The Truth about Working with an Animal Communicator
How to choose an animal communicator, ask better questions, and keep your horse's wellbeing at the centre.
After publishing The Horse World Is More Woo Woo Than You Think, one question kept coming up:
How do I work with an animal communicator responsibly?
Horse people have always relied on forms of knowing that are difficult to measure. We call it feel, intuition, gut instinct, energy. Different words for experiences many riders recognize, even if we explain them differently.
Some people take that one step further and work with animal communicators: people who say they receive thoughts, emotions, images, or sensations from animals. That may sound unusual to some readers. It is also far more common in the horse world than many realize, including among highly experienced riders and professionals.
Like any profession, animal communicators vary widely in skill, ethics, and experience. So the more interesting question isn’t whether animal communication is possible.
It’s how to approach it with the horse’s best interests at heart.
The horse deserves more than our belief.
The horse deserves our maturity.
This guide is for anyone curious about working with an animal communicator who wants to do it in a way that is grounded, thoughtful, and centered on the horse. It draws in part from my work with animal communicator Ditte Young, alongside my own experience as a horsewoman, interviewer, and researcher.
First: what animal communication is — and what it is not
At its best, animal communication is another form of listening.
It is not a diagnosis, a replacement for horsemanship, or a way to make the horse tell us what we want to hear. It is one possible source of information within a much larger circle of care.
A horse is always communicating. Through their body, expression, behaviour, appetite, willingness, and the small changes we learn to notice over time.
Every good horse person is listening. So is the vet. The groom. The farrier. The bodyworker. The trainer.
An animal communicator may be listening through a different channel. That does not make the other channels less important.
In fact, the more subtle the work becomes, the more grounded the human has to be. The goal is not to replace observation or expertise, but to let every piece of information lead us back to the horse.
When not to use an animal communicator
Animal communication should never be the first or only response to a medical emergency, sudden lameness, neurological symptoms, dangerous behaviour, or any situation that requires urgent veterinary or professional care. The same applies to medication decisions, legal or ownership disputes, and situations where you don’t have the horse owner’s consent.
Start with the appropriate professional.
Animal communication may have a place in the conversation later, but it should never delay the care or expertise the horse needs.
Why people work with animal communicators
People often reach out to an animal communicator when they can't quite make sense of what's happening with their horse.
A horse's behaviour may have changed. They may be struggling in their work for reasons that aren't immediately clear. An important decision may be approaching—a move, retirement, or saying goodbye. Or perhaps the owner wants to understand their horse better.
Those are all valid reasons to be curious.
But intention matters.
Before booking a session, ask yourself:
Am I looking for information, or am I looking for confirmation?
There is a difference.
If you’re looking for someone to validate what you already believe, you’re no longer really listening. If you only want your horse to say, “Yes, I love this job. Yes, I’m happy. Yes, keep going,” you may not be ready to hear the horse.
The real test of animal communication isn’t whether you’re willing to ask the question.
It’s whether you’re willing to hold the answer responsibly, especially when it’s inconvenient.
Green flags when choosing an animal communicator
1. They ask for very little information
This is one of the clearest signs of a professional approach.
A communicator may ask for your animal’s name, species, a little practical context, and who their primary owner or rider is. But they should not need the entire backstory before they begin.
Practical context has its place, but if someone needs a detailed explanation of the problem before they can offer anything meaningful, I’d notice that.
The more information you provide upfront, the harder it becomes to know what is genuinely being received and what may be influenced by what you've shared.
2. They explain how the session works
A good communicator should be able to tell you what to expect.
Do they work live or remotely? Do they need a photo? Will you receive notes or a recording? Can you ask questions? How do they handle medical, behavioural, or emotionally difficult topics?
The work may be intuitive, but the process should not be chaotic.
A trustworthy communicator helps you get informed before the session begins.
3. They provide specific, meaningful information
A professional session should offer more than generic statements.
“Your horse loves you.”
“Your horse likes turnout.”
“Your dog is loyal.”
These things may be true, but on their own they don’t tell you much.
A strong session usually includes details that are specific to the individual animal, their experience, or your relationship with them. It might be a change in routine, a sensation on one side of the body, a dislike of a particular part of the day, a preference for one handler, or a message that helps you see your horse differently.
Specific doesn’t have to be sensational.
The point isn’t drama.
It's recognition—the feeling that you can understand your horse in a way you couldn't before.
4. They are willing to share difficult truths
An ethical communicator won’t simply tell you what you want to hear.
The horse may communicate a difficult truth. They may feel tired, uncomfortable in their body, stressed by a person or environment, or no longer suited to the life their human has planned.
A good communicator shares those messages with care. They don’t sensationalize them, shame the owner, create panic, or turn the horse’s message into a weapon.
But they also don’t soften everything into comfort.
