October 2008 • VOLUME 38 • © HORSES For LIFE™ Magazine

The truth about backs, language, and who we really are.

With all the talk in "natural horsemanship" circles about learning the horse's language, this aim can never be achieved when it begins and ends with a questionable premise - that a horse enjoys being ridden. In my studies, I have come to the conclusion that horses have learned our language far better and more honestly than we can imagine. This is why all the "new agey" books and teachers are talking about how horses are our mirrors. I'm not talking about horses understanding our spoken language to any great extent, but they are masters at understanding the language that we seem to have forgotten - the language of our actions. As a veteran horse trainer, one of the things that most surprised me to learn was the science of what goes on in a horse's back when it is subjected to a saddle and rider. Sure, I knew that horses occasionally got sore backs and needed treatment or a better fitting saddle, but I certainly didn't understand what goes on each and every time a horse takes someone for a ride.