O Lifestyle
and graceful,
but one Texas
They'relarge,powerful,
B Y E L L I S EP I E F C E
human
whisperers
therapistalsoseessteedsas
hnEE\ ELshL
utthem
T n s u i i o u n d e db l
I l m s t d n d r n s , ft h c m i J J l eu f a p d s r L , r e .
s o I c a n m a k c t h e i r a . q u a i n t a n c eo, n e b y
o n e .t s u i t h e y c o u l d n t c a r e l e s s . l t ' sb r e a k
f a s t t i m e a n d t h e - v r ea l l e a t i n g , t e a r j n g
small bits ol n€wly sprouted spring grdss
l r o r t h e h d r d . d r o u g h i . p a r c h e ed a r t h .S o
Isalk up to sassy,a leaD.chestnut Ara
bian, and hold out fty hand. She puts her
big. sotl ho6€ lips on nv paln aDd sn'fts
d n d n i b b l e s . s b eg o e sb a c L l o e a t i n g t h e
grass,and I move on to the next horse.
Tall, strong. and nuscula., TT Man is
a l0-rarold qua.t€r hors€.H€ has a whitc
s t r c a k o n h i s n o s e a n d i s o t b e r w i s et h e
c o l o ro l a c a r a m e l . Is a l k o l e r t o h r m a n d
ofler my hand, and lik€ sd$!. he snifti lnd
-H.y:
l
nibblcs.Tren hebites my fi ng€riips.
q u i p r n s h o c k . l t i g u r eh e s i u s tp l a l i n g \ i t h
ne. so I reapproach.I ofler my hand again.
H € d o e s n lb r t em c t h i s h m e . l l e s n i t f sa n d
then goesback lo eating
Itu.n tomeetthe rest.butthe-vre alread-v
movingt.rsard me.ina herd.Iirsei Magno,
the handsomeAndalusian !er.hcron cros
breed:Bufly,B.in kadura,dnd RiSado:ljngles
the pony:and, linally, the boss oith€ group.
Rella.hallshne and h.lfp. LrrthoFe One by
on€, they rasually scoul m. out and move
on. Ihev k decnbd I m not iihreat.
sdrd willeBon. who\ stind,ng oiit{,
the sid€.as\s me rvhom I \!ant to { or\ wiih
tod!\r "\\rith.ur thinking rbout ri. \rhich
ho6c afe you most drasn to? she!sks.
'1T
\lan, l sa,{
I n s i . y o u p r c k - v o uhro r s e
about an hour's drivc north ofDallas, aft€r
! left turn pasl lh. \\hyne s Carpets sign on
Highsav 377 and alter crossing over some
railmad rra.k\. and th€n a lew morc miles
2
O Lifestyle
after that,is whereSa.aWilleBonotreBa
ner! kiDdoitberapyat dre AubreyEques
A
tlirn Center(wwrv.aubreyequ'ne.coml.
licensedsocialworkerand therapist.!Vill
ersonknowshow to questionapatientan.l
bnng up her mosttroubling.cumbeFome,
or chronicissues.Btrtout her€,on 12hilly
a.resoutsideAubrey,Texds.sheptaysa dif
f€rcnlrole.Dressedin a.obalt Norib Face
r!indbrcaker.well.wornjeans,and hiking
boots.sh€(.nds backand letsthe horses
- and thepatients - do the work.
-l
ftuly view ih€ horse as co-iherapist,'
Willerson, 36. sitiing on a bench ncar
sa_vs
the stdbles."l truly dras on lheir wisdom. I
d.aw on their readions. I}ter show u s what s
goingon wilh us by thejr bod"vlanguage.
Hippoth€rap) hds been used ior ycaN
as away lor physicallydisdbled cbildren to
strengihen musclesthrough .iding. as veU
ds gain.onfidcncc and bolste. s€lfest€em.
tsutWjlle6on N using her horsesin a diI{er
THE ONLY SUREBET
IN LASVEGAS.
Horses te.ch us to connect wilh
whats reallygoing on intehally by
reacling to subconsciousmessages thar were giving thed. B.sides
one s relationshipwith onesell,here
are som€ of the key issues willer
son sayshorsescan help us wiihl
IDENNFYAEHAVIOR
PATTERNS
H o r s e sc a n r e v e a l b e h a v i o .p a t lerns n how we conduct ourseves
in oorfam ly €lationships, ove relat i o n s h i p sw
, o r k r e a t i o n s h i p sa, n d
friendships. "From the mlnut€ we
see [hor3e31,we want to w.lk uP
to them,touch them, we want lo be
close to them, willersonsays.'But,
like people,€ach hoise is ditierent
a.d has its own personality and
needs to b€ appioachedditferently,
so if we pay attention to the body
languageand whal theyte sayingto
us, w€ ca. keep rhar lessonin mind
when we dealwith people."
