horsesandhumans.com/blog

Visit many different horse facilities in Spain and you will be sorely tempted to conclude that the equestrian establishment is essentially a macho conspiracy designed to incarcerate, abuse and torture horses in conditions that rival if not exceed what you might expect to come across in the type of bondage, discipline and sado-masochistic contract which features so prominently in the notoriously popular drivel known as Fifty Shades of Grey masquerading as erotica for women, were it not for the fact that horses are unlikely to be party to any consensual abuse, especially their own. Speak to foreigners who have lived here for years, including family, and you are likely to give in to this temptation. Yet, as I have recently shown, all is not as it seems and now again I have found something special from Spain.

Equinatural

If you have been keeping pace with my updates, you will be aware that, against all ostensible odds, Vicki and I found a livery yard for our mares here in southern Spain which offers facilities that are more in line with the nature of the horse than the vast majority of equestrian facilities in the Netherlands and Belgium, where they were previously kept. Called Equinatural, you can read more about it and what it has to offer in my post entitled Striding into the Sun.

Part of the Equinatural herd with the two-month-old colt lying next to his parents in the middle

This is not to suggest that our horses have arrived in an equine paradise. On the contrary, as mentioned in my previous post, Beyond Natural, Back to the Horse, it has been a huge move for our horses, especially Pip, who, when not being turned out in mostly cool to cold, damp, soft-earth conditions, has spent the bulk of her eighteen years imprisoned in her own toilet alongside fellow equines condemned to the same fate.

Ironically, the dry conditions of Andalusia mean that the mares’ hooves are the hardest they have ever been, so tough in fact that I am challenged to find ways of trimming them effectively. Fortunately, I will be receiving assistance from a professional barefoot trimmer called Rafa, and it is largely due to his doing that I am able to share with you something special from Spain.

A holistic equine gathering

There are times when I marvel at how destiny works. This was one of them. It was shortly after we had found Equinatural and not long before the move, that I received a message from Rafa via this blog introducing himself and inviting Vicki and myself to attend a holistic equine gathering in, of all places, Spain, in mid-June, giving us time enough to settle in here before heading north to attend it. Coincidentally (really?), it turned out that Rafa, who hails from Catalonia but lives just across the border in the south of France, has a website called … wait for it … Horses and Human (singular).

A video of the first Horses and Human conference

The gathering which we attended in mid-June was the third of its kind that Rafa has organised under the Horses and Human banner. A couple of years ago I recall musing out loud on this blog about the possibility of organising something like this, so reminiscent of the Corroboree Equus which Vicki and I attended in Australia in 2013, and wondering whether there was anyone besides me who was interested in organising something like this. Those musings met with a profoundly deafening silence. Little did I know that the answer was already being formulated independently in Spain.

Vicki and I were fortunate to receive a gracious invitation from Rafa to attend the third Horses and Human holistic conference. It was held in a stunningly beautiful valley just outside a village called Albanyá in the foothills of the Pyrenees of Catalonia and featured an array of some of Europe’s finest equine researchers, practitioners and facilitators. Some of the names you may be familiar with: Lucy Rees, an ethologist formerly of Wales but for much of her life from Spain, Francesco de Giorgio, the Italian zoo-ethologist based in the Netherlands, Caroline Wolfer, an Austrian natural horsemanship trainer from Switzerland, Monica Goold, a British Masterton method equine body worker from southern France, and so the list goes on to include a yoga instructor, and others proficient in various aspects of equine care or horse-human interaction.

Challenge

There is something truly inspiring to be found in the spectacle of some 140 individuals assembling from various parts of Europe but predominantly from a country reputed to be as insensitive to the needs of the horse – if not downright cruel – as Spain to celebrate a holistic approach to the horse, and to be part of that happening. That was our expectation but it was seriously challenged from the outset, when Vicki and I belatedly realised that the lingua franca of this gathering was to be Spanish in the absence of any English interpretation. We were about to receive a graphic introduction to the need to learn the language of our new home as soon as possible.

Then there was the huge emphasis placed on natural horsemanship, which is still largely viewed as a liberating force by many Europeans who have been sufficiently challenged by it to forsake their traditional equestrian approach in favour of it. Having just written a post which challenges some of the assumptions of natural horsemanship, I felt particularly uneasy but committed myself to abandoning any form of judgement.

Monty Roberts in action. How willing is this partner?

