The horse whisperer

His movements are firm, but he gently strokes Barq and even talks to the horse as he gets him to lie down in nearly no time.

Tariq Al Muhairi is rarely in the limelight, but he is well known among Emiratis, and even abroad. He’s better know as a horse whisperer.

“I live in Abu Dhabi, but people come to me from all over the place to train their horses, which kick and bite,” he says as he unsaddles the horse.

“Barq in Arabic means Lightning. I think the name fits him. He is a seven-year-old horse and it belongs to a lady from Al Ain, who brought it to me to train him. He is doing very well now.”

After just a few days of training, Tariq was able to show off his and Barq’s skills at the Abu Dhabi Hunting and Equestrian Exhibition earlier this September.

Horse whisperers are horse trainers who use natural, non-abusing methods to tame and train horses. Their techniques, based on the principle of developing a personal rapport with the horse, have become popular in the 1980s, although they have been known for a lot longer. The first documentation about it comes from Xenophon’s treaty “On Horsemanship”, written around 430-354 BC.

In fact, the “traditional” methods of dressage employing force are said to give much faster results, yet these results are often unpredictable. The “traditionalists” have always been at odds with the “naturalists”, the first accusing the later of being too commercial, even romanticising themselves by using terms such as “horse whisperer”.

The title dates from the 19^th century, when Daniel “Horse-Whisperer” Sullivan, an Irish horseman, became famous for rehabilitating horses suffering from abuse and accidental trauma. Yet, the term became truly popular in the 1990s, because of Nicholas Evans’ book “The Horse Whisperer” and later the Robert Redford movie with the same name.

Like the horse whisperers from the West, Tariq has a deep, passionate love for horses.

“This is even the reason I got divorced. My wife was too jealous of my dedication to horses,” he laughs.

This dedication has always been with him, though. His father was a horseman and young Tariq grew up on a farm in Abu Dhabi emirate, among horses. He learnt from his father how to care for them, how to treat them and, ultimately, how to get them do what he wanted.

“I remember once, in 1986, when I was a young boy, only 12 years old, I asked my father to ride a horse. He refused and told to first learn how to take care of the horse. Every day I had to take that horse for a four kilometres walk. Then, one day, I just found myself riding it. I don’t know how it happened, but I know now that I used my feelings, not my brain,” says Tariq.

Since that day he embarked on a life long journey to learn about the equine world. He joined the Emirates Equestrian Federation when it was established in 1992, and in 1994 he won the UAE championship. Soon afterwards he travelled to France, where he trained for four months and was selected to represent UAE at the 12^th Asian Games in Hiroshima.

For personal reasons, Tariq stopped his training and work with horses in 2000. It took him seven years to return, and this time as a horse whisperer.

“I now have seven horses of my own, including two Arabian, a thoroughbred, three Andalisians and a French horse,” he says proudly.

“My friend Abdulla Al Shoaiby is sponsoring me. He built the stables for my horses, which we call Yah, which in Arabic means ‘star’. We hope the name will be a good omen for becoming famous.”

In the past six years since his return, Tariq is already making a name for himself. People with horses that misbehave, horses that were abused, not properly trained to start with or simply naughty by nature, are brought to him for help.

“I was once walking to a horse and the owner and everybody around him were screaming to stay away because this horse bites and kicks, but I just walked right up to him, looking straight into his eye. I was telling him ‘bite me if you want’, but in my heart I was saying ‘you know what happens if you’ll bite me’. When I reached him and held my hand to his face, he didn’t move. The horse understood me,” reveals Tariq.

His experience with horses taught him they have feelings too and it is possible to communicate with them just by making use of one’s emotions.

“When I go to a horse I use my heart to speak with him. It’s like using my own energy to get the horse to feel what I need from him. It is a state that takes years of experience and passion to achieve and of course there are occasional accidents, but I am now able to train a horse to do what I want in just one day,” says Tariq.

For now, he still has some horse whispering to do with a couple of horses from Al Ain, but next month Tariq will be back on the saddle for a horse jumping show in Abu Dhabi.

—silvia@khaleejtimes.com