This is something we try very hard to avoid in animal communication: Anthropomorphizing. Which, in this context, basically means attributing human emotions and characteristics to the animals we talk to rather than accepting what they show and tell us on its face—whether it matches what we think it should convey or not. But avoiding anthropomorphism can be very difficult at times!
So… with that disclaimer, please excuse me while I ahthropomorphize here:
I had a “riding” lesson with one of my mares yesterday, my Quarter Horse “Corazon,” that left me laughing out loud and feeling most joyful!
But it MAY have been because I was, dum-ta-ta-DUM… ANTHROPOMORPHIZING!
WhatEVER. What happened was SO humorous and fun that I will never forget it. I SO wish I had had a camera to capture the expression on Corazon’s face at a certain moment!
First, you have to understand: I’m going through a whole re-learning process myself, with my two mares (my “girls”), focusing on how to handle this dern lead line that connects me to them when I am working with them on the ground instead of in the saddle. They are great when we are “at liberty,” just hanging out together, or when I’m just hacking about on their back, but sometimes when I have them on a lead line and ask them to do something (like, ahem, walk with me quietly and mannerly over to wherever we’re going), well, sometimes… not so good. I’ve gotten really lazy about this stuff in the last few years because my girls are both so “sweet” and easy to manage (ahem).
So, I am working from the ground yesterday with Corazon, and am clearly confusing her with my handling of the tools at our disposal (a lead line and a wand with a little flag on the end).
Corazon is doing great……. as long as our instructor is handling the tools. But once I take them over…. forget it! Poor Corazon! I can see the confusion on her face when I ask her to change the direction in which she is moving! (And yes, there IS a reason we are doing this work, from the ground instead of from the saddle, but that would need to be spelled out in a whole other blog. Very technical, but important. Blech! Plus, Corazon had a lot of BAD handling in her early years, so we are also working to neutralize that early emotional impact.)
So. We stop the lesson so that LETA can practice “changing hands” with both the lead rope and the wand. Practicing this back-and-forth, back-and-forth thing.
While I am practicing this back-and-forth thing, my trainer steps over in front of Corazon, facing me and energetically blocking my practice movements so that Corazon will not perceive them as being directed toward her. (I thought this was a very smart move on my trainer’s part.)
BUT… and here’s the part I will never forget and WISH I had on camera! As my trainer stepped in front of Corazon, Corazon kind of lowered her head and swivelled it around to the side of my trainer so that she could still see me—like a child peeking out from behind its mother’s aprons! Horses are, by nature, curious creatures, but the expression on her face was one I have never seen on any horse’s face I’ve ever had, in 30 years of horse-ownership! She was SO curious as to what I was doing, and SO eager to understand! She HAD to peek around our trainer to see “What’s UP, Mom?!,” and to know if she was still supposed to be responding to my actions! If she HAD been a kid, her expression could not have been more clear in what she was feeling!
I started belly-laughing out loud. My instructor couldn’t see it, but immediately could FEEL Corazon’s move, and started laughing too! It was knee-slapping funny, at least to the two of us!
So, I guess what I’m saying here is: We must be careful so as not to attribute feelings to our animals that we ourselves (as humans) hold. But MAYBE there are situations where our animals do actually experience emotions that are parallel to our own, and when we witness them and feel them, we should not diminish their impact and importance for that animal! We should appreciate and honor them, and… when appropriate break out into a big guffaw!
For my precious Corazon (which means “heart” in Spanish, by the way, because she has such a huge one), I KNOW that that look on her face yesterday conveyed what anybody else, of any race, breed, or species, would have conveyed: she just wanted to know “WHAT THE HECK IS GOING ON?!”
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