When the Answer is "No"

Zorita and her 2009 filly, Segura

In today's journal entry, I'm addressing a comment left by June regarding the concept of honoring the horse's "no".

June wrote:

Another question/comment - both Lynne and Imke seem to take the horse's "no" as absolute, or am I wrong? Whereas KFH will argue back - there's a nice sequence of photos in "What Horses Reveal" where KFH is riding without tack in the middle of a huge open area, and the horse doesn't want to go over a ditch. But Klaus says, "yes, we are going to." The horses is annoyed, saying no - and of course, without tack, is at liberty to do whatever he pleases. But in the end Klaus prevails in the "discussion." I think he calls it a "gentlemen's disagreement."

Whenever we are engaged in a relationship with another being there may arise occasions when one or the other may have different  ideas about how a given situation should proceed.  In my opinion, disagreements can be handled a number of ways depending on how each individual feels within the situation they are facing and how resolutions are presented. 

A dictator obviously responds much differently than a friend when a request is met with resistance.  A dictator meeting with resistance aggressively uses whatever means is necessary to gain a "yes".  You could say in that instance the "yes" is absolute--it is the only answer the dictator will accept and any discussion of the matter is forbidden.  When friends encounter a similar resistance to a request (depending on the content of the situation), to accept a "no" as unquestionablly absolute would also mean any discussion of the matter is forbidden.  Both scenarios to me reflect a stifled relationship, something less than ideal, where one individual's "voice" is absolute and the other has no option but to accept what is given.  Such a situation demonstrates inequality in the relationship, each demonstrating inflexibility and neither is the type of relationship that I feel is healthy or mutually beneficial.

My personal feeling is that I very much doubt Imke accepts a horse's "no" as absolute in every situation...and I certainly do not.  Every time we encounter a situation where resistance arises, the content of the moment is variable and absolutes have no place in resolving things.  Only a perception centered on kindness and nurturing which facilitates discussion allows both individuals in the relationship to fully understand the dialogue they are having.  It is not about absolute authority or unquestionable obedience.  It is not about using physical pain or mental intimidation to enforce our will over another. 

While many people want horses to respond without questioning why, like pressing the button on the dashboard of an automobile,  I want more from a relationship with a horse than reliable, half-hearted obedience.  I feel this way about all my relationships, and it is very important to me to know that whomever I am interacting with is responding freely and participating because it is a mutually enjoyable affair.  This applies not just to the other individual in the relationship but applies to me as well.  A great deal of inquiring into my feelings and those of another means that lots of discussion is encouraged so that we each are fully aware of what "yes" or "no" mean in any given situation.

 Tobacco (a.k.a. Mugs)

Just yesterday, one of my canine companions (Tobacco) provided a good example of how I use a nurturing perception and discussion to come to a full understanding of whether "no" is, indeed the final and absolute answer to an offer I made.

There have been occasions where each of our four dogs did something to make one of the horses uncomfortable and so were aggressively chased.  While Shelagh, Maeb and Ganja will still mingle with the horses but keep themselves extra vigilant to how the horses are responding to their presence, Tobacco avoids them at all costs.  Oftentimes this means that Tobacco will say "no" to going for a walk with the rest of us, or if while out on a walk with the rest of us should we come upon the horses, he will turn around right then and there and run back home.

Tobacco is amazingly perceptive and he knows that when the horses are eating they will not be looking to make sport of chasing him and he will walk right by them as we leave to go hiking, or he will use an alternate route to get through the fence of the yard so he can accompany the rest of us on a hike.  If, as it sometimes happens, all routes leaving the yard are flanked with horses, Tobacco will not come for a walk no matter how much discussion takes place and certainly when he is that committed to saying "no" I accept it with no hard feelings between us, for he has convinced me he truly is not willing.  I would cast a pallor on our relationship if in such a situation I got out his collar and lead and dragged him along--he would not think me a worthy leader and he certainly would question our friendship.

Yesterday was a beautiful pre-spring day, with lots of sun, temps just warm enough to initiate a little melting, and being my day off, I felt a nice long hike was in order.  Tobacco thought so too, and engaged along with the other dogs in great leaps of anticipation as I began to put on boots and outerwear.  When I opened the door and we all excitedly tumbled out, Tobacco quickly noticed that Altamiro and his family were all milling around the gate.  There would be no getting through that way.  He then looked at the hole through the fence to the east and noted that Mistral's group were all standing by that opening and he would not be able to get to the open fields that way either.  So even before I got the door closed he slipped back into the house and said, "No, I don't want to go!" 

But I just knew he really wanted to go...I knew his "No" was not absolute, even though he delivered it pretty emphatically.

So we had a discussion.

I cajoled him and told him I just knew we could find a way by the horses, "Please, Tobacco, come with us, it will be fun and you know it will be fun!"  He still said "No!  I cannot go."  But even as he relayed this he remained in the doorway instead of wandering back to his bed in the other room.  This told me he actually was willing to discuss things further.

I knew he would be a little sad to be left behind today, he just needed more encouragement.  "C'mon Tobacco.  You can do it!  We'll climb over the fence to the north, I'll help you."

