Culture and Politics as It Might Be if We Were Horses
The Fantastic Research and Revelations of
Horsewoman Linda Kohanov
With elections coming up, I suggest that we find a person who’s as good a leader
as a horse! What makes me say that is the new book,
The
Power of the Herd: A Nonpredatory Approach to Social Intelligence, Leadership,
and Innovation. Boy do we need those qualities! Let’s look a little bit
deeper into this matter, as leadership is a serious matter. It’s not an accident
that “leadership” studies are becoming more common. Edgar Cayce’s Atlantic
University, for example, recently received approval to offer an accredited
Master’s Degree in Transpersonal Leadership.
The author of this book, Linda Kohanov, is well known for her earlier books,
starting with
The
Tao of Equus. In that hefty volume she perhaps single handedly initiated the
meme of the spirituality of the horse as well as upgrading the domain of equine
therapy—it’s not about healing horses, but allowing horses to heal us!
One of the most important ideas in her first book is the intuitive power of
horses to read our emotions, especially those that we are suppressing. It is
interesting that in today’s world of intuition training, it is this same ability
that is often in focus. Jungians called it “projective identification.” Kohanov
calls is socialsensual awareness, meaning that the horse (or psychically
intuitive human) experiences in the body the feelings of the other person. In a
sense, we intuition trainers are teaching people to be as intuitive as horses!
In fact, Kohanov’s books, culminating most recently in
The
Power of the Herd: A Nonpredatory Approach to Social Intelligence, Leadership,
and Innovation, she applies the horse wisdom to people, suggesting that we
can learn from the horses a more creative way of being. She has a forthcoming
book taking it all a step further,
The
Five Roles of a Master Herder: A Revolutionary Model for Socially Intelligent
Leadership, which will come out in time for the upcoming election. I’ll be
sure to bring it to our attention. For now, however, let’s continue with our
story as it began with our author.
In case you are not familiar with
The
Tao of Equus, her first book, the publisher has a brief description:
“In
The Tao of Equus, author Linda Kohanov intertwines the story of how she
awakened to the spiritual presence of horses with compelling mythology,
research, and personal anecdotes. The result is an extraordinary story of
healing and communication that turns our conventional understanding of these
amazing creatures upside down. A horse trainer and equine-facilitated therapy
practitioner, Kohanov first began exploring the horse human connection in the
early 1990s. When her black mare, Rasa, became lame, Kohanov was plagued by a
series of sinister dreams and premonitions. Finally, prompted by her dreams, she
canceled a risky surgery to save Rasa's potential career in competitive riding.
To relate to the injured horse outside conventional equestrian pursuits, Kohanov
immersed herself in the day-to-day activities of the herd. In the process, she
discovered that horses are intensely emotional, intuitive, intelligent beings.
They are true reflections of our deepest souls. Over time, she discovered their
extraordinary ability to awaken intuition in humans, while mirroring the
authentic feelings people try to hide, makes these animals powerful therapeutic
teachers.
Do horses make choices? Do they devise personal ways
to communicate with the human beings in their lives? How do they seem to know
what people are thinking and feeling? Are horses spiritual beings with a destiny
all their own? If so, how is this destiny connected with humanity’s future? How
does the equine mind compare with the human mind? What do horses have to teach
people? And why are women so attracted to horses?
These are some of the questions writer and equine
therapist Linda Kohanov explores in
The
Tao of Equus. In it, she intertwines the extraordinary story of the
spiritual awakening she experienced with her black mare, Rasa, with compelling
neurological research, mythology, and first-hand anecdotes from years of
teaching and facilitating equine therapy. She delves into the spiritual
processes behind the magical connections people, and women in particular, often
experience with horses. She skillfully describes the subtle behavioral nuances
horses express, examining what she calls the “wisdom of the prey,” as well as
the feminine wisdom she has discovered in her powerful interactions with horses,
and how that wisdom can help people heal.
Blending her extraordinary experience—what some would
consider paranormal—with a wide-ranging survey of the phenomena of horse-human
communication and the equine-facilitated therapy she teaches, Kohanov delivers a
ground-breaking work to interest both longtime riders and readers interested in
the leading edge of animal perception and animal-human communication.”
I think it is worth your while to understand the history and personal motivation
that Kohanov had in getting started on her work. She wasn’t sure of how it would
be received, but it turns out she has unleashed (as in horse talk) a powerful
theme for us all. In the introduction to
The
Tao of Equus, she writes (and with the permission* of the publisher we copy
here):
“Einstein knew exactly what he wanted in life.
For fifteen years, he had worked diligently to master his craft, and though he
wasn’t ready to retire, he desperately needed a change of pace. He refused to
jump over any more hurdles. He couldn’t stand teaching the basics to a bunch of
trendy dilettantes who had no real appreciation for the subtle insights he tried
to share. What he craved was a sensitive, well-educated, female companion who at
least had the potential to match his talent, someone who was more interested in
acquiring knowledge than amassing fame, a patron willing to support him in
exchange for private tutorial sessions in his area of expertise.
