Have You Ever Felt Something More? Emotional Regulation for Horse and Rider

Exploring the Unseen: A Deeper Connection with Our Horses

Many years ago, I came across two books that changed the way I saw the world—True Unity: Willing Communication Between Horse and Human by Tom Dorrance, and Kinship with All Life by J. Allen Boone.

What struck me wasn’t just what they said, but what they felt like.

Tom Dorrance spoke of a relationship that goes beyond the physical. He showed us that real unity with a horse isn’t just about how we move together—it’s about how we think together, feel together.

Without touching into the mental and emotional world of our horses, we cannot truly create a relationship of mutual trust. Not the kind that is deep, authentic, and willing.

And then I read Kinship with All Life. At first, it felt almost childlike—filled with wide-eyed wonder, story after story of the invisible thread connecting animals and humans. But as I sat with it, I realised: this wasn’t naive. It was profound. It was reminding me of something I already knew but had buried beneath layers of logic and expectation.

That connection I’d always felt—the one that defied words or explanation—that something between me and my horses… was real. Not just physical, not just emotional, but something more. Something spiritual.

I’ve come to believe, through experience, that the relationship between horse and human can be rooted in all four realms—physical, mental, emotional and spiritual. And when we’re willing to open to that possibility, everything changes.

Over the years, I’ve been lucky enough to walk alongside other sensitive horse guardians—those who are brave enough to step outside the mainstream, to explore their intuition, their energy, their inner knowing. These are people with beautiful open minds and soft, curious hearts. They aren’t looking to dominate or ‘fix’ their horses—they’re seeking connection. And it is a joy to walk with them.

Not everyone resonates with the idea of a spiritual connection with their horse—and that’s okay. We all walk our own path. But I’ve found that when I allowed myself to stop dismissing the deep presence, the silent knowing, the felt sense of ‘something more’ between me and my horses… everything shifted.

I became more humble. More present. More teachable.

And that made all the difference.

As I’ve grown older, I’ve started to see this kind of connection everywhere. Not just with horses, but in life itself. It’s like the more I opened to the idea that life is more than it appears, the more it showed up to meet me.

But it was the horses who opened that door. And for that, I will always be grateful.

Have You Ever Felt Something More? A quiet knowing… a deeper connection… something you can’t explain but feel, deeply, when you're with your horse?