I was pressuring him, I know I was, because he began whimpering and dancing in place--but I knew his "no" wasn't absolute--nor did he want me to accept it as absolute.  I knew Tobacco really wanted to come with us--so I kept up the pressure because it was the type of nurturing, supportive pressuring that helps one make a breakthrough through a difficulty that is holding them back from a good experience.  "C'mon Tobacco, we'll do it together.  I know we can make it over that fence!  Let's go!"  And after those encouraging words Tobacco said, "Yes!  Let's go!" 

Before I could even get the door closed and walk over to the north fence, he was already there, checking his options, and in one deft, confident move, he lept up onto the top rail of that fence and then sprung off it in full gallop to the north, leaving the rest of us to find our own way over the fence!  We had a marvelous hike that day!

Where Mistral is standing looking at me is the place in the fence where yesterday Tobacco jumped so he could go for a hike with me and the other pups.  (The horses were not in this exact location at that time.)

I cannot speak for how Klaus Ferdinand Hempfling carried out his discussion with Janosch as he convinced the horse to walk into the ditch.  He called it quarreling, but I feel it was something similar to the exchange Tobacco and I had...that it was based on a nurturing perception of the situation.    Since Klaus was riding in the big wide open completely free of tack, Janosch could easily have made his "no" definitive by dumping his rider and running away.  Instead he remained in the discussion with Klaus and a breakthrough to something better ensued.  Klaus may have projected to Janosch, "You must do this because I say so", or he may have projected "Please, my good friend, I insist, because I know you can do it and it will be good to have this experience."  I'm inclined to think the later was the case, because somehow I don't imagine a strong character like Janosch would accept being dictated to.

In Empowered Horses, Imke Spilker wrote about a situation where she proposed something new for her horse Toppur to try to which she said:

"Toppur retreats in response to my actions and refuses to comply with my request."  --Empowered Horses pg. 96

We all recognize that Toppur had said no.  Did Imke take it as absolute?

She does not, rather she first apologizes for unintentionally confusing him and for causing him to resist and question her reasons for the request she had made.  (Empowered Horses pg.83) 

Shall she accept his "no" and leave matters there, or might she not use the opportunity to explain herself better and make the request from a new place of understanding?

"The more independent our horse is the more quickly he will question the purpose of the work.  Our answer to his question is crucial, because with it we set the course of our relationship.  'Because I say so.'  This answer, emphatically given to the horse, reveals the two-legged dictator.  So, all that went before is really just a prelude to this.  Even the answer, 'Because there is a barrel standing there,' or, 'Because there is a tire on the ground,' does not change the dictatorial drift.  It merely defers the more concrete answer, 'And I want you to go around this barrel.'  Despite everything, horses can--perhaps after a period of hesitation--decide to go along with their person's new idea, even if there are many reasons not to.  It is one of the wonders I wish to tell you about in this book.  Despite everything, horses will go along with us, all on their own, of their own free will, just because we do not obstinately try to force them.  I do not have to assert my will, but nevertheless, my horse complies.  That is a great gift.  The answer that I give Toppur in this instance is, 'Because I think it is important, and because I would very much like it.' Instead of using pressure or exercising power I do exactly the opposite.  I ask my horse to simply try it." --Imke Spilker /Empowered Horses pg.96

And Toppur agrees to give it a try.  Had he still resisted following Imke's idea, if he was still somewhat open, my sense is she would have likely found a different way of presenting her request that he would feel able to comply with, but ultimately she would have honored "no" if Toppur insisted (and likely she would have apologized to him once again).

In sharing with us the manner in which Kirsten asks Kim to leave his pasture mates and join her for some playtime in arena, Imke gives us another example regarding how she regards the horse's "no".

"What would have happened had Kim turned away, if he had signaled, 'No, thank you?'  What would Kirsten do?  She would, one more time, clearly invite him to join her, perhaps also letting him know that it meant a lot to her.  But, what if Kim still did not want to come, if he had even walked away?  Kirsten would respect his position, take away the halter, say her goodbyes with a treat, and leave him in his pasture because his hunger is greater than his desire to join her." --Imke Spilker / Empowered Horses pg. 35

This has been a rather long answer to June's question and probably the short answer is simply to say that I take my horse's "no" as absolute only if I am convinced he feels absolutely committed to saying "no". 

The Primal Connection - Bella and the Rock

The Sorraia Mustang mare Bella (ctr.), down at the beach with her herd mates during the summer of 2008

Each day is a new beginning and while modern humans may take for granted that when they emerge from warm, dream-spent bed covers, place their feet upon the floor and stand up to begin their daily routines their world will be a reliably familiar one, I think that those who live more closely tied to the rhythms of nature take nothing for granted.

My observations, following the lives of the horses living here at the Ravenseyrie Sorraia Mustang Preserve, is that they engage in a perpetual assessment of things, moment to moment, with every perceptive sense taking in visible and invisible fluctuations in their environment and between their herd mates. Theirs is a river-realm of continuously flowing streams of information which they are constantly adjusting to. (Actually we are part of the same river, but have compartmentalized ourselves to the point we are virtually oblivious to the subtle, yet rich, dialogues occurring everywhere in the universe.)