Fortunately, it was easier to do this due to the absence of certain influences which have been instrumental in shaping much of the natural horsemanship domain or at any rate some of its more questionable aspects, including some introduced by Pat Parelli and Monty Roberts. Having said this, I must confess to being somewhat uneasy about the general failure to question the use of some of the more controversial – to me – tools employed in natural horsemanship, such as round pens and harsh rope halters, not to mention the underlying assumption that progressive horse-human interaction involves finding more humane ways of dominating horses rather than learning to encourage them to become partners to us. Then again, when I noted that I was attending such an equine holistic gathering in Spain and that it was unlikely that a country such as my own, the Netherlands, was going to be capable of organising an event of this nature for some time to come, it became that much easier to put things into perspective.

Progressive natural horsemanship and beyond

Judging from the involvements of and contributions from the facilitators, it was clear that Vicki and I were privileged to be attending a gathering of humans committed to progressive natural horsemanship and beyond. In the first place there was the approach on which it was premised, namely, a holistic one. This was evident in both the choice of facilitators and what they had to say, ranging from horse husbandry to health and interaction with humans.

Petra Zor demonstrating the TTeam approach

On the health side, I was particularly impressed with the contributions made by Petra Zor, a Tellington Touch practitioner, biologist and osteopath from Slovenia, and Monica Goold, the Masterton Method body worker from Integrated Equine Performance Bodywork. Of course, it helped that both of them gave their presentations in English. Monica’s demonstration of the Masterton Method in action resonated very closely with me, as it reflected the calm, sensitive approach of Equine Touch, as part of which horse and human work in close harmony with each other to help the horse.

Monica Goold demonstrating the Masterton Method

Yet the conference also went beyond a holistic approach towards the horse to encompass the human, so as to address what I consider to be perhaps the most neglected area of horse-human interaction: the preparation and training of the human. Putting it like this is almost tantamount to extending an invitation to what is possibly the most defining influence of Klaus Ferdinand Hempfling, which is his insistence on the need for humans to undergo body and spiritual awareness training, if they are to do anything meaningful with humans. And yes, his influence was evident, particularly in the form of the contribution made by Unai del Campo of Equinura Doma Natural in Spain, which seemed to represent a curious juxtaposition of natural horsemanship coupled with body awareness and a nod in the direction of spiritual awareness. The inclusion of yoga sessions led Brigitte Pont to start off each day of the conference also underlined this awareness of the need for the human to prepare themself for interaction with horses.

Unai del Campo of Equinura Doma Natural

Highlights

It is always difficult to isolate highlights in any conference of this nature, especially one held in a language which is not one’s own. Of course, interaction between horse and human involves a universal language encompassing various forms of energy and dynamics, which may or may not include human utterances, the meaning of which is arguably less important than the method of their delivery. Three such forms of interaction involving conference facilitators left an impression on me.

Caroline Wolfer demonstrating connection between horse and human

The first was a demonstration given by Caroline Wolfer of Natural Horses. I found it to be both disappointing yet highly enlightening. Following a theoretical component which clearly involved an emphasis on connection between horse and human based on commitment, trust and respect, the practical part saw Caroline lead a chestnut gelding into the round pen (which was pretty large by anyone’s standards) and then demonstrate the need for a connection between horse and human. This she did by presenting her own approach, as the video shows, and then by inviting randomly selected spectators to do the same. Two Spanish men tried. The video shows one of them in action. The other man’s experience was too embarrassing to film. Yet it was the unassuming female spectator who stole the show. The uncomplicated energy which she radiated was enough to entice the gelding away from his attempts to rejoin his companions in a nearby field without any need to insist on his presence with her. Ultimately though, a horse requires more of a human than simply being asked to be led around a round pen seemingly without end, so he eventually headed off once again towards the fence in order to catch a glimpse of his mates.

Equine logic

Lucy Rees has been kind enough to provide me with an English translation of her presentation slides since the conference. It has confirmed what I picked up from the Spanish at the time and clarified what I did not. A student of the horse and one of their most prominent, caring friends, Lucy explained the essence of her public message to me as follows in her covering email message. She is “fed up with what passes for natural horsemanship these days”, amongst other things, because it involves “keeping horses at a distance (‘respect’)” even though “riding is a very intimate activity”. What she tries to communicate is that “horses are naturally cooperative if we offer ourselves as a kind of substitute herd, which means not badgering them constantly, accusing them of getting above themselves or doing endless boring exercises”.

