Have you ever considered what your animal is telling you when you brush them?
Have you ever considered what you are thinking about or feeling when you brush them?
The next time you take a brush out to brush your horse or groom your dog or cat ask yourself the below questions.
Remember no thought or feeling is wrong. Everything we discover is a learning that will help us and our animal find a more trusting relationship.
- When you look at your animal and say to yourself ‘You look like you need a brush’, what does your animal do? (Look for a subtle movement towards or away).
- What do you notice when you walk towards your animal with a brush? or What do you notice when you sit down with a brush in your hand and ask your animal to come to you?
- Go present for 30 seconds (or as long as it takes you to be completely still in your mind and body) before you start to brush/groom. What do you notice?
- How do you feel if your animal walks away?
- Where does your animal want to be brushed first?
- Where does your animal not want to be touched?
- What do you feel in your own body when you are brushing? Which muscles are tense?
- Do you tie up your horse / put a halter on /put a lead or harness on your dog to brush them? Ask yourself why.
- What do you do if your animal walks away half way through? How does that make you feel?
- What would you like to change?