Emma and I often talk together about this life path we currently share and the wonder of it.  We feel blessed to have one another in what would otherwise frequently feel like a lonely, isolated journey for us individually.

Emma’s journey is to understand and follow an approach to horsemanship that is based on a strong spiritual relationship with her horses; a connection that employs no force, no restraints, no punishment, no physical or emotional pain for either horse or human. Emma’s desire is to rejoice in the innate beauty of this powerful equine shaman who can teach her the glory of relationship with animals and, therefore, with humans.  Because traditional horsemanship and people in the horse industry typically endorse such activities as horseback riding, jumping, dressage, racing, polo, etc., and the incumbent force associated with these sports, Emma finds herself mostly alone in her equine pursuits.  She must seek out and travel to the few mentors available who share and practice her horsemanship beliefs to help her grow in her relationship with her horses, Freedom (aka Saoirs – Seer-sha) and Emmy.  She has been fortunate in this pursuit to find wonderfully spiritual teachers.

My journey is to be able to create and share meaningful stories through filmmaking.  This comes at a time in my life when nearly all of my peers are looking upon retirement as the next phase of their lives.  I am 60 years old.  Shouldn’t I also be thinking about relaxing into my senior years?  My role model was a mother who was still teaching piano when she died in a car accident at the age of 92 – really!  As a result, I see at least 30 more years within which to pursue my bliss!  So, about 18 months ago, I discovered the joy of storytelling through film in a video class at the Computer Career Institute at Johns Hopkins University.  I created Crabtowne Productions http://www.crabtowne.com/ last year, and following the making of my first short film “My Friend Joan: A Conversation,” I began working with Emma on “Freedom’s Choice.”  http://www.freedomschoicethemovie.com/ She and her horses are a joy to be around!  I must, however, walk this new path without daily professional partners to support me.  Everything I need to learn, I must seek out on my own.  Like Emma, I have been blessed in finding what I need thus far, and along with Emma, we are moving forward in this new and exciting venture…together.

Some Nights, hearing her outside

I think that she is to earth

What I am to her,

Belonging.

-Linda Hogan

            We are directly connected to nature.  We came out of nature, evolving like the rest of our animal relations out of and into the earth.  We depend on nature to survive, to give us oxygen to breath, food to feast upon, and space to live.  In this was we are part of it. 

            We are also reflected by nature.  Through observing the natural world, witnessing death and birth, violence and compassion, intimacy and independence, and all that lies between we see ourselves in nature.  All that takes place in the world of the animals and plants takes place in our human world.  In a way all of nature is inside of us.

            The Celts believed that our soul is expressed in nature. That all which dwells in the natural world is part of us and we are part of it.

            “Try this the next time some natural scene of beauty or power pulls you towards it. It might be a radiant sun-set, the stars on a vary clear, cold night, a great expanse of beach with waves rolling over mossy stones. Close your eyes and continue to see the scene, and realize that the pull it has on you is coming from within you as much as from without” (Cowan, 4).

            If we are from nature, reflected in nature, and of nature then we are always connected to the earth and to one another.  We are never alone. We are always whole.

            As we have continued to evolve we have stepped further and further away from nature.  Our dependency upon nature becomes more obscure, many of us are not surrounded by wilderness anymore, and we forget that we are not alone. 

            Many of us search for a path to lead us back to a feeling of wholeness.  We are separated from nature. Separated from ourselves and separated from one another. 

            One way in which we can begin to know ourselves again is through contacting nature.  Being with animals, being with horses, is a direct connection with nature.  The horse is an example of nature in all her spender: Powerful, compassionate, wild, and wise the horse can lead us back to our oneness with nature. 

            We are connected to the horse.  We both came out of nature, evolving to live and grow on the earth.  We have depended on the horse, as our civilization developed the horse carried us over mountains, through great battles, and helped us cultivate our agricultural and spiritual practices.  We are reflected by the horse.  Every movement with our body, thought of our mind, feeling of our heart is sensed and interpreted by the horse, showing us who we really are.

            As we have continued to evolve the horse has become forgotten. No longer a necessity it has been degraded and underappreciated, used in pleasure and competition, the magnificence, wild nature of the horse is reduced and discarded.

            By learning to honor the nature in the horse, we can learn to honor that nature in us.  By cultivating a relationship with a horse we may learn to be authentic and whole with ourselves, with our fellow beings, and with nature. 