The problem was Einstein had four legs and didn’t
speak any of the local human dialects. Instead, he became what is known as a
“difficult” horse, and his owner wasn’t sure if she’d ever find him a good home.
People came to admire him, and some even brought large wads of cash, but
Einstein wasn’t impressed by expensive clothes and shiny new horse trailers. He
didn’t give a hoot about other people’s visions of glory or their hard-won show
records. In fact, the flashier and more self-involved his prospective buyers
seemed to be, the more likely Einstein was to give them hell during the test
ride. He would shy and bolt and sometimes even succeed in tossing the offending
party, methods he had perfected during a short but frustrating career as a
school horse. Other times, he would sidestep, rear, and fidget before anyone
could get a saddle on him, especially in the presence of men who had aspirations
of jumping him.
Finally, his owner solicited the help of Tamara
Solange, a trainer who was not only skilled in the classical riding style known
as dressage, but was also versed in various intuitive techniques. After spending
some time gathering information on his background, silently meditating in his
presence, and using a method called “muscle testing” to confirm her insights
with Einstein and several other horses around him, she wrote up the following ad
with the horse’s “blessing”: Dynamic Imported Holsteiner Gelding. Beautiful
presence in arena. For educated dressage rider or professional. NOT a
schoolmaster. Only skilled, sensitive horsewomen need reply.
When Allison Randall saw the notice in a national
equestrian magazine, her heart raced. As a trainer with twenty years’ experience
in dressage and eventing, Allison felt she had arrived at a crossroads in her
career. She needed an advanced teacher, someone who knew all the upper level
dressage moves and was patient yet demanding enough to hone her skills, someone
who could instill a refined sense of precision, timing, and balance in her
technique that she could then transfer to the younger horses she was hired to
train and show. She had been searching for a horse like Einstein.
The day Allison arrived at the gelding’s stable, she
endured an hour-long interview before she was even allowed to see him. The owner
and the trainer who had written the ad wanted to know everything about her,
including her intentions toward this horse. Ultimately, however, it was up to
Einstein. By the time she stepped into the stirrup and swung her leg over the
saddle, Allison was so nervous she wasn’t sure if she was up to riding a horse
of his caliber. Yet despite her vulnerable emotional state, perhaps even because
of it, Einstein seemed to second-guess what Allison wanted and graciously
compensated for her lapses in concentration. The horse responded to her
clumsiest aids, and though she made several mistakes that would normally have
thrown Einstein into a rage, the two were able to perform the intricate
movements of a highly skilled team. When Allison finally dismounted, Einstein
followed her around the arena as if he had known her all his life. After
watching this spectacle, everyone in attendance had tears in their eyes, and the
owner went out of her way to help Allison finance the deal.
For nearly a year, Einstein had systematically
developed a reputation as a troublemaker, and some people even thought he had
gone completely crazy. Still, he had a certain genius for getting his point
across. Though he has since become more demanding of Allison as she continues to
perfect her skills, he remains a consummate gentleman in her presence and seems
to take his job very seriously. Each day, after Einstein has been ridden,
groomed, and fed, he stands outside his stall, facing the arena, watching
Allison train the other horses as if he’s mentally taking notes.
Do horses make choices? Do they have strong wills of
their own? How do they seem to know what people are thinking and feeling? Are
they psychic, or do they simply read the body language of their owners at a
highly sophisticated level?
Are horses spiritual beings with a destiny all their
own? If so, how is this destiny intertwined with humanity’s future, especially
now that machines have taken over most of the functions these animals previously
fulfilled?
What would the history of civilization look like
through the eyes of a horse? How does the equine mind compare with the human
mind? What aspects of horse behavior might people benefit from adopting? What do
all great equestrians have in common, regardless of riding style or nationality?
Why are women so attracted to horses?
These are some of the questions
The
Tao of Equus attempts to answer. Because equestrian pursuits have long been
identified with conquest, nobility, and competition, much of the horse’s innate
wisdom remains untapped. These sensitive, nonpredatory beings respond to the
world in ways that are traditionally associated with feminine values, yet many
amateur horse owners and a surprising number of professional trainers have
trouble grasping these subtler facets of equine behavior. A spirited stallion
ten times the size of the average human being inspires feelings of awe and even
fear in observers, but first impressions can be deceiving. This kind of
horsepower is not effectively tamed through intimidation or coercion.
A hundred-pound woman can successfully train an
unruly mustang with methods that aren’t nearly as flamboyant or forceful as
those a burly, six-foot-tall cowboy might employ, yet the horse will respect her
more, not less, for her gentle, collaborative spirit.
When I began researching the intricacies of
horse-human relationships in 1993, I was amazed at how little had been written
on the subject. Bestsellers like The Man Who Listens to Horses by Monty Roberts
and The Horse Whisperer by Nicholas Evans have since emerged, confirming my
belief that a large number of people are fascinated with the subject, but these
books barely scratch the surface of the strange and miraculous things that can
happen when the two species get together.
