Horse Whisperer Training

Some folks define horse whisperer training as something wonderful, where communication between horse and human is so effective and soft it feels like the wind whispering in your hear. While others feel the term is overused and at times full of charlatans. Both positions are valid yet since I am not offended by the term when I see it as the first definition, I would like to share with you some insight into this horse whisperer training that I use.

It starts with seeing an others “perspective”, in other words, “Changing one’s position to see, feel and hear an others view point” The saying, “walk a mile in someone else's shoes (of course in our case “barefoot”:0) applies immensely here.

To get inside a horse’s mind we first need to step outside of our own. This is accomplished by observing how a horse perceives ”their” world not how we would interpret their world. I refer to this as the “raw” instinctual needs of horses. By observing horses grazing freely with their own kind and noticing how they communicate with each other holds a big piece to the puzzle.

One of their initial concerns is “self preservation” from a predator. Wow, that’s a “raw” thought right there. We don’t walk around all day wondering if we are going to be eaten! We know we have domesticated the horse and won’t get eaten by a lion but the horses don’t know that! It’s part of their evolutionary make up. Inside of everyone domesticated horse still lives a wild one!

Once you become aware of how a horse would perceive “their world”, their environment, their relationships with humans and other horses, you have come to the best place to proceed from.

While interacting with horses I constantly ask the same question which is, “If I were you (a horse), how would I interpret this information being presented?” A horse never lies, they show you through their reactions exactly how they understood the situation at hand. Now it becomes more of a conversation than a situation where many put the responsibility to learn upon the horse instead of ourselves. I am a big believer that it is our responsibility to be clear, adjust, change or learn something new, when the horse doesn’t offer the reaction we are looking for, not the other way around.

You will recognize with people when the communication is breaking down because they will use language such as, “My horse doesn’t get it”, or “My horse is dumb”, or “He/She is being very difficult”. All of these statements place the responsibility to learn upon the horse and not the human.

Horses are not “bad”, they only have the means to demonstrate their position through the use of body language. We however seem to expect them to understand all the “words” we use right from the start. An eye opening experience regarding this is to watch a video with someone interacting with a horse who is speaking a language “you” cannot understand.

The Future of Horse Whisperer Training

Horse whisperer training has come a long way, yet has a long way to go! Some do it with grace, while others may not. Very few consider the most obvious which is the “why” we are doing it to begin with. It’s just not possible that a horse thinks about or “wants” to be placed in any competitive event that we have made up for our amusement. Nor would they want to have a painful piece of metal placed in their mouth for someone to pull on. Just look at the selfish things we “do” to them. We have come up with more gadgets to force them into submission for “our” use than anything else.

In Canada we have banned Greyhound dog racing because of the abuse that resulted from such an industry. Yet we still use the horse for the same purpose! We have deemed a larger dollar value on a horse by their ability to win a competition and earn us money than the horse that helped the physically challenged child have the feeling of being able to walk again.

The definition of a humanitarian is:

Having concern for or helping to improve the welfare and happiness of people.

I challenge us all to become Horseitarians!

Having concern for or helping to improve the welfare and happiness of horses!

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