“Wherever man has left his footprints in the long ascent from barbarism to cilvilzation, we find the hoofprint of a horse besides it.”
—John Trotwood Moore
Our Story
1 Question. 2 Paradigm Shifts.
CHOICE Tribe™ was born from a social experiment to explore the moral and ethical values underlying humankinds’ interactions with horses. The initial exploratory journey spanned 3 years with 16 horse-human pairs and focused on 1 investigative question…“If we return choice to the horse by removing physical-restraint, coercion, and force from our interactions with them, will the horse choose to participate in activities with humans?” We had no idea that this single question would transcend tangible horse-human interactions, evolving into a dynamic community study of self-development and reciprocal relationships and, ultimately, set in motion paradigm shifts around historical patterns of human power and dominance to a dialogue about congruity with all forms of life.
“The horse knows. He knows if you know. He also knows if you don’t know.”
—Ray Hunt
When we began this process, our goal was to explore if horsemanship students of varying ages, skills levels, and experience―those who are not equine professionals―could build functional equestrian relationships―ground skills to riding―with their horses solely through the use of body language and energetic intention. With the horses’ choice to participate at the forefront of our exploration, we removed all forms of physical-restraint, training aids|tools, and coercion from our horse-human interactions and we adjusted their living environment to be as close to natural as possible within a domestic setting. We eliminated measurable goals and outcomes, and shifted the structure of our equine sessions from a linear time format to one of simply BEing. It quickly became apparent that BEing―presence―was an elusive, almost foreign practice to most of the participants, both within their horse interactions as well as in broader life scenarios. This unfamiliarity with BEing present stepped into the spotlight and became the groups primary focus.
Our sessions at the barn now included a diverse selection of movement, creative expression, and reflection practices that guided the humans to turn INward and experience how to BE. Dance, yoga, meditation, creative writing, art, and experiential observation cultivated a state of presence and opportunities for self-acceptance, competence, and relatedness to emerge. As each human discovered and embraced their inner-self, they transitioned to intrinsically motivated interactions with their horse where simply sharing space and getting a ‘feel’ for who their horse was and what their horse felt, thought, and wanted was the reward. While the humans journeyed deeper INwards to extended states of presence, the horses began to open outwards. They recognized and related to us during moments of shared presence and we acknowledged that these states of shared presence were the foundation for mutual trust, understanding, and learning. The further we developed practices of deep, multi-level awareness and reciprocal relationship, the more the horses understood that they had absolute choice in their interactions with us. The group’s question had been answered…the horses were willing, receptive, and engaged in the process of developing a language and seemingly limitless skill set with their human partners at choice. It was here on our journey with the horse where the first paradigm shift appeared, CHOICE Horsemanship™ was founded, and we entered into the space of a new horse-human history.
Harmony with Horses Paradigm
By returning absolute choice to the horse in our interactions with them, we arrive at an unparalleled opportunity to cultivate genuinely reciprocal horse-human connections. This shift in perspective, to become a steward of authentic harmony with horses, is a conscious choice to remember our natural awareness and revitalize ALL our relationships through mutual understanding, trust, and presence.
“Old-growth cultures, like old-growth forests, have not been exterminated. The land holds their memory and the possibility of regeneration. They are not only a matter of ethnicity or history, but of relationships born out of reciprocity between land and people.”
―Robin Wall Kimmerer
Inspired by the profound and perspective altering experiences shared with the horses on the journey to CHOICE Horsemanship™, a small group decided to further examine the significance of choice and it’s impacts within the timeline of societal development. We noticed that humankind’s history with both the horse―domestication to present―and the natural world―hunter-gather society to present―is a story of similarities and repeated patterns. With each societal ‘advancement,’ humans collectively moved away from ideals and values of coexistence to a one-sided relationship of command, control, and irreverence of the natural world. We recognized that our experiences leading up to the Harmony with Horses paradigm provided powerful insights of the interrelatedness between humans’ historical relationships with the natural world and the quality of individual and collective well-BEing. The group became actively aware that humans’ progressive disconnect with nature’s laws of balance and reciprocity was the underlying factor of today’s suffering health―human, animal, and environment.
As I sat in this heavy realization of our Earth community’s health crisis, I chose a practice of gratitude to share space with my grief. It was here, grateful to be able to receive the Earth’s call for healing, where I realized a correlation between the synonymous character and spirit in which both horses and indigenous cultures live their lives―aware and attuned to Nature’s inherent design of co-existence and cooperation. This correlation rooted itself in my thoughts, sprouting questions surrounding holistic well-BEing and how indigenous cultures worldwide understand and inhabit the concept of ‘living well.’ Drawing upon my Native American heritage, I tuned-IN to Mother Earth and asked for her guidance. Her wisdom gifted me a remembering of the Horse as a representation of Nature. From this vantage point, I understood that the multi-year process of at choice interactions with the horses was a symbolic segue into my spirit’s purpose of revitalizing indigenous approaches to live in harmony with the natural world.
Across the globe, wherever the earliest indigenous peoples of a region dwelled, they conscientiously fostered knowledge systems of adaptability, interconnection, and spiritual knowing. For these communities, optimal living―mind, body, heart, spirit―was the embodiment of no separation between nature and the people; health was inextricably linked to the maintenance and renewal of symbiotic relationships with the natural world. These early people stand as humankind’s original holistic healers and the well-BEing wisdoms their ways of life catalyzed live on today, passed forward through ancestral connections to the land and spiritual knowledge. No matter the geographic region we descend from or how distant our early indigenous ancestors feel from the generation we were born into, we all carry a set of these ancestral knowings in our being. And with the Earth community’s wellness at a delicate tipping point, we are ALL being called up by our indigenous ancestors to remember, restore, and revitalize these well-BEing wisdoms. When we consciously choose to tune-IN to the natural world and receive these ancestral teachings, we initiate the process of making amends for humankind’s transgressions against nature - and the Horse - and we step through the gateway of inspiriting a future of natural congruence with Earth and all her life forms.
—Jordanna Anawalt, Founder
Wholeness through Harmony Paradigm
By tuning-IN to our reciprocal connection with the natural world, we invite the well-BEing wisdoms of our indigenous ancestors into our awareness to return to wholeness. This shift in perspective, to understand well-BEing as the creation of oneness between nature and the people, is our guide back to optimal living and holistically well existence. The future of humankind and the Earth community resides in our choice to remember and return to wholeness through harmony―in creating Conscious Choices to live in Natural Congruence.