Horse Whispering
We all know the film ‘The Horse Whisperer’ starring Robert Redford and Scarlett Johansson based on the original novel by Nicholas Evans – but how many of us actually understand what it means?

Most people would call it ‘natural horsemanship’ that is:  working with horses by appealing to their instincts and herd mentality, involving communication techniques derived from wild horse observation in order to build a partnership that closely resembles the relationships that exist between horses

It certainly seems to be useful to some extent. Anyone that has ever ridden, worked with, or broken horses with any degree of success should understand that on some level, they have an unwritten contract with the horse, an agreement and an understanding of feeling and thought. Think about it – how else would you know if your horse was hungry, angry, happy, content or the reasons why, when riding, they are resistant or disobedient? If it is not through some kind of mutual respect, then why does your horse recognize you, or in fact let you get on it? Lets face it, the truth of the matter is that horses are enormous in comparison to humans and definitely stronger, thus being easily able to trample us to the ground - what is it that makes them so obedient?

At this point, I would like to point you towards Monty Roberts because the man is a genius in such a simple way. Known to have suffered from abuse as a child, it specifies on his welcoming page that ‘founded on a consistent set of principles, communication, and trust, Monty’s methods assert that violence is never the answer'- so in actual fact, the man is using his knowledge about relationships with humans to understand the mind of the horse. Surely his first success here is treating the horse like an equal and then keeping it simplistic, not trying to read too much into it. At the end of the day, horses are intelligent creatures, but only within their own kind. A human has arguably far superior knowledge, at least different – therefore it would make no sense to apply the complexities of the human psyche to the horse. The basics are what tie all animals together. For more information on this subject, please visit this site. It is full of useful and interesting information!

The most commonly known ‘horse whispering’ technique is known as ‘Join Up’ and refers to the time when the animal willingly chooses to be with the human and walks toward them accepting leadership and protection. It can therefore be useful to strengthen all other work with horses, including breaking in and training to an advanced level. Furthermore it is a valuable tool for improving your horse’s stable manner and relationship with others.

For example: Picture the horse that won’t get on the trailer. A lot of horses have problems with this – how many of you have resorted to lunge lines, feed buckets, brooms, multiple people and shouting? How often has this worked? By repeatedly joining up with a horse, over time, it is learning to trust you, and it is forming a bond with you – submissive to you - the leader. Admittedly, some horses are frightened of boxes and trailers – they are small, confined, dark, rickety and noisy spaces. You have to understand this. Not only is a horse forming a bond with you, you are forming a bond with it. Wouldn’t you rather follow someone you trusted into something you were frightened of rather than being shouted and beaten towards it? It is simple psychology – if you frighten and hurt a horse, it will forever associate getting on a trailer with pain, on top of the fear they already hold for that situation.

So, in summary of this brief discussion it would be fair to say that horse whispering has to be a selfless act as it requires patience, understanding and commitment. Several well know experts around the world have published novels, biographies, manuals and articles about the subject, including Mark Rashid and Monty Roberts. I would highly recommend this kind of writing for tips and advice – of course, the most helpful thing would be to talk to your horse about it…