Feed on
Posts
Comments

Cloud and Clear

A messenger

A messenger

We have just returned from another Equine Touch study trip to England, where the message that was as enthusiastically delivered as it was received tied in so closely with a video documentary series on wild horses which we are in the midst of viewing, that I can only conclude that it is loud and clear. So what exactly is this message and why is it so important?

 

 

 

Cloud

Not too long ago the Emmy Award-winning film maker, Ginger Kathrens, spent several years monitoring and filming bands of feral mustangs on the Arrowheads range of the Prior Mountains of Montana in the United States. Although her focus extended to all the herds that came her way, Kathrens’ attention centred on the movement of a striking palomino stallion whom she called Cloud. She has produced a trilogy of films bearing his name: Cloud: Wild Stallion of the Rockies, Cloud’s Legacy: The Wild Stallion Returns and Cloud: Challenge of the Stallions. These cinematographic chronicles have been compared with Jane Goodall’s work with chimpanzees in Africa in that they document the lives of wild horses providing some insight into how they cope with the conditions in which they roam.

The Cloud series is a compelling documentary of how some wild horses manage to live healthy lives in close proximity with nature. The terrain is rugged and varied, requiring the horses to travel considerable distances in search of food. This in turn builds up their muscles, trims their hooves, ensures that they graze relatively small amounts at frequent intervals throughout the day with their head down, and gives them the movement they require to live a healthy life. As a result they are more capable of facing the dangers inherent in living where they do. The wilderness is tough. Mountain lions and other predators bring down horses from time to time, as does lightning and any other terrors which nature has to offer.

Then there is also the regular round-up of feral horses. The land can only support so many, so numbers have to be controlled. The methods are harsh albeit not as cruel as in many other places in the world. The horses are trapped and family bands are broken up. Those horses earmarked for extraction from the wild are auctioned off to start a domesticated life.

Ginger Kathrens has established The Cloud Foundation, a charitable institution dedicated to the preservation of wild horses on public lands and the protection of Cloud’s herd in the Arrowhead Mountains of Montana. You can access it at www.thecloudfoundation.org, where you will also be able to obtain the Cloud video trilogy and accompanying books.

 

The vet

Ivana Ruddock is a vivacious collection of energy. A qualified and experienced vet originally from the Czech Republic and the driving force behind The Equine Touch, she exudes enthusiasm and facts. I spent three days marvelling at how this woman manages to cram so much information and wisdom into her lectures. Insisting on a disciplined approach towards the course timetable, she nevertheless found time to field the seemingly endless questions which her 17 students insisted on asking well into the breaks following each session.

Ivana explaining the anatomy of the horse.

Ivana explaining the anatomy of the horse.

At times it is difficult to think of Ivana as a vet. I found her providing confirmation of so much which I cannot reconcile with conventional veterinary practice and its narrow focus on the curative: the need to adopt an approach towards horse-human interaction, and equine health and care in general which is holistic, as well as intuitive in that it is based as much – if not more – on feeling as it is on empirically verifiable data. She also has the ability to set out the big picture and its constituent parts, while focusing the student’s attention on the implications which each has for the others. The subject may be the domesticated horse, both physical and mental, but it can only be addressed within its immediate context involving its teeth, hooves, nutrition, rider, saddle and training, and even that context must be situated within its overall environment.

Ivana explaining how The Equine Touch can help the horse.

Ivana explaining how The Equine Touch can help the horse.

Ivana also had a few other surprises in store for us. First of all, she was quite candid in conceding of her own volition that The Equine Touch is not a silver bullet. Other modalities, she readily admitted, may be more effective in certain situations. This is the first time that I have come across the ‘owner’ of a modality ever making such a confession much less while not under duress. Ivana also acts at the cutting edge of most aspects of equine research. Not only does she dissect horses herself, she also studies, works or liaises with some of the leading lights of contemporary equine research spanning everything from horse care to training. And to crown it all, she is absolutely down-to-earth and devoid of pretensions. By now you have probably gathered that I am pretty impressed. You are right.

 

Clear

That was the tuition part of the theoretical component of The Equine Touch, Level 3. Again Vicki and I had travelled to Glastonbury, England, to attend the course, returning earlier this week. While there we also completed Level 1 by successfully performing a practical assessment after obtaining passes for our Level 1 Equine Touch theory an Anatomy and Physiology, and completing case assessments covering 20 Equine Touch sessions with various horses.

Although I can derive some satisfaction from the achievement of such milestones, it is the acquisition of clarity, understanding and an intuitive approach which constitutes the real gain. I look around at the horses here in our part of the Netherlands and I am forced to acknowledge that we humans create the bulk of the problems which The Equine Touch seeks to address, and we do so right from the time a foal is born. We take the horse out of the herd, we wean it (and do so far too early) rather than let nature take its course, we then isolate it for years from horses older than itself, with the result that it is impossible for it to learn what is involved in being a horse, we start training it for some or other human pursuit (albeit horse-based) well before it is physically capable, we constantly inflict violence and force on it in the process, and we resort to a whole lot of other related horse-insensitive practices, and then we wonder why we have ‘problem’ horses. Who said humans are intelligent?

It has become clear to me that we humans need to rediscover how to relate to horses, not as equals but as they are. They are horses, not humans but, being horses, they are not mere accessories to the human ego. They are a species from whom we can also learn, not just about them but about ourselves. If we truly open ourselves to what the horse has to show us, we can become aware of our strengths and weaknesses, and learn to develop our full human potential. And we can also learn how to be a horse’s friend and leader, not a bully bent on domination but a more powerful species that is respectful, trustworthy, empathetic, enlightened and empowering.

It has become clear to me too that an essential aspect of this lies in adopting an approach towards equine care and horse-human interaction that is inspired by Cloud and the life of the wild horse which he epitomises. This is not to romanticise nature, which we must acknowledge can be harsh and uncompromising, but to recognise the holistic essence of life in the moment. All is connected within the horse and between it and the environment in which it lives. Although the manner in which this essence manifests itself in a domesticated environment differs from its manifestation in the wild, its holistic nature remains unchanged. The challenge to us humans lies in developing an appropriate holistic approach towards the horse in captivity, one which seeks both to avoid any occurrence that could impair the horse’s health and its relationship with its human, and more importantly, to optimise the horse’s physical and mental wellbeing.

Yet this is not a one-way street. The horse will not be the only one to benefit. There are a growing number of humans on the path towards developing such a holistic approach towards equine care and horse-human interaction who can testify to the many benefits which a human can derive from having a happy and healthy equine companion. Some of this testimony has been described or alluded to in this blog.

The message is there for all of us to see. And it is Cloud and clear!

Ginger Kathrens provides an update on Cloud and his band (2012).

 

2 Responses to “Cloud and Clear”

  1. Dear ANdrew,
    After having watched the videos I let out a huge sigh, realizing that I had kept my breath while watching.
    That says enough.
    Thank you
    Geerteke