You will grow, laugh, cry

And we will celebrate each change you live.

You will grow strong like the horses of your past.

You will grow strong like the horses of your birth.

-Luci Tapahonso

Bibliography

Cowan, Tom. Yearning for the Wind: Celtic Reflections on Nature and the Soul.

Museum of American Indian. Song for the Horse Nation; Horses in Native American Cultures

Here is a YouTube clip of portions of the most recent interview I conducted with Emma.

Emma on YouTube

In addition to working regularly with Freedom, Emma also teaches non-traditional horsemanship and the techniques she employs in Freedom’s training to interested students.  Young equine lover Benah sought out Emma as a horsemanship teacher after learning of her techniques from a friend and following her own disappointment with traditional horse riding lessons.

Even at her young age, Benah realized the horsemanship techniques she was being taught in her riding lessons just didn’t feel right to her.  She did not want to inflict any pain on these beautiful animals, yet was instructed to use force applied with the bit, the reins, her feet and legs, and the whip to control the horse.  She couldn’t bring herself to use these pain-driven techniques to get the horse to follow her lead, so quit the lessons and gave up the idea of learning to ride.

When Benah first started her lessons with Emma last Fall, Emma was using training techniques with Freedom that she had learned in her own natural horsemanship training.  In this first video clip, Emma is teaching Benah how to establish her leadership role with Freedom and maintain control of the grooming using some natural horsemanship techniques. 

Emma instructs Benah in the use of the rope halter attached with a lead.  While not painful like a bit, the rope halter has knots on either side that, when exercised, put pressure on Freedom’s cheek.  Freedom follows Benah’s direction to “back up” due to this pressure.  Benah also lets Freedom know it’s not okay to push her around and she must have Freedom’s complete attention before leading her from the barn.

The second video clip is a continuation outside of the training session started in the barn using natural horsemanship techniques.  Emma is teaching Benah how to get Freedom’s attention and follow her direction even when Freedom really would prefer to graze and just do her own thing.

Using the lead as an extension of her arm, Emma shows Benah how to encourage Freedom to keep her attention on Benah with the driving of the lead at Freedom’s hind quarters.  Benah is a quick learner and is obviously pleased when Freedom responds appropriately without Benah having to cause her any pain.

This third video clip was captured this winter after Freedom had moved to her new, more open stable, and Emma had begun to follow horsemanship techniques involving no force, not even with the use of the rope halter or lead driving.  The entire relationship between human and horse had now become voluntary with Freedom choosing to interact with Emma and Benah.  Emma is teaching Benah companion walking with Freedom without using any force.

At the start of the clip, Emma is using a cordeo with Freedom – a very loose rope that is draped around Freedom’s chest as a guide for Freedom to “hear” what Emma wants her to do.  There is no force, no pressure.  When Benah tries to put the cordeo on Freedom, Freedom refuses. As a result, and based on Emma’s new, no-force approach to horse training, the cordeo is not used.  Freedom gets to decide to companion walk with Benah because she wants to, not because she is asked with the cordeo. 

It was wonderful to watch Emma, Benah, and Freedom as I was capturing this footage.  Emma works with Benah in the same way she works with Freedom – with loving patience.  Benah establishes a relationship with Freedom that is based on love not fear.  Freedom enjoys the companionship and loving attention from her human friends.  Most importantly, seeing these very young people working with Freedom made me realize how readily our children can recognize force and pain with these intelligent, spirited animals – and choose not to participate in it.

By Emma Cruse

October 2007

My interest and love for horses reaches back as far as I can remember into my childhood.  Though I had been a “once-a-week” riding student when I was younger, it had been several years since I’d even been on a horse.  In September of 2007, finding myself at the end of two semesters of traveling abroad and faced with the decision of what to do next, I decided the time was right to pursue my life-long fascination with horses.

A few years before, I’d had the opportunity to attend a performance of Cirque du Soleil’s “horse circus” Cavalia.  The riders and horses in Cavalia epitomize the heights to which the human-equine bond can reach, with the horses responding freely and with joy to their human partners.  I was inspired to learn more about the training methods that could achieve such heights and knew when I did return to being with horses, it would have to be through a more “untraditional” or “natural” path, like that which I’d seen on stage during the Cavalia show.

