THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

FARMINGTON, N.M. — Josy Pyne bought her first horse at age 48, following a bout with breast cancer.

Following her triumph over cancer, horse riding and training became the guiding passions of her life.

Pyne now owns two horses, which she refers to as “her boys”: Rocky, a 13-year-old chestnut Missouri fox trotter, and Cisco, a 15-year-old quarterhorse that changes color four times a year.

“I always has this passion for horses, but I didn’t realize it in my childhood,” Pyne said.

She likens Rocky to a “big chocolate lab,” and the friendly animal lives up to his moniker. He pushes his nose into peoples’ chests, eager to be petted, and he curiously sniffs every inch of a new acquaintance.

Cisco — “my business manager,” Pyne says — is a bit more serious. His annoyed gaze is the first thing that tells Pyne if a rider during a lesson is doing something wrong. But that doesn’t mean he doesn’t stick his nose out to be stroked from time to time, too.

Pyne gives her horses free rein to do what makes them happy, until it’s time to get down to business. Then her control becomes evident.

Rocky could be nostril-deep in a person’s arm pit, but one snap and one hiss from Pyne will have him standing at attention like a cadet in basic training.

The horse training method that Pyne subscribes to might best be described as horse whispering. She seeks not to dominate the animals, not to force them into submission, but rather to reach a mutual understanding. Her initial order of business when working with a new horse is to feel out its personality.

The first tool she uses to train a horse is body language. Horses are adept at reading a person’s motions and they’ll respond depending on a trainer’s actions, she believes.

“It’s incredible the energy you give off. They feel every bone in your body, every breath you take,” Pyne said.

If body language isn’t working, she’ll try to use verbal commands. It’s only in rare situations that she’ll resort to being physical.

“When you fight with a horse, you’ll never win,” Pyne said.

Horse whispering is as much about the trainer as it is the horse. If the actions of the trainer aren’t achieving the desired result, it’s up to them to implement changes.

“That’s what horse whispering is all about, how to adjust and change your situation by changing what you’re doing,” said renowned Belen-based horse whisperer and author Bob Allen. “It doesn’t really have anything to do with the horse.”

Allen, 50, got into horse whispering when he was 22 years old. He’d grown up on a ranch, and the only method he’d known previously was to be as mean as possible in order to break down a horse until it was rideable.

After being introduced to the calmer, gentler method of horse whispering, Allen never looked back. He’s honed his skills for 28 years, and now he’s trying to teach people to use horse whispering strategies in other aspects of their lives.

“Horse whispering has universal applications. You can use it with people, or with horses. Cattle, sheep, whatever. It’s a communication philosophy, and it’s all based on harmony,” Allen said.

Perhaps the most important tenet of horse whispering is for a person to continually adjust their own actions until they get a positive reaction. Allen believes this stratagem not only works with horses, but with bosses, spouses, friends, parents and co-workers.

“Really, it’s a study of yourself and becoming acutely aware of how your actions are affecting everything and everyone around you,” Allen said.

Allen runs horse whispering workshops in Belen on a regular basis, and travels across the Southwest five or six times a year to teach his beliefs. He also works with troubled youth to try to get them to change their behavior through horse riding and horse whispering.

Pyne, a school counselor assistant by day, teaches horseback riding and trains horses by night.

Whether a person gets into horse whispering purely for a love of horses or to improve their interpersonal communication skills, they’re likely to get as much out of it as the horses. Pyne describes her afternoons working with Rocky and Cisco as “therapy,” and a love for her craft is apparent in every word she speaks.

“You can have the worst day in the office, (and then) you come out here and everything disappears,” Pyne said. “It’s just like a piece of heaven.”