Lauren Achtemeier: I-thou with Horses

The I-thou phenomena is an occurrence I have encountered my whole life without even realizing. Whenever I am alone with my horses, it is not very hard for me to experience it. However, in the company of other human friends our conversation tends while at the barn tend may place the horses back into the I-it since the horse is no longer the primary focus. But when the barn is quite and the horse is calm, and I am undistracted, it is very easy to see straight into their souls. There is something about a the partnership that forms with human and horse which is unique. This occurs due to the physical codependence while riding, but more often the I-thou experience happens out of the saddle. This is because a horse has a highly attuned sense of space, and when working around them, I begin to feel that too. As I quietly dance in and out of their personal bubble while brushing or just stroking, I experience a wordless conversation with an individual. Remaining attuned to every shift of weight, flicker of the ear, or even feeling they watch me, I can feel their life presence on a simple level of “I” in relation to “thou”. If the horse turns their head to look at me, I may often stop what I am doing and look directly back. In This is a moment where time stops, and in that glance we fully acknowledge each other, and the category of horse and human is irrational, since it is stripped down as soul to soul.