"There is an old Arab proverb that says, “The horse is your mirror.” This applies, of course, to physical issues as well, but it is important to not overlook the psychological issues that it applies to. If we are open to what the horse is telling us, and what our riding is telling us, we will learn MUCH about ourselves and our issues. This isn’t always easy. We do not always want to know all of our faults and weaknesses. We don’t always want to acknowledge our impatience and habit of shifting blame (for example). BUT… if we take the opportunity this has presented to us, it is an incredible opportunity to DO something about it. Once you are open to it, and acknowledge it, you can begin to work on it. Just the simple act of acknowledging it often dis-empowers it to some degree. Suddenly we realize there is a pattern here. And it applies to how we live our lives, too, it is not just how we ride our horse, but also how we deal with our boss, our relationships, whatever.

By listening to what the horse and our riding is telling us, and by being willing to acknowledge and work on these issues, we will find that it carries over into other aspects of our lives. When you learn patience in dealing with your frustrations in riding, you realize you can also have patience in dealing with your frustrations in life.

Of course, this is not the easy path. It is much easier to stick to our habits of shifting blame and losing patience (or whatever patterns you may have). It takes great work, and incredible humility, to embark upon the task of improving ourselves."

Ritter, Shana. “The Horse is Your Mirror.” Artistic Dressage. Classical Dressage and Artistic Dressage. 2000. Web. 26 June, 2015.