What Do Horses Think About Us?
Image by Elke Klostermann from Pixabay
I wrote my first novel, Biz’s Journey Home, to help people, especially children, understand what horses might think about us and the way we treat them. As a horse owner, mother of an equestrian, owner of a boarding facility, and a certified equine massage therapist, I was around horses and their owners, caretakers, and trainers all the time. Sometimes, I blended into the landscape, so people forgot I was there, and I witnessed what happens when the polish comes off the apple. Some things made my jaw drop.
There really are kind, effective ways to discipline and train horses.
A firm voice, kind hands, and consistency always worked for me. It might take longer to get the results you want, but they are far more long-lasting. And in the end, the relationship between horse and rider is strong because the bond is built on trust — something you will never cultivate with whips.
Over the years, I met wonderful people who treated their horses like members of their families, but the harsh ones broke my heart, and it made me wonder who taught them that behavior was okay. I couldn’t understand why no one stepped in to stop them. I feared that the behavior was pervasive and acceptable in the horse world.
The biggest heartbreak was watching children emulate those adults.
If that message was trickling down from adults, who were seemingly lost causes because the behavior was ingrained, perhaps a new message needed to trickle up from children, and that became my mission. My book, Biz’s Journey Home, which is told from seven perspectives—four humans and three horses—became the mechanism. I wanted people to get right inside the horses’ heads to understand.
I knew from the get-go that children might not be able to change adults.
My goal was simply to plant the seed in their beautiful little minds that those actions were wrong. I hoped enough questions would sprout to make them think twice, so the behavior might decrease, and in a perfect world, cease to exist in future generations.
I was taught that when given a choice, it was important to write about the things you are passionate about because that passion transcends to the reader. I was also taught to dream big, and that is what Biz’s Journey Home is about. I could have created change by talking about my passion on a one-to-one basis, but a book would reach a much larger audience in a shorter period of time. It was a lot of work and quite a journey, but I don’t regret one single second.
What are you passionate about? What ignites your desire for change? How will you get there?
Until next time,
Jean
AKA The Strategic Chicken - Making life’s journey one strategic step at a time.
