The words imply something that is "magical or mystical", she says, a talent that people are born with rather than something that can be learned.
People described as having a natural affinity for animals have not been born with an innate ability to communicate with them in a special way, she says. Instead, they have usually spent a lot of time observing them, have become very attuned to animal behaviour and good at interpreting the underlying emotion or behaviour behind it.
"They're recognising what the animal is saying to us, if you like, then behaving appropriately in response to that.
"That's not to say that there aren't very talented people doing great things. I just think these are skills they've learned and that anybody can learn with the appropriate education or guidance," she says, adding the fact Andrew can ride her mare, Zefir, without a bridle is "fantastic" and speaks to how well she has trained her horse.
Many horse owners describe their charges as experts at understanding non-verbal communication and at reflecting their riders' emotional state. Some put this down to horses having high numbers of a type of brain cell called "mirror neurons".
Briefly explained, the mirror neuron theory builds on lab tests done on macaque monkeys that showed a particular part of the monkey's brain fired not only when it ate a nut itself but also when it watched another monkey eat a nut.
Dr Stratton, who lectures in animal behaviour and welfare at Massey University's vet school, says the role of mirror neurons is "controversial" and scientists are still in the "discovery phase", but there is a growing body of research on human-animal bonds.
One study showed that, removing the effect of exercise, horses' heart rates increased when their riders' heart rates did; it is not clear if a chemical signal was involved or if horses were perhaps picking up on the riders' body language or tone of voice.
"When we're relaxed, we've got relaxed movements and we're actually better at doing our training, versus when we're more excited or even upset, we're going to incite the fear response in the animal."
Horse training most commonly relies on two forms of operant conditioning, or learning by consequence, she says.
One is negative reinforcement, which is taking away something unpleasant in order to encourage a particular behaviour, for example, releasing the reins and providing relief when a horse slows down.
The other is positive punishment or applying something unpleasant, for example, pulling on the reins when the horse is going faster.
In both cases, timing and consistency are critical: riders must respond immediately that the behaviour is shown or they can inadvertently reinforce the behaviours they don't want and punish the behaviours they do.
She also thinks horse trainers could make more use of positive reinforcement, rewarding desired behaviours with treats, such as food and scratches.
