The Embodied Experience of the Horsewoman

Abstract

This inquiry, using a narrative methodology, depicts the embodied experience of five women who handle and ride horses (horsewomen) through narrative and cameo vignettes. Embodiment is understood as the totality of the experience: sensations occurring in the structure of the body, energies flowing in and around the body, and images that arise in the mind. Few reports address the phenomena of the embodied experience. This inquiry fills this gap by capturing the dynamics of resonant connection between horse and horsewoman. Narrative vignettes present the individual stories shared by the horsewomen; cameo vignettes describe experiences common to these horsewomen while preserving the individual story of each participant. The stories of the horsewomen who participated in this research provide a phenomenological picture of intercorporeal reality, bodily experience between two beings: horse and horsewoman. In the stories of these horsewomen, intercorporeal reality is described as embodied relationality, which is characterized by connection with other, use and containment of personal energy, commitment to other, living in the present moment, empowerment, joy, and acknowledgement of shadow.