Say What You Mean II

Several years ago I was riding through the cut over behind a five year old rider. I noticed that her pants leg had pulled up over her boot and her soon to be sore leg was rubbing the leather fender on the old saddle.

"Pull down your blue jeans!", I called out. She paused for a moment as if she could not process my meaning. She then, without turning around in the saddle, simply said "OK"

She then raised up in the saddle, hooked her thumbs in the top of her pants and began to try to remove her pants.

Before she got too far, I was able to get her to stop. I then better explained my directive.

Say What You Mean !

This is a photo of my grandson last October on Croatoan at a clinic. He is obsessed with dinosaurs and riding horses. He likes to ride in the woods.

Last week we rode long enough for him to become truly tired. He was also hungry.
When we got home he looked to his grandmother and said,"Nana Beth, I am hungry." She quickly handed him a piece of fried chicken and said "Here, go ahead and eat it with your hands."

"No,no Nana Beth! I am hungry! I need to eat it with my mouth, " he explained.


(This summer he will turn four and we will begin some serious riding then.)

Amusement Park Training V

Please go back to Amusement Park Training I for an explanation of this series of posts. In these last three pictures Ice is learning to back through an L shaped alley way and wears the floats (saw Clinton Anderson using these and I tried them out. It is great for the first thing that goes across a horse's back to not be a human leg.) I do not believe that he had ever been asked to longe before. Note how well he is learning to longe after completing the Amusement Park.

Amusement Park Training IV

Please go back to Amusement Park Training I below for an explanation of these series of posts. Tire work--This is very difficult for most young horses. Here Ice is learning to be pursued by the tire that I am dragging along and then he walks through two different tractor tires, one much larger than the other.

Walking through the tire behind the trainer builds a lot of trust and requires a lot of trust.

Amusement Park Training III

Please go back to Amusement Park Training I below for an explanation of this series. Here Ice is going over a bruned log, walking through the "Waterfall" a string of brightly colared cloth streamers that blow in the wind, and walking over white PVC pipe.

Amusement Park Training II

Please go back to Amusement Park I for an explanation of this series. Here is Ice jumping a log and doing a step over. The log is wrapped in a bright colored fabric.

Amusement Park Training I

The next several posts are dedicated to how we use the Amusement Park to train colts and wild horses. The course was given its name by one of my youngest riders. I have not run across any type of training that gives a young horse more confidence and does it as quickly as the Amusement Park. The entire course required a lot of work to construct but very little money. Rebecca designed the course and cut the bright fabric which she used to make some of the stages a little more frightening to the horses.
The series of photos features Ice, a colt about 20 months old. I do not believe that he had ever had on a saddle or been longed before yesterday when these pictures were taken. He is the son of Cherokee Boogie of Karma Farms lines and will be registered with the AIHR. I expect him to be gaited as he matures.
This whole series of pictures was put together on a whim. We had not planned to begin his training yesterday but the weather was great and I was tired of doing fence work and planting so we took a break to have some fun.
The pictures began about 10 minutes after he was first saddled. He took the saddle with no complaint and only gave a few animated bucks as we started down towards the Amusement Park.
Most of the stages in the Amusement Park are self explanatory. In these shots he is simply walking over a tarp and then being lead into a sloping pit that is about 2 feet deep.

Dominican Tack

Take a close look at all of this homemade tack, woven from plant fibers. The ingenuity of the bridle fascinates me. No stirrups, but a girth. My daughter tells me that the riders often ride with no tack at all on the horses.

Before Jamestown

I understand that Columbus brought horses to the New World on his second voyage. The cost and difficulty of transatlantic transportation made it more feasible to establish large breeding operations on this side of the ocean. As a result, Hispaniola, (now the Dominican Republic and Haiti)became the earliest center for horse breeding for all of the Spanish colonial outposts.

The horse in this picture is not from Shackleford, though I would quickly so misidentify him if given the chance. He would fit right in among his cousins at Shackleford, but he is a current resident of the Dominican Republic.

Horsemanship among the country folks in the Dominican Republic focuses on transportation instead of recreation or competition. I hope to be able to post more pictures of these horses and their riders, though I fear that it might take a day or two. Yesterday I dug the longest ditch that I have ever dug and two retention "ponds" around the low side of a corn field that we are about to plant. I was very pleased at the rate that I could shovel for a man of any age, much less of my age. This morning I find that I am not very sore. The only problem is that my fingers are not working very well on this key board.

