Every morning I am up well before sun rise. I spend about twenty hours in the saddle each week and care for over fifty horses. My students of natural horsemanship range in age from six to over fifty. My feed bill is around $1000.00 per week. I am a prosecutor and have been an attorney since 1985. When I was young I was a politician. There were years when I read five newspapers before breakfast on a daily basis. At other times, I read a minimum of three books per week. I taught myself to play seven musical instruments. My life was diverse and full.
Now my life has radically improved. My life has been simplified. My life is my horses, my wife, my friends and all my little riders.
I train children to train wild horses. Most people cringe at the thought, but we have developed a program with a strong emphasis on safety, confidence, and most of all, first rate horsemanship. This blog will focus on what we do at Mill Swamp Indian Horses and I hope that my Little Riders will be writing in from time to time to give their experiences with our unique riding program.
One of the best things about Mill Swamp Indian Horses is that my riders and their parents take such an active role in helping out with all aspects of the operation. For example, I have no idea how to post pictures on a computer. However, Rebecca does and she will make sure that this blog is full of great pictures of colts, kids, and accomplishments.
Why ride? There are all sorts of romantic notions about why people are so drawn to horses, and why that urge tends to get stronger over the years, and the bond often becomes a bit mystical. The mythical "Horseman's Word" is not all that difficult to fathom, there are always those who understand horses better, communicate with them more effectively, have a stronger bond, and are slick enough to not let on why, if they even know themselves. Historically tradesmen kept their secrets pretty close to the vest. I imagine over the years that this idea has translated itself neatly into big dollars selling DVD's and fancy bridles that are mostly junk. There is no Horseman's Word,just an abiding love of these noble animals who have so willingly carried Man to the far corners of this world, and will probably carry him to the corners of other worlds before it is all over. The horse has been a partner to man for thousands of years, it is in our blood, be it freedom to move farther, faster, and bring home more food for the tribe, or simply taking old Betsy down the lane to the mailbox (at which she will probably spook) the horse is a part of man, and man is irretrievably a part of horse. there will always be those of us drawn to ride. There will always be another hill to go see the other side of. I wish man would pay his partners back better for their devotion.
ReplyDeleteWhy Blog? Because Journalism is as dead as Caesar's ghost, and who else will carry our tales to the world, we are too busy riding, or training the next one to get on, to go tell the world, and this is the best way to draw folks who would otherwise never have the chance into this wonderful world of Horse and Man. To show them that no, you do not have to be Hor$e People (tm) and fork over mounds of cash, and buy pound$ of treat$...That there is a simpler and better way. Besides, the horses will be better off. Red feather has polished off Keats and Shakespeare, what else is he going to read? Horse and Rider? I beg to differ. -Lloyd