E-Book Author Shares ‘Teachings Of The Horse’ From Her New Home In Newtown

By Nancy K. Crevier

As a producer of films, National Geographic Channel series, children’s science series, musicals, the first AIDS benefit, Comic Relief in 1985, and numerous documentaries, Victoria Cummings has had the opportunity over the past 30 years to tell many stories. The story she tells in Teachings Of The Horse (www.teachingsofthehorse.com), her e-book published in 2005, though, is of a more personal nature. It is the story of her experience as a first-time horse owner and the tale of a teacher with four legs and a very soft nose.

“Dealing with a 1,200-pound horse that is rearing up at you is very similar to dealing with a roomful of Hollywood directors,” laughs the Newtown resident.

After many years of life on the West Coast and two years in Virginia while she produced the National Geographic series, Interpol Investigates, Ms Cummings, her husband, Mark, her 91-year-old mother, and her daughter, Lee, moved to Newtown in the spring of 2005. A visit to friends in New York the previous year made her “feel like I had come home. Mark started looking for equestrian property and we found this one in Newtown. There were three criteria we had for moving: excellent schools, a horse-oriented area, and within commuting distance to New York City. Newtown met them all, and we just fell in love with the house and the town.”

 Her mare, Silk, and Silk’s filly, Siete, have traveled from California to Connecticut with the family. It is because of Silk that her e-book developed.

“I’ve ridden since I could walk,” she says, “but I had gotten away from it. [My mother] grew up with horses on a farm in Poland and was the one who encouraged me to ride.”

Ms Cummings was living in San Diego, Calif., and working in Los Angeles and New York City as a producer when she decided to buy a horse. “When my daughter was born nine years ago, I kind of returned to riding. I bought an abused, Western show horse. That was Silk.” As connected as she felt to the wary mare, Ms Cummings soon realized the answers she needed to her many questions were not easily come by and that much of the advice she received did not gel with her gut feelings. As time went by, however, she realized she had the perfect instructor right in front of her.

Silk has taught her much about the horse and owner relationship, she says. The horse was very fearful of people, because of her mishandling. “We went through a lot of challenges before she became my four-legged sister,” Ms Cummings says. Much of the learning experience was trial and error for Ms Cummings, who found that horse ownership was a different world than leasing or borrowing a horse to ride. She also came to realize she was not alone in that experience.

When she was not selling a show, raising money for a show, or mothering and policing a production, she worked in a San Diego tack shop. “I dealt with a lot of first-time horse owners there,” she recalled. “I developed a way of helping people deal with their challenges.”

Teachings Of The Horse grew out of her own experiences and the experiences of other novice horse owners. “I hope I am addressing problems that I wish someone had told me about.”

For example, says Ms Cummings, “When I bought Silk, people told me, ‘Oh, you have to be firm with her. You have to let her know who is boss.’ That was the thinking about handling horses.”

But for her horse, shy and distrustful from nine years of ill-treatment, an overbearing approach was not the answer. “I found a ‘Zen and carrots’ sort of approach worked for us, for Silk to gain trust in me.”

Her contact with horse trainers who used kinder and gentler methods of working with horses strengthened her belief that it is important to “consider what is best for the horse, not just for you.”

What her book conveys are practical and esoteric lessons that Silk, and subsequently Silk’s filly, Siete, have taught her.

“Horses are intuitive,” she says. “You can’t fool them. Silk has taught me about being honest. She has taught me patience. I came to realize that if something didn’t work out today, there was always tomorrow. She also has taught me about facing your own fears, and horses teach you confidence.”

New horse owners often do not understand some of the basics of caring for a horse, and Teachings Of The Horse addresses those issues. “Take the time to learn about tack, blankets, saddles. Learn about what affects your horse’s comfort,” she advises. A new horse owner will often accept advice at face value, but Ms Cummings has learned that it is important to understand why certain advice is suggested. Advice that does not ring true to a horse owner may not be the correct advice, she says, and there is nothing wrong with questioning the value of the information.

While it might be too late for some first-time equine purchasers, the e-book contains a section dedicated to the purchase of a horse. Too often, Ms Cummings says, buyers are guided by their emotions, forgetting that the horse that will best suit them is one that fits the owner’s riding style and ability level.

“I wrote the book for Silk and the other horses who have been mishandled,” she says. “It’s easy for a horse to get into an abusive situation. People get frustrated when they don’t understand what they are doing. I want to help people have a positive experience, instead of one that ends up a tragedy.”

She hopes that the e-book, her first foray into the world of publishing, will help people see ways of training horses in a new light. She would like to see Teachings Of The Horse go to hard copy, but the e-book form, she says, is exciting. “It is exciting to think there are people sitting in places of our country where they don’t have access to Barnes & Noble, but can read my book. E-books are like instant gratification.”

As she continues her work as a producer in New York City, Ms Cummings mulls over her next book, probably “an e-book about training Siete” and continues to revel in her new hometown. A recently joined member of the Newtown Bridle Lands Association, Ms Cummings values the horse community here. “It is so welcoming and varied. It’s great to be someplace where my neighbors love my horses.”