The horse-human connection is timeless. It is in the folklore of cultures, the history of wars, the fables of youth and the screenplays of blockbuster movies.
While the love of horses and what they teach people about their own humanity is not new, putting it into practical knowledge and applied skill is.
A local group of equine enthusiasts is aiming to change that with a little horseplay.
Some might call it “horse whispering,” a term made famous by Nicholas Evan’s best-selling book, or the Academy award-winning movie it inspired, starring Robert Redford.
But fiction becomes fact in the hands of Helen Amanda Russell, an interpreter of “horse patter,” the name for her personal method of understanding and processing the silent communication of the horse.
“I teach the basic, physical language of the horse through demonstrations, examples and by creating an environment for hands-on learning,” Russell explains on her website, horsepatter.com.
“I do this by pointing out horse body gestures, nuances and movements, while explaining how this articulates into a message to other horses or people.”
Translating that into the human experience is a natural, subtle occurrence that happens in the silent interaction between a person and a horse. This can happen with any horse and any person, whether they are comfortable around horses, a trained rider or just someone who admires the animal as a beautiful creature. The interaction is dependent upon the exchange that happens between human and animal.
“By talking ‘horse’ using our own bodies, we are able to communicate back and forth in order to create a conversation that the animal understands and one the people are learning to interpret and respond to appropriately,” Russell described.
“In doing so, I have found that people become more aware of their own body language and this new awareness provides a useful tool for working with horses or to apply in other aspects of their lives.”
Russell has extensive training in horsemanship with the British Horse Society, and has participated in eventing, coaching and horse training.
In recent years, Russell began to study “natural horsemanship” or what is commonly referred to as horse whispering under the guidance of renowned practitioners such as Monty Roberts and Chris Irwin, before heading to the The Epona Center in Tucson, Arizona where she has trained to communicate and interpret body awareness through Epona, known as “the way of the horse.”
For years Russell was actively involved in the equine community of Wellington County, before finding greener pastures in British Columbia. Yet several times a year she returns to this area to support various workshops on experiential learning with horses.
In May, Russell will come to Erin and Rockwood to join three of her equine colleagues, each of whom credit their inspirational friendship with Russell for opening their minds and hearts to the fascinating work of horse patter.
Bridget Ryan first met Russell when she hired her to train a “wild little pony.” Impressed with Russell’s skill, Ryan began an eight-week apprenticeship with Russell to work on her own horses on her family farm in Erin.
Kate Kerr, a Fergus native, met Russell through mutual equine contacts. Kerr has been around horses all her life and has always felt a special bond with the animal that she could never quite translate, until she found someone who spoke her language.
Kerr is currently apprenticing with Russell, studying to take the reins in encouraging other people to learn the way of the horse.
Nora Zylstra-Savage is a writing coach who admits she has a fear of horses, but a determination to conquer it creatively. She met Russell through a mutual friend and said their work, both being somewhat “intuitive and alternative,” inspired an instant connection. Russell encouraged her to trust the horse patter process, but also to write about it.
Together, these three women have taken their individual talents, under the guidance of Russell, to create a series of workshops that are intended to empower people with a greater understanding not only of horses, but also of themselves, their goals and their place in the herd.
This May, they are offering two workshops: Relationships versus Agenda and Learn to Play Again: Essentials for Life.
“People really responded to that [our workshops], because it gave them more tools to explore whatever level they came in at, and we’d find their would be a range,” Ryan explained.
“There would be really experienced horse people to people who had never really set foot near a horse, but they were inclined to use horses versus another modality, like writing or art or exercise.”
Explaining the diversity of experience, Zylstra-Savage said the work is an alternative to more traditional disciplines of self-awareness.
“It can be whatever … it can be practical, which is horsemanship, or it can be emotional work,” she said. “There are lots of different therapies, and the horse is the one people are choosing because they have an affiliation to horses. They are using that for their emotional growth work.”
Kerr believes this work is important because people have lost the art of interpreting body language and signals.
“Horses give us a visual of what we actually do ourselves and don’t acknowledge. Horses are large animals with big hearts and you don’t have to look too deeply to see it.”