Like Sand In an Hour Glass

Recently a stunning wild Corolla Spanish mustang was hit by a car and had to be put down. One more of these nearly extinct horses is gone. This is one of the reasons that the off site breeding program is so important.

Swimmer is about five and produces beautiful colts. She had to be captured because of her ability to swim out of the relative safety of the wild horse area. She is the largest wild Corolla mare that I have seen. I believe that she is 14 or 14.1.

Last summer my little riders and I gentled her and started her to saddle. In less than thirty days after her capture she completed the September 20, 2008 46 Mile Ride. She gave her rider no problem on the ride, but for her normal Corolla tendency to prefer trotting to cantering (many of these horses trot nearly as fast as they canter).

And now she stands around at a wonderful horse facility in North Carolina awaiting adoption. Gentle, big, well started under saddle--what more could one ask for?

Swimmer's adopter will be able to bring her to Mill Swamp Indian Horses to breed her to the Corolla stallion of the adopter's choosing.

Adopting Swimmer will not only give the adopter a great horse but will be an important step in helping to save these horse's from extinction. What do you have to do this spring that is more important than that.

(Swimmer is deep in this cloud of dust beginning to start the last leg of the one day 46 mile ride. The picture was taken from a distance and is a bit hard to see, but if you look closely you will see that she looks exactly like the one that you should adopt)

Joe Camp

Perhaps one of the clearest voices in the natural horse care movement is Joe Camp, author of "The Soul Of a Horse." I am delighted to present his interview today.

Joe, I have to say right off of the bat that Buck Brannam's, "The Far Away Horses," has been my favorite horse book since it first came out, but I believe that you topped it with "Soul of the Horse." I find many adults in their forties and fifties, coming into the horse world for the first time. What does your book have to say to those people who might become discouraged and maybe even feel like they have bit off more than they can chew?

Joe – IT IS ALL WITHIN YOURSELF. YOU CAN DO WHATEVER YOU DESIRE IF YOU FOCUS AND GIVE YOURSELF THE ADVATAGE OF MILEAGE. TIME SPENT WITH YOUR HORSES LEARNING TO UNDERSTAND AND COMMUNICATE WITH THEM. TOO MANY FOLKS WANT RELATIONSHIPS TO BE AUTOMATIC, WHETHER WITH HORSE OR PEOPLE. DOESN’T WORK THAT WAY. TIME NEEDS TO BE COMMITTED TO MAKE THEM WORK. EVERY HORSE ON THE PLANET WANTS TO BE IN REALTIONSHIP. IT’S ALL UP TO US. COMMIT TO THE MILEAGE.

Your book deals with natural horsemanship, natural hoof care, and natural horse care as a total package for modern horsemanship. Do you find much resistance to your strong endorsement of natural hoof care and natural horse care among today's established horse world?

Joe – OF COURSE. BUT THE RESPONSE IS SCIENCE. I DON’T PROMOTE MY “OPINIONS” OR “PHILOSOPHIES”. I TALK SCIENCE. EVERY HORSE ON THE PLANET IS GENETICALLY THE SAME. WILD OR SO-CALLED “DOMESTIC”. THEY’VE BEEN ON THIS EARTH FOR 52+ MILLION YEARS. AND WE WOULD’VE NEVER KNOWN HORSES IF MOTHER NATURE HAD NOT GIVEN THE HORSE THE GENETICS TO SURVIVE. FOR A PREY ANINAL, A FLIGHT ANIMAL, THAT MEANS GREAT FEET TO FLEE FROM PREDATORS. HORSES IN THE WILD DO NOT HAVE HOOF PROBLEMS. ONLY HORSES WITH METAL SHOES, IN STALLS, EATING SUGAR, AWAY FROM THE HERD, LIVING COMPLETELY OPPOSITE THE WAY THE HORSE WAS GENETICALLY DESIGNED TO LIVE HAVE HOOF PROBLEMS. AND STRESS PROBLEMS. AND ALL KINDS OF HEALTH PROBLEMS.

If we are going to continue to draw new people into horse ownership, what changes do think need to be made to our modern model of riding lessons, shows, expensive horses, and even more expensive horse products?

