Article from Showtrail Magazine
Saskatchewan Horse Federation (showtrail@sk.sympatico.ca)
March/April '98
CAIN QUAM: THE HORSE WHISPERER OF SASKATCHEWAN
BY ELZE
Cain Quam not only has an unusual name, he has an unusual profession: he is a horse whisperer. Like the famous book by Nicholas Evans and the movie soon to be released by Robert Redford, this quiet young man teaches horses "resistance free training".
At a recent clinic in Regina, Saskatchewan, nearly a thousand people turned up to watch Cain tame a wild young Appaloosa who had never been handled, simply by using body language and eye contact only. I watched with fascination as Cain brought this wild three year old horse into the arena and within two and a half hours, the horse was actually yawning while Cain got on his back and rode him. Not once did he try and resist the saddle, the girth or Cain's bodyweight.
Initially the horse had a totally terrified look in his eye when he entered the arena. But as Cain used his body language and eye contact, so subtle that one could hardly pick it up, the horse started to relax and trust Cain to the extent where he finally allowed him to touch him all over. First placing a halter over his neck, and then a saddle, and finally carrying Cain's bodyweight.
How is it done? First Cain tried to approach the horse, and then turned around so that the horse followed him. He wanted to be the leader, and the horse to follow and sniff at him. Once this was achieved by subtle body language and avoiding eye contact totally (this scares a horse and makes him back off, Cain says), he started touching the horse all over in small, circular movements. Not only did the horses' face get rubbed all over, but his eyes, his ears, and then he started on both sides of his neck, finally working his way down to his belly and his back legs. Once the entire horse was massaged for approximately an hour, he picked up his feet one by one, bending them all over, stretching them, making circular movements with the hooves. This seems to have a kind of mesmerising effect on the horse, and soon one sees all the wildness leave the horse's eyes.
Once the entire body had been massaged, and the hooves and legs picked up and maneuvered, the horse seemed to have a total trust in Cain. And as the saddle was finally put on, there was hardly any fear left in it's eye. Curiosity yes, but fear, none. Cain then gently eased himself up onto the saddle, first just leaning on the side of the stirrup, and then finally placing his entire body weight over the horse as he put both feet in the stirrups, and the horse moves forward with total confidence, not once trying to buck. It was a spectacular feat accomplished.
I traced this young man to his home recently to find out how a horse whisperer came to live out here in Saskatchewan, and where he gained his knowledge and horsemanship from. After having read the book by Nicholas Evans, I knew it was an ancient old tradition, as old as horses themselves.
Cains story starts 93 years ago with his grandfather, who is his mentor. His grandfather was born in East Ontario and moved just south of Moose Jaw in Canada's prairie land to a small little town which is no longer in existence called Gallilea. He worked with horses all his life and had a special knack which Cain learned from the day he could walk and talk. Before Cain could walk he was on the front of his fathers saddle, riding the prairie land of Saskatchewan. Cain says his father also had this unbelievable "feel" for horses that seems to be an inherited trait with the Quam family. It was a standard thing that horses that were totally impossible and had been through 3 or 4 trainers were sent to the Quam family to tame.
Cain has had everything possible sent to him for training: from 12 year olds which could not be tamed to Arabs to Dutch Warmbloods to Paints and American Saddlers. He says you learn quickly from a Dutch Warmblood to make friends, and not to fight them, because if those BIG horses figure out a way they can hurt you, you sure are beat!
He has worked thousands and thousands of horses in his lifetime, through the guidance of countless horsemen, and says the horses have become his greatest teachers. The more horses you work, the easier it becomes to read them. It is like any job, each day becomes easier as you get better and better every day. He has had some tough ones to work with, and remembers, not to fondly, a 7 year old Paint stud that was bucking people off and had been through more than four trainers. The horse would play a long just nice as pie, UNTIL you got onto him, and then try and get you! For Cain to finally ride them is possible, although the average man in the street might not always find it possible, and the number of hours that goes into training and pacifying a spoilt horse like that cannot be justified, Cain claims.
He says about 80 to a 100 years ago, the general inclination was that a tough horse was a good horse that would not quit, but in actual fact it was the wrong perception. Those horses were actually just scared out of there wits, and would simply keep going out of fear. These horses, because their trust and confidence level is very low, will usually leave you in a very tight spot when pressure is put on them. On the other hand, a horse that has a high level of trust and confidence will look to his rider and master to get him through the tough spot.
Cain's belief is that a horse that is started in this non-resistant manner becomes a willing partner for life, and will end up giving his all for you. If you beat a horse up and force him into submission, he has very little self confidence. When they travel, they load so much better if they were trained this way, and if they spook at anything, they search for you, because you are their source of confidence and trust. If you use this kind of philosophy and you can build up that confidence from the start, and continue to build a higher and higher trust level through the horses life. It does not end in the starting of a horse, but when this trust and confidence level is built up over time, you are just leaps and bounds ahead of a horse that is started the normal way and pushed through. You get twice as much done if you make the horse think it was his idea all along, and not yours.
A horse like the Appaloosa Cain broke to ride at the clinic has no fear of humankind, he is fresh and unspoilt by human hands, and has no preconceived ideas and notions. He only has his natural instincts that tell him that Cain is a predator and he is a prey animal. All that Cain then has to do is overcome this instinct and get the horse to trust him. A wild animal untouched by human hands is therefore so much easier to work with, he says. A horse that has been calloused and abused is so much harder to work with as it is difficult to gain his trust and confidence.... a lot of times these horses can be compared to abused children, Cain says. An abused child can never completely forget what happened to him or her as a child, and those hangups will follow them right through life. The same with a horse, an abused horse will simply never reach that level of trust and confidence an un-calloused horse will attain.
He says you can read any psychology book on the human psyche, and you will find that horses have a lot of similarities to humans, the main difference being the ability to reason, which they don't have. Some trainers get into trouble with this when the trainer tries to reason for the horse. (eg. the horse reasons: why did he hit me? Maybe because he is mean or bad ect.) In most cases the horse is only using its God-given right to defend himself when he feels that he is in danger. Cain says he has never seen a mean or bad horse, only horses that have been put in a situation, past or present, where they felt that they had to defend themselves. If the average human being only understands that all a horse wants to do is survive, as comfortably as possible, and take the reasoning out of it, he will get much further with the horse. And the sooner a person realises that everything a horse does is a reaction to a situation a human has put him in, the quicker human being and horse will get on together.
Dwell not in the inner void:
Be serene in the oneness of things,
and dualism vanishes by itself."
It was a fascinating day spent with a fascinating man; Cain Quam is not your average horseman, he is a step above many, and we can learn so much from this quiet, peace-loving person. May you 'whisper' to many a horse in the years to come Cain.