Beliefs and Facts

"If people are furnished with the facts, they will be clearer thinkers .... If they are ignorant, facts will enlighten them. If they are mistaken, facts will set them straight.

In the end, truth will out. Won’t it?

Maybe not. Recently, a few political scientists have begun to discover a human tendency deeply discouraging to anyone with faith in the power of information. It’s this: Facts don’t necessarily have the power to change our minds. In fact, quite the opposite. In a series of studies in 2005 and 2006, researchers at the University of Michigan found that when misinformed people, particularly political partisans, were exposed to corrected facts in news stories, they rarely changed their minds. In fact, they often became even more strongly set in their beliefs. Facts, they found, were not curing misinformation. Like an underpowered antibiotic, facts could actually make misinformation even stronger.”

The above quotation comes from an article published in the Boston Globe on July 12th (2010).

Although the article concerns itself primarily with political beliefs, any horse person who was involved in the early days of the barefoot “wars” or has participated on message boards where hot-button issues like bits, horse slaughter, wild horse round-ups, or even equine nutrition are discussed, will recognize this syndrome that can be summed up in the statement: “Don’t confuse me with the facts -- I’ve made up my mind.”

Voltaire said: “Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities.”

So, I think it is important to examine our beliefs. Whether or not we are aware of them, they affect our feelings and our actions. And, if facts -- even cold, hard, “scientific” ones -- do not have the power to make us change our beliefs, what does? What makes us change how we think, feel, and act?

I think that certain kinds of experiences can be transformative. For example, there are numerous accounts of people being completely changed by near-death experiences . In being with horses, a “Pasture Moment” (as defined and illustrated in this blog entry:http://wordsabouthorses.blogspot.com/2010/08/pasture-moments.html) can be such a transformative experience. In a Pasture Moment, Horse (finally!) breaks through the layers of false knowledge, misguided intentions, and faulty beliefs to which Human has clung; beliefs that have numbed us, blinded and deafened us to the truth of what’s going on right here, right now.

Unexamined, unconscious beliefs -- like those formed in childhood, for example -- are extremely powerful. They profoundly affect our attitudes, feelings, and actions without our even realizing it. They close us off to the present moment. They are static in the invisible lines of communication connecting us to the living world around us. When we bring our unconscious beliefs into conscious awareness we set ourself free to be fully in the reality of here and now. We are able to hear and see more clearly.

How do we do that? How do we make the unconscious conscious?

There are LOTS of ways, including various forms of meditation, martial arts, yoga, taichi, qi gong... to name just a few. One very powerful practice, heart rhythm meditation, is described in the book “Living from the Heart” by Puran and Susanna Bair. “Your unconscious mind directs your heart to beat and adapts the heart’s rhythm to your physical and emotional condition. When you become aware of your heartbeat, you will directly witness a behavior of your unconscious. Some of what was unconscious becomes conscious, and a doorway opens between your conscious and unconscious mind. Through this portal you can glimpse the power of your vast unconscious and begin to harness it to your purpose.”

By setting our intention to become aware of each movement, each thought, each heartbeat, and/or each breath for a certain stretch of time, we bring previously unconscious activity into conscious awareness. If we make awareness a regular practice, we become better at it. It begins to permeate all aspects of our lives -- including our being with horses. Our unconscious beliefs begin to rise to the surface and make themselves known.

We can help the process along by inquiring of ourselves: “What do I believe about horses? What do I believe about relationship between Horse and Human?

Whenever we feel ourselves “resisting” (getting angry, upset, irritated, etc.) in response to something that Horse is doing -- we can, instead of acting out or seething in righteous indignation, take a deep breath and ask ourselves: “What (unconscious) expectation is not being met?” What belief is being threatened?”

We can ask ourselves the same questions when we feel ourselves “resisting” (by getting upset, angry, defensive, etc.) or “attacking” someone who presents us facts about “hot button” horse-related things and activities like bits, riding, shoeing, round pens, etc. for example. Our angry, defensive reaction could well be a sign that beliefs are being threatened, that the foundation of our certainty is being undermined.

What are my beliefs about horses, about their needs, their abilities, their intelligence, their feelings? What are my beliefs about riding, about a human’s rights and responsibility toward horses? Where did those beliefs originate?

And, most important: Are those beliefs of mine borne out by the Facts, by the living reality of this Horse with me right now?