Lucy Rees explaining the principles of equine logic

Of course, this approach presupposes a knowledge of horses and their interaction with each other in a herd in conditions which are as “natural” as possible. In her presentation Lucy set out key points which her lifelong study of horses has yielded, which she refers to as “equine logic” or “principles of natural behaviour”. It is worth summarising them here [my questions comments may be found between square brackets]:

1. horses are prey animals and, as such, “being attacked, pressurised or forced frightens them” [Anyone advocating pressure and release as a training technique may wish to be mindful of this.];
2. they live in each other’s company for security and it is possible for us humans to show them that our company also offers them security [This is something which Klaus Ferdinand Hempfling emphatically concurs with to the extent that he treats it as a sine qua non – without which nothing is possible.];
3. they frequently do what other members of the herd do [the corollary being that we can replicate this with them in some type of partnership, which begs the question as to whether our horses do in fact interact with us as horses do, an assumption which serves as the basis for natural horsemanship];
4. they communicate using visual signals (“unconscious body language”, social signals, and distance and orientation of their body), smells and pheromones, calls, soft touches, inviting symmetry “and what else?”. “Between themselves horses do not communicate by pushing and pulling” [Is there not something absolutely essential missing from this summary, namely, the energy behind the signals and so forth?];
5. they do not trust anything until it has been shown to be safe [another implicit aspect of Hempfling’s approach];
6. the loss of fear – “habituation” – takes place when the horse is “loose” and in confident company [Is it not in this direction – the state of the creature interacting with the horse – that the essence of mutually beneficial interaction between horses and humans lies?];
7. they learn most effectively through positive reinforcement “when they are calm and attentive” [I am not sure where this comes from, because no research is available, as far as I am aware, to show that horses learn most effectively from each other through positive reinforcement, although I stand to be corrected if this is the case.];
8. a tense horse reacts against pressure especially against strong or sustained pressure [Let me tell you that you a horse need not be tense to respond in this manner and that even if you have the closest relationship with a horse, it is still likely to respond to such pressure in this manner because this type of response is hardwired in its physiology, as Lucy Rees has pointed out on a number of occasions, including this presentation. Indeed, it is precisely this observation which inspired me to research the matter and write a paper entitled Yielding to Pressure: The Reality of the Myth, which you can find here;
9. horses require constant motivation (natural motivation: exploring, learning, being fit and agile, and being in harmony with good company; learned motivation: positive reinforcement) [and the greatest motivator is joy];
10. “between themselves, horses use punishment to teach what not to do. Punishment produces avoidance, both at the moment and in the future. It cannot teach what to do” [In this respect humans need to be aware that, even though some of the things we do or fail to do, may not wittingly constitute punishment to them, they may to the horse.].

While the presentation was certainly educational, Lucy’s live demonstration was even more so. Dubbed La re-education del caballo con problemas [Rehabilitating a Horse with Problems], Lucy undertook to help a horse that had injured itself acquiesce to a life of being ridden by a human using a horse-friendly approach based on the principles which she had outlined in her presentation. The horse in question was a lovely three-year-old (so I am told) PRE filly who had previously injured herself in a fall but had now largely recovered. Assuming that the age is correct, I found myself questioning the wisdom of backing a breed whose bones are known to take up to six years or more to develop fully. Perhaps I had been wrongly informed about the horse’s age.

Lucy Rees putting the principles of equine logic into practice

Whatever the case, the video shows the bulk of the interaction between horse and human in the course of the process. (Please excuse the very brief period where the focus is out.) One very questionable interlude which the video does not include is a period of a good few minutes during which Lucy’s assistant entered the round pen to chase the horse around with great vigour (I use the term advisedly), the idea being to habituate her to the flapping of the saddle and stirrups. The energy though was very different from Lucy’s and the mare was less than happy with the intervention. Unfortunately, I could not video that section, as Lucy was standing almost directly in front of me.

Human energy

Yet it was the question of energy which demanded my attention during Lucy’s practical demonstration, just as it had during all the others, including that of Caroline Wolfer. Some of us will watch the video of Lucy in action and may be tempted to be critical of some of the clumsiness evident in it, or even the underlying premise of ultimately compelling a horse to do or refrain from doing something. Others may conclude that this is a vindication of the natural horsemanship approach, albeit one that is much more sensitive than that of other practitioners of that approach, including Pat Parelli and Monty Roberts. Indeed, most of us will draw our own conclusions.

