Horse Whisperers Of The Valley

DAYTON- Madison, a black quarter horse, is doing a slow square dance beside Robert Phinney. She moves her hind end to the left, takes two steps back, and bows her head. Phinney has hardly moved.

"It's an energy thing," says Phinney. "And it's a presence thing. I think that's one of the things that's a little difficult for people."

Phinney says he believes we all had that energy and presence as children, but we lose it as we grow up. He smiles, and the corners of his graying moustache lift.

"People often get too leftbrained with horses," he says. "You just kind of have to feel your way, and just believe."

Janet Phinney, his wife, adds that horses are always totally in the moment. They don't care whether or not you like them, or whether you forgot to feed them.

"That gives a human being an incredible opportunity to look at themselves, without a lot of other stuff going on," she says.

The Phinneys are not ordinary horse trainers.

Their main mentor, the late Tom Dorrance, was a leader in gentle methods of horse training, often called "Natural Horsemanship."

Dorrance's training style also inspired Buck Brannaman, the original "horse whisperer," who added to his fame with the recently released documentary, Buck.

At 7 p.m. on July 28, the Liberty Theater will host a screening of the movie, followed by a visit with Brannaman.

This weekend, Brannaman will teach a clinic at the Phinney's Coyote Mountain Ranch in the lower elevations of the Blue Mountains outside of Dayton. Robert Phinney began hosting the clinic, along with Clay and Kathy Arnzen, 19 years ago.

The first year of the clinic, there were 12 participants. This year, they are expecting more than 50 participants, as well as dozens of spectators. The Phinneys have been receiving phone calls about the clinic from around the nation, including inquiries from Florida, Washington, D.C., and New York.

The Phinneys actually met for the first time at a Buck Brannaman clinic. The couple believes when people make changes with their horses, their own relationships and lives will change, too. That was the case for them. The Phinneys married in 2005, and they now co-teach lessons and clinics throughout the state.

Robert Phinney says people are often drawn to horses because of something they can't explain - something majestic, divine and honest. He says people see a kind of completion in the horse.

The trouble is people don't know what to do with the horse.

"That's where we come in," he says.

Their clients often begin by establishing a relationship with the horse on the ground.

While riding, they play games, like " Horse and Cow." One rider is the horse, and the other is the cow. The cow tries to get to the herd, while the other rider blocks them.

Sometimes, they use cattle on the ranch to help their clients or to train horses. Janet Phinney says adding the cows helps clients get their minds off themselves.

With horses, though, it's not all about the physical activity.

"We're doing even more mentally," Robert Phinney says.

Ultimately, the horse is learning to read the rider's mind, and to respond to their presence.

The Phinneys' training style focuses on the natural instincts and abilities of the horse. Robert Phinney says horses are extremely intelligent, but they don't think like people.

"Lucky for us," he adds, chuckling. "We want the horse to like us because of trust, because of relationship and because we're good leaders. We're not bosses. It's just our job to be the leader of this dance."

When starting to train a colt, the Phinneys are positive and appreciative.

"You want (the colt) to think it's his idea when something goes right," Robert Phinney says.

When his horse responds, he releases the pressure on the reins and shifts his energy. He often tells clients, "You get what you release for, in the horse."

You have to reward horses when they try. And, he says, horses always try.

"They are also incredibly forgiving," Janet Phinney adds. "Incredibly."

Once people really begin to appreciate horses, they have trouble being frustrated with the animals. When people yell, or get upset with horses, it's because they don't know what they're doing, Robert Phinney says. "Nothing good can come of that."

The Phinneys teach their clients to be grateful for the effort their horse is making, even if progress is slow. Janet Phinney says people sometimes set their expectations too high, both for their horses, and for themselves.

People change when they act out of appreciation for the horse. Robert Phinney says the rider starts to appreciate his or herself, too.

"It really is a people thing, more than a horse thing, what we're doing," he says. "Horses are the teachers and they're the tools."

The couple's clients need to really trust them to work well together.

"People need to get really honest with themselves," Janet Phinney says.

Her husband agrees.

"We humans," he says. "We're not always real forthright in how we're feeling or what's going on. I'd say, basically, we have an honesty gene missing, that the horse has. We can't fool the horse. We can fool one another with our words, and the things we do, but we can't fool the horse about who we are."

People change when they work with the Phinneys.

Teresa Owens has been taking lessons with the Phinneys since January.

"The Phinneys have a way of teaching that really transfers to life, so I've had a lot of personal transformations, as well," Owens says.

Janet Phinney has helped her vision and her goals in life become more clear, Owens says. "She has also taught me to stick with things no matter how hard they get, because that's an indication that change is about to happen," Owens says.

Leanne Peters and her husband were new to horses when they began working with Janet Phinney seven years ago. Before working with the Phinneys, she says she received a lot of bad advice, such as the instruction to "beat on" her horse, which she didn't want to do. Peters says working with the Phinneys is phenomenal.

"It made a huge impact on us as parents," she says. "We both had to learn to be so patient."

Janet Phinney says clients often bring their horsemanship skills to life and that changes their own lives.

"It's an ongoing, positive place to be," she says.

People are sometimes afraid to take leadership roles in life, she explains, but with a horse, they have to step up to the plate.

She adds: "It's a funny cliché, but I always think, 'make the world a better place, one horseman at a time.'"