Happy feet?

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 information to the balancing part of the horse's nervous system." When you watch horses standing on them, you can detect small movements in their bodies as they adjust themselves to the pads. You can also see something happening in their faces. It is not difficult to believe that the horse is sensing something and moving accordingly. I am very interested in this phrase, also on the website from which they are sold: "While it cannot be fully explained, there is a calming effect on the horse." 

Another women on the yard, I'll call her Aino, quickly took an interest when I proposed they might be useful for a horse I had just ridden. She told me that her mare could be angsty sometimes, which could make her a bit tricky to ride. She got hold of a cheap set of pads designed for use with humans and began using them every morning with her horse. She quickly recognised they were having beneficial effects. Not only could she perceive a change in her horse's gait as she rode out from the yard each morning, but the mare genuinely seemed to be more at ease both in her body and in her mind. 

This innovation seems to be causing a bit of interest on the yard. Some people are skeptical, some are lightly mocking, while others are intrigued and curious. Most are alarmed by the price. I caught sight of Aino walking briskly across the yard muttering, "Just keep an open mind." I don't know who she was talking to––she may even have been speaking to herself! 

Aino is very experienced and highly respected where horses are concerned. With the pads she gets straight down to business and teaches her horse to stand on them quietly in the stable. 

My strategy, however, goes in another direction. 

Here's a couple of vignettes from my first attempt.

1. O. Firstly, the big horse who "has a set of feet!" He sometimes seems confused by his big body, and especially by his enormous feet. After riding him last week, I decided to splash out on the pads and offer to use them with him. Yesterday he had agreed to put all four feet on the pad when three of us––me, Aino and the yard manager––were on the job, but this morning he insisted that eating his hay was the priority of the moment. 

2. R. The mare with whom I have been slowly learning Horse Speak for several weeks now took her nose out of her hay manger and took two steps towards me when I came to her door. She kept her head fairly low, her eyes were soft, her ears were gentle. She greeted me. I let her see and touch the pad with her muzzle, then I threw it on the floor next to the foot nearest me (front left). She let me guide her foot onto the pad and then stood on it for a few minutes, keeping her head low and very close to my body. She let me know that she didn't want to try the pads on any of her other feet. As I was happy to take my time, I let the matter go and let her return to her hay.

3. Cy. I approached a horse who is constantly exploring the world with his mouth. I need to introduce you to another element here––I had recently begun to explore this mouth behaviour by applying pressure to his upper gum with my outspread hand when I'm near him. When he brought his muzzle to me today, I placed my outstretched thumb and forefingers across his top lip, under his nostrils. He became calm and thoughtful for almost a minute, keeping his head still and close to my body. I released and turned my attention to the pads, and invited him to stand on one with his front right foot. He accepted, and stayed for a while, putting his muzzle against the side of my back as I bent down to position his foot. Before I left him, I offered once more to apply pressure to his gum. He accepted my hand under his upper lip this time and on his gums, where I let him push back into my resistance. There was a lot of activity in his mouth: his tongue and lips were moving and I also noticed that his top and bottom jaw were moving in small sideways motions. He then began grinding the teeth at the back of his mouth, holding his head relatively low, and he seemed to be concentrating. His eyes were showing no signs of fear or concern. I had my other hand resting gently on his poll, sometimes lightly massaging him there. It was easy to know when he had had enough, as he raised his head and gave small but quick turns of his head from side to side, which I read as 'time to stop.'

4. Co. Another horse that uses his mouth to explore the world thoroughly investigated the pads that I dropped on the floor of his stable. He pressed his muzzle over their entire surface, occasionally licking as if assuring himself that this really was not food. Then he agreed to put his front right foot on one pad, and almost immediately stretched his head and neck up towards the ceiling as if inventing a new yoga pose. 

5. D. The horse in the stable next door looked at me as I left his neighbour's stable. He then turned his head and stretched his neck, touching himself at the girth button (see Sharon Wilsie). I read this as an invitation to enter his stable. He was keen to see what was in my bag, but he didn't move towards me. He remained at the back of the stable parallel to the wall, with his head towards the corner. He bent his neck to bring his head round which showed that he was interested. I began to take a pad from my bag and noticed that he shifted his weight away from me and let out a soft snort. I read that as "I'm frightened." (Afterwards, the image of a horse in a Thelwell cartoon quaking in the corner of its stable entered my mind!) He didn't overact, but he moved his head away, and I could see that he still had his eye and ear pointing in my direction. I put the pad back in the bag, and then I put the bag on the ground behind me. I stood in his stable with him for a while, saying soothing things and holding my left hand out towards the spot he had pointed to on his girth.

These are all techniques that I have been studying whilst following Sharon Wilsie's Horse Speak course, and which I have been discussing with fellow students as well as with my tutor. This is the beginning of something new. It might sound a little crazy, but something real is happening which deserves to be put into words. So, I'll take Aino's advice and try to keep an open mind.