Exploring the Origins of Horse Whispering

Posted on November 2, 2009 by Jerrilee.
Categories: training.

photo of Nevzorova & horse courtesy,Lydia Nevzorova

The phrase ‘horse whisperer’ is actually an evolved term, having roots in the 1800′s. Back at the turn of the 19th century remote agrarian districts made the change from oxen to draft horses in their efforts to gain greater efficiency and speed when farming. The downside of replacing their oxen? Their vulnerability when using the massive bodied, often belligerent, horse. Learned horsemanship skills became a priority, creating a new industry of horse tamers and trainers. Answering the call for such an industry was a collection of horsemen in Scotland who formed a group called The Society of the Horseman’s Word. The Society unified blacksmiths, horse tamers and dealers, then set fees and restrictions and promised exclusivity of knowledge, enticing the public to turn to their members first. Their claim was that their members were ‘gifted’ over and above the traditional horse trainers for they possessed Scottish equine ‘supernatural’ powers. Members of the Word, were taught various incantations and rituals claiming to have special magic that controlled wild, or vicious horses. Watching Society members fix their recalcitrant horses, farmers invented the name ’horse-witches’ to describe the way Society members circled round a horse , shook enchanted objects, and whispered chants to bring out the goodness in the horses. Eventually, through the decades, the phrase ‘horse-witch’ became ‘horse whisperer’ since it more accurately described the way the men would whisper into the ears of the horses. The popularity of the Society of the Horseman’s Word escalated and spread throughout Scotland and into parts of England, eventually moving off the continent and securing the phrase ‘horse whisperer’ as a coveted endorsement of a tamer’s talent. At the turn of the 20th century, as in the turn of the 19th century, the horse, like the oxen, was replaced by the tractor which began to dominate farm work and by cars which began to dominate roads. The Society of the Horseman’s Word disbanded in the 1920′s, replaced by the powerful auto industry.

There are many actual instances of exceptional horsemen down the centuries. Alexander the Great, for instance, and Xenophon the horse master, both from the time period of 300-355 BC are well known names among horse people. A lesser known talent, during the mid 1600′s, was a young Neapolitan called Pietro. Young Pietro is one of the early circus-type entertainers who traveled his country with his horse. Their story began when Pietro encountered a wild barb horse named Mauraco. Already an abused and angry animal, Mauraco’s indominability captivated Pietro who decided he must find a way to tame the horse. Using techniques rarely spoken of, and never publicly seen, Pietro trained his horse through friendship, offering rewards rather than beatings for incentives. In addition, he declined the use of saddle and bridle and trained the horse to do tricks instead. His novel approach was to have the horse perform the acts indicated by the movements of his hand. It was not long before Mauraco was completely reformed, accepting any command Pietro gave him. Pietro traveled the European continent giving exhibitions with his beloved companion. Some of the public favorites in the performances were watching Mauraco sit, kneel, lie down, jump through a series of two and three hoops, and even take a glove from Pietro and give it to someone he pointed to in the audience. Bystanders were amazed at the performance of the brilliant horse controlled only by the voice and hand of its master. Pietro was elated to demonstrate his discovery that kindness, not cruelty, had won the horse’s respect. But not everyone was amused. When Pietro and Mauraco performed in the city of Arles, France, his show terrified the townspeople. Watching him control his horse with the wave of a hand and a whisper in the ear was not training to them, but ‘black magic’. Pietro was not a hero, but an evil sorcerer, and his horse was accused of being possessed with demons. Sadly, both horse and master were burned to death on the spot.

Horsemen such as Pietro, Alexandre the Great, and Xenophon, gained noteriety as a result of their quiet approach to horse training, their preference to capture the co operation and trust of the horse through encouragement, rather than exploiting the horse’s fear of danger. Xenophon was the first to write a book explaining the path of encouragement/reward training for horses, making his work a primary origin of horse whispering. Although reward training is not necessarily horse whispering, it clearly contradicted the barbaric tendencies typically employed for training animals and endorsed the empathic approach, and this empathic approach is an element of horse whispering. Furthermore, Xenophon advised riders to “match the strength and boldness of the horse to the logic of human intent”, to “capture their willingness and to make them happy to work”.

Today’s horse whisperers have more recognizable names. Many may remember Alois Podhajski, or Nuno Oliveira, Tom Dorrance, or Buck Brannaman. The accomplishments of these riding masters prove their art, but they have also left a legacy of valuable articles and books preserving their stories and training work.

Another favorite whisperer, Monty Roberts, wrote in his book, “The Man Who Listens To Horses”: “A good trainer can hear a horse speak to him. A great trainer can hear him whisper.” Monty, whose discovery that horses have their own body language which they use to communicate between themselves, used this ‘language’ to assist the horses in understanding what humans wanted from them. Allowing the horse to understand his handler through its own body language bridged the gap between the human and the equine, creating a common ground that connected the horse straight to the human intent. Defining the text of horse whispering this way clears away much of its mystique. It also places a new burden upon the general horse owner of today to move and expand beyond just a typical grunting, reactionary saddle buff and instead to try to connect with their animal. Most certainly this is what the noble Pietro was trying to share with the world through his work with his special horse Mauraco.