HORSE whispering has become a passion for one York man who believes that you can train the equine species with body language and communication.

The art became famous following the release of the movie, The Horse Whisperer, and now Don Shaw is putting it into practice on his Wilberfoss farm.

Don has a day job as a human resources manager in York, but by night and weekends he and his business partner Gwen Johnson practise techniques to train horses with alternative treatments. They use the methods to make a horse perform correctly without the use of force or cruelty and are developing a growing reputation as horse whisperers.

Don, 39, lives on the farm with his family and seven horses. He has reared his youngest horse, Jerry, on the practice of communicating in the horses' language.

He said: "During training the horse is presented with situations in which it makes a choice. If he does the "right" thing pressure on his side or a training halter or whatever will be relieved and he rewards himself. By doing the "wrong" thing he makes the pressure firmer, with no one to blame but himself. The horse can be said to have trained himself."

Last week, Don began working with a horse which refused to get into its horsebox. By slowly and repetitively showing the horse that it is a safe place to be and the "right" thing to do, the horse is now slowly adapting to the routine, to the relief of the owner!

Don said that actually talking to a horse is not necessarily what horse whispering is about, it is more about getting in touch with the horse's psyche.

Don also practices Reiki with horses, an art which involves laying hands on the horse and transferring energies. This is something he started doing after someone practised Reiki on him and it helped clear a chest infection. "It is like a natural pain killer for the horse."

The pair got their inspiration for the treatment from the work of world-renowned Monty Roberts and his protg Kelly Marks, with whom they have been working.

Don said: "I didn't get on my first horse until I was 16 and it's only in the last ten years that I've taken up riding full-time. And in the last few years it has turned from a hobby to a passion.

"By using alternative therapies for training horses you can overcome all sorts of problems in a calm and peaceful environment.

"You have to be the boss of a horse, but there are ways of doing it without using cruel force."

Updated: 11:05 Tuesday, February 05, 2002