Horse in video clip

The horse used in the video clip is a stallion going by the name of Maestro. He is a seven year old Pinto. He was originally backed before but something went terribly awry. The previous owner kindly asked me to re-back him. He was my real first challenge with regards to using the Equine Body Talk concept on such a fearful animal.

In our first session (4 years ago) it took me 4 hours to just touch his shoulder. He was kept in small enclosed paddock on the side of steep hill (10m x40m) with a few other colts including one of his off spring. I think that there were about 4 horses in total. I soon realised that I had to adopt the same herding technique that I successfully used in an arena. It sure did not make it any easier having the other horses in the same enclosure, as Maestro used the other horses as a shield, always doing his best to keep another horse in between himself and me. Remember I was confronting him with his worst possible nightmare, a human being. He had zero trust for humans and I only fully realised this once i got close enough to see a massive scar below his left eye. Then the penny dropped!! His nervous head and skittish behaviour on his left side is evidence that he was on the receiving end of human aggression. However once I was able to touch him and finally catch him to work him in a lunge arena it became a matter of an hour or two before I was riding him. This is completely understandable as the damage to his face was not done from the saddle but from the ground. Whilst in the middle of the arena, if I just flicked my fingers out from a scrunched fist to a straight finger position, Maestro would freak out and gallop around the arena fearing something would happen He was immensely fearful of the hands and when he came up to me, he only came from behind. This indicates that he has identified the dangerous side of a human being, the front side.

It is interesting how quickly a horse can progress once trusts a human. The very same can be said for a person, as it is interesting how quickly a person can progress once they can trust a horse. This is why horses and people have such a natural close bond, we have a lot in common and we can learn from each other everyday. Maestro has taught me the importance of TRUST, therefore he will continue to teach every person he encounters the value and importance of TRUST. A relationship without trust is no relationship at all.

Horse whispering for dummies

Hello and welcome to an initiative to help educate people against the use of force, fear & intimidation towards the horse.

Please do not be offended by the word DUMMIES in the title. Hopefully it got your attention. There is a reason for everything, I promise. The reason why I chose the title horse whispering for dummies is that a person has seriously got to be a dummy if they want to fight an animal that's bigger and stronger than them. The world is developing at such a rapid rate that it has become far easier for people to obtain information that there is always an easier way. Once people realise that a horse is an incredibly astute animal and the master manipulator of body language then they will not have to resort to force, fear or intimidation in order to resolve the issue. Rather than be manipulated and controlled by your horse, rather show your horse that you have become a wise leader by being an incredibly observant body language viewer.

The horse is naturally a submissive prey animal that has helped millions of people on earth, in countless ways..... How have we contributed to their existence? Have we made it any easier for them to understand the concept of pressure through utilising our incredible technology of bits, whips and spurs? Or are we still using outdated, western and conventional methods of breaking in horses? Do we still actually break in horses? Unfortunately the answers are all yess yess and yess again....

Surely the aim with horses is to have fun? Or not, please help me out here, I may be completely off the mark. I have not seen any horse wait with anticipation in a que to receive a hiding. What is it with people and horses? Is it a control freak ego dis function only certain people get to play out in this life or........ is there an easier way to interact with one of the largest and most helpful domestic animals on earth?


Don't you think its about time we loose the whips, bits, spurs, drugs and the whole dirty bag of tricks behind us, once and for all or are we going to keep on repeating the same mistakes for all eternity? For interests sake lets agree on just four things. Does a horse have a mind? Well, I suppose that all depends on who is answering the question as there are numerous people whom have been on the receiving end of a horse and would gladly tell you that from their experience a horse most definitely has no mind. Well, I am very glad to report that a horse actually does have a very intelligent mind. For example a wild horse that has never seen a human being can be backed in possibly ten hours if need be. What is 10 hours out of that horses life. Those 10 hours are not used up all at once. It can be divided up into 1 hour per week, over ten weeks. Yes there are exceptions to every rule, but that has been the norm. No disrespect to humans, but I honestly wonder if the same thing be said about us? Could we learn all we need to know about the "bigger picture" in 10 hours? MMMmmmm that's why animals do not care about "artificial intelligence", they rely on an "active intelligence". Second question is, does a horse have a body? OK, we all agree.......of course a horse has a body. Third question, does a horse have a spirit? A horse most definitely does have a spirit, sometimes it seems too much spirit for us to handle. Fourth and final question, do we have a mind, a body and a spirit? We most certainly, therefore if we integrated the three we would be heading in the right direction. If we interacted with the mind enabling the body to follow, then the spirit of the horse could well and truly be admired without the existence of fear hindering any progress.

Conclusion: Has anyone considered training the horses brain and getting the body to follow? Education rather than intimidation is definitely more beneficial for all parties concerned?


A cute little puppy can melt even the hardest criminal. Animals, especially horses are here to teach people unconditional love including the basic principles of TRUST LOVE & RESPECT. The benefits of interacting with animals is completely priceless. It enables people to learn more about themselves and to help themselves overcome personal obstacles like fear and confidence. Once these three principles of Trust love & respect have been addressed between predator and prey, there is no excuse for fear to exist in any relationship. Anyone and everyone is entitled to this experience. A horse does not care about how much you know, they care about how much you feel for them. Even if you do not have a horse, please do not be concerned, you can still enjoy the "experience" with ours, no experience with horses is necessary. I personally believe very human should experience the exhilaration of connecting with a horse. Its truly a magical and overwhelming feeling.

Discover the active intelligence of a horse by integrating with the mind, body and spirit of the horse. Be humbled by the best teacher of horsemanship, the horse itself. People argue depending upon their belief system, how long horses have been in existence for. What we can say is that they have been around for a very very (approx 49 million years) long time and finally you can learn for yourself what they have been trying to tell us the entire time....... they are willing to follow.

There is no age, sex, colour, language or religious discrimination in becoming a horse whisperer. The most basic fundamental requirement is..............do you know your left from you right? Yes, you read correctly. Everyone thinks that they know their right from their left, however you will be humbly surprised when a horse tests you with regards to this simple request. If you are confident that you definitely know your left from your right, then congrats to you, you have what it takes. Put yourself to the test and enjoy the challenge of learning a different language, BODY LANGUAGE.......

The benefits of this experience are endless and priceless. There is no substitute learning from the real teachers of horsemanship, the horse itself.

Once this technique is mastered, problem/dangerous horses will become a thing of the past as man and horse can finally co-exist. This technique is beneficial for going horses as well. Every rider would like a horse more sensitive to pressure so that it is easier to ride. Introduce the concept from the ground so that you can follow it through whilst on their back. Safety is paramount for both horse and human. Ignorance is no longer a valid answer in today's modern world..... And now there certainly can't be an excuse, as it's all right here, "Straight from the horses mouth".

Equine Body Talk South Africa...... connecting people to horses and horses to people


http://www.ebtsa.co.za/