Author: Tracy Ane Brooks

Tracy has walked wolves into schools, universities, and museums like the Smithsonian Institute. She’s brought them through challenging studio sets like those of The Today Show and Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood, and she has presented wolves to countless audiences across the US for over twenty years. Tracy has been instrumental in building Mission: Wolf, a captive wolf sanctuary in Colorado. Her main focus is ensuring the wellbeing and contentment of the wolves. Tracy is one of those unique people who possess a deep understanding of instinctual connection to animals. After spending ten challenging years working hands-on with wolves, a horse came into her life. Tracy embarked on a study of horse training, desiring to discover for herself the magic behind horse whispering. What she learned was to listen to the horse and mirror its natural behavior. Tracy wondered if she could use what she learned from horses on wolves. After all, predators and prey all have the same foundation of behavior: flight, fight, or freeze. Tracy learned to mirror a horse named Ikus and resolved his run-away behavior in a simple, natural, non-evasive way. Ikus reminded her that these abilities to work with animals were within her all along. What followed was an intensive study of mimicry or mirroring wolves and horses. Many years of groundwork paid off when Tracy had an opportunity to mirror Illiamna, a feral wolf that she presented to over four hundred people at Colorado University in Boulder after only fourteen hours of moving with him. The icing on the mirroring cake was the opportunity to work with a troubled, wild-caught mustang. A Walk in Connection is based on Tracy’s life of learning to connect with animals. Her personal stories are intended to inspire, empower, and contribute to the greater global understanding of communication with other species.