Chapter 79 Evan Sees a Ghost
“You’ll notice that much of the fear that was in her eyes before is now gone,” Evan commented. “She is beginning to realize that I’m not quite as dangerous as she thought I was at first. My next move is to move my eyes back toward her rump rather than staying focused on her eyes. This is telling her that I am no longer interested in her as a piece of meat. In a moment, you will see her using a little bit of horse lingo. You will see her licking her lips and chewing. This is something that foals and young horses do when they are around the more dominant members of the herd. This is a sign that she is turning over dominance to me and her willingness to negotiate a peace treaty, if you will.”
He was well aware of the timing by the look and the pace, and he timed his comments to happen immediately before the actual thing that he was predicting. Sure enough, just as planned, he noticed that the horse began sticking out her tongue and licking her lips and that she seemed to be chewing on something. “There is the licking and chewing,” he said simply. “At this point, I need to turn away slightly and cross my arms. Up to this point, my arms and attached claws have been a threat. Now I am reducing the threat. We are more or less negotiating a peace treaty.”
Evan’s posture changed. He was turned away slightly, and his eyes were not focused as intently upon the horse. Suddenly, the horse stopped and turned to face him again. When he did, Evan turned away and shifted his eyes from the horse to the ground. “She has stopped. At this point, I turn away at a 45-degree angle and focus my eyes completely away from her. When I do this, she will come to check me out.” On cue, one more time, the mare began to take slow, quiet steps toward him until he reached him, and then stuck out her muzzle to touch him softly on the shoulder.
The moment the horse’s muzzle touched him, Evan turned toward her and began stroking her muzzle and talking in soft, low tones. This moment was always special to him, and he forgot that the crowd was even there. He made no comments during this special time. He could hear sniffles going through the crowd and knew that many of them were fighting back tears. It was sometimes hard for him not to get teary, because it was always a very touching moment. There was a very soft and very real relationship between the two. The defiance was gone from the horse, and her eyes were soft and gentle.
Evan moved down along her body, stroking her on her neck and shoulders and on her back. He picked up her feet and stroked her legs. He talked in a soft, even tone, but none of it was directed toward the crowd. He continued to the horse’s rump and passed around behind her. “It would have been dangerous to walk behind her a few moments ago, but now that we have made our treaty, she is beginning to trust me,” he said. While he was engaged with the mare, an assistant brought some equipment into the round pen and placed it in the center. “We’re going to slip a halter on her,” he said, continuing with his seminar.
His assistant also brought out an English saddle with a special set of rings on it. He demonstrated to his audience how all of the mare’s inhibitions were gone and for the most part, and that he could begin to teach her. Slowly and quietly, he moved from putting a halter on her to strapping on the saddle, to attaching lines and driving her around the arena, and then even to allowing his assistant to get up into the saddle. The mare trusted his every move, and the crowd watched in stunned silence. As he was wrapping up this stage of the seminar, he had one more little trick that he liked to throw in if everything was going right. He nodded toward the gate, and the assistant opened it. He let out a short, shrill whistle, and Sam and Lucy trotted in and lay down inside the gate watching him.
“We’ve reached such a high level of trust at this point that she is even willing to allow my two assistants to help finish the seminar,” he announced. “Sam.” At the sound of his name, Sam came to him. The mare eyed the dog, but stood still. Sam lay down at Evan’s feet, looking up at him. “Well, introduce yourself.” Sam sat up, moved over in front of the mare, and sat down. The mare’s muzzle approached him, and he sat still while she checked him out, then touched his nose to her nose. The crowd responded to the moment.
“Everybody is okay with this, then?” he asked Sam. Sam left his spot and came to Evan’s feet and sat again, looking up at him. Evan scooped him up and placed him in the saddle. “Lucy,” he called out. Lucy trotted to him and sat looking up at him. “Well?” he said. She turned toward the mare, and they repeated the same introduction.
Evan snapped the lead rope into the ring on the halter and handed it to Lucy, who took it softly in her mouth. “Take her out,” he said. Lucy turned and led the now calm mare with Sam riding on her back out of the round pen to the applause of the crowd. “There you have it,” he said. “When you communicate in a language that the horse understands and allow them to be what they are, they will come to a point of trusting you. I have a few minutes to take some questions,” he said. “But I do have several more horses to work on, so try to keep them brief.” For the first time since the beginning of the seminar, he had turned his focus toward the crowd. Up to that point, his eyes had stayed focused on the work he was doing with the mare. He started to scan the crowd for upraised hands, and then he saw a sight which caused him to freeze in place. He no longer saw the crowd nor the upraised hands.
“Something has come up,” he said suddenly. “If you have questions, catch me after the next seminar, please.”