Early on, I took this work into the field, observing
and interviewing gifted trainers while employing many of their ideas with my own
horses. I studied the physiology of the horse brain versus the human brain; I
collected myths about horses and compared them with reality. I noticed that some
owners experienced increased creativity and intuition as a result of their
interactions with these animals while other riders exhibited only frustration. I
slowly began to figure out why. I volunteered at a therapeutic riding facility
and saw stroke victims increase mobility, cerebral palsy patients gain balance
and muscle control, “unreachable” autistic children speak to their horses. In
the process, I stumbled upon some unexpected and extraordinary realizations.
First of all, I discovered that horses are more intelligent than we give them
credit for, and I mean a lot more intelligent. When allowed to exist in a
relatively stress-free environment, a horse’s mind is literally swirling with
the nuance common in creative geniuses. Just by associating with their equine
partners, riders can tap into this stream as well. I also found significant
evidence that mankind didn’t intentionally domesticate the horse; rather, the
species may have chosen to associate with members of early agricultural
settlements and eventually lured some of these people into a nomadic lifestyle
influenced as much by horse behavior as human behavior. In the process, I gained
perspective on the nature of human intelligence (and our widespread
misconceptions about the same) as well as behavioral quirks and historical
blunders that led our ancestors down an unnecessarily destructive path.
For general audiences, this is arguably the most
valuable feature of
The
Tao of Equus: In order to decipher the myths we hold about these animals, in
order to clear the fog of our own preconceived ideas, we are ultimately forced
to take a long hard look at our own species. In the process, we can’t help but
uncover a few secrets about ourselves, artifacts buried under thousands of years
of masculine domination and the accompanying tendencies to emphasize thought
over emotion, logic over intuition, territory over relationship, goal over
process, and force over collaboration.
As I researched
The
Tao of Equus, I was continually impressed with the powerful bonds women and
horses instinctually develop, relationships that emphasize the potent healing
qualities inherent in respectful interactions between the two species. The
Taoist thread running throughout my book is the unifying factor in explaining
how these animals nourish their riders physically, mentally, creatively, and
spiritually while inspiring increased sensory and extrasensory awareness in
people from a variety of backgrounds and belief systems. Though I originally
intended
The
Tao of Equus to be a working title, my editor, Jason Gardner, and I felt it
was ultimately the best description of the book’s thesis: that horses relate to
the world from a feminine or “yin” perspective. As a result, the species is a
living example of the success and effectiveness of feminine values, including
cooperation over competition, responsiveness over strategy, emotion and
intuition over logic, process over goal, and the creative approach to life that
these qualities engender. Taoism is unique among both Eastern and Western
philosophies in that it offers a sophisticated model of how feminine wisdom
operates and how these habitually neglected qualities can be used to temper the
more destructive aspects of human nature.
The
Tao of Equus essentially translates as “the way of the horse,” while
emphasizing the healing and transformational qualities of this path. Interacting
with these animals can be immensely therapeutic physically, mentally, and
spiritually, helping people reawaken long-forgotten abilities that are capable
of healing the imbalances of modern life. At a time when horses are no longer
required to work in our fields and carry us to war, they can do something
arguably more important - work on us. The logistics of how horses are currently
being employed for this purpose and how we can expand on this model in the
future are significant topics of discussion throughout
The
Tao of Equus.
Over the past five years, I’ve developed a series of
programs based on the concepts outlined in this book. These workshops and
private sessions employ horses in teaching people of all ages and backgrounds
how to achieve a state of greater physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual
balance. Through my business, Epona Equestrian Services, a Tucson-based
collective of trainers and counselors exploring the therapeutic potential of
equestrian pursuits, I’ve come to understand how talented horses can be in
facilitating the work of human development. Epona Equestrian Services is one of
a growing number of equine-facilitated psychotherapy and experiential learning
programs springing up nationwide. The field, which has already attracted some of
the most creative and compassionate people in the horse business, has amassed
thousands of anecdotes showing horses to be highly effective in helping people
reintegrate mind and body, increase awareness of unconscious behavior patterns,
and develop the self-confidence, stress management, and assertiveness skills
that lead to increased success in relationships, career, school, and parenting.
Since 1997, Epona Equestrian Services has offered empowerment workshops and
private lessons to women who’ve suffered from physical, emotional, and sexual
abuse, and the results have been impressive. We’ve also helped Vietnam War vets,
substance abuse victims, sex addicts, and adolescent boys with anger management
problems make significant changes through this work.
Most equestrian programs remain competition-oriented
and encourage students to “leave their problems at the gate.” While this is a
valuable skill to develop for the show ring, the continued suppression of
personal issues, which horses tend to magnify, leads to the frustration,
tension, anger, and abusive outbursts exhibited by some riders under pressure.
Many riding instructors are not equipped to handle the psychological and
emotional difficulties their students bring to the stable, and riders at all
levels of expertise invariably get triggered by the behavior of their mounts.
