Actually, they do! But you must know how to listen, watch and interpret! That is called non-verbal communication, an important part of the lessons learned at Centaur Stride Therapeutic Horseback Riding.

Many of our riders are non-verbal or have poor communication skills.

Effective communication is key to forming relationships, and body language sometimes speaks louder than words. A horse is non-judgmental, making it fun to try to figure out what it is telling us.

Students are instructed to watch a horse’s ears, eyes and movements to try to figure out what they are saying. It is both during the groundwork of grooming and leading, and while riding, that they must be observant. It may start out simple with brushing a horse as a rider learns what the horse likes and dislikes.

Whiskey looking up as if to say “ I deserve more hay for that.”

Initially, these actions of the horse must be pointed out to the students, but they quickly learn to watch for clues. These clues transfer to interpersonal skills and again sometimes must be pointed out until the student can interpret them on their own.

It is a bit more difficult to tell it what to do! A horse’s sensory system is said to be much more “sensitive” than a human’s, picking up on cues (hearing, smell, touch, pressure) at a greater level than a human. When we try to give it cues to what we want them to do, we are often giving them too many cues at one time, often contradictory to one another. I always tell my students, “If you give them two cues that are opposites, such as walk on and whoa, at the same time, then they get to choose which one to obey.”

People who ride at our center have something they are eager to talk about and may be interesting to someone else. Teachers and parents report improved participation in writing or talking, usually their experiences at the barn. Sometimes we even hear a child’s first words!

Whiskey was one horse always teaching me things. An Appaloosa quarter horse, he really was a “human whisperer”! Appaloosas have very characteristic eyes. You can see the white sclera all the way around the cornea – the colored or pigmented portion of the eyeball. That makes it very clear when they are rolling their eyes at you! He often gave me that look, as if to say, “do you need help?” He could give an experienced rider a challenge and he could put an arrogant or defiant person right in their place. Most amazing was how he knew he had a person with a disability on his back. He would take steps gingerly and know just how to move to help them maintain their balance.

One of the lessons I will never forget was when we had a rider in a wheelchair due to a traumatic brain injury.

Before her injury, she was an accomplished equestrian, but the injury left her unable to walk or talk, with one side of her body spastic (unable to move voluntarily) and the other side uncoordinated.

She had ridden many times at our center before this day, most often on Whiskey, but this one-day Whiskey refused to go up to the ramp. Nothing we could do would make him get close enough that we could get her on safely. He stood quietly on the other side of the arena just watching us to see what we would do.

We took the portable mounting steps up to him and the instructor got on him. No problems. Our rider could not stand being unsupported but only weighed about 95 pounds. We decided that two people could lift her to the top of the stairs and get her on the horse. When we got her to the steps and stood her up with one person on each side, she immediately climbed those steps like they were not a problem and then in a quick smooth motion we helped her get her leg over the horse. This all happened in less than 5 seconds, and Whiskey stood perfectly still. We all stood there with mouths agape, including her mother. It was more than three years since her injury. Brain injuries obviously have brain damage interfering with the transmission of nerve impulses. When you give her a directive, she would work so hard trying to make something work that all automatic and previously learned pathways were obstructed by the thought processes involved to try to command the body to do something, increasing her spasticity. When she got to the steps, there was no command, she just wanted to get on the horse and used her stored memory to do it without thinking about it. Whiskey just looked at me and rolled his eyes.

Our horses go through extensive training to become therapy horses. I would venture to say that most of that training is for us to learn how to communicate with them!

is president of Centaur Stride. To help the organization continue to help others, send donations to: Centaur Stride, Inc., PO Box 174, Westfield, NY 14787; call to volunteer (716) 326-4318. Visit our website at: www.centaurstride.org and please like and follow our Facebook page: Centaur Stride Therapeutic Horseback Riding facility. Comments can be emailed to: claudiamonroe@centaurstride.org

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