On Friday, October 13th, five colleagues and I had the
opportunity to experience the Equine Encounters Program through
Smoketree Institute in Borrego Springs. As we made the early
morning drive into the desert, visions of Robert Redford as the
Horse Whisperer ran through my mind. This was the extent of
my knowledge about horses or communicating with horses.
Actually, I had been on a couple of guided horseback rides over the
years, but I’m certainly no horse expert. I arrived with a
sense of anticipation.
Smoketree Arabian Ranch, a five-acre horse ranch in the heart of
Borrego Springs, is surrounded by mountains, with Indian Head
Mountain prominently positioned in the view. Dr. Sandra
Thorpe, the owner of the ranch, is also an artist and her artistry
is in evidence on the walls and in the mosaic work in the bathroom
and outdoor walkways. Sandra and her assistant, Mary
Bettinger, greeted us warmly and directed us into the conference
room. I immediately felt at ease.
There we reviewed a performance agreement which focused on the
expectations of us for the day. A few of the items in the
agreement were to have a beginner’s mind, to maintain
confidentiality and to open my heart to myself, my fellow
participants and the horses.
Our first activity was the study of herd dynamics. Just
one week prior to our visit, Sandra had obtained a rescue horse,
Baron, a thoroughbred. Today was going to be his first day in
the large arena with the other horses. Sandra put a bale of alfalfa
in the center of the arena and a bit of less tasty grass to one
side. As the horses entered one at a time, in ten-minute
intervals, we observed the hierarchy of the horses in their feeding
behavior. It was interesting to see which horses would go for
the good stuff even though it meant confrontation with another
horse and which horses wouldn’t even try and resigned themselves to
grass. We observed the communication methods of the horses:
whisking their ears back, nodding their heads, swishing their
tails, making eye contact and more aggressive frontal
assaults. Most interesting was how the group dynamics changed
with each new horse that entered the arena. A horse that was
low in the hierarchy would suddenly be in the top group if a buddy
of his, a top horse, entered the arena. As we observed all
this, Baron was trying to find his place in the pack. Where
did he belong? How did he communicate with the other horses
to find his place? In a debriefing in the conference room after the
observation, parallels to organizational dynamics were drawn.
Next, we participated in Mutual Choosing. Our instructions
were to clear our minds, open our hearts, have no expectations and
see if a horse would choose to come to us to communicate with
us. If no horse attempted to join us, then we could approach
a horse and begin the communication process. We all entered
the arena together, some of the group more afraid than others; none
of us knowing what would occur. To my surprise, a twenty-year
old Arabian named Spatz came right up to me, looked me in the eye,
nuzzled me and clearly wanted to “talk.” He stayed with me
for most of the mutual choosing time. I petted him and talked to
him; I shared my feelings with him, especially forcefully as he
tried eating my shirt. Near the end, he wandered off, so I
went to communicate with some of the other horses. Although
the others tolerated my touch and talk, they didn’t connect with me
in the way Spatz had. Spatz and I had clearly mutually chosen
each other. After that, I lightly groomed Spatz and bonded
with him a little more.
The final and most revealing activity was the Round Pen
Communication. In this activity, I entered a smaller pen with
Spatz, stated a goal (you could ask a question if you liked) and
waited for his reaction. The underlying theory is one of
congruency and mirroring. As you state your goal or question,
are your words congruent with your body language, with your belief
system? If so the horse will be attracted to you. If not, the
horse will ignore you. The horse will mirror back to you how
congruent your words are with your energy. As I stated my
goal, Spatz came right up to me, looked me in the eyes and nuzzled
me, just like in the arena. My goal of making meaningful art
was clearly congruent with my being. Then impulsively I added
a twist, a second phase to my goal. Suddenly Spatz turned his
head away. My added condition, making money with my art, did
not resonate with Spatz. “Okay, okay. I should
make my art without thinking about making money from it,” I said to
him, and just as suddenly, Spatz turned back and nuzzled me
again. The message was clear. Spatz was mirroring to me
my desire to create meaningful paintings and my conflict about
trying to sell them. There were no answers to a question, but
clarity in my energy around the issue.
In the debriefing after the round pen exercise, each of the
participants shared her question or goal and we discussed the
interactions. In case after case, a shift in energy in the
person resulted in a shift in behavior in the horse.
I left the ranch tired but in high spirits. I had learned that
horses have no hidden agendas. They mirror what they see in
us. Horses can sense our true intentions and allow us to be
honest and open. Horses are non-judgmental. I also
learned about having these qualities in myself.
This coming summer, Sandra and Mary will be taking the horses to
the Julian Pine Hills Lodge for two-day residential programs away
from the desert heat.
For more information on the Equine Experience, go
online to www.smoketreeinstitute.com.
For more information on the ranch, go to www.smoketreearabianranch.com.
