovereignty, respectful boundaries, congruence, safety, and trust, more of the horse becomes available within relationship.

Not because we created something that was absent.

Because the horse becomes willing to reveal more of what was there all along.

The personality becomes unmistakable.

Play appears.

Curiosity expands.

Joy appears.

Communication deepens.

Intelligence shines.

And eventually we begin encountering something far greater than trainability:

wisdom.

People have come to our sanctuary and told me there is something different about our horses.

There is.

A horse who has been allowed to remain a sovereign being rather than being continually reduced to usefulness has more room to express the fullness of who they are.

The pearls were always there.

We are becoming trustworthy enough—and perceptive enough—to receive them.

7. Respect Is Greater Than Obedience

A horse can obey someone they do not trust.

A horse can obey someone they fear.

A horse can obey because experience has taught them that resistance is useless.

Respect is different.

Respect develops within relationship.

The horse begins to discover that our communication has meaning, our boundaries are consistent, their communication will be heard, uncertainty will not automatically be punished, their space will be respected, our own space will be maintained, and when they need our guardianship, we will be there.

That is profoundly different from:

You must obey me.

Pas de Cheval seeks something greater than obedience.

Mutual respect.

Respect invites participation.

Trust invites willingness.

And willingness allows the dance to become alive.

8. Respectful Boundaries Create Trust

Respectful boundaries are foundational to Pas de Cheval.

The horse needs to know:

Where are you?

Where am I?

Where do you end and I begin?

Can I trust you to respect my space?

Can I trust you to maintain yours?

A horse walking through a person’s space, pushing into them, dragging them, continually passing them on the lead, or repeatedly displacing them is communicating something about the relationship.

We do not punish the horse for asking the question.

But neither do we pretend surrendering our space is compassion.

We answer clearly:

I am here. You are there. I respect your space. I ask you to respect mine.

When boundaries are calm, consistent, and understandable, they become predictable.

Predictability creates clarity.

Clarity creates safety.

Safety allows trust.

And trust allows relaxation.

A horse who no longer needs to continually search for our boundaries can begin resting within the relationship.

Respectful boundaries are one of the ways love becomes trustworthy.

9. A Boundary Is Not Domination

People who reject dominance sometimes become afraid to establish boundaries.

They do not want to hurt the horse. They do not want to control. They love the horse, and so they continually yield.

But surrendering our sovereignty is not the same as respecting the horse’s sovereignty.

A healthy relationship requires both beings to remain within it.

Imagine a boa constrictor wrapping itself around its prey. The prey exhales. The constrictor tightens. The next breath has less room. The prey exhales again. The constrictor tightens again.

Gradually there is less and less room in which to breathe.

Relationships can become this way when boundaries are continually surrendered. We yield a little, then more, then more, until eventually we feel suffocated. Because we failed to communicate the smaller boundaries along the way, the boundary that finally erupts may appear enormous, angry, or confusing.

Healthy boundaries allow relationship to breathe.

The horse may ask subtle questions:

Where is your space? Where is mine? Are you aware of me? Will your answer remain consistent?

We answer without punishment and without apology.

A respectful boundary does not say:

I am more important than you.

It says:

I exist too.

10. Mutual Guardianship

When we bring a horse into our care, we accept responsibility for that life.

Food.

Water.

Shelter.

Health.

Movement.

Companionship.

Safety.

Protection.

And navigation through a human world the horse did not create.

We may be described legally as owners.

Pas de Cheval asks us to understand ourselves as guardians.

To bring a horse into our lives is to accept responsibility for seeing that life through—from beginning to end, to the fullest extent we are able.

That responsibility belongs to us first.

But relationship can become reciprocal.

I have witnessed this again and again.

A horse becomes frightened, yet rather than fleeing without awareness of the human, the horse remains sufficiently grounded to stay connected. The horse remains aware of where the human is. The horse may position the body protectively. The horse may choose to stay even while experiencing fear.

This does not mean instinct disappears.

It does not mean the horse never spooks.

It means:

relationship remains available even when fear appears.

The horse has repeatedly experienced:

I’ve got your back.

And one day the horse may answer:

I’ve got yours.

That cannot be demanded.

It cannot be produced through obedience.

It is given through trust.

