by Lisa Lai

Created on: June 18, 2009   Last Updated: June 25, 2009

The nice vision evoked from the title horse whisperer leant a powerfully romantic appeal to a quiet strong hero in a popular book and movie a few years back. The only problem was the term horse whisperer hasn't done many favors for the image of those it meant to revere.

First, it conveys the message that some are just born able to communicate with horses. Second, it detracts from the men and woman who have studied, worked and dedicated their lives to understanding the whole horse and the human relationship. In my opinion, a better term would be Expert in both human and equine nonverbal communication. Maybe too wordy, but definitely more accurate.

For people who spend their days in the company of horses, the image of some mystical horse-mind-reader is silly. Anyone who could be considered a horse whisperer didn't walk into a field one day and control a horse through mind control any more than an Olympic athlete woke up one day and just became the best ice skater in the world.

Yes, there are those who understand animals innately and begin their education with far more natural ability than others, but all of it can be learned. Just ask Pat Parelli who has embarked on the ambitious campaign of teaching people just how to be horse whisperers themselves.

Horses have one universal language and horse people know it is body language. Your body conveys a message that horses read like a beacon over your head. If you are unconfident and scared a horse reads wimp with access to carrots. Your eyes, posture, and the energy that you use in moving, all determine how your horse is going to react to you. Through body language of their own, horses are intimidating without being threatening. As their leader, you must find the same middle ground in yourself. But to add to that already daunting task you also need to ascertain just what is threatening to a particular horse.

That may not sound too hard but as with most things, the more you know, the more you realize you need to learn. Horses come in as many personalities as colors, shapes and sizes. Even within my own horse, he has many moods. I find horses to be more diverse in the personality spectrum than both cats and dogs. To know what signals to be projecting to your horse, you would really have to know where your horse is mentally. And that can be all over the map.

In reality a horse whisperer is a student. A student of the horse and of the result of human emotions on the horse. It may not be romantic but it definitely is powerful.

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