If we're going to ask the horse, we have to be willing to hear a difficult answer.
5. They respect consent
This is a major ethical point.
They should never tune into someone else’s animal without permission. If someone asks them to read another rider’s horse, a client’s horse, a neighbour’s dog, or an ex-partner’s animal, they should decline.
This isn’t just about the animal. It’s about respecting human boundaries, too.
Animal communication should never become a way to spy, interfere, or gather information about someone else’s life through their animal.
Consent, privacy, and respect are part of the work.
6. They respect professional boundaries
A responsible animal communicator knows where their expertise begins and ends.
They should never diagnose illness, prescribe treatment, tell you to stop veterinary care, or replace your vet, farrier, trainer, bodyworker, behaviourist, or other qualified professional. Nor should they claim to “fix” your horse.
If they sense physical discomfort, they can share that impression. The next step should be to consult the appropriate professional.
For example:
“I’m getting discomfort around the stomach area. I’d suggest speaking to your vet.”
That is very different from:
“Your horse has ulcers. Stop doing this and give this supplement.”
The first respects the boundary.
The second crosses it.
7. They are respected by other serious animal people
Testimonials matter. But even more important is who trusts them.
Do veterinarians, trainers, breeders, riders, bodyworkers, behaviourists, or experienced horse people recommend them? Have people you respect had positive experiences with them?
This isn’t a guarantee, but it is a useful signal.
Animal communication is like any profession. Some people have years of experience. Others are still learning. And some lack the ethics this work requires.
Reputation matters more than fame.
8. They do not make you dependent on them
This is a big one for me.
A good animal communicator should help you become more connected to your animal, not less.
They shouldn’t position themselves as the only person who can understand your horse, make you doubt your own ability to listen, or create fear around making decisions without them.
Their role is to support the relationship between horse and human, not become the voice standing between them.
The thread running through all of these
Looking back, I think all of these green flags point to the same quality:
Humility.
The best animal communicators I’ve encountered don’t need to prove they’re gifted. They don’t need to dominate the room, make the horse’s message dramatic, or make the human feel small.
They approach the horse with respect. They approach the human with care.
They understand that intuitive information is delicate. They know they’re part of a larger circle of care, not the whole circle.
The best communicators aren’t trying to impress you.
They’re trying to listen.
Using discernment
Most red flags are simply the absence of the qualities we’ve already discussed.
Looking back, I think they all point to the same thing:
Certainty without responsibility.
If someone ignores consent, makes guarantees, works outside their expertise, positions themselves as the only person who can understand your horse, or asks you to trust them more than your own judgment, I’d be cautious.
Be equally wary of anyone who uses fear or shame. The horse world already has enough fear in it. We do not need spiritualized fear added on top.
Animal communication should never replace veterinary care or other qualified professionals. It can be part of the conversation, but it should never become the whole conversation.
Listen closely to how a communicator speaks about the people caring for the horse. Information should open inquiry, not create blame. There are many people in a horse’s life, and often the people doing the most daily care are carrying the most invisible labour. A good communicator invites the care team into the conversation rather than turning the horse’s message into an accusation.
Horses deserve better than certainty.
They deserve curiosity, humility, and care.
How to prepare for a session
1. Know why you're booking the session
Before you book, take a moment to ask yourself why.
Are you trying to understand a behaviour, support a transition, explore a performance challenge, prepare for retirement, care for an aging or ill animal, improve your relationship, or better understand if in your horse’s routine is causing stress?
There isn’t a right or wrong reason.
Having a clear intention simply helps you ask better questions.
2. Prepare a few meaningful questions
I’d choose three to six questions.
Not twenty.
Give the session enough direction, but leave room for what wants to come through.
Some questions you might ask are:
What does my horse need me to understand right now?
How does my horse feel in their body?
Is there anything in their daily routine that’s causing stress?
Is there anything I do that helps them feel safe, or creates pressure or confusion?
What do they need more of? What do they need less of?
Is there anything they’re trying to show me that I’ve missed?
If you have a performance horse, you might also ask about travel, showing, fatigue, or whether there’s anything in the warm-up or competition routine that’s affecting them.
If your horse is older, your questions may shift toward comfort, daily life, how they feel about their role, and what they need from you in this stage.
For end-of-life situations, I’d be especially careful and tender. Animal communication can be beautiful here, but it should be held alongside veterinary guidance, quality-of-life assessment, and your own knowledge of your horse.
3. Do not use the session to avoid what you already know
We may seek out an animal communicator because we're hoping the horse will give us permission to avoid a difficult truth.
If your horse is lame, call the vet. If they’re dangerous, get qualified support. If their management isn’t meeting their needs, change the management. If they’re showing signs of pain, don’t bypass the body in search of a mystical explanation.
