Where does Animal Communication Begin and End?
A while ago someone asked me an interesting question about animal communication. They were wondering if it might be able to help with a specific situation in their horses training. The horse in question had learnt to over bend and put their chin on their chest when being ridden as a result of the previous training regime this horse had experienced before this person started working with the horse.
In my understanding, when a horse has experienced training that puts them under stress and pressure, they often do everything they can to relieve themselves from this by working out different ways to evade the pressure. They have an innate coping point, after which they need to find a way to release what they can no longer tolerate. As soon as something reminds them of the pressure they once experienced they default to a learned behaviour to ‘escape the pressure’. This can look like a variety of responses and in this horses case it would habitually duck behind the vertical, to the point of putting their chin on their chest and chomping their teeth. I have seen horses do this where they blub their lips or just hold themselves in, tucked up in their neck. Other horses might choose to cross their jaw, or open their mouth, or speed up, or stop, or poke their tongue out…….there are many ways that the horse might find that offers them some relief in that moment. In a world that respects the horse we wouldn’t see this happening in the first place, and it seems right now we are at the cross roads of more people becoming conscious of this and looking to train in a different way from the get go.
So the question I was asked was did I think animal communication would be able to reverse this behaviour? Which got me thinking a lot about where does animal communication begin and end, what is animal communication and what is body communication, what is regulating through our own body awareness, and ultimately what can we do to help in these situations.
At this point I realised there is quite a varied tool kit I have hidden in my back pocket so to speak, and many possible answers to the question! So in the rest of this post I’ll be exploring some of the ways animal communication could help, and some of the other things to consider and explore as ways to support the horse into feeling more relaxed and happy in the training moments into the future.
With this horse it seems the person is dealing with a learned stress response in the horse, which once triggered will be sending the horses brain ‘offline’ in some sense. What I mean by this is that up to the point where the horse was coping there was connection and communication flowing between the two beings. At the point where the horse was triggered into ‘ah too much pressure’ moment, this flow is altered and the horse is in a different state. Unable to process information in the same way. In my experience I would then be focussing on getting the horse back in their body and connected with me in my body. Which means I need to be aware of what is happening in me in the moments that the changes are taking place. Am I staying in neutral, is my breathing the same as it was before or have I tightened in my chest and have I had a reaction to the horses reaction. What did my thoughts do? Did I start spinning down the path of frustration, oh no its happened again……feeling frustration towards those that created this situation previously…….sad that its happening……..What did my own body do? Did I look down……..have I overbent my own neck………how is my back………am I clenching my jaw…….am I free through my shoulders………is my chest relaxed and open……….
It’s in these moments that we need to be really aware of ourselves and embody an openness to things being different. Aim to have a neutral reaction to the unwanted head tucking that is happening as it can be so easy to end up heading into the energetics that the horse is now in, and following them where we don’t want to be going so to speak. Keeping ourselves open to the connection with the horse however they are showing up, remembering that they are trying their hardest. In these moments our breath and our own energy can make a huge difference to the horse. We can support them by not following them into the stress response, by staying in the neutral and open place and wait for them to come back to us. For the breathing to re synchronise, the energies to come back to each other, and then try again.
From an animal communication perspective a communication session could help explore how the horse feels about being ridden. I would explore this through questions with the horse, by asking the horse how we could help them to feel more relaxed in these situations and then taking the time to listen to what the horse feels could help them. Asking and being open to understanding what might have happened for them previously, giving them space to show us how it is for them. Often being listened to can really help the horse realise that they matter and that the person they are with now wants to do things differently. I would do this type of communication remotely when the horse is resting, by tuning in with them and being with them in the energetic space. Often a lot comes from being in this space with the horse, holding the intention to be with them and offer to listen to whatever they might want to share with us. During this communication I would mostly be listening to the horse, holding an awareness around how they are expressing themselves, what emotions are coming through, is there any physical pain, do they have any spiritual messages for us and is there anything else they wish to share with us.
Gaining insights and understanding from a communication can help understand the horse, and to see where we might be able to help or to do things differently. Then there is the communication that is going on between you and the horse in the moments when you are riding. I touched on this above, as this communication involves your body and self awareness above anything else. In the moments of connection and harmony between you and the horse there will be communication flowing in all senses of what it means to be in communication. So then it could be said that you are ‘using’ animal communication to help, but this would be in the sense of your whole body communication, along with intentions and the energy that you are embodying. This is where NLP sessions with you off the horse could also help to ensure you are open to different outcomes and allowing all possibilities to flow between you and the horse in each moment.
Answering this question really helped to give me insight into many of the different elements involved in the coming together of two beings. How as people we have the opportunity to become aware of what we are doing and how we can support the flow of energy between us, which results in us experiencing deeper connection, flow and more harmony in the relationship between us and the horse, whatever we might be doing together.
I feel like I’ve just skimmed the surface of a complex subject here and if anyone has any thoughts, ideas or experiences of any of what I have talked about I’d love to hear your stories.