The Power of the Herd (72 page)

Eighty-five percent of the 435 completed questionnaires were from horse owners, 94 percent were from women, and 67 percent of participants were in their forties and fifties. The most striking finding of our survey was that being with horses, with pets, or out in nature almost always made people feel a sense of appreciation. Being with horses and pets also filled them with feelings of affection. A sense of wonder almost always accompanied interactions with horses and being out in nature. But the powerful combination of appreciation, affection, and wonder was most often felt when with horses. Ann notes that

wonder is an emotion we frequently feel as young children when we experience something amazing for the first time, such as seeing a peacock spread his tail. But that feeling often fades as we grow older. As observed by Rachel Carson in her book
The Sense of Wonder:
“A child's world is fresh and new and beautiful, full or wonder and excitement. It is our misfortune that for most of us that clear-eyed vision, that true instinct for what is beautiful and awe-inspiring, is dimmed and even lost before we reach adulthood.” So horses are helping us stay fresh and invigorated instead of dull and jaded!

Memories of school, on the other hand, were the least likely to be associated with any positive emotions. “Did the school environment, at least thirty or forty years ago, stifle the feeling of wonder?” Ann asked. Absolutely, this survey reveals.

Many people remembered feelings of frustration, sometimes fear and sadness. It's hard to tell whether middle-aged female horse lovers, who made up most of our sample, really had such unfortunate memories of school, or whether they were just focusing on their feelings during the trials and tribulations of adolescence rather than on specific memories of school. Interestingly, overall they said they felt the least frustrated when out in nature and least fearful when with their pets. This survey adds to growing evidence that we would benefit from incorporating more activities with animals and nature into our school systems. A recent study at Michigan State University shows improvements in mood scores in teenage girls after just fifteen minutes of quiet interaction with horses.

The Michigan State University study and our survey have shown that interacting with horses offers more than just the benefits of physical exercise from riding and the meditative, oxytocin-boosting qualities of grooming. According to our 435 participants, being with horses almost always made them experience feelings of affection, appreciation, and wonder.

In
chapter 1
, I noted that suffering for one's art was fashionable in Antoni Gaudí's time. These days, workaholism is our primary obsession. As a culture,
we're addicted to stress and to all the chemical and behavioral crutches we engage to manage that stress, leading to significant physical, mental, emotional, and social health consequences. To make matters worse, we have trouble thinking, let alone trying, something new, because of evaluation apprehension's debilitating effects — magnified by increasingly sensationalist, cynical, malicious mass media enterprises that amplify fear, frustration, shame, and blame in the name of news and entertainment.

It's true that hardship is an inescapable part of innovation.
But it's not the only part.
By continually focusing on what's wrong, what's scary, what's not quite up to par, we dismiss the many things that have improved over the past three thousand years. A higher standard of living for more people; widespread social intolerance of slavery, sexism, and prejudice; and the reduction of violence, especially in Westernized countries, are among those improvements.

A little over two hundred years ago, George Washington survived and endured scenes of horrific rage and injustice. Even so, he found the challenge of collaborating with free men to be as stressful, perplexing, and demoralizing as going to war, witnessing a massacre, and starving at Valley Forge. Yet I have to wonder, was the trauma he experienced mitigated by his daily encounters with horses? Research on oxytocin alone would seem to suggests it. As I was finishing this book in the summer of 2012, Queen Elizabeth was celebrating her Diamond Jubilee with equestrian events so integral to the festivities that they were featured in a variety of international publications rarely interested in horses, including
USA Today.
She too has endured intense scrutiny, war, family tragedy, constant change, and outrageous, capricious, daily evaluation of her behavior and ideals by a fickle public. She too is an avid horsewoman, interested in breeding, showing, and training innovations. After all, this gentle, reserved, seemingly conservative monarch was in part responsible for the international success of Monty Roberts, author of
The Man Who Listens to Horses,
a book that helped popularize natural horsemanship in the 1990s.

Like Elizabeth I and Katherine the Great, England's current queen is a consummate rider, though few additional details are available. Try as I might, I was unable to find much in the way of historical accounts of how horses affected these women. I could only infer that horses helped empower, balance, encourage, and renew these influential leaders. Great equestrians of both sexes seem (blissfully) unaware of just how much they have learned from their mounts, let alone how much they have been supported and even healed by these generous, nonpredatory power animals. Either that or they have little capacity for translating these nonverbal insights into words, perhaps even feeling self-conscious suggesting such a notion.

How often, after all, do we read about the mythic or historical adventures
of heroes, barely noticing the silent heroes they ride? What is a hero, after all? Someone who transcends survival instincts to face the unknown, sometimes enduring terrifying ordeals for a greater cause? Someone who remains poised in the midst of turmoil, who prevails despite the odds to capture a treasure from the gods, an uplifting innovation, enduring significant hardships to bring some glistening piece of magic back to the tribe?

