What horse teach us about presence, boundaries, and the quiet strength of letting go

There are moments in life that quietly change something inside you. For some people, that moment happens in nature. For others, it happens after a major life event. And for many of the people who find their way to Walk Sublime, it starts with the simple act of walking beside a horse.

Recently on The Brain Changers™ Podcast, I spoke with Mel McLaren - founder of Walk Sublime: Walking with Horses in Nature™ - about how this unique experience came to be, and what it reveals about the way we move through our lives.

Mel’s story didn’t begin with a business plan. It began with profound loss. Within eight months, her younger brother died of cancer, her marriage ended, and she found herself fighting to keep the farm she’d built her entire life around. Through this period, she kept walking her young horses through the forest… not because she was trying to “heal,” but because being with them was the only thing that made sense.

What she didn’t realise at the time was that those quiet steps were slowly rebuilding her.

Horses as mirrors, and teachers

Horses aren’t interested in your résumé or how well you pretend you’re coping. They respond to energy, emotion and intention, long before they respond to words.

Rebekah and rehomed Gypsy Cob X New Forest Pony, 'Scout', at Mel's farm in the Adelaide Hills.

When a horse is beside you, they’re reading everything… your breath, your body language, the tension in your hands, the stories you’re telling yourself, and the ones you’re trying hard to ignore.

As Mel explained during our conversation, horses will often show you the boundaries you have… or don’t have. They’ll reveal the subtle habits you’ve picked up over years - the holding on, the bracing, the need to lead from the front because letting go feels unsafe.

And then, through the gentlest shifts, they show you another way to be.

A looser grip.

A softer shoulder.

A deeper breath.

A moment of synchrony where your steps fall into rhythm and you realise the horse is choosing to walk beside you, not because they have to, but because they feel safe with you.

Thinking, believing… and knowing

One of my favourite parts of our conversation was when Mel described the difference between thinking something, believing something, and knowing something.

Thinking is quick and fleeting.

Believing is a choice.

But knowing… that comes from lived experience. From listening to your intuition, acting on it, and learning through real life what feels aligned and what doesn’t.

Walking with horses brings you back into that deeper part of yourself. It’s not loud or dramatic. It’s subtle, steady, and incredibly grounding. You don’t just hear your intuition, you feel it.

Why this matters for modern life

So many of us live in environments where we’re overstimulated, under-supported, and constantly under pressure to perform. We’re digitally connected, but missing real connection. Our thoughts run the show, and our bodies barely get a say.

This is why experiences like Walk Sublime matter. Not because they’re “nice.” But because they return us to a way of being that modern life pulls us away from.

Presence.

Connection.

Awareness.

Trust.

And most importantly, the reminder that we have far more influence over our internal world, and the world around us, than we realise.

If you’d like to hear the full conversation with Mel, you can listen here:

🎧 https://www.moonbeammonday.com.au/podcast/episode/1c8dc33f/ep-38-or-hoofbeats-and-heartbeats-mindfulness-lessons-from-walking-with-horses

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