11. Free Will Must Remain Alive

This is why I am deeply cautious about the idea of the completely “bombproof” horse when what is being celebrated is actually a horse who has learned not to express anything.

Quiet does not automatically mean peace.

Stillness does not automatically mean trust.

Obedience does not automatically mean relationship.

A horse can learn that expression is useless.

A horse can learn that communication changes nothing.

Eventually some horses stop offering an opinion.

Pas de Cheval does not seek that horse.

We want the horse alive within the relationship: vibrant, curious, playful, expressive, aware, intelligent, and free to communicate uncertainty, fear, confusion, discomfort, curiosity, enthusiasm, willingness, and joy.

The goal is not to remove the horse’s voice.

The goal is to become worthy of the horse continuing to use it with us.

12. Congruence — Why the Horse Needs Our Truth

Mutual respect and respectful boundaries are not enough if the person standing within those boundaries is internally divided.

This brings us to congruence.

Congruence means that what we are radiating outward increasingly aligns with the truth of our being.

Imagine someone approaching a horse smiling softly.

The voice is gentle.

The hand is gentle.

Everything outwardly says:

I am calm.

But inside, the person is angry about an argument that happened that morning.

Perhaps someone offended them.

Perhaps they are worried about money.

Perhaps they are frightened of the horse.

Perhaps they are afraid of failing.

Perhaps they feel pressure to prove themselves.

Perhaps they are carrying grief or resentment.

Perhaps they have an embedded fear around horses.

Perhaps they are living beneath the weight of what family, culture, profession, or society expects them to be.

The smile does not erase any of this.

The horse perceives the whole being.

The outward communication says one thing.

The body says another.

The emotional state says another.

The energy says another.

The frequency says another.

The auric field may reveal what the outward presentation conceals.

This is incongruence.

And the horse sees beyond the mask.

13. What Lies Beneath the Mask

Not everything we carry is conscious.

We accumulate beliefs about ourselves and the world from the time we are children.

Experiences leave impressions.

Families teach us.

Schools teach us.

Culture teaches us.

Relationships teach us.

Pain teaches us.

Fear teaches us.

Some of what we learn is true.

Some is not.

Some beliefs become so deeply embedded that we no longer recognize them as beliefs.

They simply feel like:

This is who I am.

Beneath conscious thought can lie layers of subconscious programming, memories, emotional patterns, expectations, fears, and bio-memory—the accumulated impressions of what we have experienced and what we have been taught to believe about ourselves.

We may consciously say:

I’m fine.

While something underneath is frightened.

We may say:

I’m confident.

While something within us expects failure.

We may say:

I’m peaceful.

While unresolved anger moves beneath the surface.

We may not consciously know that we are masking anything.

Then we stand beside a horse.

And the horse perceives more than the mask.

14. The Horse Brings the Hidden Into View

This is one of the most mysterious gifts of the horse.

The horse has a way of bringing what lies beneath the surface into view.

There are neurological systems associated with social mirroring, including what are commonly called mirror neurons. We recognize forms of mirroring in ordinary human life as well. Children, for example, may reflect tension, anger, fear, or peace within a household even when adults believe those feelings are being concealed.

With horses, however, the mirroring we explore within Pas de Cheval extends into their broader subtle perception.

The horse perceives body tension, breath, posture, attention, and movement, but also energy, vibrancy, frequency, auric fields, and subtle information surrounding another being.

The horse may respond to something we have not yet admitted to ourselves.

A belief.

A fear.

An unresolved anger.

An old wound.

An identity.

A contradiction between the person we are presenting and what we are actually radiating.

And because the horse is large, powerful, expressive, and free to move, that reflection can become impossible to ignore.

The horse may become tense.

Withdraw.

Brace.

Become distracted.

Move too quickly.

Become defensive.

Become uncertain.

Or continually present us with the same difficulty.

The first temptation may be:

What is wrong with this horse?

Pas de Cheval asks another question:

What is the horse showing me?

15. Do Not Punish the Mirror

Feeling exposed can be uncomfortable.

The horse may bring forward something we have spent years learning how not to feel.

Fear.

Anger.

Shame.

Insecurity.

Doubt.

Pain.

A childhood wound.

A belief that we are powerless.

A belief that we must control in order to be safe.

A belief that we must appear competent.