There are two aspects though that I would like to draw your attention to. The first is the mare’s evident awareness that the creature with whom she is interacting is not another horse but a human. It is difficult not to conclude that, if the mare did indeed think that Lucy was another horse or a human pretending to be one (the basic premise of natural horsemanship), she would have responded very differently to the human.

The second aspect is to be found in Lucy’s energy. At barely no time, if any, does the mare view Lucy as a threat. As in the case of the female volunteer who entered the round pen with Caroline Wolfer, the energy centred in Lucy is something which the horse does not find threatening. More to the point, in spite of actions on the part of Lucy which in themselves could have been interpreted by a horse as threatening based on Lucy’s own analysis of equine behaviour, as mentioned above, the horse finds in her a friend whom she can trust. I believe that reason for this lies in Lucy’s uncompromising commitment to the wellbeing of the horse, a commitment which generates the type of energy in the human which the horse, being extremely sensitive to energy as the species is, detects and responds to.

Free expression of animal intelligence

Then there was the self-styled “cultural change facilitator”, Francesco de Giorgio, who is calling into question the very basis of horse-human relations, an approach which is as challenging to conventional forms of horse-human interaction as it is potentially liberating for both species. A biologist, ethologist and applied behavioural researcher, Francesco’s approach is essentially informed by the acknowledgement that we humans need to “see the horse as the sentient being it is” and to recognise that every animal is an individual.

Within this framework there is little room for a general understanding of “cognition” as not much more than rational thought processing. Instead, Francesco reverts to a definition which seems to largely correspond with its dictionary meaning: “the mental action or process of acquiring knowledge and understanding through thought, experience, and the senses” (Oxford English online dictionary). In this sense cognition is an experiential activity with learning occurring through experience and some type of reflection on it. To this extent, instinct is also cognitive.

Francesco de Giorgio challenging the basis of horse-human interaction to the very core

In his presentation Francesco argued that a horse is born with cognitive facilities which we humans then take away from them. “Difficult horses” are rebels protesting against those depriving them of those facilities. And just how do we humans do this to horses? By training them! Francesco did not pull any punches. His message was harsh: “The greater the precision in training, the more we remove the horse’s cognitive facilities”. And if that does not go far enough, try this statement for size: “There are more crazy predators in round pens than in the wild”. As such, “training takes away the relationship between horse and human”, because “obedience is not the same as dialogue”. We humans, Francesco urged, need to draw a distinction between training and learning: “Learning means becoming the owner of an experience. It happens when that owner proactively lives that experience cognitively”. Put another way, horses learn from learning and not from being taught. As a trained and experienced educator, I would like to suggest that this applies to humans as well.

Francesco also put it this way during his presentation: “I’m for the free expression of animal intelligence. I’m not for the conditioned experience of it.” As such, horses require more imagination from us humans and less training. Indeed, the very goal of learning is different: “In the cognitive-affiliative model of learning, we preserve the mental and emotional heritage of the animal instead of training them to control their behaviour”.

The human as equine facilitator

By way of an example of what he meant, Francesco gave a practical demonstration, the essence of which is shown in the video. Several horses had been brought to the conference for practical demonstrations. In one field a herd of three horses had been joined by a roan, who was clearly finding it difficult to be fully accepted by the others. After consulting the humans responsible for the four horses, Francesco sought a form of involvement with them, which would facilitate the roan’s acceptance. As the video reveals, the human employed a great deal of imagination in his role as equine facilitator and the object was accomplished.

Francisco de Giorgio redefining the role of the human as equine facilitator

Normally, when I view horse-human interaction, I tend to find myself posing the question, “What’s in it for the horse?”, as most forms of training tend to reduce horses to the status of props or accessories to a human agenda designed to achieve something of benefit primarily, if not solely, to the human and not the horse. In this case I was almost tempted to ask, “What’s in it for the human?”, a question which I then typically answered with another: “Does there have to be anything in it for the human?” Ultimately, I think there does have to be something in it for both species. After all, truly meaningful interaction between horse and human is only really possible if both enjoy what they do together.

Something special in Spain

Looking back on my experiences in Albanyá with the benefit of reflection and evaluation, I realise just how blessed Vicki and I were to have been able to attend the conference. Then, when all the facilitators had done what they had come to do and all were busy taking their farewell from new and old friends and acquaintances, brought together in many cases through no more than the horse, an incident occurred which drew my attention to the need for such gatherings to be held in the future as well with perhaps a bit more focus on the human rather than predominantly the horse.