Animal communication should help us face reality more honestly, not become a way to spiritualize avoidance.
4. Keep notes
Whether the communicator provides notes or not, write things down.
Watch for:
Specific details
Physical sensations
Emotional themes
Anything that surprises you
Anything that doesn’t make sense yet
Anything that should be explored further with your vet, trainer, groom, or bodyworker
Some messages make sense immediately.
Others take weeks.
A few never do.
That’s okay.
Not everything has to be forced into meaning.
During the session
Stay curious without rushing to conclusions.
You don’t need to perform belief, and you don’t need to be cynical. You also don’t need to accept everything that’s said as fact.
Just listen.
Pay attention to what is personal to your horse. What surprises you? What stirs emotion? What echoes what you’ve sensed before? And where do you resist, especially if it’s because the message is uncomfortable?
Ask questions.
A good communicator shouldn’t be threatened by genuine curiosity.
You might ask:
Can you explain that a little more?
Are you sensing that physically or emotionally?
Is this connected to what’s happening now, or is it from the past?
Is there anything practical I can do with this information?
Is this something you’d encourage me to discuss with my vet?
How confident are you about what you’re receiving?
The session should be collaborative. You should be comfortable asking questions, exploring ideas, and reflecting together in the horse’s best interest.
A session should be a conversation in service of the horse, not a performance you're expected to sit through in silence.
After the session: what to do with the information
A session is only as valuable as what you do with it afterward.
Rather than trying to make sense of everything immediately, I'd sit with three questions.
1. What needs to be checked?
If the communicator mentions physical discomfort, changes in behaviour or appetite, tack discomfort, or anything related to your horse’s body, consider who is best placed to help you investigate. That might be your vet, farrier, bodyworker, saddle fitter, trainer, or another member of your horse’s care team.
Don’t panic.
Just take the next sensible step.
2. What can be changed immediately?
The message may point to a small adjustment.
More downtime. A different warm-up. More turnout. A gentler grooming routine. More time before loading. More choice where possible.
Not every insight calls for a major change.
The most respectful response is often a small, consistent one.
3. What does this ask of me?
Animal communication doesn’t only invite us to understand the horse.
It asks us to examine ourselves.
Where am I not listening?
Where am I rushing?
Where am I projecting my own hopes or fears?
Where have I mistaken compliance for consent?
Where am I asking the horse to carry a dream that belongs to me?
Where am I unwilling to change my plan?.
Used well, animal communication doesn’t make the horse more convenient.
It asks more of us.
Where I stand
I don’t believe every horse person needs to work with an animal communicator, and I don’t believe every animal communicator offers the same quality of work.
I’ve worked with animal communicators myself. Some experiences have been remarkably helpful. Others have been less clear or effective.
What I do believe is that horses are always giving us information, even if we don’t yet understand all the ways they’re communicating it.
The best horse people I know aren’t closed to new ideas.
They’re curious enough to ask questions, discerning enough to test what they hear against the horse in front of them, and humble enough to change their minds.
Because horses have a way of humbling certainty.
They remind us that information can come through the body, behaviour, the relationship, intuition, and perhaps, at times, through experiences we don't yet have words for.
My hope is for a horse world where intuition and ethics sit at the same table.
Where animal communication is neither dismissed as a party trick nor elevated above good horsemanship. Where we ask better questions and, if the horse answers, we’re willing to consider what might need to change.
A small reflection before you book
Before working with an animal communicator, I’d ask myself:
Am I open to hearing what I wasn’t expecting?
Am I willing to explore the information responsibly?
Am I willing to involve the people who care for my horse if needed?
Am I willing to change if the message asks it of me?
And if the answer to that last question is no, am I really ready for the conversation I’m about to have?
Have you ever worked with an animal communicator?
Did the experience change the way you understood your horse — or the way you understood yourself?
This was an excellent article. Having taught cognitive ethology and interspecies communication to professionals for over 40 years, it is delightful to see an article that covers this field. While those of us operating in the scientific realm of consciousness research prefer the term inter-species, interspecies, cross-species, or trans-species rather than “ animal communication, the information presented is very needed and helpful.
I laughed when I saw your article on “ woo woo” as I have a lecture I have done for many years called “Woo Woo Science- The reality behind subtle communication “. And if you have read the book “A Horse by Nature” you will see the chapter on Communication dives into multiple communication channels horses and humans can use including subtle / intuitive communication. You are so right about how something so natural has had to carefully been crafted with language to bring awareness and comfortable recognition. Having worked with Olympic level riders in dressage and jumping since the 1990s it is no secret how many horsemen and women who truly care about their horses have used “ interspecies communicators” to assist. Many of the veterinarians also are learning expanded awareness tools like dowsing to help them better diagnose horses.
So thank you Noelle for bringing this topic into mainstream.