Domestically bred and traditionally housed horses require absolute reliability of routine and often are prone to anxiety if the protocol they are accustomed to is not followed. Stabled and paddocked horses expect consistency and regimented orderliness and have stunted, muted capacities for subtle sensory assessments, having put their trust in their caretaker's ability to assure their reliably familiar world will be the same today as it is tomorrow.

Part of this reliably familiar world is the almost absent-minded acceptance horses demonstrate for the type of handling they receive from their human caretakers. This type of handling assumes a certain ownership over the horse's body and mind, manifesting itself in a human who strides into the barn, opens the stall door, captures the head of the horse in a halter, brings the horse out into the aisle and systematically takes over parts of the horse's body for grooming, hoof maintenance, veterinary procedures, tacking up, etc. It is expected that the horse stands calmly in compliance as the human goes about these activities upon the horse's body in an equally absent-minded way. Most often, these activities the human imposes upon the horse are a means to an end, an end that typically involves some kind of "use" the human will be putting the horse to. Horse and human are aware of each other, but their feeling and appreciation of each other's core essences is as weak as an over-used tea bag.

Many variations of this domestically kept horse/human scenario are played out every day, sometimes with gruff roughness from each of them, other times a real bond of togetherness prevails, yet typically there is always an assumed right that the human feels she possesses when engaged in horse handling.

Bella (Bella means "beautiful" in Spanish)

Among the equines here at Ravenseyrie, especially when entering the Sorraia group, one simply cannot get away with any sort of assumed rights over the horses, or expect that what a horse freely gave me on one day will be offered again the next. Like them, each time I am out mingling with the environment and come into the territory where they are, I have to carefully assess the subtle fluctuations of the present moment to determine what possibilities of interaction are present. How do I go about this assessment?

Before I share how I approach the horses, I'd like to highlight the importance other authors have placed on the proper introductions that ought to be undertaken in order to assure that human and horse are truly and fully accepting of each other and ready to share time together.

In his book, What Horses Reveal, Klaus Ferdinand Hempfling describes the approach to a horse as the "First Encounter" which is based on recognizing the character of the horse and how he experiences and reacts to the world around him. He describes the horse as a house that requires the right key before entrance is granted. Our understanding of our own nature and complete harmony with the nature of the horse coupled with careful body language and movement determines whether or not the horse is willing to let us inside. Hempfling relays that no matter how many times we come and go from this house, we must always gain entrance in the same or similar manner...no barging in as if we have ownership. Here are some of the things Mr. Hempfling has to share regarding the First Encounter from pages 134 and 138 of his book:

'Immediate communication' is a very important concept for us. It is the alpha and omega of the first encounter. For, if you do not have a 'key' to the 'house', i.e. you cannot immediately communicate with the horse, then, to stay with our analogy, you are an intruder breaking in, particularly if you are forcibly entering the house, and as a rule, anyone who enters forcibly violates and steals.

The moment of the first encounter is a moment of the most concentrated patience, because, with great humility, we are serving another creature's needs.

It is consciousness of self, you must be aware of your every expression and particularly their effects on the horse. It is an expression that reflects the deepest peace, sincerity and heartfelt cordiality, no mere superficial 'friendliness'.

I make clear to the horse by the manner of my approach that I never want anything from him. Nothing happens without his invitation. I am never permitted to overstep my boundaries; at most I can defend my boundaries for my immediate protection.

This approach is continually renewed from second to second. Nothing is rigidly determined in advance: everything is dependent upon the communication and reactions of the moment.

Bella and Animado in the autumn of 2008

Carolyn Resnick describes the best means of establishing a relationship with a horse as being a magnetic heart connection. Carolyn believes anyone can achieve this type of connection but first they need to "understand how important it is to interact with their horse in this simple way - sharing time and space everyday like horses do with each other, moving a horse around, letting him move you around, easy and gentle like, with lots of pauses in between." Like Klaus, Carolyn does not take for granted that the horse's acceptance of her is the same every time she approaches him and realizes that she can only enter the house if the key is working. In her book, Naked Liberty, Carolyn relays:

I work with a horse in two stages every day. First, I spend time with the horse in the moment in passive time. When I get the feeling that he has connected to me in friendship and is focused on me, I begin with my daily program, whether it is riding him or traditional training. Sometimes the passive time I spend is as short as a quick hello from my horse. If he comes up to me, gives me a sniff and places his head in the halter, he is ready to go. (Putting on a halter is a critical time. If the horse objects to being haltered, it will negatively affect the interactions you have with him thereafter.)

Bella (far right) during the summer of 2008

Imke Spilker as well has some wonderful things to say about how she prefers to approach horses. We'll quote from her book, Empowered Horses:

"Hey, you!"
I want to reduce the distance between us, but it would be disrespectful to push my way into the horse's personal space and touch him, without first asking permission. Think of the same situation in human terms: if I want to convince a person I don't know about my finer qualities and meet him in a spirit of friendship, I'll wait for his invitation, or offer one myself. People that do not abide by this rule of politeness can seem aggressive, even when they don't intend to be. So, when we respect a horse's personal space we convey the message, "I come as a friend."
Nurturing the relationship according to the horse's rules and in the horse's rhythm, I try, despite all our differences, to show my affection, to offer myself to the horse as a friend, as a companion. pg.10

Reflecting, observing, sensing--those are the tasks for human beings. A person who begins to see the world through the eyes of his horse becomes that horse's kindred spirit. And suddenly, completely new forms of communication are possible. Now external signals are of lesser importance. We understand each other directly, instantaneously, because the sharing of feelings creates an interface, and entranceway into the other's world.

