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The Language of Horses
Posted 10:09 PM, October 15, 2007, by lonyaiThumping of horses, twitching of ears, the tha-bump of a horse heartbeat--these are all impressions of the first day of the wonderful Horses and Medicine Class. Somehow, within minutes, we transformed from Stanford Medical Students learning embryology from slides and handouts to Rancheros surrounded by 350 horses and corrals. We had to take a leap of faith, not just in crossing a mile long dirt road, but in accepting the underlying assumption of the class: That the horses were our patients.
It may appear odd that a few hundred pound, four-legged, hairy and somewhat smelly creature would be associated with the vulnerable patient who walks in to the doctor's office, but there is much to be said for the association. What was most striking to me was the window I saw into the world of the horses and, in particular, to their language. Our first assignment was to observe the horses as they came galloping down from the hill to the corral. Through their "language" they paired up and slowly reestablished their hierarchy--recreating their community in a new location. They used a wide toolbox of nonverbal signals including ear placement, nudging and distance to guide, for instance, Dream to a specific place. Just through orientation of the ears, they could describe to their fellow horses whether they were fearful, calm and inquisitive, or angry and aggressive.
To me, this communication was curious and opened up a pandora's box of questions regarding horse communication. I also realized that to be their true health advocate--as I would be as their physician--I would need to understand this language and, ideally, learn to speak it. While I was not about to start twitching my ears in hopes that Dream would realize that I was "calm and inquisitive" (but not fearful, or worse yet, angry), I did begin to learn how Dream communicated with her fellow horses.
With this, I look forward to my continued excursions to the satellite campus at Webb Ranch.
Anna
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Comment by: sheila at October 22, 2007 08:43 AM
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Well, don't worry, Anna. My "ears" (metaphorically speaking, of course) have been twitching enough for the both of us to meet any criterion there, should one have ever been set. "They" have not been reacting to anything fear-inspiring nor anger-making nor space-protecting. Rather, "they" are responding with attentive curiosity (and,I admit, some nervous energy, too)to the stimulation created by the class dynamic of Medicine and Horses.
This experiential exploration of how important nonverbal and intuited communication forms can be - no, ARE - to Relationship has reawakened in me an awareness I came to appreciate many years ago. Simply put, it is the acknowledgement of the interconnectedness that we all share and, on some level,that we all truly desire to honor in our responses to one another. This awareness informs us that in Relationship, no one ever "holds all the cards". Each sentient being has their own unique hand to play and their own unique way of playing it and, when we ALLOW that to occur, we not only honor the relationship we create, we keep the dynamic that informs us alive.
For me, horses have provided a sort of touchstone to that sense of what's real, what's important. Caring so much about how well my relationship is going with this wonderful nonverbal, subtle communicator has made it necessary for me to practice "leaving it at the gate" even when I wasn't aware that was what I was doing. I've had to tune in, open up and fuhgetabowdit!
The discussion we had in class about the 4 modalities of processing information has especialy resonated with me because I know that I now spend waaaaay too much time "in my head". I can only imagine how great the pressure for constant, uninterrupted intellectual process must be on a medical student. In the hindsight of personal experience, I recognize how I have allowed the intense focus on performing the tasks, meeting the schedules, producing the work, making the money (or the grades), etc, etc, has contributed to my gradual and eventual dissassociation from the interaction and exploration of those 3 "other" modalities of learning we explored on Wednesday last. I soooo very much used to employ and enjoy them. However, I eventually stopped honoring my (hard-won) respect for the "intelligence" my body and my intuition and my emotions made available to me, even though I knew (know) that these conduits are integral parts of Who I AM and even though paying attention to them before had served me well. Our class has provided me with the proverbial "kick in the butt" to remember that these gifts wouldn't have been put "in the tool box" if they didn't have some significant power to serve me.
Onward,
sheila