A belief that vulnerability is dangerous.

When the horse’s response exposes one of these contradictions, the ego may defend itself.

Instead of looking inward, we turn outward.

The horse is stubborn.

The horse is disrespectful.

The horse is dominant.

The horse is difficult.

The horse needs to learn.

The horse needs to be corrected.

And then the horse may be punished for revealing the very thing the human was unwilling to see.

The horse did not create what was hidden within us.

The horse revealed the incongruence.

Do not punish the mirror because you do not like the reflection.

Look.

Listen.

Become curious.

Take responsibility.

16. The Horse Should Not Have to Do Our Weeding

The horse’s ability to reveal what is hidden can be an extraordinary gift.

But the horse is not our therapist.

The horse is not responsible for healing us.

The horse should not continually have to enter our unresolved emotional landscape and do our weeding for us.

Once we understand how sensitive horses are to what we bring, responsibility returns to us.

Before entering the horse’s space, begin asking:

What am I carrying today?

What am I radiating?

Is there anger here?

Fear?

Resentment?

Anxiety?

Pressure?

A need to prove myself?

Am I carrying someone else’s expectations?

Am I identified with something that happened to me?

Is what I am presenting outwardly coherent with what is actually moving within me?

We clear what we can before we approach the horse.

Not because we must become perfect.

No one is asking for perfection.

We do it because what belongs to us should not continually become the horse’s burden.

17. We Have a Story; We Are Not the Story

Human beings can become deeply identified with what has happened to them.

Pain becomes identity.

Illness becomes identity.

Occupation becomes identity.

Accomplishment becomes identity.

Failure becomes identity.

We may define ourselves through what we survived, what we lost, what someone did to us, what diagnosis we received, what role we perform, or what others expect us to be.

These experiences may be part of our history.

But they are not the totality of who we are.

We have a story.

We are not the story.

The horse continually calls us beneath it.

Not by denying what happened.

Not by pretending pain never existed.

But by refusing to make the past the boundary of what is possible now.

What has been carried can be seen.

What has been seen can be faced.

What no longer serves can be released.

The horse does not ask us to wear pain like a banner.

The horse calls us back into life.

18. Empowerment Is Sovereignty

This is what standing on our own two feet means.

Sovereignty is not domination.

It is not bullying.

It is not anger.

It is not becoming harder.

It is not controlling another being so that we can feel powerful.

Sovereignty is empowerment.

It is taking responsibility for our life, our thoughts, our feelings, our beliefs, our choices, our boundaries, our energy, our conduct, and our presence.

It is recognizing that what happened to us may be part of our history without allowing it to define the entirety of who we are.

The horse invites us toward this empowerment.

The horse does not want us dependent upon the horse.

The horse does not want us dependent upon a guru.

The horse does not want us to surrender our discernment.

The horse continually asks us to stand within ourselves.

And an empowered human has no need to diminish another being in order to feel strong.

19. Honesty, Responsibility, Integrity and Authenticity

This is how we begin moving toward congruence.

Honesty allows us to recognize what is actually present.

Responsibility allows us to recognize that what we carry belongs to us and is not the horse’s burden.

Integrity means that what we recognize changes how we conduct ourselves.

Authenticity means that we stop asking the horse to relate to a manufactured version of ourselves.

If there is fear, recognize it.

If there is anger, recognize it.

If there is doubt, recognize it.

If we do not know:

I don’t know.

There is strength in that.

We cannot clear what we refuse to see.

And we cannot become coherent while defending an identity that contradicts what is actually moving within us.

20. Congruence and Coherence

Congruence is more than admitting what we feel.

It is moving toward a state in which what we radiate outward is aligned with our deeper nature rather than with the masks, conditioning, unresolved emotions, false beliefs, and stories we have accumulated.

This is where coherence becomes important.

Heart.

Mind.

Body.

Intention.

Energy.

Rather than each pulling in a different direction, they begin moving into alignment.

Heart-brain coherence.

We are not manufacturing a pleasant emotion to cover an unresolved one.

That would simply be another mask.

We recognize.

We take responsibility.

We clear.

We release.

We return to center.

We do not need to become perfect.

We become increasingly whole.

And the horse perceives the difference.

21. Leaving Identity at the Door

Before entering the Field of Presence, we begin releasing identity.