Riding lessons offered through Epona Equestrian Services capitalize on the
horse’s uncanny ability to bring this material to the surface, using time-tested
therapeutic methods and mindfulness techniques to help people recognize their
own contribution to so-called “horse problems” and move beyond the challenges
that arise when the two species interact.
The
Tao of Equus explores how riders and their trainers can move through these
difficulties by treating each and every challenge or setback as an opportunity
for personal growth.
The ideas presented in this book will also be of
interest to the fields of psychology and consciousness studies as I’ve found
that many of my equine-based experiences support some of the more adventurous
scientific observations of mind, emotion, and behavior. To this end, I discuss
theories concerning telepathy, human vs. animal consciousness, and autonomous,
archetypal matrixes of wisdom that make themselves known to receptive members of
our species. In my case it’s a free-flowing “horse knowledge” I use when
training these animals to give me intuitive yet highly specific insights into
problems I would have no way of grasping through conventional thought processes.
I’ve shared my experiences with other women horse trainers who admit they also
feel this force when working, and the anecdotes are amazing. Until I was able to
gain their trust, however, I never would have been given this information. Most
trainers experiencing this (some men have admitted to it as well) have never
attempted to put it into words before. In fact, they’ve avoided doing so,
fearing they might be perceived as crazy. It is a significant part of the Big
Secret whispered back and forth between horse and human, yet I believe it is
possible to demystify the process without taking away from the extraordinary
perspective it affords.
My original motivation for writing this book came
from a series of seemingly irrational yet ultimately transformational
experiences with my own horses. These events motivated me to do extensive
research both within and outside the equestrian field, even as I became a
trainer and equine-facilitated therapy practitioner myself. In most circles,
such experiences would be classified as “psychic phenomena,” though I’ve since
come to realize these supposedly supernatural events stem from mostly
unrecognized natural processes. My initial reaction was to keep my own
experiences out of the book so as not to compromise the integrity of more
acceptable studies on horse-human interactions. Then I realized this was exactly
what the majority of trainers and equine researchers were doing, even though
this unspoken element was a part of the lore historically associated with the
“horse whisperer.” Once I got over the fear of being condemned as crazy, I set
about the task of examining this dynamic. My openness subsequently led to even
stranger territory, but in the long run, I reached the point where I could
successfully argue that the so-called sixth sense is a legitimate phenomenon
with certain parameters and attitudes that foster it, and that horses can kick
it into gear, often leaving their owners confused and frightened until they
learn to integrate this new perspective into their lives. I also realized that
my reactions followed an archetypal pattern of intuitive awakening. That’s when
I decided to weave the information I had collected into the telling of my own
story, allowing readers to take the journey with me, giving them the same
emotionally charged sense of discovery I felt when my objective research turned
into a desperate search for ways to explain the unexplainable. As I became
active in the field of equine-facilitated psychotherapy, I also realized that
the most efficient episodes of healing between humans and horses hinged on
processes that defy conventionally accepted scientific and psychological
theories.
The
Tao of Equus is about horse therapy,
horse training, and horse behavior, but it’s mostly about what these magnificent
creatures are ceaselessly, patiently teaching us. It’s about the courage and
humility, focus and flexibility it takes for a human being to listen to those
messages. It’s about the quiet pools of reflection we experience in their
presence. It’s about the transformations that await us when we embrace our
seemingly irrational sufferings with the same grace and dignity that horses
exhibit in the face of adversity.
Human responses to trauma range from an overwhelming
sense of fear to feelings of personal failure, denial, resentment, and mistrust
in the universe. These and other powerful emotions run rampant in the equestrian
arts as the best intentions, aspirations, and preparations are routinely
thwarted by unforeseen circumstances and injuries. It’s not uncommon for riders
to go through horse after horse, trying desperately to find that rare animal
physically and mentally capable of fulfilling some lifelong competitive goal.
Are they missing something vital as they discard all these “mistakes”? Certain
people just seem to attract problem horses. Is it bad luck, bad karma, or is
there another, more benevolent principle at work? Is there a light hidden in
those moments of darkness we try so often to avoid or ignore?
Lao-tzu observed that “it is upon disaster that good
fortune rests,” pointing to what is perhaps the most potent Taoist paradox, one
that my own herd has brought home to me time and time again. Throughout
The
Tao of Equus, I weave my journey with the odysseys of many two-legged and
four-legged teachers who repeatedly reminded me that the mysteries of life, the
most potent gifts of existence, quite often arrive on the backs of black
horses.”
*Excerpted from
The
Tao of Equus. Copyright © 2001 by New World Library
It is interesting that she notes how women in particular seem attracted to
horses. It’s not just because “women are more intuitive.” There’s something
deeper going on. My wife, Janis (facebook.com/janis.agoddess) has been working with women who find they
are “empaths.” We’re not simply talking about being intuitive, but about how to
deal with one’s own boundaries when you can feel everyone else easier than you
can feel yourself. Kohanov’s work touches on this issue. (In fact, her books
touch on so many not-really tangential issues, important ones, that you can
forgive her for her books being so long!)