Belief and Fact

“They were so strong in their beliefs that there came a time when it hardly mattered what exactly those beliefs were; they all fused into a single stubbornness.” Louise Erdrich

“If people are furnished with the facts, they will be clearer thinkers .... If they are ignorant, facts will enlighten them. If they are mistaken, facts will set them straight.

In the end, truth will out. Won’t it?

Maybe not. Recently, a few political scientists have begun to discover a human tendency deeply discouraging to anyone with faith in the power of information. It’s this: Facts don’t necessarily have the power to change our minds. In fact, quite the opposite. In a series of studies in 2005 and 2006, researchers at the University of Michigan found that when misinformed people, particularly political partisans, were exposed to corrected facts in news stories, they rarely changed their minds. In fact, they often became even more strongly set in their beliefs. Facts, they found, were not curing misinformation. Like an underpowered antibiotic, facts could actually make misinformation even stronger.”

The above quotation comes from an article published in the Boston Globe on July 12th (2010). Here’s the link: http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/ideas/articles/2010/07/11/how_facts_backfire/?p1

Although the article concerns itself primarily with political beliefs, any horse person who was involved in the early days of the barefoot “wars” or has participated on message boards where hot-button issues like bits, horse slaughter, wild horse round-ups, or even equine nutrition are discussed, will recognize this syndrome that can be summed up in the statement: “Don’t confuse me with the facts -- I’ve made up my mind.”

Voltaire said: “Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities.”

So, I think it is important to examine our beliefs. Whether or not we are aware of them, they affect our feelings and our actions. And, if facts -- even cold, hard, “scientific” ones -- do not have the power to make us change our beliefs, what does? What makes us change how we think, feel, and act?

I think that certain kinds of experiences can be transformative. For example, there are numerous accounts of people being completely changed by near-death experiences . In being with horses, a “Pasture Moment” (as defined and illustrated in this blog entry: http://wordsabouthorses.blogspot.com/2010/08/pasture-moments.html) can be such a transformative experience. In a Pasture Moment, Horse (finally!) breaks through the layers of false knowledge, misguided intentions, and faulty beliefs to which Human has clung; beliefs that have numbed us, blinded and deafened us to the truth of what’s going on right here, right now.

Unexamined, unconscious beliefs -- like those formed in childhood, for example -- are extremely powerful. They profoundly affect our attitudes, feelings, and actions without our even realizing it. They close us off to the present moment. They are static in the invisible lines of communication connecting us to the living world around us. When we bring our unconscious beliefs into conscious awareness we set ourself free to be fully in the reality of here and now. We are able to hear and see more clearly.

How do we do that? How do we make the unconscious conscious?

There are LOTS of ways, including various forms of meditation, martial arts, yoga, taichi, qi gong... to name just a few. One very powerful practice, heart rhythm meditation, is described in the book “Living from the Heart” by Puran and Susanna Bair. “Your unconscious mind directs your heart to beat and adapts the heart’s rhythm to your physical and emotional condition. When you become aware of your heartbeat, you will directly witness a behavior of your unconscious. Some of what was unconscious becomes conscious, and a doorway opens between your conscious and unconscious mind. Through this portal you can glimpse the power of your vast unconscious and begin to harness it to your purpose.”

By setting our intention to become aware of each movement, each thought, each heartbeat, and/or each breath for a certain stretch of time, we bring previously unconscious activity into conscious awareness. If we make awareness a regular practice, we become better at it. It begins to permeate all aspects of our lives -- including our being with horses. Our unconscious beliefs begin to rise to the surface and make themselves known.

We can help the process along by inquiring of ourselves: “What do I believe about horses? What do I believe about relationship between Horse and Human?

Whenever we feel ourselves “resisting” (getting angry, upset, irritated, etc.) in response to something that Horse is doing -- we can, instead of acting out or seething in righteous indignation, take a deep breath and ask ourselves: “What (unconscious) expectation is not being met?” What belief is being threatened?”

We can ask ourselves the same questions when we feel ourselves “resisting” (by getting upset, angry, defensive, etc.) or “attacking” someone who presents us facts about “hot button” horse-related things and activities like bits, riding, shoeing, round pens, etc. for example. Our angry, defensive reaction could well be a sign that beliefs are being threatened, that the foundation of our certainty is being undermined.

What are my beliefs about horses, about their needs, their abilities, their intelligence, their feelings? What are my beliefs about riding, about a human’s rights and responsibility toward horses? Where did those beliefs originate?

And, most important: Are those beliefs of mine borne out by the Facts, by the living reality of this Horse with me right now?

