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Monterey County Herald | 10/30/2006 | SIGNS OF SUCCESS
Joleen Lambert takes in her silent world with a hawklike gaze that reads nuances of communication in the flicker of an ear, the blink of an eye.
The Cachagua horse trainer and mother of three is deaf, which limits her world in many respects but compensates with a depth of understanding that other horse trainers respect and admire.
Horses mostly talk in body language. The audible snorts, whinnies, huffs and nickers that humans consider their "talking" are just a small part of the equine conversation.
One of her trainers, Joe Wolter, pointed out that horses respond more to body language than voice, "and I used to believe they were like hearing people, they communicated by whinnies. I came to see more how they reacted to body language."
"Sometimes my deafness can help," Lambert said through a sign language interpreter. "I don't have to use my voice, though some horses take comfort in their owners' voices; horses are creatures of habit."
Learning to ride from instructors who didn't know American Sign Language was a challenge, she said, trying to keep eyes ahead while keeping the trainer in sight, as she was riding in horse shows as a child and changing gaits on vocal command.
"When I was little, I used to go to horse shows all over California. My father and mother and family members would stand in different parts of the arena and sign when it was time for me to walk, trot or gallop."
Her own clients include both hearing and deaf riders, Lambert said, and in one case, she trained a deaf horse.
That horse was born on a ranch whose owner was aware that it was different but didn't quite know why until it was grown.
"He set out to find a trainer for a deaf horse," she said, "and he remembered me from when I was a child. He called and said he had a horse for me."
She didn't want to take the animal -- a paint mare with a white coat, blonde "bonnet" and "very blue eyes" -- at first, Lambert said, but then decided that "if anyone could do it, I could."
She taught the horse to respond to sign language and taught the owner the signs.
"In many ways, she acted like a deaf person; She would look over her shoulder. She didn't spook at noises like other horses but a strange sight could scare it."
The owner sent the mare back to her after his hearing riders had trouble getting the mare's attention, since they didn't know the signs, Lambert said. She then paired the mare with one of her deaf students. "It's been a wonderful journey."
She teaches "rapport-building" between horse and rider, rather than show technique, Lambert said.
"It can work in any kind of discipline -- Western, English or endurance riding -- it establishes a relationship between horse and rider. It's a lot more in-depth. It's beautiful to see that. Building trust and relationship with the horse is more important than showing."
She credits her own skill to her trainers, Wolter, Roy Forzani and Ken Heneks, among others, and says she's still learning. "I keep my mind and heart open."
Her hearing students get used to her voice over time, Lambert said, and both her deaf and hearing students have learned to respond to abbreviated, specialized signing for equitation, and to sign back.
"When I want them to put their feet down, I just sign, 'feet.'"
Lambert also works at Hacienda Hay and Feed in Carmel Valley, and said her employer there gives her plenty of leeway to be a mother to her two boys, Wesley, 14, and Reilly, 11.
She and her husband, Tom, have been married 15½ years and are "still going strong," she said. Her stepdaughter, Lacie, 22, is on her own.
Her favorite activity is trail riding, Lambert said. Arena work "is like vacuuming a house. You've got walls on four sides. On the trail, the horse's mind is free, his spirit is calm. If you have a problem, you can work it out on the trail."
Riding is a good way to see wildlife, since the horse will often sense the presence of an animal before a human does, though Lambert said the wild animals of Carmel Valley seem to be getting more and more domesticated as more and more people move in and build, leaving fewer and fewer trails.
"The horse people want to keep the country open out here as much as possible," she said, "without offending private owners."
As a child, she said, she and her friends would ride from Cachagua to Carmel Valley Village, have pizza, and then trailer back home.
"All through my life I can't imagine doing anything else. I want everybody to have that experience."
Joleen Lambert takes in her silent world with a hawklike gaze that reads nuances of communication in the flicker of an ear, the blink of an eye.
The Cachagua horse trainer and mother of three is deaf, which limits her world in many respects but compensates with a depth of understanding that other horse trainers respect and admire.
Horses mostly talk in body language. The audible snorts, whinnies, huffs and nickers that humans consider their "talking" are just a small part of the equine conversation.
One of her trainers, Joe Wolter, pointed out that horses respond more to body language than voice, "and I used to believe they were like hearing people, they communicated by whinnies. I came to see more how they reacted to body language."
"Sometimes my deafness can help," Lambert said through a sign language interpreter. "I don't have to use my voice, though some horses take comfort in their owners' voices; horses are creatures of habit."
Learning to ride from instructors who didn't know American Sign Language was a challenge, she said, trying to keep eyes ahead while keeping the trainer in sight, as she was riding in horse shows as a child and changing gaits on vocal command.
"When I was little, I used to go to horse shows all over California. My father and mother and family members would stand in different parts of the arena and sign when it was time for me to walk, trot or gallop."
Her own clients include both hearing and deaf riders, Lambert said, and in one case, she trained a deaf horse.
That horse was born on a ranch whose owner was aware that it was different but didn't quite know why until it was grown.
"He set out to find a trainer for a deaf horse," she said, "and he remembered me from when I was a child. He called and said he had a horse for me."
She didn't want to take the animal -- a paint mare with a white coat, blonde "bonnet" and "very blue eyes" -- at first, Lambert said, but then decided that "if anyone could do it, I could."
She taught the horse to respond to sign language and taught the owner the signs.
"In many ways, she acted like a deaf person; She would look over her shoulder. She didn't spook at noises like other horses but a strange sight could scare it."
The owner sent the mare back to her after his hearing riders had trouble getting the mare's attention, since they didn't know the signs, Lambert said. She then paired the mare with one of her deaf students. "It's been a wonderful journey."
She teaches "rapport-building" between horse and rider, rather than show technique, Lambert said.
"It can work in any kind of discipline -- Western, English or endurance riding -- it establishes a relationship between horse and rider. It's a lot more in-depth. It's beautiful to see that. Building trust and relationship with the horse is more important than showing."
She credits her own skill to her trainers, Wolter, Roy Forzani and Ken Heneks, among others, and says she's still learning. "I keep my mind and heart open."
Her hearing students get used to her voice over time, Lambert said, and both her deaf and hearing students have learned to respond to abbreviated, specialized signing for equitation, and to sign back.
"When I want them to put their feet down, I just sign, 'feet.'"
Lambert also works at Hacienda Hay and Feed in Carmel Valley, and said her employer there gives her plenty of leeway to be a mother to her two boys, Wesley, 14, and Reilly, 11.
She and her husband, Tom, have been married 15½ years and are "still going strong," she said. Her stepdaughter, Lacie, 22, is on her own.
Her favorite activity is trail riding, Lambert said. Arena work "is like vacuuming a house. You've got walls on four sides. On the trail, the horse's mind is free, his spirit is calm. If you have a problem, you can work it out on the trail."
Riding is a good way to see wildlife, since the horse will often sense the presence of an animal before a human does, though Lambert said the wild animals of Carmel Valley seem to be getting more and more domesticated as more and more people move in and build, leaving fewer and fewer trails.
"The horse people want to keep the country open out here as much as possible," she said, "without offending private owners."
As a child, she said, she and her friends would ride from Cachagua to Carmel Valley Village, have pizza, and then trailer back home.
"All through my life I can't imagine doing anything else. I want everybody to have that experience."