Togetherness is the foundation from which everything else proceeds. Togetherness--not hierarchy--puts us on the same level. Togetherness is the prerequisite for influencing each other from within the depths of our being. And that relates to feelings and movement--horse and person on one wavelength in a dialog of movement. As with musicians, in the beginning there is a search for the common key and rhythm; before they begin to play a piece, musicians attune to one another. Togetherness and sharing openly are the first and oldest form of understanding. This is the archetype of every meaningful communication. Being together in harmony means shared feelings with one another. I share yours--I share mine. pg. 28-29

The communication between a person and a horse occurs on a much deeper, more direct level. It eludes a formal observer.

The melody is an inner one and that is where we both hear it. The way I move my hands is just a visible accompaniment to my mental images.

The horse perceives the whole of a human being and only when we are congruent as a whole, will a horse understand and trust us.

Although I have no physical hold on the horse, he picks up on the inner language of my thoughts and desires, and orients himself to them. When there is great emotional unity human beings, too, can pick up on each other's inner images. Suddenly, we "just know" what the other is thinking in the very moment he thinks it, sometimes without even seeing him. We all once lived in a world without words, and as children, we could think and communicate using inner images. It was only much later that we began to orient ourselves to words. You too can understand this inner language if you build a feeling-based connection to horses." pg. 98-99

So now, dear readers, you have a pretty good base of remarkable insights from these authors to assist in understanding a series of photos I'm going to share from an interaction I had with Bella last week.

Bella is a registered Spanish Mustang mare, possessing several phenotypical characteristics of the atavistic Sorraia horses. She is a captive bred range born mare (from Caballos de Destino in South Dakota) who came to Ravenseyrie as a relatively un-handled yearling. She gave birth to the half-Sorraia studcolt, Animado, when she was four years old. She is now five and expecting her second foal next March. She has never had any "official" training, but using an approach to establishing a relationship with her similar to the ones described by the above authors has enabled me to gain her acceptance of being haltered and led as well as having her hooves occasionally attended to. (Haltering and leading are things I rarely do--here there is little need for this.) Within the hierarchy of the herd, Bella is the dominant mare. She is very noble and has always seemed mentally older than her age. She has a sweet, yet very demanding personality, is slow to anger, but swift to violent retribution without regrets. She likes interacting with me but I always feel that I let her down, i.e. there is often something more she wants me to understand about her that so far I have failed to recognize--something that feels like she wants us to do when we are together...

Bella often nickers during our interactions, using the low murmur voice typically reserved for foals...she makes this low murmuring nicker when I have found the precise itchy spot, or when I am handling her front legs and she wants me to give her a shoulder lift (an equine bodywork movement) or after we have come to an understanding about something new we might be learning together. She will also paw with a foreleg if I am not paying good attention or not "getting" something she is trying to put across to me.

Okay, let's look at the photo sequence, keeping in mind that it is me taking the photos, so it was not possible to take photos of everything that we did together.

I'm hiking out to the west, where the family band is hanging out. The others are grazing, but from what I can tell, Bella is enjoying a standing nap. She senses my approach from quite a distance and maintains a focus on me, matching my focus on her.

The closer I come to Bella I can already feel that even though she hasn't altered her slack-hipped stance she will be coming up to engage with me. She doesn't always come forward to interact with me, sometimes she remains sleeping or continues grazing, ignoring my presence...likewise, I don't always go out with the intention of connecting with and interacting with her. But in my core being I knew that she was receptive to me this day, and in her core being she knew that I was willing to interact with her.

I stopped short of walking straight up to her (about ten feet away) and took up a position with my body aslant to hers, my heart filled with genuine admiration for who she is. Though still slightly dozy, within just a few seconds she came over to me. The key fit the house and she let me in.

Bella wanted to be itched and massaged. I willingly obliged. Noticing a burr was snagged in the inner part of her mane, I stopped itching to pull the prickly seed case out. She was not pleased that I had interrupted what was probably just the high point of a particularly good itch to do something so mundane as remove a burr. She let me know right away that she would rather I continue to itch and leave off the grooming for the moment. Sometimes, Bella can be pushy and more than asking for itches she demands them. Her manner of demanding is to step almost on my foot while simultaneously pushing her body, shoulder-first in a bullish bumping kind of way. It's a remarkably precise and deliberate action, rich with communicative expression. My response to this is to step away, giving her nothing to push upon, rather than attempting to correct her breech of gentility by forcing her to back out of my space (which is the traditionalists approach to teaching a horse to stay out of the human's space.)

At the same time, of course, I realize that I had disrupted a perfectly lovely itch session by shifting my focus to grooming so abruptly, even so, I did not right away go back to resuming our itch session, rather I asked Bella to make a half circle to the left allowing us to both reposition ourselves to begin again...our mutual transgressions now forgotten by this simple new channeling of our togetherness, our primal connection restored to its former harmony.

After I had given full attention to every spot that Bella wanted either itched or massaged, I then asked if I could get the tangle out of her mane and she was perfectly accepting.

