Good Morning,
It's a new day here in north Texas. The sun is just beginning to peek over
the horizon. From out my window I see the nanny goats and their babies
beginning to stir. The mare is standing down from her night vigil watching
over her filly, and the coyotes ceased their howlings a couple of hours ago.
Life is beautiful.
I've been thinking a lot lately about communication with animals. When
Ruthie, the filly, was born in May a very wise person gave me a copy of "The
Man Who Listens to Horses". It's the autobiography of Monty Roberts, who
was featured in the recent film "The Horse Whisperer". Monty grew up around
horses. His parents were professional trainers. They used the traditional
techniques of fear and intimidation to break horses, and though they spent
their entire lives working among them never believed there was any other
way. Horses to them were objects whose will had to be broken before they
became useful tools to man.
Somehow, despite his upbringing, Monty was able to question this. He came
to believe that if only we could learn their language we could ask them to
do what we wanted instead of forcing them to. So Monty set about learning
the language of horses. He traveled into the back country where he shadowed
wild herds from a distance. He spent long hours observing how the horses
interacted with each other. And through his long vigil, and because he had
such a strong desire, he finally began to see things about them that few had
noticed before. I guess you could say he learned the "psychology" of herd
animals.
He became a master at this. Eventually, he could take any horse - the most
wild, thrashing, eye-walling horse in a 60 foot corral and have it wanting
to "join up" with him within an hour, often within 15 minutes. In his
autobiography he detailed exactly how to do this, and why he thinks it
works. So, when I was given the book upon the birth of my filly, I started
working with her that way right from the day she was born. She's 7 months
old now and she is my friend. I'm no where near as fast or sure as Monty,
but I've been able to teach her a lot of things by allowing her to decide
she wants to learn them. This has been one of the most beautiful and deeply
satisfying experiences of my life.
The horse is a creature of the biological level. Most of their thoughts are
biological thoughts - but not just any biological thoughts. They have a
herbivore's slant to it. They are deeply afraid of predators. Any animal
with binocular vision (that is, with eyes set into the front of the head
instead of to the sides) qualifies. Humans are predators to them. When
looked at from a horse's PoV, it's amazing anyone could ever get them to
submit to being ridden at all because from a horse's PoV we are a predator
jumping onto their backs. Imagine how terrifying that must be. And yet, by
calmly and patiently using their own language to communicate with them one
can get them to agree to it. Not submit to it, agree to it. Monty thinks
it's love. Perhaps he's right.
Peace to all.
Mary
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