Given the positive response to her first book, and wanting to elaborate more on
the personal human implications of horse sense, her second book,
Riding Between the Worlds: Expanding Our Potential Through the Way of the Horse
focuses on the human species and its possibilities for evolution. Her publisher
announced it this way:
“In her critically acclaimed book,
The
Tao of Equus, author Linda
Kohanov intertwined the story of how she awakened to the spiritual presence of
horses with compelling mythology, research, and personal anecdotes. The result
was an extraordinary story of healing and communication that turned our
conventional understanding of these amazing creatures upside down. It also
flooded her office with thousands of letters from readers who finally dared to
share their own similar experiences. Kohanov continues the story of her journey
in
Riding between the Worlds. It presents a daring multidisciplinary
exploration of the powerful spiritual, emotional and psychological lessons
horses embody. With intimate stories of cathartic breakthroughs in the saddle to
the moving tale of the birth of the newest member of Kohanov’s herd, it delivers
another tour de force from one of the equine world’s most insightful writers,
teachers, and trainers.”
In the below excerpt* from her book, Kohanov asks, “Does
The Horse Have A Buddha Nature?”
Shortly after completing the final draft of my first
book, I retreated to the comfort of my herd. Dazed by the barrage of words that
had long been circulating through my mind, I was incapable of training or even
saddling a horse to ride. Instead, I walked down the line of corrals and flung
open the gates. The impulse to run free was overwhelming. Cooped up for too long
themselves while I was writing, my horses raced across the property, bucking
chaotically through the dust, dodging hitching posts, wheelbarrows, and each
other, finally settling around the hay stacked at the edge of a bone-colored
wash that hadn’t flowed in six weeks. With no fresh grass to nibble, they
haphazardly removed the thick blue tarp protecting bales of alfalfa more from
sun than from rain. I sat under a gnarled tree and watched them graze
Arizona-style, heat waves rising around me even in the shade, blurring the
landscape, baking away the chatter in my brain. A half hour later, when I was as
calm inside as I appeared to be outside, my old sage of a mustang Noche turned
and stared at me, as if seeing me for the first time. Leaving his celebratory
feast, he wandered over and stood next to me, lowering his head, matching his
nostrils to the level of my own, transmitting secrets stored in the breath.
Between us, a feeling of ecstasy began to rise. This
horse, who had been beaten into submission by his first trainers, had not so
long ago found his way back from the dissociative trance that robs trauma
victims of their souls. As a part of my equine-facilitated therapy practice, he
had gone on to single out, of his own free will, human beings possessing hidden
wells of sadness. Time and time again, he would stand beside them, unrestrained,
as their hearts melted in his presence, and they finally sobbed out memories
they could never speak aloud. Now, this horse, who knew so much about pain, was
teaching me something about its opposite.
Though to anyone passing by we appeared to be
relaxing in the sketchy shade of a mesquite, Noche and I were ascending. The
warmth between us was gathering force, escalating into the rarefied experience
of a love I can’t adequately describe — a radiant, pulsating combination of
gratitude, empowerment, and unconditional regard for all we were and all we had
healed in each other over the years. The sensation was feeding back with
increasing ferocity. I fought the sudden urge to run away, surprised that
something so exquisite could simultaneously seem so threatening. Just when I
thought I couldn’t bear another minute of it, the feeling began to subside.
Noche stayed with me until it dissipated completely. Then he sputtered, shook
his head, and walked over to the herd. I started after him, my body contorting
in clumsy attempts to regain what I was hoping to escape moments before. “But,
but how could you just...leave,” I said. “Can’t we hang onto that feeling a
little longer?”
Noche glanced back, his eyes piercing my heart with
an insight that circulated through my bloodstream and flooded my brain with
words so clear I could have sworn he spoke them out loud: “Joy is. Sadness is.
You try to lasso one and chase away the other. Yet in finally meeting what
you’ve been craving all along, you’re not sure whether to capture it or flee
from it, because even great beauty is too wild for you. This is a suffering my
kind has never known.”
Without the slightest hint of pity or judgment, Noche
elucidated the restlessness humans feel. Like every other two-legged creature I
knew, I was constantly chasing after so-called positive emotions and running
away from the negative. Yet by example, Noche gave me a kinesthetic sense of how
to live the Buddhist ideals of nonattachment and non-aversion. He easily saw
through the social masks people wear, drawing attention to the truth of what
was, while trusting in the wisdom of impermanence. If he felt sadness lurking
behind the smiles of my clients, he would step forward and not only dislodge the
emotion, but create a safe space where the tears could finally be released. I
still don’t fully understand how or why he does this, but in his strong,
compassionate presence, people are able to mine the depths of despair and come
out the other side, finally realizing that, like the thick black clouds of a
summer thunderstorm, tempestuous feelings run their course and evaporate,
leaving behind a clarity impossible to achieve through suppression.