Some "Words About People" by Reno of Stonebrook

Reno of Stonebrook, Chief Trainer of the “Communicating with Horses” project, on his 20th birthday pled for peace with human beings. In celebration of the occasion, he gave his guests an impressive demonstration of his teaching, whose consistent nonviolent beginning is absolutely unheard of. The text of his talk, “Dominance: Achieving Appropriate Understanding between Man and Animal”, follows:

“The art that has led and assembled you here, my esteemed ladies and gentlemen, the art of communicating with horses, is, for me, to make the best possible use of the human being’s natural desire to be near us horses.

Peaceful coexistence, trust, and harmony with our two-legged friends unfortunately remains for us horses mostly a dream, because the human’s unpredictable nature all too often evades our control, an evasion, which we all know leads to constant altercation, and endangers us both in body and in spirit. Under such circumstances relaxed interaction with one another is hardly possible.

We are able to put this age old problematical relationship on a completely new foundation. The training system developed and taught in our Project marks a quantum leap in the relationship between man and animal. It is now up to us to bring the eternal battle to an end. With simple rules that can be understood by everyone, rules learned by observing the human’s desire for natural hierarchy, the relationship can proceed appropriately and free of conflict. In this, the physical and psychological health of our human partner remains in the forefront for me.

I will now show you a sample lesson with one of my human students. This formerly very self-willed woman, now works happily and responds to the most minimal aids of her trainer. Much self-discipline and patience are required to make humans into reliable partners. But they reward our effort to train and shape them with lifelong loyalty and devotion.

To begin with, a gentle but unmistakable dominance exercise -- moving backward:

Yielding backward through the corner increases the pressure -- if the human is cooperative, she may relax.

Notice the contented expression on the woman’s face and the way her hands follow the bend that has been presented to her.

**************************************

Then the trot -- Good to see the relaxed balance of hands and whip....

..... which will be become even more differentiated in canter because the dynamic leaping movement demands a high degree of collection. The upper body is freely erect, the human is evenly bent, and carries herself. Concentrated work conducted in a playful spirit.

All of this has nothing to do with dressage as the term is commonly used, but depends entirely and solely on very precise body language.

Life in a human horde is characterized primarily by competition and strife. As pack hunters, humans require a clear hierarchy for their well-being. Only unconditional obedience assures survival in the group. That is why the human being requires a truly established dominance structure, a high-ranking being whom he can follow. I achieve this lead position solely through my physical bearing and the energy I radiate, which right from the start permits no confusion to arise about who has the say here.

Every single movement of my body becomes information for this woman. She has learned to read the language of my body and to dance precisely to my instructions. This fine, sensitive work renounces every mechanical influence, which would only disturb the harmonious balance. The human remains totally free in her movements. We play with one another. A soft lifting of my fore hoof to signal Levade is answered with the woman's prompt yielding of her hip. Two dancers in perfect harmony.

Lightening fast gestures raise her attentiveness to the most subtle body signals....

... so that we incidentally move up into High School

Even during simple loosening exercises I stay true to my ground rule: With greatest inner peace, act impulsively!

Here the woman has ignored my rank. Energetically and from dynamically flexed haunches I leap forward to defend my space.

The frontal confrontation immediately puts the upstart back in her place. Her diagonal posture signals that she will soon submit.

As soon as she does, I let her come. In such moments it is important not to let oneself act out in anger, because the human cannot understand these emotions and will become confused. We do not want to intimidate the human but rather help him to find himself, and unfold his very promising abilities accordingly.

There is hardly a more uplifting moment: Full of trust my human woman hugs the neck of her partner.

The natural rank order is back in evidence. The human gives his love and trust to the one who dominates, who projects strength even in critical situations. Precise, clear, unambiguous, and dominant behavior, the projection of one’s own presence (while abstaining from physical force) -- those are the qualities that instill respect in humans. Once the dominance question is settled, the human will feel safe and confident when he is with us, in accordance with the laws of the horde in nature. Instead of fighting, he will carry out his assignments quietly, relaxed, and happily.

We horses must learn! If we act according to clear training principles, it is very simple to live in peace with humans. Thank you."

About the author: Reno of Stonebrook has always been a horse on a "mission" and possessed of a certain awareness and talent for getting a message across. To Imke Spilker, he seems almost like a kind of Guru, as concerned about other horses as he is about human beings, when he sees the need for clarification. He demonstrates to other horses how they can conquer a problem, be it in the arena or in the wild. He also gladly instructs human beings. His ongoing assignment to Imke is "pass the message on", which Imke strives to do as well as she can through the book of the Empowered Horses and other writing, as well as photos, and seminars.