By this definition, horses are every bit as heroic as their riders, if not more so: a prey animal going to war is the epitome of a counterintuitive, wholly
unnatural
move. And yet, in times of war and in times of peace, horses
reconnect
us to nature, more specifically to nature's gifts, her ability to not just challenge but nourish, inspire, and renew us.

And so, after the long journey we've taken together, we come to the deepest, most healing piece of horse wisdom I can offer: the importance of joy, awe, wonder, and inspiration, of celebrating the talents and intelligence of other beings, appreciating daily acts of kindness and courage, as well as the beauty of this world we all share, most especially those rural areas and wilderness preserves we must guard as blessings from a benevolent force still urging us to grow out of fitful adolescence into real maturity, empowered empathy, agile understanding, and unbridled yet compassionate creativity.

Horse wisdom, fully activated in humans, requires paying attention to what is good and right with the world, and expanding
that,
even as we protect ourselves from predators hiding in the grass. No matter what's happening around us, the emotional-agility, social-intelligence, and fear-management skills that horses teach help us deal efficiently with technical difficulties and interpersonal challenges and then go back to “grazing.” Over time, as we learn to ride life's roller coaster with ease, an underlying sense of “deep peace” emerges and strengthens. We find that we can let go of the stories that tie us to past injustice. And we can fully enjoy the present, knowing that we are courageous, empowered, and adaptable enough to meet the future with the relaxed, expanded awareness of a mature herd leader.

Now that horses are no longer obliged to work in our fields and carry us to war, they're doing something more important: they're working on us, helping us reclaim, daily, a hint of paradise not so much lost as misplaced. In rekindling our relationship with horses as guides — as catalysts of human transformation going back at least thirty thousand years — we can't help but realize that, even when we wander off the main trail and get lost in the woods, we're never alone in this world.

We have the tools. The schoolmasters are waiting at the barn. So saddle up, open that gate, head toward the mountains.

And, most important,
enjoy
the ride!

T
he Power of the Herd
explores how nonpredatory, horse-inspired wisdom can help you handle life, career, and community-building challenges with greater ease and success. This book represents over fifteen years of research, experimentation, and experience teaching advanced human development skills through working with these powerful animals. If you increasingly avoid the four Stone Age Power Tools discussed in
chapter 12
, while practicing the Twelve Guiding Principles explored in
part 3
, you will experience significant positive changes in your professional and personal relationships.

However, as I mentioned early in
chapter 3
, only so much of this knowledge can be translated into words. (Research shows that about 10 percent of human interpersonal communication is verbal.) If you're interested in boosting the
nonverbal
skills associated with leadership, social intelligence, assertiveness, and mutually supportive relationships, working with horses is an incredibly efficient, empowering,
and
fun way to master the elusive “other 90 percent” that distinguishes truly great leaders, innovators, and communicators.

The field of equine-facilitated learning (also known variously as equinefacilitated human development, equine-assisted learning, equine-guided education, or equine-facilitated mental health) has been growing internationally since the late 1990s. Several professional organizations for sharing information have arisen, as well as more in-depth programs for training facilitators, including Eponaquest Worldwide, Adventures in Awareness, Professional Association of Therapeutic Horsemanship International, Equine Assisted Growth and Learning Association, Equine Guided Education Association, and European
Association for Horse Assisted Education, among others. A few universities also offer degrees or concentrations in equine-facilitated therapy and experiential learning.

Increasingly, we see professionals combining techniques and principles associated with more than one of these programs, in addition to a variety of skills learned through conventional and innovative horse-training disciplines. Some facilitators are diligent in gathering the latest research on emotional and social intelligence, horse behavior, and other related topics. Over time, these people tend to develop new activities and approaches, and the field continues to evolve as a result.

Still, there is tremendous variation in the interpersonal skills, teaching styles, and philosophical orientation these instructors exhibit. Some treat the horse as a partner in facilitating this work; others treat the horse as a tool subservient to human needs and whims. Some facilitators respect the integrity of the client's experience, offering a supportive, nonshaming environment for learning; others use activities that put people on the spot, stressing humans and horses alike, sometimes creating a confrontational environment, occasionally endangering participants as a result.

And finally, some facilitators promote a mutually supportive approach to the continued development of the field, while others are highly competitive, seeking to boost their reputation by degrading other professionals, engaging in the age-old practice of using others' vulnerabilities against them for personal gain.

You must therefore be somewhat vigilant to find the right instructor for your needs. I highly recommend interviewing several prospects before choosing the one who feels most aligned with your personality, learning style, and goals. And because of the significant nonverbal elements involved, you must also
experience
the instructor's work to get the full picture. After you look at websites and talk with the most intriguing candidates by phone, the next step involves attending an introductory workshop or a private session, not only to sample the facilitator's techniques, but also to observe the instructor's presence and effect on others.