...show me what you want and I will try
My dad once told me,’there are horsemen and there are horsepeople, never get the two mixed up’. I had no idea what he meant. He was a ‘horseman’ himself, he’d been around horses all his life, made his living from them and with them. His father and his father before him were all horsemen
For years I thought anyone who could ride well was a horseman, people who have been around horses for a long time are often described as horseman. I respected and wanted to learn from these people until I started to realise that what they did wasn’t that clever. Sure they could ride well and get the horse to do what they wanted but there was something missing.
In most cases, what is missing is empathy. The horse was not treated as an intelligent, thinking, feeling being, in fact when a horse showed its intelligence it was often labelled as stupid. Why? Because he wasn’t doing what the human expected him to do. How can undoing the lead, opening a gate, or going under a low branch to get the rider off be stupid? That’s clever. That’s thinking. But that’s not acceptable to the human, the horse is supposed to be a dumb animal and if he doesn’t do what the human wants then he is punished. Often he’s not even shown what to do, he’s told, and when he has no idea of what is required he gets spurs jabbed in his belly or his mouth jerked or belted with the whip.
I liken it to a child in kindergarten where the teacher asks the child to write a letter and not in those great big scribbly lines, do it neatly in calligraphy! How can a child do that when they haven’t even learned to hold a crayon, let alone know how to make the shapes of letters. If the child doesn’t understand and just makes a few scribbles do you belt him? And after a good belting will the child then be able to do it? I don’t think so. He has to be shown and taught what to do, a good teacher will help him learn, guide him along, encourage him and in return the child will want to get it right and do the best for his teacher. The same is true for horses.
I look at my horses, some of them damaged by the hands of humans, and I feel sad. They are such a beautiful being who choose to be with us, yet we abuse that privilege. When you think about it, a horse doesn’t really have to put up with the things we do, he can easily cause us great harm if it felt so inclined. So why don’t they? Why do they tolerate the human and their egos?
I often ponder that question. Why do they put up with the ignorant, egotistical and often abusive ways? I don’t know and it breaks my heart to see it, but what I do know is that if you give the horse the opportunity they will give you far more than you can ever imagine.
I now understand what my dad was trying to tell me, I will never get the two mixed up again. There are many horsepeople out there, but the true horsemen are the people that understand and respect a horse mentally, emotionally, physically and spiritually. If they don’t have that they don’t have the horse.
…and I whispered to the horse; “Trust no man in whose eye you do not see yourself reflected as an equal” Don Vincenzo Giobbe Circa 1700
Thank you dad for bringing horses into my life. I know you are with me when I ride but I still miss you.
October 6th, 2009 at 12:57 am
they put up with it because often they don’t know any better, and sometimes they can be like an abused dog, who loves his master despite how badly he is treated.
October 24th, 2009 at 9:26 am
or, like an abused woman putting up with what she is used to cause she doesnt believe she is worth any more … “…cant find a better man” (Vedder, 1994).