Abstract
This thesis examines the relationship between organizational culture and communication about horse agency through an auto/ethnographic lens. The literature covers a series of theoretical frameworks, consisting of sensemaking, CCO, ethnography of communication, and Van Maanen’s Tales (1988/2011). Theoretically and methodologically, Van Maanen’s Tales (1988/2011) serve as the main lens through which this project addresses its two research questions. The first question seeks to understand how the agency of horses is perceived and communicated about within and between horse training and boarding facilities. The second examines how differing communication around horse agency may affect organizational culture within and between sites. Through the telling of three different tales—realist, confessional, and impressionist—I discuss the ways in which my fieldwork and life experience echo each other to highlight new questions about organizational culture. Addressing these questions provides an opportunity to extend the conversation of communication studies to human- animal relationships, ranch spaces, horse agency, and environment—specifically exhibiting an intersection between organizational communication and ranch spaces.