Like most people looking for information on something they know little about, I started with the Internet, eventually finding my way to Franklin Levinson’s web site.  Right away, I could tell that they way things on his web page were phrased made me feel good about it.  I read his articles and interviews and was impressed by the testimonials of his students.  I called him up and was even more impressed by his kindness and forthright personality over the phone.  In a matter of days, I decided to drive out to Snowmass, Colorado, from m home in Maryland and spend a few weeks with this “horse whisperer.”

Emma in Snowmass, CO, 2007

Immediately upon reaching Snowmass, I knew I’d made the right decision.  The beauty of Colorado in the fall is beyond description.  And after spending a few days with Franklin Levinson and experiencing the way he interacted with horses, I knew I’d made a choice that would change my life forever.

The work Franklin does with horses and the way he lives his day-to-day life are both based on a philosophy rooted in compassion, understanding, determination, and patience.  Though Franklin chooses not to identify himself as a “horse whisperer,” his understanding of horse psychology and herd behavior makes his training techniques appear magical.

Emma and Franklin Levinson

Franklin taught me that horses are “genuine.”  He showed me that with horses, what you see is what you get unlike with humans, who can have ulterior motives and are adept at concealing emotions.  Franklin demonstrated to me on a daily basis that successfully working with horses requires skill, perception, and a true heart.  Because Franklin possesses these qualities in abundance, I began to see how much his success in communicating with horses was grounded in the kind of person he is.

I remember being immediately struck by Franklin’s openness and honesty.  Here was someone who wasn’t concealing anything.  Like a horse, Franklin had everything out in the open.  Through being with Franklin, it was immediately apparent that what he taught about working with horses, that they can “make you a better person,” was true.  The kindness, grace, and skill that Franklin possesses when working with horses, he also manifests in his life.

I worked with Franklin almost every day for three weeks.  I feel I went from being someone who knew virtually nothing about horses to someone who now has a passion for working with horses.  My work with Franklin gave me the foundation to understand what an appropriate interaction with a horse looks like–and the heights you can reach when creating a healthy relationship with your horse.  I saw what it meant to be skillful and compassionate with your horse, to read what the horse is telling you and how to be aware of the messages you’re sending to the horse with body language and energy.

Emma, Snowmass, CO, 2007

Franklin gave me the gifts of knowledge and understanding, as well as experience and guidance.  Not only was Franklin a wonderful teach, but also he became a mentor to me in both my journey with horses and my journey through life.

To anyone who seeks a more satisfying experience with horses, who wishes to have the highest kind of human-horse interaction, I would recommend working with Franklin Levinson.  Whether you’re an experienced horse person, or a beginner like me, the lessons are the same.  For me, it was working towards a new kind of harmony with horses and through that work, with myself.

Like since before she was born!

That’s Emma’s mom (Annie – yes, the star of my first documentary “My Friend Joan: A Conversation”) and her dad (Bryant).  My feline soul mate, Scooter, is in the infant pouch.  Emma is still in Annie’s tummy!!

Here are a few pictures of Emma snoozing on my shoulder when she was maybe a month old.

At the time, we were joking about all the kitties wanting to be close to her.  It turns out in addition to being a horse lover, Emma has always been quite a kitty fan and owns several today. 

Emma will probably faint when she sees the photos of her in our wash tub!!

When she was about six months old, we took her with us on a week-long houseboat trip on Lake Powell in Utah.  She was quite the little trooper!!

I remember going to visit at her home when Emma was young, and she would be absorbed with her extensive Breyer Horse collection.

Guess we arent’ too surprised at her current passion!!

Emma and I know it’s not an accident that we are together right now as we both explore new worlds – her, non-traditional horsemanship when her peers are experiencing campus college life, and me, film making when all my peers are looking toward retirement.

We are both engaged in not only new experiences, but ones that very few people we know have pursued.  We are blessed with family and friends who are supportive, but they don’t have the expertise to guide us technically.  We would love to have ready access to people who have been down these paths before and could help us know what to do, answer our daily questions, mentor us up close.

We are fortunate enough to have people at a distance whom we can call upon when we need encouragement.  My Johns Hopkins film instructor has been available whenever I’ve needed him, and Emma relies upon her Nevzorov seminar leaders in Canada for support.

So, Emma and I embrace our new paths day-by-day and provide encouragement to each other, knowing that the Universe will provide what we need to grow into the people we are meant to be!