"Would you like to play a bit with circles and turns around the haunches?", I inquired. "Oh yes!" was her response. How do I know this? I stepped three feet away from her, positioned myself just behind her center, slightly towards her rear, with my body facing forward and angled left, then I opened my arm and gracefully invited her to circle left while I myself did the same thing. That was my question put forth and her following my offer precisely was her definitive "yes".

After a couple of circles to the left and also to the right, then turns around the haunches both left and right, then a little steps of the hindquarters around the shoulders and some backing to the hand, I was going to end our session. But I could see that Bella still wanted to do something and since we'd pretty much run through our repertoire, I decided to see if she would trot along with me a few steps...something we've never tried. I did my best perky-horse trot hoping to entice her to accompany me--she looked quite interested in a bemused sort of way, but she remained stationary.

Spotting a rock nearby, I thought to suggest we should try an old game we used to do when she was a yearling, which was to lift a foreleg and rest it on a rock (a basic prelude to learning Spanish walk), something she became pretty good at, but as our herd increased and the foals started coming, I sort of left off thoughts of training for haute école movements.

So, I went over to the rock, noticed that it was nice and flat, almost like a pedestal, and I thought maybe Bella would like to try standing up on it with both front feet. Like the companion trotting idea, standing her front feet on a pedestal is something we've never done before. I invited her with my mind and a gesture of my hand, to come and stand up on the rock. Without hesitation, she did! And while I stroked her appreciatively, she gave her low murmuring nicker. I asked her if she'd stay up there long enough for me to take a photo and she obliged me. I took a few photos, but when I went to back up a bit further to get her full body in the frame, my camera batteries went dead (such timing!).
Bella remained up on the rock, so I gave her more caresses while she was up there and then asked her to step down, which she did. We exchanged several more mutual admiration gestures and then I continued on with my hike, feeling really good about our encounter. I hope she returned to her herd mates feeling really good about our encounter, too.

My reason for sharing these experiences is not to display my laughable "prowess" as a horse trainer...(I would actually flunk Carolyn Resnick's "quick quiz"designed to evaluate one's relationship with her horses and her leadership skills). I'm putting these things into the Journal of Ravenseyrie to provide readers with examples of how this unconventional approach to horse/human relationship manifests itself here at Ravenseyrie. The things the horses and I are exploring are not things that one brags about or gives achievement ribbons for--these are intimacies I am sharing, which are not aimed at creating a "using" horse for a human's equestrian pursuits, but are meant to heighten our appreciation for each other, facilitate greater understanding and explore new avenues of fun learning. I have no idea where it is leading, but I'm absolutely fascinated with this primal connection and want to only engage with my horses when the connection is mutually pure. This will require continual reassessment within myself and how I fit into things, and I am thankful for ground-breaking horsemen and women who have inspired me to take a journey down a river like this!

A Brief Comparison of Spilker and Hempfling

June, one of the reader's of the Journal of Ravenseyrie, has been immersing herself in learning a new way of interacting with horses. Like many of us, June has found herself marvelously impacted by the work of Imke Spilker as presented in her book EMPOWERED HORSES. The teachings of Klaus Ferdinand Hempfling are also providing June with much to think about and prompting her to explore different means of "coming together" with her own horses.

In a few recent comments to other Journal of Ravenseyrie entries, June has recognized that the concept of "dominance" in the horse/human relationship brings up some differences between the way Imke Spilker relates with horses and the way Mr. Hempfling does.
Within Imke Spilker's work, the notion of dominance is not addressed in the manner which it is in Mr. Hempfling's work perhaps because Imke Spilker's approach is not based on domination but on shared leadership. In Imke's world there is no fixed individual in control, rather horse and human cede control back and forth to suit the quality of the moment.
Imke writes,

We will stop when our horse says: "No!" We will let it all go, try another way, or do something else. We will not force our horse to do it our way. Rather, we will find the path our horse wants to travel and walk it with him. We ask him for his permission, we discuss things, and above all we listen. "Okay, Toppur. Pardon me. I did not mean it like that." We reflect on the matter once more--pause--and then I make a renewed attempt. Now Toppur does what I request!