IMPNOVE
RELATIONSHIPS
'Many psople aie drawn ro horses
wilh the most PorsonallY,or atvac.
tion is based on physcal app€a.
ance - they'll ohen choose Magno,
the most handsohe ho.se of rh.
herd, willersonsays.we olt6n id6alize who we think is right for !s
- in horseand humanrslationships
- withoutlirst takingthe time to gel
ro know th€m, shs says.Ths selection processis an unco.scioospaltefn, "lf you can becom€ aware of
whafs going on. th€n yo! can look
al why yo! h.v€ that Patlern."
For more intormation aboul Sara
w i l l e f s o n a n d h € i h o r s e s ,g o r o
www.horsesh6artandso!l.com.
O Lifestyle
e n t w a l H e r i e c h n i q u cd o e s n ti n \ o l v en { l
1 n gt h c m i r a t h e r , . o n n e c t r n g\ v r i h { h o r \ e
i n , - \ s p a c e N i l l e r s o n s t a n d so n t h e
s i d € 1 i n . sx h i l e t h e r e l r t i o n s h r pb c t w c . n
hunan and an,ral unblds. shesrrs tbal
s b e n e v e rk n o N ss h a t s g o i n gt o . o n € u p .
a n d n e l l h o d . e s t h e p a t i e n l .l t r o u l d b .
a b € h r v i o r p a t t e r n .r \ r e l a t i o n s h r pi s s u c .
$ h i c h i s m o s t . o m m o n ,s h es a r s .o r s o m .
thing elen deeper.hkc in onothnalblock.
'The
c h a l l e n g ci s g o r n g I n i o r h a t a r e n a
without an agenda, shc sdys
\{iller$n gres up rn Dallas and kno$a
l i r s t h a n da b o l t t h . p o $ c r l l l r c l a t b n s h i p
b . r w c c n h u m a n sa n d h o r s e sA l t c r f i d r n g
p o n r e sa t h c r g r a n d f , t h e r sr r n c h o u t s d .
S a n A n t o n r o .a n d a l t c r r i d i n g h o h e s r t
summe. camp she\ .s hookcd.s.oD t herc
a 1 t c rs, h e$ a s t a k r n gN r . L l v r i d i n SL . $ o t s .
W h e n s h e $ a s i n n h t h g r r d c .h c r p a r c n l s
gaveher a hall'qua.te'. hall,\rabirn horsc
n a m € dP o o h .s h c( ' . n t t . l l ( n l i n s ( i ) l l e g ei n
Virginia, and lerhors. \cDt rith hfr \\'hcr
sh€ got nrlried and ntuved to Houston. so
did Pooh A Lrvyears ag,).she rc l th. tdo
o J t g z u s b r r ' n d ! X o h a n o ! ,a b o o k t h a t
s h o w e dh o r s e s n hs c a l c N- s p i r i t u a l g u i d e s
f
"l t.ulyui.*
the horseas
co-therapist.
I truly
draw on their
wisdom."
lnd lears. lt nade $ duch rr.annrgout of
r l l o f t h e e r p e r i e n c eIsh a d w i t h f o o h , _s h c
s a v s ' l l e k n e r v $ h a t r v a sg o r n g o n B i t h m e ,
a n d I k n . N s h a t w a sg o i n go n $ i t h b i b . '
'lhr..
vrds ago.\\iUeNonsignedup I'ra
rear l{)ngrfp.€nt,cesl'ip ai EponaEquestri{r Scr\nrs in Tu.$n. r\rizona. and leanrcd
how to lssnrilatc the languag€olrhe hoBe
$ith thit ol trrdilron.l thefapy.Sincethen.
i n r d d i t , o d l o h e r 1 u 1ilr m c j o b a s a $ . i a l
\rorker
she no$ worts wrth sprnalcord
i r l u r l p a t r c n t sa t t h e B a y l . nI n s t i t u t € t o r
Rehabilrtrtionin Dallds- shesecsclientsat
nLShtind.n the \veekendsirho rvant to trr"
equine'la.ilitaled psy.hotherapl. either 1n
addiiion to of rnsreadofrraditbnal therap!
"lnr opcr to an_vbody
who!,)pen tu healing
rn . drffcrcntNaY,_shesars.
wlllorson puls a haLtcron TT l\,tan,and the
t h r e eo l u s w a l k d o \ L ! t h c h r l l t o t h e s m a i l
g r e € n r r e n n s h c p u l s l l i n s i d c .I s t a n d
o u t s e t b e g a t r . w h ( ! \ \ ' r l l c r e o nd . c s a
.bodyscu_on
n'r bllon Igo In.
