On the Hoof

Sharon Wilsie proposes that horses transmit a language from mother to foal and that this language, along with nuances and an appreciation of context, has to be learned by foals in order for them to become horses, in order to become members of the herd. She is not alone, nor the first to say this, but, let's underline a couple of things: the language is not automatic; its elements can have more than one meaning and require an effort of reading. The language, according to Sharon, is linked to points on the body. This implies that the foal becomes a thinking agent with the mother's tongue literally licking the body, but the language she uses implies that both the foal and the mare have one foot in an Other. This goes beyond instinct, outside the bounds of signs, and includes a social bond.  There are similarities here with humans. Sometimes when young horses are taken rather early from their mothers and raised in a group of other youngsters, as can happen when humans get involved,...

Do you remember when FitFlop shoes first came on the scene? The marketing stressed the way they had been "biomechanically engineered" to absorb and return energy according to the way you wear them. It's difficult to put into words, but I think everyone understands the simple idea that if your feet are uncomfortable, things rarely go well. Equally, when something is troubled elsewhere, this often affects the way we stand. The foot pads that are made for horses seem to follow a similar logic, though obviously they are quite different from those human shoes. There is a technological focus on the absorption and return of the energy emanating from the horse's hoof. There is something thoughtful about this, and also something mysterious. It is this combination that makes them particularly interesting to my psychoanalytic mind. The marketing blurb for the equine foot pads contains phrases like "reprogramming the balancing part of the brain" and " provides new ...

Imagine an inner city riding school for children who live in high rise council estates or attend the local special needs school. I don't think many would say anything other than,  “ Wow, what a great idea! ”  Horses appearing in urban environments seem to have a transforming effect on humans. Not all humans, but many stop to smile and say hello when they see the horses out on the road  and this introduces a real change in the experience of living in the city . The real presence of this large animal in a modern urban area can interrupt the discursive machinery that organises the city's daily life. It can be capable of moving the machinery into a different discourse which often releases a little bit of love. In Paris, 1968, Lacan famously said that there are structures marching in the street. He was talking about structures of discourse. These structures of discourse are not as visible as horses and can only be deduced by their effects. They leave traces which can be read f...

Sharon Wilsie in action with Horse Speak I want to present a part of a video from the second episode of Cracking the Horse Speak Code (there's a link to it at the end of this writing). Sharon Wilsie is at the very beginning of a clinic and is preparing to work with three horses she has not met before: a Bay, a little Black horse, and a horse with a Blaze. She knows that they are used as therapy horses, that they know each other well, and are very familiar with the place. People are sitting behind a ribbon that has been strung across the bottom end of an indoor school, and the three horses are brought in while Sharon is setting up the session and talking to the people. Everyone is expecting a quiet, calm, informative session. But almost immediately, something else happens. The Bay and the Black horses walk along the ribbon, checking out the people in the seats. Then the Bay horse does something unexpected: he takes the Black horse away and walks him deliberately up to the other end ...

Dance scene from On the Adamant , by Nicolas Philibert, 2022 Nicolas Philibert's award winning film, On the Adamant , ends with a few words written and addressed to the viewer, it is the only place that his voice is clearly articulated: "In a world where thinking is often confined to ticking boxes, and singularity is stifled, some places continue to resist in order to keep the poetic function of mankind and language alive."  Why such an explicit address at the end of a documentary which has avoided voiceover and gives no guidance to the viewer in any narrative? Everything is concentrated in his style and the way the film is shot and edited. Did he feel that today's audience might need a little direction in their interpretation? His idea permeates his film, as it does all his others: the poetic function of mankind; the poetic function of language. The psychiatric project that Philibert films was conceived by a psychiatrist who oversaw the boat's construction,  and ...