For this moment:

I am not the doctor.

Not the lawyer.

Not the teacher.

Not the mother.

Not the CEO.

Not the trainer.

Not the beginner.

Not the expert.

Not the person who was hurt.

Not the survivor.

Not the illness.

Not the diagnosis.

Not the accomplishment.

Not the failure.

Not what happened yesterday.

Not what someone said about me.

Not what society expects me to become.

We do not erase our history.

We do not deny our responsibilities.

We do not pretend our lives do not exist.

We suspend what does not belong in this moment.

And some of what no longer belongs may eventually be released entirely.

Layer by layer, the horse may show us where something remains that is not coherent with our true nature.

We see it.

We take responsibility.

We clear.

We return.

22. The Field of Presence

Now we can begin to understand why the Field of Presence is so vital.

The Field is not simply a relaxation exercise.

It is the field within which the horse already lives.

We are learning to become consciously available to it.

Here the accumulated noise of identity begins to quiet enough for genuine meeting to occur.

Here.

Now.

Not yesterday’s argument.

Not tomorrow’s obligation.

Not who I am supposed to be.

Not what this horse is supposed to accomplish.

Just life being experienced in its immediacy and totality.

As identity quiets, awareness expands.

The body softens without becoming dull.

The mind becomes quieter without becoming unconscious.

We enter:

deep relaxation with acute awareness.

Our ordinary narrow perception begins to open.

We listen beyond the obvious.

We see beyond the object upon which the physical eyes are focused.

We become aware of space, energy, movement, frequency, vibrancy, feeling, intention, and the subtle.

And as awareness develops, we may begin to recognize that the reality surrounding us is far more expansive than the physical dimension alone.

We are beginning to remember what the horse never forgot.

23. The Field Is Where Dialogue Opens

Technique says:

If I do this, the horse should do that.

Relationship asks:

What is happening between us?

Within the Field, communication becomes reciprocal.

We communicate.

The horse receives.

The horse communicates.

We receive.

We respond.

The horse responds.

It becomes dialogue.

Eventually that dialogue may become extraordinarily subtle.

A shift of intention.

A breath.

A feeling.

A change in energy.

A frequency.

A vibration.

A color.

An image.

A visualization.

A movement barely begun.

A knowing.

The horse may perceive something within us before we consciously recognize it.

We may begin perceiving something from the horse before there is obvious physical expression.

This is not communication that begins with technique.

Technique may later give physical form to what is being communicated.

But the relationship comes first.

The Field is where we meet.

24. Vulnerability Without the Mask

Human beings often learn to guard themselves from vulnerability because vulnerability has been used against them.

We hide fear.

Uncertainty.

Tenderness.

Pain.

What we do not know.

We build identities and masks to protect ourselves.

The horse does not require that armor.

The horse wants honesty.

There is profound freedom in discovering that we can stand before another being open, vulnerable, honest, and exposed without that vulnerability being used against us.

We do not need to impress the horse.

We do not need to convince the horse that we are powerful.

We do not need to know everything.

We simply need to arrive.

Here I am.

And because there is less hidden, there is less for the horse to decipher.

Honesty becomes safety.

Authenticity becomes clarity.

Congruence becomes trustworthy.

25. Expression Is Communication

As safety and trust deepen, more of the horse may become visible.

Softness.

Curiosity.

Affection.

Playfulness.

Joy.

And perhaps fear, frustration, uncertainty, anger, defensiveness, or withdrawal.

A horse who has learned that expression does not matter may begin expressing more when expression finally becomes safe.

Sometimes something may arise intensely and then pass.

There may be a release of something the horse has carried.

We do not need to reconstruct its exact story in order to allow the horse to move through it.

Nor do we assume every expression belongs to the past.

Something may be happening now.

Something may hurt.

The environment may have changed.

The horse may be confused.

Or the horse may be perceiving something that remains outside our present range of awareness.

We listen before deciding.

Expression is information.

26. Learn the Horse Before Asking the Horse

Learn the horse’s life.

When do they eat?

When do they rest?

When do they nap?

When are they naturally alert?

How does weather affect them?

What changes when the wind rises?

What do they perceive before you do?

How does this horse normally walk?

What is their ordinary gait?

What does relaxation look like?

What does curiosity look like?

