The zone is a place in every animal’s head where peace exists. Peace is actually a natural state for animals, and when you find the zone of the horse, dog or cat you’re working with, you can actually create—or tap into—a place of peace with them. A friend who finds the zone with her horses says it’s like she and horse become connected in oneness. That’s a great way to describe it. When you find the zone, you create a connection with the animal. The horse is with you, or the dog or the cat is with you.

My friend, Dain, says it helps him to think about the zone in terms of space. Most of us tend to walk around with very little awareness of the space around us. Sometimes our space is the size of our brain. When we work with animals, we need to adjust our personal sense of space to the amount of space the animal is comfortable with. All animals have a sense of awareness of space and they have a level at which they feel comfortable and secure. Have you ever had a dog or cat that liked to be in the house all the time, and hated to go outside? The only area it was willing to occupy was the house. Other animals require a much larger space. I’ve had cats that only wanted to be outdoors. They’d look up to the sky and all around them and check everything out. In order to communicate with an animal like that, you have to have that same kind of awareness or sense of space that it has in order for it to be in communion and connection with you.

I have a stallion, and in order to ride him, my space has to be about eighteen miles out in all directions. A stallion thinks its job is to protect the herd. If you’re going to ride a stallion, you have to occupy the same amount of space that it needs to occupy, in order for it to feel safe. If I try to close the space in when I’m riding my stallion, he gets frantic. He feels like he’s being confined. But if I extend my awareness out far enough, I can ride him into a herd of other horses and he walks along like a gelding. He knows that I perceive everything that he perceives. He feels safe.

When you ride a horse in the zone, you discover a place in the horse where everything is level and peaceful. You’ll know when the horse is going to act up, before he acts up. You can calm him because you’ll feel the static in his head and you can expand your awareness out into the zone. In the process of expanding your awareness, you calm the horse and eliminate the blow-up or problem. Everything becomes calm, cool and collected when you’re in the zone.

Another aspect of creating the zone with horses is recognizing that they like to be connected to the ground. They find this tremendously calming. When you get a horse connected to the earth, you can almost guarantee it will never spook. I’ve been on lots of horses that were supposedly spooky or runaways, and they never did any of that when I was on them. I’d find the zone and they would start to get calm, cool and collected. They’d start to relax and use their muscles the way that is proper for them instead of being stiff and braced against the possibilities.

You can bring about the energy of connection to the earth with any animal. To connect a horse with the earth while you’re riding it, pull energy from the earth up through the horse’s body, through your body, and out the top of your head. All you have to do is ask the energy to pull. It doesn’t require effort or work. It’s not hard. Just ask the energy to pull. This grounds the horse. It becomes present. It won’t spook. It won’t do crazy things. It won’t have problems.

When you find the zone and ground your animal, you create greater awareness of the oneness and the connection that we are with all things. When you become aware of that, you create an even greater connection between you and the animal. There’s a communion that occurs. You can then be there for whatever happens. The horse, or the dog or the cat is with you. They’re far more connected to you.

People have asked me if being in the zone is like meditation. The difficulty with meditation is that most people can only do it with their eyes closed. However, if you learn to find the zone, you have it every day, all day long, with your eyes open while you’re walking down the street.

When we’re not in the zone, we project thoughts, feelings and emotions at animals. If you have the viewpoint that something’s going to go wrong, for example, the horse will think, “What’s wrong? What am I missing?” and it will get fearful.

When you’re with your horse or your dog or cat, you’re with everything as it is. Being in the zone with your horse can open the door to a totally new way of riding and relating with your horse. You may also find that in process, you have a more expanded reality. You may become like the elephants that knew when the tsunami was coming. You won’t go to the beach with the humans; you’ll head for the hills with the elephants. That’s the opportunity. If you have an awareness of the zone, you’ll know when an earthquake is going to happen, and you’ll know when you need to be out of town.

By Gary Douglas (founder)
Access Energy Transformation
Conscious Horse, Conscious Rider Workshop details on www.accessconsciousness.com