Life at Liberty: What Horses Know
By Razelle Janice Drescher
In 2004, I was having dinner in a restaurant in Petaluma, California and was reading the local entertainment paper when I noticed a very small ad that said “Harmony with Horses.” It announced a 3-hour introductory workshop starting at 8:30 a.m. the next morning. I called the number in the ad and found there was a spot available for me. When I showed up at the ranch the next morning, the horses were in the pasture next to my parked car and I was the only one there. I felt something in that moment that was a combination of anticipation, excitement and something else that wasn’t as familiar to me. It was a feeling of connection to the horses in the pasture, the pasture, the surrounding land and a feeling of ‘possibility.’ It seemed as if I were on the brink of something wonderful.
That day started me on a journey that continues to this day. I have been a Business Coach for many decades. The experience I had that day at that ranch opened the door to my journey with horses that started when I was 7 years old and led me to this moment and beyond.
I immediately saw that horses have a lot to teach us about relationships in general, who’s in charge and what leadership is all about. Because of the wisdom that horses offer us, I incorporated Team Building with Horses into my service offerings as a Business Coach. Horses survive on strong leadership. The leader of a horse herd is responsible for the herd’s survival, but each horse has an important role to play as well. The same is true in the workplace. The leadership model that horses teach has valuable lessons for workplace leadership.
In this post, I am sharing a very personal experience I had early on in my journey that reconnected me with these amazing animals that I have loved since I was very young. The following account was published in the Summer 2009 issue of the Sonoma County Horse Journal.
Recently, I was with my horse Joyful Day (“Joyful”) in the arena. I had been out of town for a couple of weeks and was looking forward to being with her. I love being with Joyful when she is free of equipment so she can make her own choices based on her preferences. She pranced into the arena and I felt an air of anticipation as I removed her halter. I call these times with Joyful play sessions. They are full of collaborative creativity that comes from sharing space and ideas that can be offered by either of us. To start this play session, I decided that the twenty feet around me was my space alone. To communicate that idea to her, I created motion that signaled to her the space was already occupied by me and was not open to her. I formed the message as a clear intention that emanated from my gut, while looking at the twenty foot circle around me. I knew that she understood me when she shot out of that space, running, jumping, twisting in the air, and kicking out her back legs. She looked back at me for what was next. My wish was to now invite her to join me in the twenty foot space that I had defined as mine. With my objective clear, I “opened the door” for her to re-enter that space by creating the intent within myself to receive her into that space. This was accompanied by body language that matched my intention. The body language can be extremely subtle—for example, a slight step back or open arms. Body language alone is not enough. In order for body language to deliver the message, it must be backed up by strength of intention that comes from the gut. Joyful “heard” my communication and responded by trotting right up to me where she waited for my next invitation to play. The intimacy of these moments is palpable. This intimacy is born of the choice made by both parties to be together in the unfolding of an idea.
In order to have an effective “conversation” with Joyful at liberty, I had to learn how to express my idea clearly to her and really mean it from my core. I learned that she would always accurately reflect what my body language and intention were saying. And if I wasn’t getting what I wanted, it was because there was a gap between my idea and the way I was expressing that idea to my horse. Through my experiences with Joyful and other horses at liberty, I was beginning to learn how to clarify what I want and invite others to join me in my adventures.
When I started learning about this work with horses, I was astounded to find out that I wasn’t clear about what I wanted. I discovered this six years ago as I began to learn about liberty work from Christine Cole at Full House Farm in Sebastopol, Ca. Every week I would go for a lesson with her horses at liberty, and she would ask me what I wanted to do with the horses in my lesson that day. I didn’t have very specific ideas about what I really wanted, and found it frustrating to come up blank every time she asked. I had general ideas about being with the horses. I loved being with them. There was no doubt about that. I wanted to learn how to talk with them so they would hear me and respond.
With Christine’s encouragement, patience, and steadfast belief, I discovered that I actually did have more specific thoughts about what I wanted to do with the horses each week. Creating time and space to find my core wishes had a big impact on other areas of my life, as well. I became more in touch with my preferences in every situation: business, personal relationships, or any other sphere.
I am most surprised by how I have learned to become a person who understands what she wants and knows how to receive it with ease. How is it that horses can teach this to people? It’s because you can't make a horse at liberty do anything. They are just too big, too strong, and too free for that. So what's left is the opportunity to speak to a horse using direct, but nonverbal, communication that speaks about the space you occupy. Your motion, most often subtle, creates the conversation. This kind of conversation with the horse can be described as a dance of energy based on motion and intention.
When a horse chooses to join you and respond to your ideas about the space that you are occupying, the door opens to the intimacy and sense of connection that so many people seek with horses—and with people. Learning how to express myself in a way that accurately reflects my intentions has had a big impact on all my relationships and has opened the door to more possibilities than I might have imagined. Horses have taught me how to walk through life, able to receive what my heart desires.
Janice Drescher is a business and life coach who believes in teaching and learning with horses. Janice currently lives in Santa Cruz County, CA and has two horses, Ginni and Queenie. Contact Janice to learn more about how Team Building with horses can empower your work and personal relationships.