A good trainer can hear a horse speak to him. A great trainer can hear him whisper.
Interpretation
Understanding subtle communication is key to true connection.
This quote emphasizes the importance of being attentive and perceptive in communication, particularly in the context of working with horses. A good trainer acknowledges the horse's needs and feelings, while a great trainer possesses the deeper ability to sense and interpret the more subtle cues and whispers of the horse, signifying a profound bond and understanding beyond mere vocal expressions.
In practice
In a workshop about animal training, one could use this quote to highlight the importance of empathy.
I had been riding horses before my memory kicked in, so my life with horses had no beginning. It simply appeared from the fog of infancy. I survived a difficult childhood by traveling on the backs of horses, and in adulthood the pattern didn't change.
You must somehow understand that we as horsemen can do very little to teach the horse. What we can do is to create an environment in which he can learn.
For centuries, humans have said to horses, 'You do what I tell you or I'll hurt you.' Humans still say that to each other -- still threaten, force and intimidate. I'm convinced that my discoveries with horses have value in the workplace, in the educational and penal systems, and in the raising of children. At heart, I'm saying that no one else has the right to say 'you must' to an animal -- or to another human.
The difficulty of tactical maneuvering consists in turning the devious into the direct, and misfortune into gain.
You learn emotional experiences as much as you learn cognitive experiences, except that they are more unconscious. Sometimes one represses the cognitive component of it, but it's often more difficult to repress the emotional component.
Running around accusing others is not as good as laughing. And enjoying a good laugh is not as good as going along with things.
If you can wait and not be tired of waiting, or being lied about, don't deal in lies. Or being hated, don't give way to hating, and yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise.
I have been speculating last night what makes a man a discoverer of undiscovered things; and a most perplexing problem it is. Many men who are very clever - much cleverer than the discoverers - never originate anything.
A man can counterfeit love, he can counterfeit faith, he can counterfeit hope and all the other graces, but it is very difficult to counterfeit humility.
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