Spirit and Conscience

I arrive with time to spare at the Equine-Assisted Learning (EAL) workshop near Stillwater. People, mostly denim-clad, trickle into the low, metal barn and settle themselves in rows of lawn chairs lined up under the wooden rafters. The workshop leaders are on the other side of the wooden fence, inside the pen with three handsome geldings. The two larger horses, Collin and Luca, are picking on the pony, Wizard, and occasionally the sawdust flies. When Wizard has had enough he kicks up his back hooves at them. Even during the flurried running spurts and the brief skirmishes, the women stay completely calm.

Both women have always loved horses and both are life coaches. For the past seven years Ann Romberg and South Minneapolis resident Lynn Baskfield have brought their equestrian and people skills together. If it weren’t for the internet, Romberg might think she invented Equine Assisted Learning since the idea came to her in a dream before she ever heard of the people in California already working on it.

Today, Baskfield and Romberg, business partners at Wisdom Horse Coaching, LLC, are giving a demonstration of how we human beings, who typically learn everything through language, can learn from horses in an experiential way. The focus is on what your body and your emotions tell you. The women say that “horses want non-language-based clarity.” In their handout it says, “Although human beings at this time in history rely heavily on language, we are still wired up, as our ancestors were, to learn things through our bodies … The body has a cellular memory which, when activated, can reveal patterns and beliefs that are different than what we say we want.” Baskfield, the one who told me about wisdom horse coaching, is describing the sensitivity of horses. They are prey animals and always have to be on the lookout. They are very intuitive. Romberg adds that their senses are highly developed; they know everything through their senses. Their vision is extremely acute; they can see 330 degrees around.

Two exercises are presented, each one calling for volunteers. What I notice are the mysterious connections between certain people and certain horses. Horses are not interchangeable, just as people are not interchangeable (regardless of what the soap operas may tell you). There appear to be attractions.

In addition I am convinced the horses are responsive and sensitive and can tell where people are at. You can't lie and you can't hide. They will be able to tell if you are acting one way and feeling another. Incongruent doesn't work for them. (The movie “The Horse Whisperer” suggests that you have to be very clear, decisive and deliberate around horses— and that clarity is the best policy for people around each other, as well.) The coaches are there to help notice and interpret the way the horses respond and help the participant figure out what it means for their lives.

Since I was exhausted and feeling like a basket case, and didn’t know what the horses would do with that, I didn’t volunteer. I was disappointed in myself that I had made such a long trip so early in the morning just to watch. Still, Collin came up to me numerous times as we stood along the fence during the processing of an exercise and I got to pat his face. He didn’t seem too judgmental. Maybe he was showing horse hospitality.

(I think he knew how far from home I felt. To get to the farm I had to drive through the land of the giants—giant trucks, giant mansions and giant stores (the Target I stopped at along the way was twice the size, maybe three times, the size of the Target at Hiawatha and Minnehaha). The scale, and the wealth it represents, is beyond comprehension. The whole thing sent me into a tailspin about the unequal distribution of wealth in the world. And how is worth measured, anyway? We know for a fact that a person who makes $100,000 a year is not literally and eternally and in God’s eyes worth twice as much as someone who makes $50,000 a year. They’re probably not even worth twice as much in terms of pure productivity—I mean, finally, how much can one person produce? I also realized how wealthy and excessive my Longfellow neighborhood would seem to someone who had much less.

Then there was the feeling of isolation. I couldn’t even find a cup of coffee in that foreign country. When I asked joggers for the nearest coffee shop, I was surprised when they spoke to me in English. I wondered what kind of news they listened to and if we had any common ground. It’s easy to see how unfamiliarity is the stepping stone to prejudice. I could see how someone could feel really uncomfortable, like in a remote territory, in my neighborhood, as well. It was actually kind of eye-opening.)

On my way out, I stopped to chat with one of the participants and got a glimpse of how far-reaching the effects of Equine Assisted Learning can be. His story touched me deeply. As a divinity student preparing for the priesthood, he was required to take CPE, Clinical Pastoral Education, a rigorous course, which demands unflinching self-examination and personal honesty.

His course, in Colorado, included an Equine-Assisted Learning (EAL) component. Dennis went there suffering from intense anxiety. It was especially problematic for him since he was about to become a religious leader who would be required to read and preside in front of people. There was a horse named Shiloh who was skittish and apprehensive. Dennis knew Shiloh was going to be "his" horse. They needed to overcome their obstacles together. He thought it would take a long time to win Shiloh’s trust, but sooner than he dreamed possible, Shiloh recognized him, and came over to him and licked his hand. He feels the experience of getting to know that horse was transformative. A picture of Shiloh graces his business card.
When he went back to school in the fall people actually told him, “You look taller. Did you lose weight?” His whole countenance had changed. He attributes a newfound sensitivity and self-confidence to the relationship with the horse. Shiloh was a vehicle for the holy, the divine, in my opinion.

Before Dennis left Colorado he decided to visit the Royal Gorge. A man walking 5 feet ahead of him collapsed on the way to the parking lot. Dennis became the family’s spiritual support for the rest of the day, as the man was pronounced dead of a heart attack when they arrived at the hospital, and for the next few days as they went through everything involved with burying their loved one. Dennis said he didn’t need to decide to be with the family. It wasn’t a decision, it was an instinct that made him able to be a chaplain, because he was completely present in the moment. He felt the time with horses, who live in the moment, taught him that spiritual truth. He has bonded with the man’s family despite the differences in their cultures and religions. They now consider each other “family.”

Horses live in a different world than we do. It is completely somatic, emotional and present. What would that be like? It was very interesting to find a group of people willing to be informed by the responses of these special creatures. Lynn Baskfield, besides being a horsewoman and a life coach is also a wonderful writer. Her books’ contents are tied to her horse sense. One, “Some People You Will Always Love,” is a series of delightful personal stories that come out of a very physical and emotional life. Her words ring true and are surrounded by a lot of fresh air. The other, “The Rakhma Story,” is about Shirley Joy Shaw, who started a care home for people with Alzheimer’s disease and dementia. It describes a beautiful atmosphere of unconditional love for those people who relate to the world without language and without the memory that language requires.

Personal sessions of wisdom horse coaching can be arranged with Baskfield, who also does wisdom horse coaching for writers, or Romberg. The next group demo session like the one I attended will be Saturday, Oct. 8.

Lynn Baskfield can be reached at 612-823-7022 or lynn@wisdomhorsecoaching.com. Ann Romberg can be reached at 651-766-8920 or ann@wisdomhorsecoaching.com. Their website is www.wisdomhorsecoaching.com