A few months ago, we took a break. Not by choice, but by necessity. Social pressure, accumulating obstacles, external stakes that had become too heavy to bear…

As we weathered a personal storm of grief, dead-end legal battles in a foreign language, and the constant pressure to "prove" our legitimacy, we lost our footing.

While we were sharing tools to help others find their balance, we had lost our own. So, we applied the very advice we give: we listened. Not just to the horses, but to that small inner voice whispering: "Stop. Breathe. Reconnect".

Sometimes, life overwhelms us. Expectations and obligations become so loud that we end up forgetting ourselves. We could no longer remain a stable anchor, neither for our horses nor for ourselves. So, we took a step back. This wasn't an escape, but a quest for truth. Because in a relationship with a horse, you cannot cheat. If you forget yourself, it will always be felt.

What is so powerful about the relationship with a horse is that they help us stay found. Through their behavior, their reactions, or their silences, they indicate with incredible precision when the balance is broken. Not within them. Within us.

A horse that becomes restless, withdraws, or opposes us is never doing so out of spite.

One of the reasons is that they simply resonate with what we are carrying. The horse seems to say: "Something is weighing on you; something is blocking you. And as long as it isn't fluid within you, it cannot be between us, because you no longer seem reliable to me".

What changes everything is accepting that our limits are not failures, but keys. It is not a judgment; it is an invitation to understanding: of ourselves, of the other, and of the bond that unites us.

In this exchange, Gladur asks for nothing; he offers. A gentle exploration, a gesture of belonging that reminds us that the most beautiful connections aren't forced, they are lived through spontaneity and a shared smile.

One evening, as we were bringing out the hay bags into the field, Gladur was particularly insistent. He was trying to dive his nose into the bag, tossing his head, pushing into my space. It wasn't brutal, but that night, it was the final straw. Accumulated fatigue had made the cup overflow.

I got frustrated. I walked further away to prepare a pile of hay, firmly forbidding him from approaching. "No! You will wait until I am finished!" I snapped, projecting my bubble with a determination I hadn't felt in a long time.

In the moment, I felt guilty for shouting, for "rejecting" my horse. I feared I had damaged our bond.

But Gladur’s reaction surprised me: he wasn't angry, nor was he worried. On the contrary, he seemed at peace. By pushing me to my limit, he had simply forced me to assert myself, to be clear and authentic about what I accepted and what I didn't. By ceasing to "endure" his insistence, I had become reliable in his eyes once again.

This episode did us both good, and by extension, the rest of the herd. By setting an honest boundary, I replaced my internal frustration with a real presence.

It is here, in the serene management of daily life, that the safety of a reliable bond is built.

This hiatus offered us the space needed to honor the path we’ve traveled, to identify our true blockages, and to let things settle as they needed to. We relearned how to preserve our integrity by setting gentle but firm boundaries to protect our energy, and how to let go of what is beyond our control, without guilt.

Today, this rediscovered balance is what we wish to share with you. Not as a rigid method, but as a guide, to help you discover what resonates with you, respecting your comfort zone while learning to expand it, step by step, to find harmony again.

👉 Here is the guide.

Have you ever felt like you were forgetting yourself, or losing your way in your relationship with your horse?

👉 If this resonates with you, join us in our group "Harmonious and Balanced Relationship with Horses" to share your thoughts.

To forget oneself is to stifle what matters most for the horses and for ourselves: our integrity. To have integrity is to be "one," whole. Without this unity between what we feel and what we show, we are no longer a stable anchor for the horse, because they immediately perceive the slightest crack in that unity.

True connection begins when we accept to see ourselves. Not to judge, but to understand. To better understand the other.

So, if you too need to take a break to breathe, know that it’s okay. Because sometimes, the best way to move forward is simply to stop for a moment.

"Listening to what is said without words, starting with what vibrates within us."

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