Connecting with Horses

The Life Lessons We Can Learn From Horses

Connecting with Horses, The Life Lessons We Can Learn From Horses

By Margrit Coates

ISBN-13: 978-1569756911

$14.95

2008, Ulysses Press

Available at www.thehorsehealer.com or www.amazon.com

Reviewed by Dianne McCleery

In the introduction to her book Connecting with Horses, Margrit Coates states, “Without the support of the horse, life would lose direction and be empty for a great many people.” If the reader is one of the “many people” like I am, this book will resonate powerfully for her. Coates is an animal communicator, and uses her experiences to help readers in understanding their horses as well as understanding themselves.

Connecting with Horses is a book that encourages personal transformation by seeing horses as spiritual being with the power to help us heal. Coates states, “All horses are healers in their own individual way, and all horses want to help us heal.” And she gives us stories to illustrate this, showing how horses can guide readers to be more genuine in their lives. As Coates says, “An incredible fact about horses is that their teaching is very simple: be genuinely kind and honest and act from your heart.” She also gives activities to try. A particularly powerful one is called “Heartwarming,” which is a two-way healing experience.

This book gives us a glimpse into the psyche of the horse as only an animal communicator can. There are nuggets of wisdom on every page, and this is a book that will have to be read often to assimilate all the nuggets that it contains. And since the subtitle of the book is The Life Lessons We Can Learn From Horses, readers can use these lessons to enhance all areas of their lives.

This book isn’t always comfortable for the reader, and will challenge many riders of several different fronts. For example, Coates says, “In everything we do, we must ask ourselves, what is in this for the horse.” That one statement will cause many readers to reassess how they interact and what they ask of their horses. However, Coates also states, “Through connecting with the horse, we not only blend, but are healed at our core.” I believe that if the reader allows herself to open to Coates ideas, healing can occur on many different levels, from physical to spiritual.

Coates states, “A lesson we can learn from the horse is to allow consciousness to filter throughout the whole body rather than to just be in our head, for this is what they do all the time.” Just this one concept radically changed my groundwork and riding. Instead of just thinking in my mind what I’m trying to communicate, I feel it throughout my whole body and, consequently, the horses I work with are responding to softer and softer cues. If I find myself in a situation where my horse seems confused or unwilling, if I remind myself to infuse my whole body with what I’m asking, the situation immediately improves.

On the back cover is the question “Would you like to enrich your life by connecting with horses at the deepest level?” Connecting with Horses, by using stories to illustrate and exercises for the reader, helps the reader to do just this. It’s often not easy, and probably repeated readings of this book will be required. But if the reader is one of those who know that horses bring deep meaning to her life, these lessons are worth learning.

Margrit Coates is a world authority on healing for horses and a renowned equine communicator. She lives in southern England and is the cofounder of Holistic Pets, a clinic offering natural treatments for horses and pets. She has three previous books, Healing for Horses, Horses Talking, and Hands-on Healing for Pets. More information can be found at www.thehorsehealer.com.

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