In this aspect it may be that Ms. Spilker's interactions with horses favor feminine qualities as a means of motivating a horse to become master of himself on the road to self-actualization. The role of the human is built on deference to the horse, and it becomes the job of the human to identify what motivates the horse and initiate ways which assist the horse in developing his own awareness of his inherent potential. Horse and human work as a team, as friends on a common goal, a goal that the horse comes to choose for himself and we join them as a supportive mentor, offering suggestions, ideas and creative advice rather than demands, corrections and punishments. In Imke Spilker's work the cultivation of non-linear perception also leads to identifying, nurturing and trusting our instincts and intuitive powers which then makes it possible to completely harmonize with our horses in a mutual understanding that transcends our apparent species differentia.
Klaus Ferdinand Hempfling's work is extraordinary, beautiful and inspiring and I find little about it that makes me uncomfortable. My feeling is that Mr. Hempfling's work is much more influenced by masculine traits. In his book, What Horses Reveal, Mr. Hempfling relays how strongly he identifies with his forefathers "the Celts, the Vikings, the Teutons, the Goths and the Cimbrians", so it does not surprise me the emphasis he places on the concept of dominance in his work, but he isn't dominating via violent force as was the way of his forefathers. The way Mr. Hempfling goes about demonstrating his dominance over his horse is more a reflection of his own domination of his inner self (so that he isn't acting out of fear, anger, or a desire to be powerful himself) demonstrating to the horse that he is a competent leader--he just confidently and deftly uses his intent and body language to stimulate the horse to move. (This is much like Carolyn Resnick's third "ritual" Taking Territory) Mr. Hempfling also feels horses and humans are part of an ongoing mythological process of learning to control our darker sides, and it is in this juxtaposition that he looks upon horse/human interactions. My impression is that his means of training are flexible but yet exist more in a linear, human directed path which is much more serious, keenly structured, less play oriented and maybe a little limiting by the devotion to patriarchal notions of chivalry.
Both Imke Spilker and Klaus Ferdinand Hempfling discuss the importance of recognizing we humans are a part of nature, just as the horses are, and we need to be inwardly and outwardly authentic in our beingness...they each do this differently based on the way they view their heritage as humans.

It's no secret that of the two influences, I feel a greater kinship with Imke than with Klaus, mostly because of the things she says about egalitarianism between horse and human, shared leadership and the "inner language" that we can become part of. These are things that I have been pursuing with my horses and I've felt immense gratification with the way they respond. I also recognize that the very notion of sharing leadership boggles the minds of those still bound by the dynamics of traditional horsemanship.

For some reason, it seems many people are under the impression that to indulge a horse's preferences sometimes over our own, means that we have forfeited our own right to say "no" and our own right to experience "respect" which automatically leads to the horse taking over, running us over and abusing our good nature in a thousand bullish ways. Here we have a topic to discuss in a future journal entry, with personal examples to share.
Thank you June for providing questions that provoked me to briefly compare Klaus Ferdinand Hempling's work with Imke Spilker's on the subject of dominance. Overall, I don't think the two are necessarily far apart on things. I will quote a segment of Hempfling's book What Horses Reveal to illustrate:

Does the horse walk behind me or do I walk ahead of the horse?

This is the simple question. What would you make of the following very unusual thought. What if I do not bring the horse onto my path and lead him, but, rather, I simply put myself on the horse's path and walk two metres ahead of him? Am I leading the horse? Or, am I simply walking his path a few steps in front of him?
Again and again during my encounters with unfamiliar horses, I let them follow my hand as though they are being hypnotized. The pictures show that. But what if, in fact, I am actually following the head of the horse, only I am a second in advance of the horse's movement? That seems totally absurd, but that is, in a specific, exaggerated way, exactly what happens. I put myself in a world at one with the horses, as the shepherd is at one with the sheep. In my case there is a comparable interplay: leading and being led blend into a shared experience. I lead the horse, the horse leads me, and we are both led in that place and time. Only in that way can what seems to be impossible occur. We are simply on a shared path. We each reveal ourselves. --Klaus Ferdinand Hempfling

Exploring Usability

In an earlier blog entry (where I was kindly given permission to republish an article by Imke Spilker which was translated into English by Kristina McCormack) a reader named "Nellie" left the following comment:

I just bought the book Empowered Horses and I read it with great interest as it echoes within me. Thank you Imke for writing it for us. I was wondering if somehow Imke Spilker and Klaus Ferdiand Hempfling have crossed their ways at some stage?

I don't know if Imke and Klaus have had any contact with each other, but their writings do appear to share some common elements of the evolved philosophy of horse/human relations. Nellie's query has prompted me to discuss some of the things Klaus Ferdinand Hempfling has written which I have found to be worth deeper consideration.

I'd like to use today's journal entry to share some further contemplation of the "usability" of horses. To break up the text, I am inserting photos taken on Monday during a high spirited frolic and dash that Mistral's group engaged in after an autumn rain shower.

Fada and Jerry

In his book, What Horses Reveal (also translated with good feeling by Kristina McCormack from the original German to English), Klaus wrote about the superficiality of training horses to be used for specific human goals and training from a deeper relationship with horses where usefulness is not the goal, but, rather, the by-product.

If, for example, horses are given the most common types of training, of whatever kind and for whatever riding style, it can be assumed that the majority of these horses will later function pretty much in a certain way. Twenty, thirty, or more, percent of horses, however, will not achieve certain goals, or will for other reasons, perhaps because they rebel too much, be deemed 'unusable' in the end. This is virtually calculated into the equation, it is part of the horse-training business. What counts in this case, from the very beginning, is an animal's usefulness, and the tried and true methods that have a great probability of giving the anticipated results and value. This is not the way I operate, or think, but, in fairness, these methods must be given their due for the relative clarity and simplicity with which everything occurs. There are more or less clearly formulated methods, recognizable stops on the way, and standardized goals. If you are satisfied with that, then you, at least, will not too easily go astray.