With a heart open enough to embrace the sorrows of
strangers, Noche could also handle a level of ecstasy intimidating to me. As I
struggled to contain this overwhelming sense of joy, he flowed into it. As I
tried desperately to call it back, he ambled over to the hay pile with the same
casual enthusiasm he often exhibited waiting for a carrot after one of our
clients made a major breakthrough.
I have seen this horse stand in the rain, the snow,
the sun at 110 degrees, with the patience and equanimity he carries in the face
of emotions that send most people running for cover. Does Noche have a Buddha
nature? Most definitely. But can a horse become a practicing Buddhist? I would
have to say no. In Noche’s case at least, he doesn’t seem to need the practice.
*Excerpt from the book
Riding Between the Worlds. Copyright
Ó
2003 by Linda Kohanov. Reprinted with permission of New World Library, Novato,
CA.
"T
"Linda Kohanov is beloved for her groundbreaking articulation of “the way of the
horse,” an experiential wisdom known to riders for centuries but little studied
or adapted to off-horse use. Now Kohanov takes those horse-inspired insights on
exceptional communication and leadership into the realms of our workplaces and
relationships. Here we explore the benefits of “nonpredatory power” in
developing assertiveness, fostering creativity, dealing with conflict, and
heightening mind-body awareness. In the first part of this far-reaching book,
Kohanov profiles cultural innovators who employed extraordinary nonverbal
leadership skills to change history, usually on horseback: Winston Churchill,
George Washington, Alexander the Great, and the Buddha, among others. She also
draws on the behavior of mature horse herds, as well as the herding cultures of
Africa and Mongolia, to debunk theories of dominance hierarchies, challenge
ingrained notions of “survival of the fittest,” and demonstrate the power of a
consensual leadership in which governing roles are fluid. Kohanov adapts these
lessons into twelve powerful guiding principles we can all incorporate into our
work and personal lives. Eloquent and provocative, this is horse sense for
everyone who seeks to thrive in the herds we all run in — our communities,
careers, families, and friendships.”
In the introduction to her new book, excerpted* by the kind permission of her
publisher, New World Library, Kohanov writes,
Throughout history, knights in shining armor often ride spirited,
well-trained horses like those featured on the cover of this book. If you’re an
experienced equestrian, you know that these luminous creatures aren’t white;
they’re gray. And they were, in all likelihood, born black.
Pure white horses are extremely rare. Some experts argue that they don’t even
exist. All those movie heroes racing around on snow-colored stallions are riding
older mounts whose youthful coal-colored coats lightened dramatically over time
— as their focus, self-control, and athletic prowess increased through years of
careful training.
Dark horses slowly turning gray, then silver, then white are the
perfect metaphor for developing power — innovative,
compassionate, and mentally, emotionally, and socially intelligent power. The
more faithfully we work to bring our talents out of the shadows, shining a light
on those notoriously elusive areas related to creativity, charisma, and mutually
supportive relationships, the more quickly we are bound to excel.
If black horses represent unconscious, unbridled spirit, energy, intuition, and
instinct, the process of developing this raw “material,” of making it fully
conscious, is, truly, the path we must undertake today. We can no longer wait
for great leaders to emerge accidentally, as radiant freaks of nature whose
inspiring presence nonetheless remains mysterious, untranslatable, unteachable
to others. The stakes are much too high.
In my fifty-plus years on this planet, so much has changed. Like millions of
other baby boomers, I’ve seen racial segregation and “traditional,”
1950s-style family structures erode and evolve under the influence
of civil rights, women’s liberation, the sexual revolution, the fall of the
communist empire, financial deregulation, economic strife, and the creation of
the Internet, among other social and technological upheavals.
Many of these forces combined in
2008, leading to the election of Barack Obama, our first
mixed-race U.S. president, a development my conservative southern grandparents
couldn’t have imagined in their wildest dreams. Yet no matter who runs for this
coveted office in the future, this presidential race marked a significant
turning point in American history — for other reasons as well.
The Republican ticket would have been equally disturbing to my prim and proper
grandma: a conventionally respectable war hero with an outspoken woman
vice-presidential running mate — whose daughter was pregnant out of wedlock, no
less? In the mid-twentieth century, this self-proclaimed “mama grizzly” would
have been completely, unquestionably ostracized by members of her own sex for
all kinds of behavior unbecoming a matriarch.
Despite her seemingly militant support of traditional values, Sarah Palin’s very
presence on that political stage represented a significant innovation for a new
kind of family, one in which empowered women might become leaders while also
showing compassion and acceptance for the many challenges future generations
face upon entering this world. What she was saying in
her conservative, at times aggressive, speeches hadn’t yet caught up to the
promise of what she was living. Maverick, indeed!
No wonder so many people are reeling from the sensation of a finely woven
antique rug being pulled out from under them. Over the past century, rapid
social change has led to more freedom for more people, of course, and plenty of
fear and conflict to go with it, challenging the descendants of slaves and
masters alike to modify not only their self-image and beliefs but their most
cherished, deeply entrenched, primarily unconscious behaviors.