I close ny eyes. Che.k in lvrth ihc lop
ofvour hcad. she savs.lrst noti.€ it. How
r si t l e . l i n g l '
I herr the rustle ol ihc le!!.s nre c.ol
breeze.l bend nt knecsslightll
S h ea s k sm e t o f t ) r u so n n v b e r d : I s i i
H n n . n o Nt h a i
c l . a r o r i s , tf i , l l . f t h o u g h t s ?
shc lrcnhons it.l\!onde.ifl an thinking too
.nrrh. Am I dnrlilrg too mLrchcolleethese
davs?\\'h_visnr hedrt rr.rngl ll\ poundnrg
lik. a kettledrum. \larb€ it.\ mv blood pr€s
s u r c .l l a l b c I n e c d t o t d k e v i t a m i n sa g a i n .
o r c r l l t h e d o c i o r I s o n d c r r l l L L b eh o m ei n
time to trlk to nry boylriend In Pa.is benrre
ho goes ro bed. She telh me to takc a decp
Mn..t od rh..k d at how @i.tl, I latn:
tu
"stup.ndou-, k id..t6lton.r
s ndildPidu|.d'n.'t.nuLft.
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O Lifestyle
breath. Ihis seemsto help.
Body scancomplete,Will€.son tells me
that itk time to step into the arenawitb TT
-Let
Me.
whatewr comesup comeup,- she
s.ys, openingtbe gateand then shutting it
TT Man is stil eanngat the far endofthe
a.ena. I walk toward him, stePPingslowly
aooss the dry ea.th, which is pockmarked
with horses hoof prints and hlf-covered
with crisp fallen leaves.He doesnt seemto
noii.e m. As I getclo*r,I feela little newous.
What am I suppo€edto do?Pei him?Tnlk to
him?Ciw hin glss? I feelpressureto do this
right. althoughI hare no ideawh.t, dactly,
I m supposedto bedoing I darenot ak WiIerson;I m not suploed to ha@m .8enda
so I stand besidehim, neri to his baF
rcl beuy,the top of which is at ny e,€ l*l.
I touchhis backdd brush awaysonEof the
bit! of d.ied grs stuckto his haii
Willerson ask3me how I feel.I tell he.
that it feelsnice beingnea. him, beingin
his presence.I tell her that I was a bit ner
vousbut that its sta.tingto f.de.I put my
arm &ro$ hi5 back and put my body right
againsrhi3.He continuesto eat,t.kin8 a
st€p forwardeve.ynow add lhen to nnd
mor€gr4s. As he doesthis, he le&s into me
.nd I leaninto him a bit more.We are,horse
andhumo,leaningon eachothe.,awareof
eachother,and comfonablein eachother's
space.It goeslike this for about l0 minut$,
the two ofus.walkingandleaning,
Silently,
Sheasksme hN I feelnM, ed I tell he.
that ifs ni@to ha\€ someoneto led on,that
th@ wms to b€a *n* oftrust betweenus.
Shetells me that TT Man is welcomingIne
into his space,that hei! combrtablewith m.
too And sheaskswbat I think aboutTT Md.
'He
s st.ong. heBableto supportmy weight,
physically.dd d@snt 6eer.to mind ifI led
"Hes ako playful, ashe shs€d you earliea whenh€bit )our hand,"Willersonsys.
"l think that he hd a goodheart,"I reply,
wonderidgasI do if I h dthrcpmorphizing
with my statement."ls that a reird thing to
"Ho6es are all aboui rclationship,"she
'They
says.
want to be i. . relationship
Then I rcalized what TT Man was
showingme, and why,ofallthe horses,I
I told Willereon that I'd been struggling with lettinSgo of my independence
to allow myself to be in a serious relation'
ship.Leaningon someoneelre has.lways
be€nsomethingthat Ive avoided.But out
herc,underthe ancientoak treesand the
sunsbi.e,standingnext to TT Man,it felt
quitenicehavingsomeone
to shoulderpan
Willerson had told me earlier that
peopletend to rubconsciouslychoGe their
horsestor aspecificreason,so I wantedto
knowmoreaboutTT Man.Shelaughs.'Hes
stubborn,bossy.and can be a big grouch,
but undemeathit all. hes a t€ddy bear.'
"The horse or my boyfriend?-I
say,laughinS.
Later,asI ddve backhometo Dallas,I
keepthe radio ofr and crackthe wi.dows
to feelthe fre6h,sping air pouringinto the
caf. I'vedecidedto lean on the big French
guyaslongashelllet ne. O
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wi$ 0v0r80bnndE.
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Elll.e Pl.rc. is a D.llas-b.s€d fieelance
wrlt6r who whisperedto th€ ho.ses in
Chantlllyon he, last trip to Fr8nce.