Mojo.
The word conjures visions of magic and power in innumerable contexts ranging from performance art to actual Voodoo. Webster’s defines it in part as “a charm or amulet thought to have magic powers.” But for a horsewoman, it isn’t the magical treat in her pocket that gives her power. Nothing so concrete. Nothing so fleeting.
Mojo is that eagerness we feel when we wake up in the morning and can’t wait to get out to the barn. It’s the juice that powers us out of the house on a cold, rainy, windy night to share with the friends who wait for our scent on the air, who listen for the cadence of our familiar footfalls and the comfort of our soothing touch.
It’s what keeps us happy and positive even when our horses seem “off,” and gives us the energy to engage and lift them up.
It’s what our horses give back to us when our hearts are broken.
Mojo is energy, life-force, confidence and courage. Above all, it’s that spark inside that gives us the quality of leadership that our horses need. Mojo is an essential part of who and what we are.
We need this mojo because it is what works to keep us and our horses trusting and confident in one another. It keeps us safe. It comprises that characteristic of leadership that makes our horses want to play along with us and learn.
It also comprises that characteristic of SELF-leadership that inspires us to “take it to the next level” in our horsemanship. For example, it gives us the feel that cues us to those exact “Aha!” moments in our horse, so that we can reward him with rest/thinking time. In ground training as in riding, confidence and clarity must come through both in our body language (position, cues, contact, feel), and from the intangible light of our aura, inviting as the smell of sweet mix, compelling as the leadership of the herd matriarch. This is not always easy, and not necessarily new-agey. Sometimes, it is a gift of the universe. Often, it is simply the reward of self-discipline.
But if this definition seems circular, that is because most often mojo is the gift of the horse himself. And that is the most important thing to remember during those awful times–and most of us have them–when the mojo seems gone.





Livestock Auctions and the slaughter scene
New Dept. of Interior Public Comment Site
Posted in Horses, Uncategorized with tags Horses, horse rescue, Mustangs, horse slaughter, BLM, public, comment, opinion on February 8, 2010 by horsebackwriterThe Department of the Interior, which is the part of government the Bureau of Land Management is under, has an open website for public comments. This is where we can, presumably, voice our opinions about the plight of the mustangs, and our opinions about horse slaughter. The site will be accessible until March 19. Here’s your chance to be heard! And here’s the link:
Department of Interior Public Website
Blessings to everyone who responds to this; thank you for caring about horses.
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