Horse Clinic
I first met Tom Dorrance in October of 1996 when he conducted a horse clinic at Maggie Creek Ranch near Elko, Nevada. Teresa had a wonderful horse at the time named Badger who panicked any time she tried to touch his ears. She hoped Tom could help. I too wanted to meet this legendary horse trainer and possibly interview him.
Tom Dorrance grew up on a cattle ranch in north central Oregon in the Wallowa Mountains. Born in 1910, he was about the same generation as my father. Tom’s people came West in the 1880’s where he grew up in a world of men and horses. He saw his first car at five. Though he was a sickly kid he found ranch life endlessly fascinating.
I never finished 8th grade. I don't worry about that, so many interesting things going on at the ranch. For what I was interested in, there was not a college or university. It was right there beside me.
Sitting in the stands that day, I watched horse after horse being lead in by uncertain owners. As each came forward Tom unwaveringly focused on the issue brought before him. The intensity of his observation was unmistakable. He wore a wireless mic so we could hear all his comments in the stands. They were economical, a succinct explanation with a possible solution to each problem. Often we could see the horse owners unnerved by what Dorrance had to say. Though his comments were offered respectfully, he revealed deep patterns of behavior that often had less to do with the horses issues but those of the horse handler. Sometimes frustration hung in the air like dust being kicked up by an out-of-control horse.
Often it took several attempts for people to get what Tom was asking them to do differently, but generally, they finally caught on. When Teresa led Badger in she told Tom about the horribly painful infections in Badger’s ears and how even after being healed he was still so afraid of being touched that it was nearly impossible to bridle him. Tom suggested that Teresa was still giving Badger subtle signals telling him to protect his ears. Within minutes of Tom’s help, Badger lost that fear. These years later, Teresa still muses on Tom’s lesson and wonders how often we telegraph our assumptions in ways that reinforces fear and bad behavior.
As I watched people and their horses, it almost seemed like the horse owners were unmasked by their own horses. Frankly, I was glad I had no horse with me that day. I had come to interview Tom and I would be the one asking the questions. I felt safe. However I did carry a small confession with me that I hoped Tom could illuminate, a story that had begun a few years before.
Horse Whisperers
Around 1992 I answered a phone call from Patrick deFreites, an acquaintance who owned a bookstore in Salt Lake City. He told me his brother’s neighbor in London was researching a book on the West and could he call me. I agreed and later got a call from a gentleman with a high-toned British accent who, with little prelude, asked if I’d every heard the term, “horse whisperer.” I had not. After some conversation I learned that I was speaking with Nicholas Evans who was working on a novel about people who had an uncanny ability to communicate with horses.
I explained that I was a folklorist and though I had spent much of my career working with ranch people and had grown up with horses, my expertise was with cowboy music, poetry and other expressive arts of the occupation. After some conversation, I mentioned that a revolution was going on in the cowboy world which challenged the old methods of horse breaking. People were working with horses in a new way, not so much as masters but as partners, “making the right stuff easy, the wrong stuff hard.” I mentioned the Dorrance Brothers, Tom and Bill, as well as Ray Hunt. Evans immediately took interest. I believe I told him where Tom Dorrance lived but that was as far as the conversation went.
In 1995 The Horse Whisperer came out. It was Nicholas Evans debut novel and it immediately became a best seller with 15 million copies sold. Shortly after that I heard that Robert Redford had taken an option on the book and consequently made a movie which was released in 1998. I was invited to the film’s premiere in Provo, Utah where I hoped to meet Nicholas Evans but he was not in attendance.
I was always curious if my phone conversation had prompted Evans to visit Tom Dorrance or Ray Hunt. I remember at the time several men in the horse clinic business started using the term “horse whisperer,” and some claimed they inspired the book. In researching this article I finally found out where Evans gives credit. Here’s Nicholas Evans,
Researching the book was a life-changing experience for me. I travelled for many weeks around the American West and met three astonishing horsemen: Tom Dorrance, Ray Hunt and Buck Brannaman (who did the horse work for the movie). One day at Tom’s place in California, I watched him sort out a traumatized horse in the course of a few hours. He turned him from a terrified and terrifying wild creature into a soft and gentle one. Tom said afterwards: ‘He’d just forgotten how to be a horse. All I did was help him remember.’ He showed me the trick with that piece of cord that Tom Booker shows Annie in the book. I still have the cord he gave me.
