NEWS & ARTICLES : Learning a New Language

Learning a New Language, Part 2 --(originally published in PetFolio magazine)

In Part 1 we discussed the differences in horses, their individuality and their need for proper communication. Going to all the trouble to learn exactly how to communicate with a horse isn't easy, but it can certainly be worth the effort. Indulge me while I share a story to explain. 

I have a dear client/friend who purchased a quiet, mature horse to save her from her over-exuberant two-year-old filly. She didn’t exactly fall in love with this older horse, but he was what she needed to gain enough experience to eventually be able to deal with the filly she so 
desperately loves. When she bought him, he had absolutely no interest in humans with the exception of feeding time. He’d run off when she’d go to get him. His head carriage was always very high. His eyes were tight, with worried wrinkles, occasionally showing the whites around the edges (not typical for his breed). The soft skin near his nostrils would wrinkle up, too, and he would clamp his lips tightly together. He wasn’t exactly thrilled with his lot in life, but he was quiet to ride and safe on the ground. 

It didn’t take my friend long to realize she needed to “connect” with him if she was ever going to feel great about owning him, and if he was ever going to be happy and relaxed about the situation. It was evident that this guy had never been treated the way he needed to be treated. 
When I started working with him, he’d stop and look at me as if to say, “Did I hear what I think I heard?!” Then he’d lick his lips, chew a bit, and lower his head as he thought about the possibilities. Amongst other specific things, we asked him to lower his head on a regular basis 
(I’ll explain why in a minute). We rewarded every tiny effort he gave us, even if it wasn’t perfect. Sometimes we would get him to lean his body in the right direction, or maybe the head would drop a fraction of an inch. But when we saw that “thought”, we’d praise it. Softly, quietly, stilling our inner selves so that he got a total release from our “pressure”. It didn’t take long for him to realize that this was a pretty good deal. No reason not to accept it and see where it went, 
since it was obviously better than anything else going so far. We began to make a breakthrough in the language department. The horse started listening, and looking forward to our communication. 

This same horse who originally tried every trick in the book to not get caught, now comes when he’s called—there’s no chasing him down, or even having to walk over to him, most days. He loves being stroked, and he’ll just come and hang his head over you if you sit on his fence. 
He is worlds away from where he started, mentally and emotionally. By the way, he is in his teens— not an impressionable youngster. So even if you have an older horse, there 
is hope—trust me! 

Oh—that “head-down thing”? It’s cool. Funny thing about horses is that if you put their bodies in certain positions, their minds tend to follow. Likewise, if you can get them thinking certain ways, their bodies will follow. It’s sort of a circular reference, for you computer 
spreadsheet folks. One affects the other, which in turn affects the first. The head-down posture is taken when the horse is eating, dozing or relaxed. The mind and body are calm. The opposite, head-up posture demonstrates a concerned, on-alert status where the mind and body are prepared for anything, particularly the need for “fight or flight”. At every opportunity I teach a horse to put his head down when I ask him to. On the ground or in the saddle, it has saved my bacon a time or two! There have been times when that was the only thing that kept the horse from “blowing up”! 

Hopefully you can see the advantages of “learning a new language”. Obviously it will take effort on your part, but if you want it badly enough, you can do it. The friend I was telling you about 
said once that more than anything in the whole world she wanted to be able to communicate with her horses like I do with mine—clearly, with a soft feel. Now she only remembers the time she didn’t have a clue about reading her horse and knowing how to respond. Now she’s riding him bridleless—that’s how willingly he works for her, and how well she has learned this new language. Yesss! 

Unfortunately, this is like the never-ending story. You never know it all (if anyone tells you they do, don’t believe them!). Every horse I work (play) with teaches me something. Every student I have teaches me. I believe that living is learning is living is learning. So keep your heart open to the possibilities. Don’t assume. Wait and listen to the horse. If it doesn’t work, try again in a slightly different way. Your horse will start listening too. Eventually you will find that you are speaking a common language. 
-Rebekka Rhodes 

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