What Her Horse Told Her
The True Story of Kendall & Ravi,
the Power of Speaking Horse, and the Unlikeliest of Champions
by Yvonne Evans Morrison with Kendall Morrison
What Her Horse Told Her
The True Story of Kendall & Ravi, the Power of Speaking Horse, and the Unlikeliest of Champions
by Yvonne Evans Morrison with Kendall Morrison
An anxious, socially awkward teen and a nervous, untrained horse are a match made in Hell, but natural horsemanship or “horse speak” changes that. Learning how horses think and communicate, Kendall calms her feisty horse Ravi, and riding him quiets her mind, transforming her ADHD into a superpower of focus and patience as she trains him to be a champion on her quest to compete at the Palomino Youth World Show.
What Her Horse Told Her: The True Story of Kendall & Ravi, the Power of Speaking Horse, and the Unlikeliest of Champions details the journey of ultimate underdogs as they struggle to fit into and succeed in the highly competitive sport of horse showing, becoming champions against all odds.
Book Summary
Wanting a horse is more than an obsession for 10-year-old Kendall Morrison. Without funds to buy a horse, she throws herself into working small jobs to earn money to buy tickets for a paint mare being raffled off at a local fundraising event. After seeing natural horsemanship trainer Patrick Totten working with the mare, Kendall is even more excited to own the horse that has been gently trained using communication methods that horses naturally understand.
Despite having the most tickets in the drawing, Kendall doesn’t win and thinks she’ll never be like the other girls at her barn who own their horses and may never achieve her dream of being a champion rider.
When her parents surprise her that Christmas with a beautiful sorrel gelding, her joy is overwhelming but short lived when they begin to outplace other girls at her barn, and jealous kids and trainers take revenge on her and her horse, Patriot.
Because of bad decisions by adults, Patriot is injured and has to be retired. Kendall is devastated, but she gets a second chance at being a horse owner when a family friend gives her an untrained Palomino. Her parents are hesitant to accept the horse since they are struggling financially, but they realize the gift will help ease their daughter’s pain from being bullied. Kendall gets to keep the horse with the friend’s financial support, and she names him Ravi’s Goin’ Gold.
The friend sends Ravi to the natural horsemanship trainer who begins teaching him and Kendall the basics of natural horsemanship or “horse speak,” which demonstrates how horses think and how they communicate with each other through subtle body language. Kendall learns how to desensitize and train Ravi using the natural horsemanship method called Downunder Horsemanship, developed by world-renowned trainer Clinton Anderson.
The video above highlights the importance of natural horsemanship in Kendall and Ravi’s journey together.
Ravi in the spring of 2017 before competing with his girl at the Palomino Youth World Show.
Kendall receives her dream gift of a horse on Christmas Eve 2009 as mentor and riding instructor Beth enjoys the special moment. Kendall names him Patriot.
Horse trainer Patrick Totten teaches Kendall and Ravi the basics of Downunder Horsemanship from November 2011 through March 2012. Patriot’s navicular disease and injury prompted his retirement at age five.
From the book:
Kendall’s parents were watching her work with Ravi in the round pen one cold December day when she stopped Ravi and turned away from him, inviting him to approach her. He walked slowly toward her and stopped when he could touch his muzzle to her right arm resting by her side. She lightly touched the top of his head and he lowered it, resting his cheek against her leg. She put her arm over his neck and rubbed it gently, pressing her face against his warm shoulder.
“You don’t love that horse, do you?” her dad asked playfully. Kendall nodded and smiled.
“Yeah, I love him! I feel an imaginary tether attached from my heart to his,” she said as she tried to explain the relationship she and Ravi were creating together. “It’s like I’m inside his brain and he’s in mine. I longe him and work on my body language, and I can draw him close to me because he wants to be with me. I can feel him letting me into his head and his heart, and he trusts me now.”
Kendall was experiencing, and her parents were witnessing, the pure love that can exist between an animal and a person they trust. Kendall knew she had a best friend who would never judge her and who was honest in his expressions of love and acceptance. Ravi’s training continued, and they grew closer.
Also from the book:
When Kendall took over Ravi’s training in April of 2012, she was not prepared for what several area trainers told her about the horse she loved.
“Kendall, that horse is nothing but a pasture plug,” said Doug who, in addition to training Chance, was also training Casey’s horse at the neighboring farm. “You need to get rid of him and get a better horse. You’re not going to win with him.”
How rude, she thought but kept that to herself, replying, “Maybe not, but we’ll do the best we can.”
“You’re too young to train your own horse. It’s just not something kids can do,” Doug told her. “You have a backyard-bred horse who doesn’t have a chance to win against horses with champions in their bloodline. He’s not the kind of horse that will turn out to be a good show horse, especially with a kid training him.”
“It’s okay if he’s not,” she replied. “At least I’ll know I tried.”
There were other trainers who told her that Ravi was too small and wouldn’t be able to compete with larger, more well-bred horses. One told her that his ears were too big and made him look like a mule and that his legs were too short, his neck was too long, and his head was too big for his body. His hips were higher than his withers, and people said he was lopsided.
Kendall considered what they said. She loved Ravi and believed that her little horse could show as well as any other. She decided that she and Ravi would prove that the trainers were wrong about him.
Alone With Her Horse
She never could have realized her dreams without him. She’d accomplished it all with the big-eared, lop-sided, backyard bred, sweet-as-Skittles Palomino that others said would never be good enough.
Much of her self-confidence came from her relationship with Ravi and the countless obstacles they had overcome together, and she wondered how she would face this new challenge without him. While she was eager to experience independence for the first time, she really wished her sweet boy could go to college with her.
“Thank you for making me into the person I am now,” she said softly to Ravi when they were alone. “Without you, nothing in my life would be the same.”