This article was provided to me by Imke Spilker. It first appeared in the German publication Freizeit im Sattel in April of 1998 at a time when "dominance" was a hot topic among horse people. The translation is mine. Photos by Gegenlicht.

As always, your comments and questions are most welcome.

Ask the Expert

For those of you who are not subscribers or regular readers of Lynne Gerard's wonderful "Journal of Ravenseyrie", Lynne's March 8th, 2010 entry is a back-and-forth between Imke Spilker and me. Here's a link: "Ask the Expert"

I hope to have some words about horses for this blog soon. Thank you for being out there.

Beyond Words

More than two months have passed since I’ve written anything for this blog, or even for my own journal. In November and early December there were unanticipated family responsibilities that took up the time I usually saved for writing. But, even when I had done what I had to do and I found time to write again, I could not find the words I needed. Somewhere on my hard drive are 8 or 10 half-finished drafts of entries for this blog. So far I have not been able to complete any of them. It isn’t exactly writer’s block. There are lots of words on those pages. But as I re-read them, I find them..... irrelevant ... to what I really want to say.

What I would most like to be able to express is what it feels like for me to be with horses these days... what it feels like to connect with a horse, to hear him, to know her in this moment. But that experience, or rather, those fleeting, evanescent experiences that land like butterflies in the midst of our everyday interactions, defy my ability to capture them. The moment I try to put them into a pen of words, they escape, they disappear.... and leave me wondering if they ever really existed.

By its very nature, heart-to-heart connection is beyond words; the experience is richer, deeper, more multifaceted and multidimensional than words, mere symbols of “the thing itself”, can ever be.

Still, some writers, some poets, have found words to give others a sense of experience-beyond-words. Rumi was one of them. So, I’ll borrow his words -- which were not about horses -- to give a sense of what I’m struggling to say about what being with horses is like for me these days. (All quotations are from “The Illuminated Rumi”, translations and commentary by Coleman Barks.)

“Out beyond ideas of wrong-doing and right-doing there is a field.

I’ll meet you there.

When the soul lies down in that grass

the world is too full to talk about.

Ideas, language, even the phrase “each other” doesn’t make any sense.”

******

“There was a dawn I remember when my soul heard something from your soul.

I drank water from your spring and felt the current take me.”

*******

“Yesterday at dawn

my friend said, ‘how long will this unconsciousness go on?

You fill yourself with the sharp pain of love rather than its fulfillment.’

I said, ‘But I can’t get to you!

You are the whole dark night, and I am a single candle.

My life is upside down because of you.’

The Friend replied,

‘I am your deepest being.

Quit talking about wanting me.....’ ”

“Friend, there’s a window that opens from heart to heart, and there are ways of closing it completely,

not a needle’s eye of access. Open or shut, both ways are sometimes appropriate.

The deepest ignorance is not to know about this window...”

******

“You’ve heard it said there’s a window that opens from one mind to another.

But if there’s no wall, there’s no need for fitting the window, or the latch.”

******

...But for the way we have to go, words are no preparation.

There’s no getting ready other than grace...”

******

“From the hundreds of times I lost the connection, I learn this: your fragrance brings me back. Inside that I become a feast day with aloeswood burning, the pure empty sky around the moon. Then I make promises. I break them. And same as before, I try to find you by thinking and reading about finding. No help there!”

As Barks writes in his commentary on the above quotation: “..... Words and images can never give the experience. .... The dis-connection Rumi speaks of here, everyone understands. The re-connection.... can only be lived.”

******

“Let yourself be silently drawn by the stronger pull of what you really love.”

*******

“I have no more words. Let the soul speak with the silent articulation of a face.”

Silly Love Songs

Do you sing to horses ?

I do...

At least, I sing to the horses in my family, the ones I know well. I don’t think I’ve ever inflicted my singing voice on a new acquaintance.

I sing when I’m cleaning stalls, when I’m picking manure in the paddocks, when I’m mixing feed.... and occasionally I’ll sing a song especially for the herd, or to a particular horse. “Happy Birthday” for example. Or, this happy, upbeat song (“My Girl”) from the Temptations that I sometimes sing to Desna to let her know how much I like her:

“I've got sunshine

on a cloudy day.

When it's cold outside I've even got the month of May.

I guess you'd say

What can make me feel this way?