It is the latter that we will investigate in this book and, hopefully,
transform: the power plays, traumas, and relational habits we must alter to move
forward productively as free, empowered people. Here we stretch beyond “liberal”
and “conservative” agendas, looking at behavior patterns that wreak havoc
beneath the surface of all cultural, religious, business, political, scientific,
and philosophical persuasions.
In part
1, “A Brief History of Power,” we’ll learn some surprising things
about our ancestors as we take a look at key,
time-tested, yet long-ignored features of innovative leadership. In part
2, “The Necessity of Vision,” we will wrestle with issues related
to visionaries, including those who became religious figures, in order to
understand how we can move beyond crucifying or worshipping creative, inspired
thinkers, artists, and social activists — and become innovators and leaders
ourselves. Finally, in part 3, “Horse Sense at Work,” we’ll practice new
leadership and social-intelligence skills that build on the expanded view of
history, science, and religion explored in the first twelve chapters.
To make this potentially treacherous journey more enjoyable, we’ll travel on
horseback, riding an animal that has, since the beginning of civilization,
helped us negotiate new territory with much more speed and grace than we could
possibly manage on our own two legs. But here’s the rub: After leaving the main
road, we’re going to drop the reins and let the horses lead us at times,
revealing a socially intelligent, nonpredatory
approach to leadership, innovation, collaboration, and power. And it is here
that some readers will feel another rug slipping out from underneath them.
In recognizing that animals have much to teach us — that they have, as the
recent scientific research presented in this book suggests, been tutoring,
empowering, healing, and transforming us all along — we will have to let go of
the idea that we are the only intelligent species on the planet.
On July
7, 2012, a prominent international group of scientists made this
assertion official. Based on decades of physiological and behavioral experiments
with multiple species, The Cambridge Declaration on
Consciousness stated “unequivocally” that “non-human animals have the
neuroanatomical, neurochemical, and neurophysiological substrates of
consciousness states along with the capacity to exhibit intentional behaviors.
Consequently, the weight of evidence indicates that humans are not unique in
possessing the neurological substrates that generate consciousness.” The
document acknowledges that “neural networks aroused during affective states in
humans are also critically important for generating emotional behaviors in
animals.” This includes “all mammals and birds, and many other creatures,
including octopuses.”
Accepting that other species can think, feel, and make intentional decisions is
a game changer for everyone. This does not mean, however, that animals always
share our perspectives or priorities. As this book unfolds, you’ll discover
reasons to be grateful that they often don’t, especially in the case of highly
social, nonpredatory animals like horses, who offer alternative approaches to
power, collaboration, and freedom-through-relationship, lessons they’ve
occasionally taught exceptional leaders throughout history.
Imagine if all of us could, finally, bring these lessons out of the shadows and
employ them consciously, creating a form of shared leadership that taps the
talents of the entire herd. What might we accomplish if we finally understood
how to be powerful, together?
*Excerpted from the book
The
Power of the Herd. Copyright
© 2015, 2013 by Linda Kohanov. Reprinted with permission from New World Library.
In the following excerpt,
Kohanov
describes the “Hidden Wisdom” of the horse.
Imagine if a
supervisor asked you to complete a project
with only 10 per- cent of the information
available to you, if schools were only committed to teaching 10 percent of what
you would need to succeed in life. And yet that’s precisely what’s happening as
we overemphasize the spoken and written word in business, education, and
relationships. Once we realize that only 10 percent of human interpersonal
communication is verbal, we can also recognize that telephone, computer, and
text messaging innovations are deceptively seductive tools that limit
human potential. Excessive dependence on these convenient devices creates
voluntary learning disabilities in the realms of emotional and social
intelligence that ultimately foster a kind of devolution if left unchecked over
generations.
The tendency to treat the body as a
machine already has a good four hundred years of history behind it, starting
with René Descartes’s influential philosophy in the seventeenth century and
reaching its apex in the twentieth-century assembly line. Frederick Taylor’s
famous time-and-motion study technique, for instance, attempted to reach maximum
productive efficiency by essentially turning workers into robots. Luckily the
same scientific methods that, for a while, promoted a form of “mechanomorphism”
in dealing with living beings have recently given us some very good reasons to
reconsider the body’s innate, richly nuanced intelligence.
In his book The Other 90%: How to
Unlock Your Vast Untapped Potential for Leadership and Life, Robert K.
Cooper actually predicts that the “dinosaurs of the future will be those who
keep trying to live and work from their heads alone. Much of human brilliance is
driven less by the brain in your head than by newly discovered intelligence
centers — now called ‘brain two and brain three’ — in the gut and the heart. The
highest reasoning and the brightest ingenuity involve all three of those brains
working together.”
Physiologists now know that there are
more neural cells in the gut than in the entire spinal column. As a result, the
enteric (intestinal) nervous system can gather information and adapt to the
environment. The heart also serves as an organ of perception. “In the 1990s,”
Cooper reports, “scientists in the field of neurocardiology discovered the true
brain in the heart, which acts independently of the head. Comprised of a
distinctive set of more than 40,000 nerve cells called baroreceptors, along with
a complex network of neurotransmitters, proteins, and support cells, this heart
brain is as large as many key areas of the brain in your head. It has powerful,
highly sophisticated computational abilities.”