A herd of horses which we encountered during our final walk in Albanya

Two horses, a grey and a bay, had been ridden to the conference. The five-day journey had made significant demands of them and it was decided to truck them home rather than ride them back. Off on a walk, as we had decided to stay overnight and there was no need to pack and drive away, Vicki and I arrived at the place where the horses were to be loaded just in time to witness the grey being led onto the trailer. Almost convinced that the bay would follow his friend within minutes, we continued our walk. About an hour later we returned to see two men, one of whom had served as a facilitator at the conference, still trying to load the bay. Fortunately, the horse entered the trailer within minutes of our arrival and I thought that was that.

No sooner had we turned to move off, when I heard a commotion behind me and turned round to see the bay shooting backwards out of the trailer, his mate still inside. What I witnessed next stilled me. The same two fellows were still trying to load the bay but they were employing different techniques as though in competition with each other to show whose was more effective. Walking backwards, the facilitator attempted to lead the horse into the trailer while shaking a whip at the horse’s outside shoulder. While he was doing this, the chap at the rear attempted to chase the bay from behind with a combination of vigorous gestures and determined vocal sounds. The two men then proceeded to accuse each other of sabotaging their respective attempts after the poor horse, utterly confused and increasingly terrified, had bolted off as far as the rope lead would allow between the two testosterone-loaded egos. And still they continued to try and load the bay, using the same methods, even though it was utterly clear that the horse would not enter the trailer that day. Although tempted to intervene, I realised that assistance from an unknown entity would not be appreciated by either man, so I went in search of Rafa. As the organiser of the conference and an experienced horse handler, he should be able to help resolve the matter and the men would probably acknowledge his authority as the organiser and allow him to do so. He did and I subsequently heard from him that the bay had injured itself and that they had decided to postpone the trip home until the following day.

A statement made by Francesco de Giorgio during his presentation came back to me: “Self-awareness is a prerequisite for any relationship with horses”. This is the element which was missing and which would probably have ensured that the incident which I have just described would never have occurred. There are times when we are so focused on the horse that we forget the prerequisites for meaningful and effective horse-human interaction which is of benefit to the horse and in which the horse is a willing partner. As I understand it, these prerequisites are as follows:
1. there has to be a close relationship between my horse and myself, one in which my horse feels safe and trusts me to be her carer and guide, if only for that particular activity in which we are engaged;
2. I need to be fully present with my horse and she with me in the sense that all that we are aware of while together is the two of us and our immediate surroundings, for it is only then that communication will be possible;
3. I need to find joy in what I am doing with my horse and be able to share that joy with her, for it is the greatest motivator that I know.

Without these prerequisites, all that is available for interaction with a horse is the mechanistic application of tools and methods. Yes, I may achieve what I set out to do but the chances of my failing to do so are exponentially greater in the absence of those prerequisites. And even if I succeed, just what exactly will I have achieved? It struck me after witnessing this incident that there is a great need for such holistic horse-human gatherings, that I am privileged to have been able to attend one as a guest, and that I would like to help ensure that such gatherings continue to be held in the future but with a greater emphasis on the need to develop the awareness that is required for meaningful interaction with a horse, whether it occurs at the mundane level of horse husbandry or at the dizzy heights of haute ecole. Something special in Spain, perhaps you will join us next year, probably in June. I will pass on the details when they become available through this blog. If you are not a subscriber, you may wish to consider becoming one. Alternatively, just email me at the address that you can find on the “About” page. And if you are concerned about your lack of Spanish, that is an issue which is bound to be addressed between now and then. Hopefully, we will see each other there.

Horses and Humans on Facebook

May I remind you that we now have a Horses and Humans group on Facebook. If you would like to leave a comment, you can do so on this blog or on the the Horses and Humans Facebook group page. All new posts will feature on that page along with additional content posted by any of our members. Please feel free to join us at:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/horsesandhumans/

There is also a Horses and Humans publications page, which contains information concerning the publications released under the Horses and Humans imprint. Some of those publications will be free of charge. You will find it here:

https://www.facebook.com/horsesandhumans

I also have a Facebook page through which you may contact me. You will find it at:

https://www.facebook.com/andrewglynsmail

Equine Touch

Our Equine Touch business is calleed Humans for Horses, you can find our website at:

http://www.humansforhorses.com/

and our Facebook page at:

https://www.facebook.com/Humans.for.Horses

Tags: Francesco de Giorgio, horses, humans, Klaus Ferdinand Hempfling, Lucy Rees