b'How owners can use empathy to predict and interprethorses behaviors and respond appropriatelySP MA CEL L IME N IT NEL VAY SET RUOCV alentine Millecamps doesnt consider herself a hero. In rescuingValentine Millecamps rescued a 37-year-old pony from a life of malnourishment and multipleTonnerre not because she felt sorry for him but because she untreated health conditions, the Belgian psychology grad studentempathized with him.believes she only did what she had to. Id spend hours with him in his field when I was growing up, feeling the peace hed give me just by being there, Millecamps recalls. As he got old and sick, his owners couldnt care for him anymore. It seems natural to me to take him on and invest in his well-being. It was the least I could do for someone who had given me so much.Now 40, Tonnerrewhose name means Thunder in Frenchthunders across his pasture at a sound, energetic gallop. For Millecamps, this wasnt about pity for the former pony ride mount who worked for decades in fairs across Belgium. She didnt feel sorry for him, she says. She saw him, as a fellow sentient being whose ethological (behavioral) needs could be met but werent. Its impossible to imagine what its like to be a horse, but I have as much empathy for him as I can, she says. Empathy, say our sources, is complex to explain and understand. One thing we do know, however, is a healthy level of empathy toward horses can benefit both them and the horse-human relationship. TheHorse.com|The HorseNovember 201923Untitled-17 23 9/25/19 9:38 AM'