Extraordinary perception with
our equines may not seem abnormal to the average horse owner, since we all share distinct, memorable moments with our mounts.
But, to claim these special relations as extrasensory may cause many equestrians to reconsider. Nevertheless, there are different
levels of communication, and some humans are more perceptive than others, as are horses.
The first step in becoming mentally
attuned to communicate with your equine is to have an open attitude to be perceptive, to not limit mentally the horse to being
merely a horse. Few books have been written on the subject of communicating with animals, but those published endorse one
another. Kinship With All Life, by J. Allen Boone, Psychic Pets, by Joseph Wylder, and Touch Your Horse,
by Tricia Douglas are three that describe well the human thought pattern. All maintain that a restructuring of values when
considering the equine, or any animal, is paramount for broadening and enhancing communication.
Allen Boone says that he had to
transcend habits of his intellect and break down his own ego to learn how to communicate openly from his mind to his pet/animals
mind. This process took years to develop. It began with a heightened awareness of his animal's ability and then through continual
observation of its body language. The animal only operates, as far as we know, from innate motivations; therefore, he respected
those qualities. Perhaps these are qualities that humans have left by the wayside.
Training or educating an animal
is an exercise of either developing and working with the animal's instinctual capabilities, or stifling them. Boone writes
that rather than making an animal a slave, an educated trainer uses insight and intuition to help the animal make use of its
thinking faculties. (Linda Tellington-Jones of T.E.A.M. suggests this, too) An event horse must be educated in order to defend
its own life cross-country, as well as that of its rider. Similarly, a spectator can observe whether a dressage test is occurring
automatically or being ridden from stride to stride. The former obviously has spark, energy; the latter is mundane, boring
and dull.
Training the equine requires never
speaking down to it as if its a lower life form. To do this is a direct insult to the animals presence. Boone suggests addressing
the animal as a fellow expression of life: sense its "mental atmosphere", discover where it is "coming from". Many animal
psychics report that from a horse's point of view one should treat the animal with continual love and respect.
There is a reason each horse behaves
as it does - none is alike. Perhaps as a horse owner, you may wonder why you and your horse were brought together? Like dogs
and dog owners, the equine and its guardian begin to look alike. Physically illustrating this is the reaction a stiff rider
brings to his horse: its movement becomes stifled like that of its rider, compared to a relaxed rider moving fluently with
his horse. But, Boone would ask (trying to transcend the physical level), how we are related to our pets as individual expressions
of the life force in a highly intelligent universe.
Psychics believe life is an energy force which passes
through physical forms to thoughts and feelings - which are also considered energy: life force. Tricia Douglas, a psychic
from California who specializes in extrasensory perception with equines, explains this universal, nonverbal, and invisible
relationship in her book Touch Your Horse. By always approaching your horse positively, that is, not talking down to
it, Douglas says that you give your horse a positive charge of life's supporting energy (some consider this love). In this
transaction, a bond is created
between the two that sparks the Divine Laws of eternal
life. This divine spark is referred to by many as a God-presence. "Your horse is aware of this gift", Douglas continues, "and
the two of you grow together from the splendid contact that is made. It is a blending of desires and goals between the two
life forces." Douglas believes that man rarely respects his own spirit self, therefore it is difficult for man to relate to
his horse spiritually.
