Horses are just as communicative as human beings. If you are not registering any communication from your horse, the fault is yours.
Communicate abilities necessarily reflect thought processes. When you do become capable of communicating with your horse, you will understand his thinking, as he will understand yours.
The horse does not appear to have as detailed or as deep a memory as a human being… although its reaction to any situation depends on its first experience with that situation; subsequent experiences are not remembered. The horse’s brain power does develop as it gets older.
A horse’s thoughts may not be as profound as a human beings’; they are more unidirectional. They are not capable of lateral thinking. This is why it is easier for you to adapt to your horse’s notions than for him to adapt to yours. You can train a horse effectively only if you cross over to his level of mental capacity.
Once you do learn how to reach out to a horse, you will find that his dependence on you goes up sharply. He will be more responsive to you.
When he is like that, you can teach him to do exactly as you want. He will respond to commands and cues so light they may almost be non-existent. Sometimes, you will get the distinct feeling that your horse is actually reading your mind. He starts to reflect your moods: uncertainty, confidence, sorrow, happiness, seriousness, playfulness. The horse is extremely sensitive to your communications, both spoken and unspoken.
In threatening situations, a horse’s natural instinct would be to flee or fight. But when you are with him, he will curb his own instincts and look to you for the way out. Obviously, if you are calm and assured, that is going to go a long way towards helping him maintain his equanimity also.
You can’t reach that level of understanding with your horse without taking some pains. You must be a keen observer and analyst of the actions of horses and the reasons behind their actions. You may not figure out anything the first time, but as you keep persisting, you will soon start reading your horse right. As I mentioned above, it is easier for you to adapt to your horse’s way of thinking, and you need to do that to be able to open all channels of communication with your horse and ensure smooth flow in them.
You can learn a lot from consistent observation of individual horses and horses in herds. You can watch them at work, at play and at rest. You can watch them feeding, and you can watch their herd-related behaviour patterns. Every horse in a herd is given his place and knows all the time where it is. He will almost never attempt to undercut the herd leader’s authority. When you establish dependable channels of intuitive, oral and body language-based communication with your horse, he is acknowledging your superiority on the totem pole. He is even giving you a higher position than his own herd leader. And if you achieve that other form of undefinable communication (you can call it telepathy, for want of a better term) with your horse, you have reached the pinnacle. You are the man, and your horse knows it.
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