For those of us who want to adhere to inner values it is not this desired external usefulness that counts the most. We must, however, be very careful because at this point some well-camouflaged lies of life, into whose fine web it is easy to fall, can arise. In the relationship I have with horses, there emerges from the foundation of deep trust an immediately visible effect, a visible 'usefulness' that is in fact very important. On the one hand, therefore, I say that the relationship and inner values are the important things, and that outward 'usefulness' should be disregarded but, on the other hand, I say that the outward transformation that springs from within, the 'effect', is so significant. This sort of 'usefulness' develops in a manner that is very different from that which is commonly known. All this appears to be contradictory but it is not. (pgs. 22-23)

The yearling Sorraia half-bred colts, Animado and Interessdo enjoy a game of chase

Klaus then offers up exquisite "before and after" photos of the Spanish stallion Junque to illustrate his point and has written more detail on what he means:

With regard to the work that follows, I would like to begin with this example: all of these pictures speak of a deep inner connection between horse and man. That is the starting point, the path and the goal, all in one, and is the main purpose, the reason and the reward for my action. But the proof of the rightness of this path is also the physical, visible effect. It is the external appearance of the horse. And these connections are all too often forgotten, or not even noticed. Many people cannot, therefore, even imagine that outwardly visible successes come to be when your attention is directed completely and totally toward inner values, because, very often, these are not recognized by those who strive for inner qualities of whatever kind. But, my experience in this respect is that, if you strive for inner values, you are only genuinely doing that, and in the right way, if positive changes are also seen on the outside, for example in well-being, strength, energy, expression, form, and beauty. (pg. 24)

Already showing such regal qualities for a yearling colt! Animado!!

To make sure his readers are truly absorbing the meaning of his words he offers this passage:

Let me reiterate that I maintain, and all the pictures on these pages can unequivocally verify, that unbelievable 'miracles' on the outside are possible only when inner values and forms are developed. Only then can something develop externally without our doing anything that is specifically 'use' oriented. It grows as, for example, a thriving tree grows in size and magnificence. It happens all by itself when the conditions are right; and this book is about the conditions. (pg. 24)

Zeus, Mistral and Animado

This reminds me both of the approach Imke Spilker uses with her horse/human interactions and also the philosophy behind the "natural farming" espoused by Masanobu Fukuoka. If we provide the appropriate conditions, growth, empowerment, greater beauty and a concomitant "usefulness" are a by-product of honoring the natural essence of things and the human assisting/accompanying their inherent qualities leads them to fulfillment. The "usefulness" is ultimately beneficial first and foremost for the horse (or plant) itself and represents a self-actualization that creates the situation where achieving one's optimum potential is possible.

Animado and Jerry in a highly spirited game

Do you provide your horse the right conditions for this self-actualized capacity for achieving his optimum potential, or have you "boxed" her into your human concept of what that optimum potential might? These questions I repeatedly ask myself.


In someways, for some of the horses and mules here at Ravenseyrie, I would say that living pretty much the way wild horses live has given them the chance to reach their optimum potential. For others, I get a sensation that they would like "more"...just what that "more" might be has me often in greater contemplation.

Animado

We can quote Klaus Ferdinand Hempfling again for some insight into what I am feeling. The following excerpts are from an interview/article published in the online magazine, Horses For LIFE, titled, How to Bring Happiness to Your Horses.

For sure, my approach to the horses is a very simple thing. If the horse does not want me to jump on him and ride him, I will not do it. The horse has to come to me and say "Please ride me because I like it. I'm more fresh after the ride than before. I'm healthier, stronger, and prouder when you have been riding me than before."

I would never do anything with the horse if the horse is suffering at all in any way and losing quality of life. So these are things I'm explaining to the jumpers and competition riders: as long as you're running through hundreds of competitions and the horses are going after them, then I'm with you. If you're pressuring the horse, if you're doing something where the horse is not prepared, then we're for sure running on different levels. To be sure, you can ask me things and I would like to give you answers and help you understand yourself and your horse or whatever, I'm not judging you. But please know that whatever I'm doing, my first intention and first approach is to be with the horse. We're not sitting in a rubber boat, that when you have a hole, you go out and buy a new one. We're dealing with living beings and whatever I'm doing is in the best interests of the individual horses.

The half-Sorraia yearlings, Fada, Interessado and Animado

Expanding on recognizing the individuality of horses and that what is in the best interest for one horse might not be the same for a different horse, Klaus says:

I have classified 26 characters in my book where the horses reveal [themselves]. If you have a winner, for example, and you're missing the opportunity for this horse to compete and make him win, then he will be sad. It's like having a sheepdog in your house and the sheepdog is lying around with no job to do. I used to be with sheep and living in the country. And the sheepdog was happy to be working eight hours a day with the sheep. In the morning he woke up for his job and was happy to have his job.

On the other hand, there are dogs which like to lie around on the sofa and be fed, and this is the pleasure and the meaning of this dog. So no limits, but the right approach, and always the best interests of the animal because we have the responsibility for them and enough knowledge and enough feeling to distinguish between different types of animals and to channel them into the right jobs.

The registered Thoroughbred gelding, Zeus

I'd like to use our Thoroughbred gelding Zeus as an example of how important it is to discover the "right approach". Zeus' history is pretty sketchy, but I had been told that he was initially trained as a race horse but didn't make the cut because he was too slow. This may have been the truth, at least there is the telltale tattoo on the inside of his upper lip, but he hasn't seemed at all too slow here at Ravenseryie, and this is due to the different lifestyle he is part of here which provides him a much different motivation to "win" than the race course life was able to give him. Zeus really came alive living among a big group of horses and quickly took up the post of being Mistral's "right hand man" and there are many races he eagerly engages in, one of which you can view within the journal entry titled, Grulla Variations, A Racehorse in the Wilderness and Zorita Too. Here is an example of simply providing the right conditions which allow the horse to blossom all on his own.

