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A.i.s. study-horsemanship mounts in the fields, 2005
When horses meet they poise themselves. Heads rise, necks arch and one can see them - nostrils touching - for moments prolonged sharing their very breaths. If they like each other a ritual begins. And soon thereafter one can see the males on their hind legs measuring strengths.
The exact opposite takes place when a youngster meets a mature horse. The young horse lowers its forehand, horizontally stretches off head, neck and tail and begins to rattle its teeth. It is the foal's expression of utter self-abandonment. The current tradition of riding horses head and neck down, in equine body language thus indicates: ".....!"
Fear of maltreatment and resignation go with a low neck and rigid spine. Meeting life and the other, being full of life in other word, expresses itself both by the lifting of the neck and a forehand that rises from the ground. On planet earth there are noticeable distinctions between force and power, stress and performance, encounter and love.
In humans success, good luck and affirmation also bring on a change of posture. Man visibly grows and for moments prolonged his feet appear to have escaped the forces of gravity. Fear, failure and doubt, however, pull him to the ground. Head and neck push forward and freeze, chest and shoulders drop. All of a sudden his feet no longer propel him on, but - as if of lead - now seem to hinder his movements.
Here spoken to are the cumulative effects of bad humor on a man's posture. And there are further indications. Eastern philosophers in the body seek access to the very essence of being. They combine positions and movements to achieve an expansion of awareness. The question to date remains, however, just how and exactly where in the body mood meets posture, movement meets being.
In the West posture, position and poise refer not only to the body, but to spirit, mind and will as well. Disagreements prevail on their definition. Views may vary depending on static or dynamic approaches. In both cases they will testify to the distribution of the organs in the body's fascia skeleton and the impact of gravity on them. Obviously static posture, dynamic balance and emotional poise are elements of the body's texture in East and West. Misunderstandings subsist on their intrinsic nature. The role of muscles remains at dispute.
