LEARNING ABOUT OURSELVES THROUGH HORSES

There is something I’ve noticed through my own interactions with horses, and through observing other people as they interact with horses. Most of us tell our own story when we describe what a horse is doing, or how a horse is behaving. Horses have a gift for allowing us to use them as a canvas, so that we can paint a picture of what is going on in our own lives, or deep within us. The experience is further enriched through their response and reaction to us. As they respond to our behavior, body language, and energy, they will often reflect parts of ourselves that we might otherwise leave unseen.

I personally experience this when I spend time with the 32+ horses at the Tierra Madre Horse Sanctuary in Cave Creek, Arizona. I started volunteering at the sanctuary because I was drawn to horses and wanted to learn more about their behavior and how to interact with them. I began to realize that the more I learned about them, the more they taught me about myself and others. It didn’t take long for the horses become my friends and my teachers. Our time together inspired me to recognize the synergy of healing and learning that exists between horses and humans, and to create the Equine Experiential Coaching program at the Tierra Madre Horse Sanctuary.

How does the learning take place? Usually, organically. Often, when I’m conducting a coaching session, somebody will point to the horse and ask “Why is he kicking his leg on the ground like that?” Usually, they want me to give an educated response to their question. The response that says “the equine professionals have studied this gesture and agree that he is doing that because…” But, my time with horses has taught me that a much more powerful answer will be given if I simply say “I don’t know, you tell me why he is kicking his leg like that.”

At that point, the person will often look at me and say, “I don’t really know much about horses. I haven’t read about them, spent time with them, or studied them.” To which I’ll say, “Tell me anyway. Tell me why you think the horse is doing that.” Then answers come…sometimes slowly, sometimes, quickly.

“Well, I think he’s mad. He’s so angry at all those flies that are buzzing around him. Why do they keep bothering him?” Or, “I think he wants to run. He feels trapped inside that stall and he wants out. Look at him, he’s telling us to open the gate because he really wants out.” A different horse might rub her head up against a person and I’ll ask “why is she doing that?” I might hear, “Because she is friendly and she wants attention, and I think she really likes me.” Take that same horse, the same gesture, and a different person, and I will hear, “She is very pushy and aggressive. She wants to hurt me.”

In these moments, I know that any response that I could have provided as to why that horse is nudging a person, or why that horse is kicking his leg, couldn’t be anymore powerful than the answer that the person gives to himself. Take a group of five people, and each one will tell you a different story, and in doing so, they will tell you a part of their own. Do the experience in a group, and it provides an excellent opportunity to see and hear another’s perspective, while giving voice to your own. Do it privately, with an individual, and it provides an opportunity for that person to recognize that everything we see on the outside is truly a mirror of all we hold within.

Want a close up look at some of the horses of Tierra Madre? Click here! Tierra Madre Horse Sanctuary

Christine Badoux