Zeus and Mistral

For myself, the realm of competition is far too fraught with elements that cause even the most ardent devotee of the horse's best interests to "compromise" in ways that ultimately are not in the horse's best interest but, rather, serve the human ego. But I do think some horses thrive on competition, as our Zeus does. It swells my heart immensely to see this once skinny, beaten down, introverted, unsure horse find self-actualization through just being a horse living in the wilderness with his herd mates.


Do I see, also, in him the capacity for haute école? I certainly do...but I do not yet see the conditions being quite right to help him pursue this yet...though I have a feeling such conditions will reveal themselves in time, if I remain open to it myself.

A few segments of Monday's frolic that I was able to get video footage of, in between taking photos

On Radicalization and Rediscovery

The Raven's of Ravenseyrie, keeping watch over their Sorraia Mustangs

Throughout today's dialogue, I will share some of the images of how beautifully summer is passing here at the Ravenseyrie Sorraia Mustang Preserve.

In a comment posted yesterday to the journal entry titled, An Article by Imke Spilker, a reader by the name of June wrote, "I have a new word - it's "spilkered"! It refers to someone who has been radicalized by coming into contact with Imke Spilker's ideas. I have been spilkered, and I don't know where it's leading me!!!"

I know just what you mean, June!

A photo sequence showing a small flock of Canada Geese among Altamiro's family band:

I had my first introduction to these truly unconventional ideas on horse/human relationships just after our first two Sorraia Mustang fillies were delivered from South Dakota. While they were considered "captive bred" horses, they nonetheless came from a situation not too dissimilar from the way horses live here at Ravenseyrie. From the very first, they let us know that in order to establish a good connection (which I consider to be relations built on willing engagement as opposed to force and coercion), we would have to follow a very different path. These fillies, Bella and Belina gave us our first hint at how much more can be accomplished by allowing the horse all possible freedom to "escape" our influence and express their feelings about whatever we might be asking of them.

As mentioned in two prior journal entries (here and here), the work of Klaus Ferdinand Hempfling, Carolyn Resnick, Alexander Nevzorov and especially Imke Spilker further radicalized me. Like June, I'm not precisely sure where it is leading me--this radicalization of thought and action in our relations with horses--but I have a nagging intuitive sense that it is not a "new" way of being with horses (although it may seem that way to us modern humans) rather, it is a rediscovering of how early humans used to interact with horses.

A photo sequence showing Belina and Encantara nibbling just the seed heads of the Timothy grasses:

While I am not ready to write a detailed essay about it yet, let us just say that I feel it is possible that in prehistoric times, humans and horses had a very intimate relationship that was based on mutual understanding, reciprocal offerings of friendship and a complete lack of violence. How do you like that for a radicalized statement!!

June's comment prompted me to look up the words "radical" and "radicalized" and I'm sharing here what my copy of The American Heritage Dictionary offers us regarding these words.

Radical: adj. 1. Arising from or going to a root or source; fundamental; basic. 2. Carried to the farthest limit; extreme, sweeping: radical social change. 3. Favoring or effecting revolutionary changes, as in political organization. 4. Of or designing a word root. 5. Botany. Of, pertaining to, or growing from the root.

Radicalize, radicalized: To make radical or more radical

A photo sequence showing my friend Nancy, on a recent visit to Ravenseyrie:

When we begin to appreciate the perception presented to us by deep thinking horse lovers, like Imke Spilker, we discover that we are going back to the root of things...the way perhaps the first humans and first horses began their relationships, as definition #5 relays, "Of, pertaining to, or growing from the root."

Animado playing games with my shawl over his shoulders:

We have come to accept certain so-called "facts" about our prehistoric roots, which initially have humans consuming horses as food, and later brutally domesticating them for all manner of exploitation. But we don't really know that human's first encounters with horses were violent and based on gustatory predilections. Perhaps the killing for food and violent coercion of horses is a subsequent perversion of how humans and equines first lived together. Much of prehistory is conjecture and dependent upon the prevailing mindset that writes up the research, as such it is open to interpretation...and I'm choosing to interpret things from a "radical" perspective.

When our 2009 tourists season winds up here on the island and the slower pace of life returns, I will revisit this radicalized thinking and put together some of the research that has prompted me to reconsider the way in which first contacts between horses and humans may have occurred.

For now, I am finding it immensely exciting and personally satisfying to follow my intuition and look for the lamps of illumination being held up for me by other novel thinkers who are further along the path than I.

This photo is for June, who has been "spilkered" and is being lead back to the horses:

Mistral and Zeus enjoying a shady spot, away from the summer heat and biting flies:

A short sequence showing Zorita, the half Sorraia mare who is due to deliver a foal by our purebred Sorraia stallion, Altamiro, on or around August 24th. Send her good thoughts for a smooth delivery and a healthy foal, won't you?