What does play look like?

What does concern look like?

What is normal for this horse?

Once we know what is ordinary, we can recognize change.

And when the horse perceives something we do not, we do not immediately dismiss the horse simply because our own senses cannot confirm it.

We observe.

We listen.

27. Observation Before Interpretation

A horse raises the head.

That is observation.

He’s disrespecting me is interpretation.

A horse steps away.

That is observation.

She doesn’t want me is interpretation.

A horse stops.

That is observation.

She’s refusing is interpretation.

A horse changes direction.

That is observation.

He’s trying to outsmart me is interpretation.

A horse pins the ears.

That is observation.

She’s angry is interpretation.

Even:

This horse is releasing trauma

is interpretation.

Interpretation may eventually prove accurate.

But first leave space.

What happened?

What preceded it?

What followed it?

What changed in the horse?

What changed in me?

What might the horse be perceiving that I cannot perceive?

What do I actually know?

What am I assuming?

What don’t I know yet?

This is discernment.

28. The Horse as Teacher

Eventually the distinction between teacher and student begins to change.

We may have entered believing that we were going to teach the horse.

Then we discover how much the horse has been teaching us.

About presence.

Boundaries.

Discernment.

Authenticity.

Energy.

Relationship.

Stillness.

Freedom.

Nature.

Ourselves.

And ultimately, the divinity within life.

In this sense, horses have been among my greatest spiritual teachers.

Perhaps even the gurus of the gurus.

But the horse teaches differently.

The horse does not want followers.

The horse does not need disciples.

The horse does not ask us to surrender discernment or become dependent upon the teacher.

The horse continually returns us to ourselves.

Where are you?

Are you present?

Are you honest?

Are you congruent?

Where are your boundaries?

Can you stand within your sovereignty without violating mine?

The horse does not ask us to kneel at their feet.

The horse asks us to stand on our own two feet.

To know ourselves.

To become empowered.

To become sovereign.

To recognize the divinity within the horse and eventually remember the divinity within ourselves and within all life.

29. This Is a Lifetime Practice

None of this should create the expectation that after one exercise, one lesson, ten lessons, or even years, we arrive at a place where there is nothing left to discover.

Pas de Cheval unfolds in stages because we unfold in stages.

At first we may notice only a breath.

Then an eye.

A shift of weight.

An intention before movement.

A change in the quality of the space between us.

Later we may recognize communication we once would have missed entirely.

Our awareness becomes more expansive.

Our subtle senses awaken.

We begin perceiving dimensions of communication and relationship that were always present but that we had not learned to recognize.

Years later we may look back and realize how little we understood when we thought we already knew.

There is always another layer.

Another refinement.

Another opening.

Another mystery.

The horse we have lived beside for twenty years may still surprise us.

That is not failure.

That is relationship.

Pas de Cheval is not something we complete.

It is a practice for life.

We never graduate from mutual sovereignty, mutual respect, respectful boundaries, honesty, responsibility, integrity, authenticity, congruence, discernment, and presence.

When communication becomes confused, we return.

When fear appears, we return.

When ego appears, we return.

When we become overly concerned with accomplishment, we return.

When the horse tells us something we did not expect, we return.

Again and again.

For a lifetime.

30. The First Practice — Entering the Field

Now we begin.

This is the only formal exercise in Module One.

There is nothing to accomplish with the horse.

The horse is not being asked to perform.

The practice belongs first to you.

If possible, remain approximately twenty-five feet or more from the horse, or outside the enclosure if necessary.

Sit comfortably on a stool or stand with a tall, easy spine and softly unlocked knees.

Remain aware of the horse and the environment throughout.

Before the First Breath

Before doing anything, ask quietly:

What am I bringing with me?

Do not judge the answer.

Notice.

Anger?

Fear?

Pressure?

Sadness?

Excitement?

Resentment?

An argument?

A role?

A story?

A need to accomplish something?

A need to prove yourself?

Simply recognize it.

This is honesty.

Accept that it belongs to you.

This is responsibility.

And now become willing to clear and release what does not belong in this meeting.

Three Cleansing Breaths

Inhale deeply through the nose.

Pause comfortably at the top without strain.

Exhale slowly through the mouth.

As you exhale, release.

Pause gently at the bottom.

