Preoccupations: The Horse Sense That Builds Trust

In India, I learned the mindfulness method for monitoring our thoughts. It allows us to view our dysfunctional habits as a kind of cloud that covers our true, healthy nature. Mindful awareness can apply to mental and emotional patterns, like the dance of subjugation and entitlement, where one person imposes his or her agenda at the expense of the other, who passively surrenders to the other’s control.

For instance, a physician at one of my workshops had a colleague who was a bit of a bully — opinionated and critical. This colleague would tell her emphatically how he saw things and what she ought to do. She would just listen — but fume afterward, thinking over and over about what she wished she had said. It was a classic case.

Then, one day, she applied what she had learned about mindfulness and changing patterns. Her colleague was his usual blustery, domineering self. But after he was done, she paused, collected her thoughts and told him calmly: “I don’t agree with you. People can have their own opinions. I respect the way you do things but prefer to do things differently.” Taken aback, he walked off without a word. She told me he was never the same bully with her again.

For five years, I’ve studied with R.J. Sadowski, known as Bob, who trains horses by integrating horse-whispering principles with what he calls “horsemindship.” He analyzes the subtle predator/prey dynamics between humans and horses. I’ve seen these dynamics apply to humans interacting with one another.

As herd animals, horses are always ready to cooperate, if they trust you and you show that you understand how they see the world — if, as Bob puts it, “You speak horse.” Collaboration in a herd operates naturally, with horses looking out for one another — unlike the us-versus-them approach that humans can too often take.

Horse whispering has helped me see how horses are natural peacemakers and how the herd dynamic can be a model for human group behavior. When people “join up,” as it is called in horse whispering, a genuine connection results that makes everything run more smoothly.

At a workshop I gave at the Omega Institute in the Hudson Valley in New York, I invited Bob and his horses to demonstrate predator/prey principles and the concept of joining up. He brusquely grabbed a rear hoof of one horse and lifted it, as if to change its horseshoe, destabilizing the horse as it wobbled on three legs — the way of force and control. Then he showed a more connected, joined-up approach: he gently rubbed the horse above its leg, slowly rubbing down toward the foot. By the time his hand was halfway down the leg, the horse had lifted its hoof, freely offering it.

A diverse range of people attended the workshop. One, a business executive, spoke up when Bob finished: “I’m pretty high-powered in my business role, and I guess I use predatory tactics all the time — which makes me successful in sales. If I set out to make a sale, I pitch very aggressively, and I’m good at closing.” Then her tone changed to a vulnerable sadness, as she added, “And when I do, afterward I end up feeling awful.” We explored how she could be successful while taking a gentler, more empathic approach in sales.

Making a sale at any cost too often means that the customer ends up with the wrong product or service — and may not return. The best salespeople and account managers typically realize the value of nurturing the relationship and earning loyalty, joining up with a customer to understand his or her needs — then trying to meet them. If they don’t have what’s needed, they are honest about that.

If we are predatory, we might get what we want, but it can harm the connection. Just as horses read intentions, so do people — and kindness is good for any relationship. As Bob advises, “Don’t put your purpose before your connection.”

TARA BENNETT-GOLEMAN is the author of “Mind Whispering: A New Map to Freedom From Self-Defeating Emotional Habits.”

Federal Judge Halts Plans to Start Horse Slaughters

Judge Christina Armijo of Federal District Court issued a restraining order in a lawsuit brought by the Humane Society of the United States and other groups in a case that has set off an emotional national debate about how best to deal with the tens of thousands of unwanted and abandoned horses across the country.

Judge Armijo scheduled another hearing for Monday in the lawsuit. The move stops what would have been the resumption of horse slaughters for the first time in seven years in the United States.

The groups contend the Department of Agriculture failed to do the proper environmental studies before issuing permits that allowed the companies to open horse slaughterhouses, which they had said they planned to open as soon as Monday.

The horse meat would be exported for human consumption and for use as zoo and other animal food.

The Valley Meat Company of Roswell, N.M., has been at the fore of the fight, pushing for more than a year for permission to convert its cattle plant into a horse slaughterhouse.

The Agriculture Department in June gave the company the go-ahead to begin slaughtering horses. Federal officials said they were legally obligated to issue the permits, even though the Obama administration opposes horse slaughter and is seeking to reinstate a Congressional ban that was lifted in 2011.

Another permit was later approved for Responsible Transportation in Sigourney, Iowa.

The move has divided horse rescue and animal welfare groups, ranchers, politicians and American Indian tribes about what is the most humane way to deal with the country’s horse overpopulation.

Some American Indian tribes, including the Navajo and Yakama nations, are among those who are pushing to let the companies open. They say the exploding horse populations on their reservations are trampling and overgrazing rangelands, decimating forage resources for cattle and causing environmental damage.

On the other side, the actor Robert Redford, former Gov. Bill Richardson of New Mexico, current Gov. Susana Martinez and the attorney general, Gary King, are among those who strongly oppose a return to domestic horse slaughter, citing the animals’ longtime role as companion animals in the West.

Ikea Withdraws Meatballs After Horse Meat Is Found

The retailer said it had removed some products from its stores in Sweden after the authorities in the Czech Republic detected horse meat in Ikea meatballs. The company said it had made the decision even though its own tests two weeks ago had not detected horse DNA.

Ikea also announced that it was stopping sales “of the concerned batch” of meatballs in Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Hungary, France, Britain, Portugal, Italy, Netherlands, Belgium, Spain, Greece, Cyprus and Ireland.

“We are now initiating further tests on the same production batch in which the Czech Republic authorities found indications of horse meat,” Ikea added in a statement. It said results were expected in the coming days.

“We do not tolerate any other ingredients than the ones stipulated in our recipes or specifications, secured through set standards, certifications and product analysis by accredited laboratories,” the statement said.

A traditional part of Swedish cuisine, meatballs are consumed in large quantities by customers in Ikea’s in-store cafeterias, and are also offered, frozen, for sale in Ikea’s in-store food shops for customers to take home.

The discovery came as European Union ministers were meeting in Brussels to discuss how to contain a crisis that began last month in Ireland, spread quickly to Britain, and has now expanded steadily across the Continent.

Around a dozen countries have now been affected, and the scandal has drawn attention to the problems of policing a complex supply chain for processed food in Europe.

The European Union introduced strict traceability laws for fresh beef after the outbreak of mad cow disease in the 1990’s. Similar controls are not in place for processed meat products.

While pressure for stricter rules is growing, some European nations worry that this could produce an unwieldy and impractical system.

In the meantime, European nations have stepped up DNA tests of meat products to determine their provenance, and these are producing more unwelcome discoveries every week.

Last week Nestlé, one of the best-known food companies in the world, said it was removing pasta meals from store shelves in Italy and Spain. Already most of the big supermarket chains in Britain have withdrawn products, including millions of hamburgers.

Last week, local authorities in Scotland were urged by a procurement agency not to use current stocks of frozen beef products, following the discovery of traces of horse DNA in a frozen burger taken from a Scottish school kitchen.