Horse Whisperers

 I had heard the term "Horse whisperer" long before I met one - and then I was convinced within moments. NB - in a lot of the images the gent looks as though he has a very "Third Reich-esque" moustache; I could not persuade him to abandon his wireless PA microphone with its little black foam cover tucked under his nose... sorry!

This gentleman is Adam Shereston and he can make a horse sit down, stand up, roll over, dance like a puppet or even just stand and wait quietly with one leg in the air. The impressive thing is that he does this, not by wrestling the horse to the ground, using pepper spray, withholding equine pocket-money or even staring into its eyes like Alligator Dundee and his water buffalo, but just by adjusting his own body-language...

As soon as he enters the horse's field of vision (i.e. from one horizon to the other) the horse is aware of him and reacts to his presence and, since Adam is doing what he does very deliberately, the horse is effectively already under his control. Without a rope he can stop the horse or make it walk, canter or mimic any of the repertoire from the Ministry of Silly Horse Walks. With a rope he can make it cross its legs and walk sideways until next Christmas and be happy to be doing so. 

Horses just seem to spot him and then are very careful indeed to keep their beadie eyes on him - and not because they are scared but just because he walks, stands, talks and moves in a way that they understand and respect. His effect lasts longer than his presence - once he explains to a horse what some other idiot human wants them to do, or how to do it, or points out a better way of behaving in general to them, the horse remembers.

On the Beaufort "Does He Do That" Scale this gentleman has a "How the Hell" rating of "Buggered if I know" or higher. I saw him look at a horse and change the direction it was walking in, repeatedly - left, right, forwards, backwards. Nothing else, no rope, no wave, he just looked. It was amazing. I gained the impression that the horses didn't know how what was going on was going on either but, rather like the rest of us, nor did they particularly care. The nearest I have seen to this effect in the Human World is that all-too familiar feeling that Fundamentally Unloveable People sometimes get at parties when someone fabulous walks into the room and all they want to do is giggle and agree to anything, so long as they are being talked to.

People Horses just seemed to go all coy, put down their drinks and agree that the world would be a better place if they just danced a little jig or walked backwards in a circle and then stood comatose for ten minutes.

It's not a totally unique skill though - I have a very similar effect myself on horses. As soon as I get close enough they knock me to the ground and stand on me. No commands or training necessary. I wave "Cooey Mr/Ms Horse!" and they say "Ooh - 'ello" and splat... Adam Shereston is a horse whisperer, I am a horse toy. We fill different social niches, that's all.

If you get a chance to go and see a horse whisperer in action I'd recommend that you do so - it's magical!