Last week I hosted a corporate workshop on Navigating Your Nervous System. I shared many things, from how to recognise when you are moving out of regulation to what to do when you are in a stress response and have lost connection with yourself.

At the end of the workshop, everyone shared one action they would take away and bring into their life.

Then they said, “Simone, what are you going to do?”

My answer was play.

I had shared how play is a powerful way to show our nervous system that activation can also be safe, enjoyable and connected, and it’s definitely something I could do more of.

A day or two later, a friend messaged me offering for me to ride her horse. I thought about how much fun I had riding when I was younger and wondered if this could be my weekly play pledge.

As I was riding along a ridgeline on this gorgeous palomino pony, that old feeling of freedom, safety and presence came flooding back.

It got me curious about why so many of us feel this way around horses and ponies.

It turns out there is science behind this feeling.

Research has found that horses and their riders can synchronise their heart rates, mutually attuning to one another. Other research has also explored heart-rate variability and coherence between horses and humans.

But what I find most fascinating is what this means for our nervous system.

We can co-regulate with a horse (and other pets for that matter). When we are with a calm, safe horse, our nervous system can attune to theirs, helping us move from a stress response towards greater relaxation and safety.

Co-regulation is our nervous system responding to cues of safety from another living being. And for many of us, horses may have been offering us that long before we had any language for what was happening.

I know for me growing up, my horse was my happiest escape, the place I felt most relaxed and free, especially during challenging times.

I used to think that was simply because I loved horses.

Now I wonder if my nervous system knew something I didn’t.

Maybe all those hours spent riding, grooming, talking to and simply being beside my horse were giving my system exactly what it needed: safety, connection and another steady nervous system to attune to.

And maybe that’s one of the invitations here.

To pay attention to the things that make your whole system exhale.

The places you feel more present, more playful, more yourself.

Sometimes our body knows what helps us long before our mind understands why.

Simone X 

P.S. I’d love to hear, do horses or other animals help your nervous system regulate too?