In all the years that I took riding lessons in the “traditional” equine world no one could explain to me why the horses demonstrated certain behaviours.
When they didn’t cooperate I heard them described as “stupid” or “stubborn” or badly behaved. I watched people put bigger and harsher bits in their mouths, hit them with whips, jab them with spurs, tie them down and tie them up. No one bothered to look for the underlying reasons for the behaviours but everyone blamed the horse. It was always the horse’s fault.
When we began our therapeutic riding program and started to acquire our own horses I was determined that they would be treated differently. I was however somewhat lost as to what direction to take. Although I insisted that everyone be kind and respectful to our horses I felt that something was missing – some understanding on my part, some connection.
One year we were down at the Royal Winter Fair putting on a therapeutic riding demonstration. I happened to see a cowboy also giving a demonstration of something called “natural horsemanship”. I had never seen anything like it in the horse world. He and his horse looked like long time dance partners, moving together in understanding and unison with no stress or tension between them. I knew that was the relationship I wanted with my horses.
As I studied and practiced the principles of natural horsemanship I slowly began to realize that I was the one who needed to open my mind and see life from horses’ perspective. It was often my actions that precipitated their reactions and so it was my behaviour that I needed to manage. As I became more aware of the shared responsibility for the relationship everything fell into place with my horses and we were able to begin our own dance.
The principles of natural horsemanship are simple to understand, although they take far more effort to put into real life practice. It is the responsibility of the human to:
- understand the world from the horse’s perspective
- communicate with the horse using their language.
- accept that the horse always has a logical reason for its behaviour.
- realize that it is often our actions that precipitate that behaviour
Caught up in the excitement of making this breakthrough with my horses, it was an embarrassingly long time before I thought to apply those same principles to my work with my students. You can coast along and make mistakes with people without dire consequences to yourself, but a large powerful and instinctual animal will call you out every time.
Working with my horses on a daily basis provides a lot of ongoing opportunity to develop my own life skills. My horses are only too happy to provide constant feedback about how I am doing. The challenge is transferring that learning to my relationships in my professional human world but I feel I am making progress.
I believe that that my students are as happy as my horses that I am now trying to listen more empathetically to understand and support their perspective. I hope they recognize that I am also taking more responsibility for my role in our teacher-student relationship. And I am sure they don’t mind that I had to learn those skills from some cowboys.
Some cowboy quotes to live and work by (with horses and humans):
“To understand the horse you are going to be working on yourself.”
“He is an individual and entitled to his thoughts just as you are.”
“I want to respect my horse’s thoughts and feelings. We are the teachers and have to cope with situations as they come up.”
“The human must be knowledgeable of the horse’s communication system, and use this knowledge in their work with the horse.”
“The object is for the horse to be calm and feel safe throughout the learning process. A horse that feels calm and safe with his teacher is quick to bond with that person, and the results can be remarkable.”
“Realize you’re working with a mind. A lot of people think it’s just a horse, but there’s a mind operating that horse”
