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Language of the Tossing Mane
Lynn Olcott discovers how equines can teach educators about communication.
Horses have shared the planet
with us for more than 50 million
years, yet we hardly know them,
according to this new book by Joe
Camp. In The Soul of a Horse, the
author describes how he and his
wife opened their lands, their hearts
and their minds to these amazing
creatures, and learned more than
they ever would have predicted.
Here's the plot. A man is at a turning
point in his life and his work. He
and his wife have property that
includes stalls for horses, but they
have no horses. They buy a horse,
and another and another. Not being
people experienced in the care of
horses, they set out to learn the
basics. They discover that there is
a large and sometimes dangerous
discrepancy between conventional
human perception of proper horse
care and how horses really want and
need to live if they are to be healthy
and strong.
The first Camp horse is Cash, a
surprise birthday present to Joe
from his wife Kathleen. Cash is
a big horse with ideas of his own,
and a mystery past. Cash is the first
horse to choose Joe as his leader.
Then comes Mariah, a dancing Arabian
mare, small and smart with expressive ears.
Next comes Scribbles, a striking looking
paint with deep brown eyes, and Pocket,
another paint and Handsome with his quiet
heart and Skeeter, a horse with a sense of
humor.
Camp believes that we humans erroneously
think of domestic horses as if they are big
dogs. This is incorrect because dogs are
essentially cave dwelling predators like
us. Horses are neither cave dwellers nor
predators. Horses have been carrying
people and their possessions around for
only about three or four thousand years.
Before that, millions of years of wild prairie
genetics gave them wide-angle vision, herd
affinity and a need to run and run and run.
Much of the health and strength of horses
depends on them keeping their blood
circulating vigorously through their bodies.
Standing around in stalls makes them
sluggish and lonely. Our metal shoes make
them lame. Blankets and heat interfere with
their thermostats. High alfalfa diets make
calcium stones in their organs.
The book contains a forward written by
Monty Roberts, the man whose work, skills
and best selling book inspired the film The
Horse Whisperer. Roberts calls Joe Camp
"a man who knows how animals tick and is
a genius at telling their stories." Camp is no
stranger to figuring out how animals think.
He's been doing it for decades. He was the
owner and trainer of a series of dogs named
Benji, the sweet-faced little canines whose
intuitive acting skills delighted viewers of
all ages.
Roberts taught the Camps a horse
care technique called "Join up"
where the horse is given the
opportunity to choose the human in
his life as his leader. Horses operate
out of their reactive brains or their
thinking brains. And yes, horses
can look at life and puzzle out a
cause and effect sort of reasoning
rather well. They are stressed and
uncomfortable away from the herd,
and in the wild, they choose a leader
to trust and follow. Horses still live
wild in parts of Australia, New
Zealand, Mongolia, France, Africa,
the Greek islands, the Bahamas,
Nova Scotia, the Canadian West, the
American West, Virginia and North
Carolina.
Gradually, the Camps learned what
is called in horse circles "the wild
horse model." Their horses are
barefoot and do not live in stalls.
The Camps pay careful attention to
the dynamics of the herd and the
responsibilities of leadership. They
spend time with their horses and
learn their individual languages.
They focus on developing a trusting
relationship with their horses, not
on dominating their horses' will.
It works. In incident after incident
related in the book, horse and human
communicate and everyone wins.
Chapters about the Camp's own horses are
interspersed with chapters from the life of
a wild horse herd. The book contains many
fine photographs, most of them taken by
Kathleen Camp. A clear, engaging writing
style keeps the reader interested in what will
happen next. Joe Camp is an honest writer,
sharing his mistakes and misgivings as well
as the moments of triumph and success.
The Soul of a Horse � Life Lessons From
the Herd
Joe Camp
Harmony Books 2008
$25.95 hardcopy
www.TheSoulofaHorse.com

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