My girl (my girl, my girl)

Talkin' 'bout my girl (my girl).”

And there’s “Your Song” by Elton John and Bernie Taupin, snatches of which I sometimes sing to the herd (with particular emphasis on the last line):

“ And you can tell everybody

this is your song...

It may be quite simple, but now that it’s done,

I hope you don’t mind, I hope you don’t mind

that I put down in words

how wonderful life is while you’re in the world...”

Sometimes I just hum the tune that happens to be buzzing around in my head. Sometimes I sing old folk songs (mostly English, but also sometimes German ones). Sometimes simple children’s songs like “Row, Row, Row Your Boat” or “Glory to the Mountain” are on the program, and, in season, carols. Sometimes I find a song that perfectly expresses how I’m feeling at the moment. And sometimes, I pick a song -- or a fragment of a song -- just to say “I love you.”

As I was mucking the other day, I got to thinking about the songs human beings have created to convey “love”. And I wondered which ones would actually convey “love” to a horse.

Many so-called love songs are really more about the singer's need and desire than love. The lyrics are some variation of “I want you, I need you, I can’t live without you, don’t leave me ‘cause I’ll die.”

Mmm. That leaves me pretty cold. You “love” me because I satisfy a need of yours? What happens to your “love” if I stop meeting your needs? What happens to me?

But, those sentiments are not so different than the fickle feelings some human “horse lovers” have toward horses, are they? As long as the horse meets the human's needs... the horse is wonderful. When he no longer does, because he is too old,or too slow, or lame, or too small for the human who has become bigger and taller... he is sold, discarded, replaced by a younger, faster, stronger, abler new “love.” That kind of “love” is, as Bob Dylan wrote, “just a four-letter word”. It is certainly not an expression of devotion or affection.

Figuring that horses don’t like those superficial,whiney, supremely selfish “ I need you” “love” songs any more than I do, they are not on my playlist, nor in my performance repertoire.

The love songs I sing to the horses express feelings more like the ones in Billy Joel’s “Just the Way You Are”:

“Don't go changing, to try and please me,

you’ve never let me down before...

Don't imagine you're too familiar

And I don't see you anymore.

I wouldn't leave you in times of trouble.

We never could have come this far...

I took the good times, I'll take the bad times

I love you just the way you are ......

..........

....I said I love you, that's forever.

And this I promise from the heart:

I could not love you any better

I love you just the way you are."

Unconditional acceptance, loyalty, and devotion are expressed in that song. Imagine having someone feel that for you. Doesn’t it feel good? Isn’t it soothing to your soul?

Of course, it is not the lyrics that are important... or even the act of singing that counts. It is the feeling that is trying to manifest, the emotion that wants to move into action.

It’s not so much what is done, but the spirit in which it is done. Any action can be tainted by anger, resentment, by apathy or inattention.

And, even the most ordinary actions and gestures -- grooming, trimming hooves, feeding -- can become extraordinary when they done out of love, with an open, listening heart.

On one of his audio tapes Deepak Chopra told a true story that has stayed with me for many years. After all this time, I’m vague on the exact details, but here’s the gist: There was a research lab in which some rabbits were being experimented upon. The rabbits were supposed to die from the treatment they were receiving, and most of them did. But there was one group of rabbits that was thriving despite the poison they were being fed. The experiment was checked and re-checked. Procedures were being followed to the letter... The only difference was a lab assistant. This woman loved the rabbits in her care. Before every meal -- meals which contained the poison that was supposed to kill them -- she would hold the rabbits for a while, cuddle them, express her love for them. Then she would feed them the poison.... and instead of dying, the rabbits thrived.

It’s not the action alone that counts. It is the spirit in which it is done.

It has become part of my practice when I go to the horses to follow the instructions of a book title I saw a few months ago before I do anything else. The book title was: “First, Let Love In”.

I do my best to let love in ... and to remember those thriving rabbits I heard about so long ago.

I can’t completely control poisons in the air we breathe, the water we drink, and the food my horses (and I) eat.... but I can open my heart. I can put my love for the horses into everything I do ... cleaning their living space, mixing their feed, trimming their hooves, touching them. And, as part of that, when the spirit moves me, I can sing to them... maybe Paul McCartney's "Silly Love Songs":

“...Some people think the world has had enough of silly love songs.

I look around me and I see it isn't so.

Some people want to fill the world with silly love songs

What’s wrong with that?

I’d like to know...

‘cause here I go again..

I love you...”

:-)