In these workshops, issues such as boundaries, both physical and personal, are explored. There is reflective work, personal insight, all with the purpose of allowing the animal to mirror the individual’s internal emotions.
“Horses reflect really strong emotions, like fear and anger,” Ryan said. “But they also reflect the really peaceful, positive emotions as well.”
Kerr explained that as prey animals, horses are intuitive as their means of survival. Everything from the shape of their hooves to the wild horse instincts carried through their genes, gives them a heightened awareness.
“Subconsciously, we carry these things with us,” she added. “You give an ‘energy.’ It’s whatever energy you are giving off and it will hit the horse in pressure points that it will make them explode or calm right down.”
Exploring this visceral experience in a workshop setting requires flexibility of both the instructors and the participants. However, this flexibility allows for workshops to be diverse in both practice and intention, driven largely by the desires of those who attend.
“In Relationships versus Agenda, we ask the question, ‘Do we establish a relationship first that makes our agenda go a little more smoothly?’ What happens when we push that agenda on the horses?”
Describing the flow of the work, Kerr said, “It’s all about what you feel and how you are putting it on the horse to do. We’ll go through exercises and try to put the horse in a [metaphorical] box or try different kinds of play practices and ask, how much energy do you have to spend to get the horse to do what you want them to do because of your agenda? … Sometimes you turn your back on them and they just end up standing in the box, because you finally took the pressure off them,” she said, laughing.
In Learning to Play the work is about allowing both the participants and the horses to have fun and experience that sense of playfulness and ease that stressful schedules rarely allow.
“It’s all about joy,” Kerr said.
While workshops do not involve riding the horses, the experience is every bit as intimate. Mornings begin with the group standing by the fence simply observing the horses, watching how the herd responds to strangers.
“We see the interactions and get an impression of the animal,” Kerr explained.
The group then goes inside to discuss their initial interaction with the horse, their body language, how they behaved.
In the second workshop, Learning to Play Again, writing will be an important component to the work, with exercises led by Zylstra-Savage.
After the first meeting with the horses, she encourages participants to write their feelings or overall perceptions of the horses. Throughout the day, there are opportunities to explore the experiences through words, with the option to share these observations with the group at the end of the day.
Back out in the field, the participants are then asked to pick one horse in particular that seems to resonate with them, which Kerr said happens intuitively.
After a one-on-one observation of the horse, the work with that animal begins in the round pen, a set-up designed for the safety of the participant and the horse, allowing the horse to focus as facilitator and the student to practice the art of the silent communication techniques.
“So whether it is walking, getting them to stop, boundary work, using your arms or your body language to direct or say something, then it is for them to respond and it’s a very contained place,” Zylstra-Savage explained.
Ryan added, “If you are a person who isn’t really familiar with horses, the round pen creates a safety barrier. A lot of times barriers are metaphorical. If people have them there it allows them to take that step.”
This is where the self-learning begins.
“It could be the same horse every time, but the reaction will always be different, depending on the person,” Zylstra-Savage explained. “It shows us that we are all different and that they, [the horses] are not just giving of themselves, they are giving a reflection of you. It becomes that personalized.”
Kerr believes when people take that reflection out into the world with them, they can change their perceptions.
“It starts by being aware of our response, why we felt that way, why did our heart sing or why we have the feeling in our gut, hold our breath, stop dead in our tracks?” she asked.
“We are in tune with our surroundings. We have instincts. We are so unaccustomed to acknowledging and honouring them that we question them. It’s not magic. There is no illusion. It is what it is.”
Relationships versus Agenda runs May 26 on the Tenth Line north in Erin, featuring Russell, as Epona facilitator, along with Kerr and Ryan. The session runs from 9am to 4:30pm.
Learning to Play Again: Essentials for Life runs May 27 at the same location from 9am to 4:30pm. Zylstra-Savage will join the session to add the creative writing component.
Admission to each workshop is $175. Lunch is $10 or people can bring their own. Snacks will be provided. Yoga, by donation, is offered at 8am.
Space is limited. To register for the workshops contact Bridget Ryan at 519-855-4562 or email equineerin@gmail.com. For more information on the work of Helen Adams Russell visit horsepatter.com.