Meeting Tom Dorrance
But the story does not end there. When I finally sat down with Tom after the clinic that day in Elko I asked him about the Horse Whisperer. He said when the book came out Evans sent him a copy. Though I was not recording at the time I remember his words and will quote them as accurately as I can.
I opened up the first chapter and read it. The people in the book were clearly in trouble. Then I went to the last chapter and the people were still in trouble. So, I threw the book in the wood stove. I don’t have patience for a book where the people are still in as much trouble at the end as they were at the beginning.
Tom did not want to be associated with the book and explained, “I asked him to take my name clear out of it. It is so far from what I represent.”
I don’t think it was ever Evans intention to make a biography of Dorrance or any other horse guru, which is fair enough. Also, whether redemption of characters is a pre-requisite for good literature is not the point. Tom’s focus in life was understanding horses and their humans, helping both man and beast out of trouble. For Tom, that was what counted first.
That day at the horse clinic many of us came to see a horse legend at work. As I put a microphone in front of him he was so plain spoken it was hard to apply the reputation to the man. He sensed my questions were guiding him to talk about the transcendent aspects of his work but that’s not where he wanted to go.
I speak about mental and physical. I don't use the word spiritual because people go off the deep-end quick. It is what is within the horse and people. That horse is just another friend of mine, no better, no worse. He will do so much for you if he has a chance.
I had always been uneasy about showing Nicholas Evans the way to Tom’s door and as I was packing up the tape recorder I mentioned my ambivalence to Tom. It had been a long day and I could tell he was tired. He came up close and put his arm around me. I’m a big guy and when a smaller man puts his arm around me it often seems comical and awkward but with Tom it was different. He looked at me seriously and said, “Hal, remember this, you’re a good man.” Tears sprang to my eyes. All I could do was choke out a thank you.
There was nothing solicitous about his farewell. Thinking back, it was no different than Tom putting his arm around a horse’s neck and saying, “you’re a good old boy, aren’t you?” But at that moment he had seen into me like an open book viewing all my old wounds, the parts of me I keep hidden as I move through life with confidence and, hopefully, honorable intentions.
The Ongoing Story
Tom has been gone since 2003 but his influence on horse people all over the world continues to be revolutionary. And I continue to contemplate that day with him all these years later.
Both Tom and his brother Bill had a way of respecting tradition but through keen observation, they helped guide people to a new and better way to work with their charges. Today, credible horse people make a colt rather than break a colt. Much of this has to do with the Dorrance’s and their disciples. I would suggest Tom’s books and videos which you can find HERE
A good introduction to this new way of horse training is Teresa essay, Manners: the Good Hand. It focusses on another amazing horse trainer Buck Brannaman. You can find it in her collection, the Year of Living Virtuously: Weekends Off. HERE
Elephant Billy Williams
The reason I’m sending this Boost out today is my friend Larry Kirkland gave me a book I’m currently reading about the legendary Billy Williams. He was an Englishman, a generation older than Tom Dorrance, who was instrumental in finding a new and more humane way to work with elephants. From the traditions of Burmese elephant handlers and the observation of wild and domesticated elephants he came to understand the beasts in a new way as a forester harvesting teak. He is best known for his heroic service in World War II fighting the Japanese using elephants to move people, supplies and build bridges. I would highly recommend the book Elephant Company by Vicki Constantine Croke. HERE
note: A version of my story of meeting Tom Dorrance was published in the wonderful magazine, Ranch and Riata, Bill Reynolds, publisher.
Loved this one!!! Reminds me of a poem I wrote some years back. PT
The Mirror
You can ask a simple question
That you've really wanted to
Of how to make a good one
What makes a cow horse true
Ain't miles out in a round pen
Or a thousand boring drills
That makes the solid ponies
Who will ride you past the spills
Im pretty sure that horses see
Inside the hearts of every man
And sort it out to find the good
Under the mask of those who can
Their loyalty is given free
And once its gone its lost
Never to be found again
No matter price or cost
They look to you to lead em
And to do what leaders do
It means you check your ego
Put their needs ahead of you
For in that deep connection
Your heartbeat is their guide
And if you ride em that way
You’ll find they’re on your side
You do not have to know a man
To understand his course
He’ll show you in his mirror
Just stop and watch his horse
PT Muldoon copyright 2019
Another interesting and touching story. I do hope there's a compilation in book form some day! "You're a good man" got to me too.