Ask Monty: What can you communicate through breathing?

November 25, 2020 – Ask Monty Newsletter

Question: What can you communicate through breathing?

Dear Monty,

My name is Lisa and I am a I am a PhD student in Media Arts and Practice at the University of Southern California. One of my current studies is connected with the observation of audible breathing as it relates to the subtle language human to human, and animal to human. Please give me some insights to your lifetime of study in this area.

Monty’s Answer:

Dear Lisa,

It is impossible for you to realize how appropriate your inquiry is for me at this time. The world of horsemen know so very little about the intricate communication that exists between human and horse. There is a book that could be written on this subject. Horsemen in general are not deeply educated in the world of communication between equus and the human.

Good horsemen so often rise from those who commit communication with their horses to their muscle memory. Most horsemen, world class or beginner, communicate from muscle memory and experience success or failure based upon how clever that muscle memory has become.

In my case, I have had the rare opportunity to be deeply engrossed in an academic education and the rare opportunity to be involved with a day to day connection to horses from the age of three. I decided early in life to study communication with animals at a depth most universities never reach.

Sincerely,