Horse Whisperers

The thing about “Horse Whisperers”

When we think about horsemanship, it is almost inevitable that we think of this mystical idea of some guy in a cowboy hat getting an incredible display of willingness or peace from a horse that seemed incapable of that prior to meeting this person. It seems like magic and a skill only this person possesses.

It looks effortless.

I often get perked ears during the beginning few sessions with horses for this reason. Horses going from charging me in round-pens, ears pinned, teeth bared, to soon resting their head in my hands with their eyes closed and giving the ultimate display of relaxation; sleep.  

It looks effortless.

It gets chalked up to being a “horse whisperer” and associated with this unattainable phrase. But if I can do it, if some of the greatest in horsemanship can do it, and it all seems effortless, why can’t you do it too?

These one-off experiences don’t benefit the horse long-term without a change in practice and especially don’t help if the owner does not believe that they are capable of this and just assume that I or any other horse trainer has “magical powers”.

So, there must be some way that horses find themselves more relaxed and climbing mountains that seemed previously unclimbable.

Yes, much of this is experience. But, so much of it is confidence, posture, breathing, intention, feel, patience, and letting go of the horse’s past. These are skills that I believe anyone can do, although they take a great amount of discipline to master.

I often visit this question with myself and my students “who is the horseman you want to become?”. I tell them to visualize this person, their skills, their experiences, their posture and confidence. Then the follow up question is always, “How can you work towards becoming that person today?”. Maybe it’s practicing patience, maybe it’s learning to shift weight within the horse’s body or yours, maybe it’s simply becoming a part of their horse’s herd.

This mystical and unattainable idea of having harmony with a horse who seems to be resisting it isn’t magic. It comes from acceptance of the equine perspective, looking at them from understanding, and knowing how humans fit into the horse-human relationship to maximize relaxation and willingness.