Talk Horse & Horse Community with Charlotte Chanler

As an animal communicator, Charlotte’s job is to receive everything that an animal is sending to her, and to translate it into our language as humans.  I say she can talk horse, and talk human.  So she bridges the gap.

She says the biggest challenge to understanding horse talk is to stay out of the way of the messages that come through.  She said that it’s hard to trust crazy and bizarre ideas when they pop up, but time and again, she shares them with the animal’s person and they resonate.

Charlotte teaches us that the definition of animal communication is talking to animals who are present and living.  And animal mediumship is talking with animals who are on the other side and have passed.  She says these two things really aren’t very different.

I asked Charlotte for some examples of when people hire her services.  She said that she often comes in when families get a new horse, or if they’re transitioning to a new location.  She also helps when animals are experiencing pain.  She can share information directly from the animal, to help the animal’s person best support him or her.  She said this is extremely rewarding work when it happens.

Charlotte also talked to me about how we all have the ability to be an animal communicator.  She says that we’re communicating all of the time anyway.  Animals know that and receive the messages from us constantly.  It’s us that need to learn how to listen and better sense that communication.  We can all talk horse if we’re willing to put in the time to hone our skill.

She recommends her teacher and mentor Thea Strom (https://www.theahealer.com/).  She says that Thea is an extremely talented teacher, and she gives everyone the space to be wrong as you learn.  Charlotte says that once you’re on the track and have the feeling down, it’s such an amazing skill to have in your life.  It’s what many of us dreamed of as a young child – talking to animals.

Charlotte and I also talked about Shelter Animal Reiki Association (SARA).  This is where we met, at our animal reiki teacher training.  This is my affiliate link to that training.  I 110% recommend this training.  I absolutely love that animal reiki is a part of my life, and Kathleen is an incredible teacher.

Charlotte says she wished she had the skill to talk to horses years ago when she was growing up in the competition circuit.  She started spending time with horses when she was just four years old.  From the time she first rode a horse, she didn’t want to do anything else.

In high school, she became obsessed and immersed with riding.  She took off school in the winter to ride in Florida.  She describes a little trailer that she would sit in each day to do school work that had been sent down for her.  Charlotte was training for the Olympics and didn’t think about much else.

Charlotte tells us how she feels very lucky to have been able to spend so much time with horses at such a young age.  She was surrounded by people of all ages and from many different countries, and she thinks this really shaped her.

Charlotte’s horse, Salem, actually chose her own name!  I asked Charlotte how that process worked.  She explained that she brainstormed names for a long time and then shared each name with her horse.  When she shared the name Salem, the energy between them lit up, almost like gold streamers bursting into the air.  And that’s how she knew.  I loved this window into what it means to talk horse.

Salem came from A Little Rescue in Thousand Oaks, California.  This is a group that specifically focuses on only adopting the number of horses that they know they can handle, which Charlotte says is very important to her.

In the competitive horse world it is really common to buy and sell horses as you shift up to the next level.  They have an average of 7-8 homes in their lifetime.  Charlotte explains that horses are often herd animals, but we ask them to live alone.  We also tend to want different things from them from owner to owner, and sometimes they aren’t really capable of that.  Behavior problems can pop up when a horse is not a good fit, and they’ll often end up at auction.

I asked Charlotte who is purchasing at auctions, and she said it’s mostly kill buyers, who are buying the horses for meat.  She also shared how the same horse can be the $100,000 horse that wins competitions and then the $25 horse being sold at auction.  She explains how she thought the price of a horse deemed their ability to do the job in the past, but now she understands that it really has nothing to do with that.  There are so many incredible and capable horses that are available for adoption.  She encourages everyone to look at rescue horses and explains that the barrier to entry, or financial commitment, can be much less that way.

There are horse rescues all over the world, including rescues who focus on a specific type, like mustangs or quarter horses.  Charlotte also mentions that there are wild horse rescues, but also rescues that will have trained a horse that’s ready for you to ride, or to compete with it.  Charlotte says we can find rescues by just Googling for them.  She said she’s learned about almost all of the rescues she knows through Google.

Charlotte’s simple idea for us is to always stay open to learning more about horses, even if we’ve been around them our entire lives.  She says that this is one of the most important things that she returns to time and again.  Although she’s been around horses since she was four, she tries to remember that she doesn’t know everything.

There are people out there researching things every day, and sharing them.  She also likes to watch documentaries about wild horses, and learn how they have so many similarities to the horses she works with every day.  She says there are so many ways that we can expand our relationship with horses that are still untapped.

Charlotte also speaks to all of the scientific research being done right now with horses.  There’s so much tradition in how we interact with horses that new information is not always as accessible and promoted.  But it’s there.

She suggests looking on Instagram to find the newest information and breaking research.  It’s all free.

Examples of hashtags are: #equinebehavior #conscioushorsemanship #positivereinforcement

Some of Charlotte’s favorite accounts: @thewillingequine @pantherflows

Recommended Podcasts: Come Along For The Ride, Animal Training Academy, The Willing Equine, Whole Horse Podcast

Hearthorse is an online community for people who would love to talk about horses all day long.  Charlotte describes it as a layout similar to Facebook, but it’s hosted on its own platform.  There are discussion boards and small groups specific to various topics.  They have monthly workshops and speakers and casual get togethers to chat and make friends in the horse world.

Hearthorse (closed since interview) is a community specifically focused on the relationship between you and your horse.  Hearthorse does not identify with any one specific type of training or type of horse.  The community is focused on open, safe communication, with the simple goal of supporting each other.

Charlotte said she loves that Hearthorse is a very diverse community.  At the end of the day, everyone wants the same thing for their horses, which is happiness.  And there are many different ideas and means in the world for getting to that happiness.  She said there’s a constant opportunity to learn from one another.

Hearthorse also has a subscription box.  Charlotte describes how many people in the equestrian world tend to give but not take much time for themselves.  At Hearthorse, Charlotte and Tista create products that bring you together with your horse, or back to your own inner self.  As an example Charlotte shared a tea that they made, which both you and your horse can have.  They recommend a weekly tea time together.  What a sweet bonding experience!  I just adore the unique creativity behind this box.

To try out Hearthorse, visit their website (closed since interview)

I also recommend listening to Charlotte’s podcast to get an idea of their community.  You can find that here.