...My knowledge and practices as a 'horse whisperer' have played an important part in Boo's upbringing. Nurturing a fair, mutually respectful and balanced partnership is the foundation of my work with horses and their owners. I have also learned the importance of creating an environment where horse or dog are allowed freedom of choice; where as individuals, in order to learn, they are given the space and opportunity to make mistakes and develop without fear of being violently punished.

In 'horse whispering' we use the term, 'Make it easy for them to take the favoured route: harder work to take the less favoured.' Neither way involves any kind of force, violence, anger, or frustration; by taking the less favoured route the animal merely has to work harder than if it took the favoured alternative.

A horse that bucks with its first saddle, in my opinion, is rightly entitled to do so; for all the horse knows, derived from instinct, the saddle is considered to be an—albeit rather strange looking but equally terrifying—mountain lion that has just leapt on its back.

A trainer who reacts to this response with violence fuels the situation with anger, which in turn confirms to the horse that this thing on its back is definitely going to hurt; when the trainer beats the horse it inevitably does.

Setting up two routes gives the horse freedom of choice.

Route 1: The horse chooses to stay close, bares the saddle for a second, for which he or she is then rewarded by having the saddle taken off. The horse thinks, "that strange looking thing couldn't possibly be a mountain lion after all; no mountain lion would climb down off its back then gently rub his or her forehead and say, "good boy or girl." Whatever it is, it didn't kill, or even hurt.

Route 2: Buck like mad with the saddle/mountain lion thing on its back and work much harder in the process, before eventually coming to the same conclusion. Whilst stopping to mull the situation over, somewhat tired by its efforts to get rid of the saddle, the strange looking mountain lion is taken off. The horse considers, "whatever it was didn't kill or hurt, but boy, was it hard work finding out.

Some horses learn the easier route more quickly, others choose the harder route for longer.

Understanding the necessity of choice in order to willingly learn and openly make the mistakes that shape us has been a part of not only Boo's development but also my own.

Emily and Boo