But in the end, I still want to become a geographer. Work as a geographer. So, in a way, one could ask what the point with all this horse shit is. More than just for the fun of it. I won’t need to know about the hierarchy in a horse flock when I get samples from groundwater wells, or whatever it is I’ll be doing to earn my living. My curriculum vitae won’t look more attractive if I add the ability “kinda knows how to get a horse to trust me” on it. It could seem as if I’ve walked into a dead end here.
The fun is obviously the main reason for me being here and that’s what I’ll be taking with me most when I leave. The memories of all the horses and the great connection Jay helped me to get with some of them. Especially Portia. But I also think that one could look at this training programme of Jay’s in a slightly broader sense too, which would give the practitioner an insight that is relevant even for the academic geographer.
It’s about mankinds relationship to nature. Firstly, the whole concept of a nature outside and independent of humans is neither constructive in a practical sense, nor true. Nature is in a constant state of change and at the moment humans happen to be part of that change. Nature has no opinions, and doesn’t value one state of things above any other. Nature is. It’s us humans that value, we who are in BIG trouble if the change spirals out of control. Being an environmentalist is purely out of self-interest.
But that doesn’t mean that we, as conscious beings, can do just as we like. This tradition of seeing nature as one entity, separate from humans, has lead us to use all other organisms on our planet for our own gain. Humans have a long history of taking what we want, without considering the consequences. It’s not only our present Western civilization. Look at the Mayas. They (probably) consumed themselves to death (through obliterated forests and over-used soils), with some assistance from the ever-ominous El Nino-Southern Oscillation. What we should learn from all the civilizations that have fallen before our own, is that in order not to destroy ourselves, we have to consider the other organisms in our surroundings aswell. And to act according to their needs while trying to achieve our goals. In that way, everyone wins.
And that’s exactly what Jay is doing. He has taken one tiny part of the non-human world, the horses, and taught himself how to train them on their terms. The goal with the training programme is still very human, the horses are trained for riding, but it is done in a way that the horses can understand. While training with the horse logic that Jay keeps talking about, the horses actually enjoy being ridden. Because, what they want is to trust and please a stong leader. And if the rider can convince the horse that she is a strong leader, the riding becomes a pleasure for both parties.
In my opinion, that is what we should do with most things in the world. First realise that we are a part of the whole. And then try to find ways that works for all parties involved. Mosses aswell as frogs aswell as humans. It might be much more complicated, doing things in this way. But we humans pride ourselves for being intelligent. For once, we should use that intelligence for something good.
So, in that sense, my training with Jay might also have been useful for my future career as a geographer.
Katja Malmborg 