Repeat three times.

Release the conversation from this morning.

The worry about tomorrow.

The role you play.

The expectation.

The anger.

The fear.

The story.

The need to accomplish.

Then allow the breath to settle into a steady, ocean-like rhythm.

Always inhale through the nose.

Exhale through the nose or mouth, whichever feels natural.

Relax the Body

Begin at the crown.

Soften the eyes.

Relax the jaw.

Relax the tongue.

Release the shoulders.

Soften the chest.

Relax the abdomen.

Release the hips.

Soften the knees.

Continue through the legs, feet, and toes.

Where tension remains, breathe into it.

Allow it to soften.

We are developing:

deep relaxation with acute awareness.

Establish the Gaze

Keep the spine tall.

Allow the eyes to rest softly upon a still point in the direction the nose naturally points, slightly downward.

Do not continually move the eyes searching for information.

If the visual field softens or blurs slightly, allow it.

Listen.

Feel.

Expand awareness.

Do not limit perception to the physical eyes.

Become aware of the space around you.

The horse remains within awareness without needing to be stared at.

Awaken the Hands

Bring the palms toward one another as though holding a ball approximately the size of a soccer ball.

Keep the fingers, arms, and shoulders relaxed.

Inhale through the nose.

As you exhale, imagine the life force moving through the crown, into the heart, across the shoulders, down the arms, and through the fingertips into the space between the palms.

The heart is the generator.

The breath carries prāṇa, the life force.

Slowly explore bringing the palms closer and farther apart.

Allow the energetic ball to become smaller and then expand again.

You may experience warmth, tingling, pressure, resistance, pulsing, vibrancy, or something much subtler.

There is nothing to prove.

Simply become receptive.

31. Chakra Cleansing and Alignment

Move through the seven chakras, allowing approximately four or five breaths at each center, or longer if desired.

With each exhalation, imagine energy moving through the heart, across the shoulders, down the arms, and through the fingertips toward the chakra receiving your attention.

Visualize each color as luminous, iridescent, living energy.

Root — Red Base of the pelvis.

Sacral — Orange Lower abdomen.

Solar Plexus — Yellow Upper abdomen.

Heart — Green Center of the chest.

Throat — Blue Throat.

Third Eye — Indigo Between and slightly above the eyebrows.

Crown — Violet Top of the head.

Now experience the centers together.

Red.

Orange.

Yellow.

Green.

Blue.

Indigo.

Violet.

Visualize them aligned around the spine as living, rotating light.

Allow the spectrum to become unified as white light.

Imagine a pillar of white light descending from the firmament, entering through the crown, traveling through the body and continuing downward through the Earth toward its center.

Firmament above.

Earth below.

You between them.

Connected.

The heart remains the generator.

The breath carries the prāṇa.

32. Let Identity Dissolve

Now allow identity to become quiet.

The occupation.

The accomplishment.

The failure.

The diagnosis.

The pain.

The person who hurt you.

The person you believe you must be.

The person others expect you to be.

The story of yesterday.

The expectation of tomorrow.

Let them go.

If a thought appears, allow it to become a bird.

Watch it fly away.

Return to the breath.

Return to the heart.

Return to the still point.

Another thought.

Another bird.

Let it go.

Do not fight the mind.

Stop following everything it presents.

You are not erasing yourself.

You are clearing what obscures the deeper self beneath accumulated identity.

And gradually:

Here you are.

33. Now Observe

Only now begin observing the horse.

Do not stare.

Do not coax.

Do not ask for anything.

Do not search for proof.

Maintain your respectful boundaries.

Honor the horse’s.

Listen.

Feel the air.

Notice movement.

Notice stillness.

Allow awareness to expand beyond the physical eyes and ears.

The horse may exhale.

Lower the head.

Yawn.

Lick or chew.

Rest a hind foot.

Become quiet.

Become curious.

Approach.

Remain where they are.

Or walk away.

Allow all of it.

If the horse approaches, do not abandon your boundary because the moment feels beautiful.

If the horse leaves, do not interpret departure as rejection.

If the horse suddenly becomes aware of something you cannot see, do not immediately decide that nothing is there simply because it is invisible to you.

Observe the horse.

Observe the environment.

Remain present.

Remain discerning.

