May I introduce to you two little mustangs: one brown and one black.
Their names are Hwin and Bree, right out of the Narnia story The Horse and His Boy.
This isn’t my first rodeo with mustangs, though I will admit that these two are a bit of a handful.
In 2013, I adopted my first mustang, a reddish- brown fellow with a blaze and four white feet, and a multi-colored main and tail. Yes, you read that correctly. His tail is a dirty sort of white with black in it, and his mane has strands of copper running throughout.
Winchester, or Chester for short, is stubborn as a one-eyed mule and only believes himself half a horse. The other half he believes is decidedly human. He will try your coffee, a crumb of bread, even your clothes if you let him. And he is so friendly! But it took many months of training to teach him who is really the boss around here and sometimes I don’t think he has the lesson memorized yet.
I adopted him from the Bureau of Land Management in Oregon fresh from the wilderness. He had never worn halter, bridle, or saddle, and had to learn that humans offer good things to eat like carrots and sweet apples.
They say the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach. Never was that more true of any horse than of Chester!
And he has a belly to prove it.
But while he liked to try new treats at an early age, it hasn’t been so easy with Hwin and Bree. They have had to learn that carrots and alfalfa pellets are something worth being pet for.
Working with animals is such an incredible learning experience for both sides. And this is where communication is so very important. They cannot understand a single word we say at the outset of our relationship. They absolutely can learn words in time for they are extremely intelligent, but they understand something else much more clearly; something we do all the time without realizing it.
Our body language.
Animals speak with their body language all the time, only we humans usually don’t “see” this.
What is kind of funny is that on the other side of the coin we are also constantly speaking with our body language, and the animals do “see” this.
And they respond best to a quiet, gentle firmness.
This makes them feel they are in the presence of a good leader and are therefore secure, especially emotionally.
Emotional stability is exyou tremely important for a horse, probably more for a mare than a gelding as mares generally tend to be more dramatic.
Currently, my husband and I are working to convince Hwin, the leader of the two wild ones, that being pet while eating hay is not a dangerous occupation. It is such a delight to see her eyes calm down as she realizes we are not there to hurt her and she begins to accept us.
As we learn to communicate— without words— the fact that security, kindness, and contentment may be found in our presence, Hwin and Bree will become our friends and we will be able to communicate together.
But if they ever start actually speaking words, I’m going to mount up and go looking for Narnia!
Betty Simpkins