“Gut feelings” can no longer be dismissed
as whimsical or delusional: both the intestinal track and the heart have been
shown to generate neuropeptides, molecules carrying emotional
information. In this way, the body serves as a magnificent tuner, receiver, and
amplifier for all kinds of information. It feels, learns, and has definite
opinions that sometimes contradict those of the brain. As author and researcher
Dr. Candace Pert asserts, your body is your subconscious mind. Imagine
the edge, the power and insight, the sheer genius available to those who make
this somatic wisdom conscious!
While science is finally embracing this
concept, we already have a term for people who tap the wonders of those other
two corporeal intelligence centers: we say they have “horse sense.” The
expression, dating back to the 1800s, refers to sound practical wisdom, a
combination of finely tuned awareness, common sense, and gumption. People with
horse sense pay attention to that “other 90 percent.” They “listen to their gut”
as well as their minds when making decisions and really “put their heart into
it” once they commit to action. There’s also an element of intuition involved,
as in: “She’s got too much horse sense to believe his story.” For this reason,
it’s often thought of as a mysterious gift that certain lucky people possess
from birth.
You can develop horse sense at any
age, most efficiently through actually working with horses. In fact, it was that
first spirited mare who taught me to stand up for myself and read the true
intentions of others. I was in my thirties at the time, dealing with an
aggressive yet secretive supervisor at the radio station. As I learned to
motivate and set boundaries with a thousand-pound being, my two-hundred-pound
boss suddenly seemed less intimidating. I not only found that I could
effectively challenge unreasonable demands, I gained greater cooperation and
respect as a result.
The practical applications were useful,
of course. But something even more exciting began to happen. The training my
horses provided encouraged me to gaze ever more deeply into the limitations of
my own socially conditioned mind, allowing me to glimpse “civilized” human
behavior through a wider lens. Staring at historical and current events from
this new perspective, I realized that whether I was a left-wing Democrat, a
right-wing Republican, a fundamentalist Christian, a radical feminist, a
gay-rights advocate, a communist, fascist, creationist, or scientist, my
effectiveness in the world was likely to be impaired by the same unconscious
habits. Our ancestors had sailed across a potentially hostile ocean to escape
the ravages of persecution and tyranny, hoping for a fresh start in the land of
the free and the home of the brave, only to build the wildly hopeful structures
of democracy on the same faulty foundation of long-buried, largely nonverbal
assumptions and behaviors. For this reason, I doubted technology would save us;
neither would liberal or conservative agendas based on the same worn-out
neural pathways meandering through our fearful, body-phobic, increasingly
dissociative, egotistical, machine-worshipping heads.
*Excerpted from the book
The
Power of the Herd. Copyright © 2013 by Linda Kohanov. Reprinted with
permission from New World Library.
Given the wide implications of Kohanov’s revealing relationship with horses and
all that she has shared in her books, It is good to know that there’s more to
come.
We’ll look forward to her forthcoming book, ,
The
Five Roles of a Master Herder: A Revolutionary Model for Socially Intelligent
Leadership. Her publisher, New World Library, describes it thusly:
“Linda Kohanov, author of the bestselling
The
Tao of Equus,
Riding Between the Worlds: Expanding Our Potential Through the Way of the Horse,
Way
of the Horse: Equine Archetypes for Self-Discovery: A Book of Exploration and 40
Cards, and ,
The
Power of the Herd: A Nonpredatory Approach to Social Intelligence, Leadership,
and Innovation, pioneered
a deep understanding of “the way of the horse,” including the extraordinary
nonverbal communication of skilled riders and the collaborative power of
“herding cultures” through the centuries. She has adapted this profound,
time-tested approach to modern life and the organizations in which top-down
management hierarchies have become obsolete. Detailing the five roles of “master
herders” — Dominant, Leader, Sentinel, Nurturer/Companion, Predator — she shows
readers how to recognize and utilize them in the “modern tribes” of our
workplaces and other social organizations. Richly nuanced and yet wonderfully
practical, this model facilitates the mobility, adaptability, and innovation
essential today, and allows groups to achieve goals, overcome obstacles, and
sustain one another with the powerful grace exemplified by skilled horse and
rider.”
Fortunately for us, this last book will come out before the election. Perhaps
we’ll have some candidates who exhibit some horse sense! Kohanov’s book will
certainly be a guide to evaluating the campaign.
I trust that this generous taste of her writing will inspire you to obtain
copies of her books, read them, share them, and, if you are lucky enough to have
a horse as a trainer to help you apply the important truths revealed, you’ll
learn how to be as wonderful as Equus. If so, we’d love to have you run for
office!
You can support our work bringing your attention to these fine books by using
the links below to amazon.com to further investigate your options.
THANKS!
Whinee!!