Remain open to the possibility that the horse’s perceptual world extends beyond your own.

Perhaps communication begins only as observation.

Perhaps later you perceive something subtler.

A feeling.

A frequency.

A vibration.

A color.

An image.

An intention.

A knowing.

Do not manufacture it.

Do not strain to perceive it.

Allow awareness to expand in its own time.

The horse has lived within this expanded field all along.

We are learning to remember.

Before Your Next Lesson

Practice only this.

Do not turn it into a training session.

Practice without the horse first if necessary.

Then practice near the horse from a safe distance.

Before beginning, ask:

What am I bringing today?

What am I radiating?

What identity am I wearing?

What am I masking?

What might lie beneath the story I am presenting?

Can I clear what belongs to me before asking the horse to stand within it?

Then practice.

Notice:

Can I recognize an emotion without becoming identified with it?

Can I take responsibility without making myself wrong?

Can I release rather than rehearse?

Can I become still without becoming dull?

Can I relax while remaining acutely aware?

Am I congruent, or am I performing calmness?

What does the horse do without my interference?

Can I maintain my boundary when the horse approaches?

Can I respect the horse’s boundary when the horse chooses distance?

Can I observe without immediately interpreting?

Can I accept that the horse may perceive something I cannot presently perceive?

Can I remain curious about the unseen without needing to invent an explanation for it?

Can I say, “I don’t know yet”?

Bring one or two observations to your next lesson.

Not a diagnosis.

Not an accomplishment.

Simply:

This is what I noticed.

Module One Principle

Pas de Cheval begins before we ask the horse to do anything.

It begins with who we are when we arrive.

The horse does not merely encounter our words or technique.

The horse encounters us.

Our boundaries.

Our intention.

Our tension.

Our honesty.

Our fear.

Our clarity.

Our contradictions.

Our energy.

Our frequency.

Our presence.

The horse perceives beyond the mask.

And sometimes the horse reveals what we have hidden even from ourselves.

When this happens, we do not punish the mirror.

We look.

We listen.

We recognize.

We clear.

Eventually we learn to do more of this before approaching the horse so the horse does not continually have to do our weeding for us.

Honesty allows us to see what is present.

Responsibility allows us to own it.

Integrity changes what we do with it.

Authenticity removes the mask.

Congruence brings what we radiate into alignment with the truth of our being.

Coherence brings heart, mind, body, intention, and energy into greater harmony.

The Field allows accumulated identity to become quiet enough for genuine meeting.

Respectful boundaries give that meeting form.

Mutual sovereignty allows both beings to remain whole.

Trust allows the horse to reveal more.

And then something extraordinary begins.

The horse becomes more vibrant.

More curious.

More playful.

More expressive.

More joyful.

Communication deepens.

Intelligence shines.

Wisdom appears.

The pearls begin to reveal themselves.

And our own perception begins to change.

We begin with the physical horse before us.

Then gradually we may become aware of something larger.

Energy.

Frequency.

Vibrancy.

Color.

Auric fields.

The subtle senses.

The unseen.

The living intelligence of nature.

The possibility of dimensions existing alongside our own.

The spirit realms and the beings whose frequencies may lie beyond ordinary human sight.

The Field in which all of this exists.

The horse has not suddenly become more magnificent.

We have become capable of perceiving more of the magnificence that was there all along.

And the horse does not teach us this so that we become dependent upon the horse.

The horse returns us to ourselves.

Stand on your own two feet.

Take responsibility for your life.

Know what you bring.

Clear what is not yours.

Reveal your infinite potential.

Do not make your wounds your identity.

Do not make power dependent upon another being’s submission.

Become empowered.

Become sovereign.

Become present.

The mystery was always there.

The wisdom was always there.

The Divine was always there.

In the horse.

In animals.

In nature.

In us.

We have simply forgotten how to see.

Pas de Cheval is a practice of remembering.

And this is not accomplished in one lesson.

Or ten.

Or a year.

It is a lifetime practice.

Before we ask the horse to listen, we learn to listen.

Before we ask the horse to trust, we learn to become trustworthy.

Before we ask the horse to reveal their world to us, we learn how to become quiet enough to perceive it.

Before we ask the horse to move with us, we learn how to meet.

And from that meeting, one day, comes the dance.

Pas de Cheval.