Joe – I WOULD LIKE TO SEE FEWER PEOPLE COMING INTO HORSE OWNERSHIP, ELIMINATING THOSE WHO ONLY WANT HORSES TO USE AS A TOOL, ONLY WANT HORSES TO PROMOTE THEIR OWN EGOS. I’D LOVE TO LIMIT HORSE OWNERSHIP TO THE FOLKS WHO ACTUALY CARE FOR THE HORSES THEY OWN. AND WHO HAVE TAKEN THE TIME TO LEARN ENOUGH TO THEREBY KNOW ENOUGH ABOUT THEM TO ACTUALLY ALLOW THEM TO LIVE AS HORSES SHOULD LIVE. THE “MODEL” THAT YOU MENTION IS NUTS. THE “MODEL” SHOULD BE: THIS IS A LIVING, BREATHING BEING WHO WANTS DESPERATELY TO BE IN RELATIONSHIP AND WANTS ONLY TO LIVE AS HE WAS DESIGNED TO LIVE.

Your book has a mythical thread running through it that begins with a Shackleford horse. Why did you select a Shackleford to represent the genesis of horses in the new world? Where on earth had you even heard of a Shackleford?

Joe – I’M A STUDENT OF OUR EARLY COLONIAL DAYS AND PRE-COLONIAL DAYS IN THIS COUNTRY. I’VE SPENT A LOT OF TIME IN WILLIANSBURG AND ACTUALLY BEEN TO SHACKLEFORD BANKS.

Besides Monte Roberts, what other horse trainers and clinicians impress you?

Joe – IT’S ALL IN THE BOOK AND IN THE RESOURCES SECTION. ALL THE GOOD ONES ARE MERELY TRYING TO TAKE YOU TO THE POINT WHERE YOU CAN FIGURE THINGS OUT FOR YOURSELF. NOT ONE OF THE CLINICIANS I STUDIED EVER STUDIED THE DVDS AND BOOKS OF OTHER CLINICIANS. YOU GET THE BASICS, THE UNDERSTANDING, THEN YOU NEED TO BE LETTING THE HORSES BE YOUR TEACHERS.

All of my riders are human and that means that all of my riders have problems in some aspects of their lives. The full title of your book is The Soul of a Horse: Life's Lessons From the Herd. What are those lessons? Which of them are the most important?

Joe – THE LESSON MOST IMPORTANT I THINK IS: WE LEARNED THAT TO BE IN RELATIONSHIP WITH THE HORSE WE HAD TO GET OVER ON HIS END OF THE LEAD ROPE. TO LEARN WHAT HE MIGHT WANT OUT OF THIS RELATIONSHIP, AS OPPOSED TO WHAT WE WANTED OUT OF IT. TO DETERMINE WHAT HIS DESIRES AND EXPECTATIONS WERE. AND ISN’T THAT THE WAY WE SHOULD APPROACH ALL OF OUT HUMAN RELATIONSHIPS AS WELL?

Agribusiness giants and the established horse world cannot make money off of natural hoof care and natural horse care. Will their economic interests be strong enough to forever keep natural hoof care and natural horse care out of the main stream?

Joe – THAT DEPENDS UPON US. WILL WE LET THAT HAPPEN? WILL WE, WHO CARE FOR THE HORSE AND HIS HEALTH AND HAPPINESS, HAVE MORE IMPACT THAN THOSE WHO ONLY WANT TO USE THE HORSE AS A TOOL? THE SOUL OF A HORSE IS CURRENTLY NOT BEING SOLD IN MOST TACK AND FEED STORES BECAUSE THEY READILY SAY THAT I AM ADVOCATING AGAINST THE PRODUCTS THEY SELL. THEY’RE WRONG OF COURSE. I AM ADVOCATING ONE THING ONLY: THE HORSE IS A LIVING BREATHING COMPASSIONATE BEING. GIVE HIM THE LOVE, CARE AND RESPECT THAT YOU YOURSELF DESERVE.

What Do Caribbean Country Folks Know About Horses That You Don't

Maybe a lot. These fine villagers knew enough about horses to want to be photographed with a copy of my book, "And a Little Child Shall Lead Them: Learning From Wild Horses and Small Children", which can be ordered from Amazon.com.

Family Horses

Here is a picture that is not often found in this century, or even the last. The horses above are all wild BLM mustangs. There are three generations of my family riding these horses, my father, Nelson Edwards, my daughter Amanda, and me, riding the black mare in the rear.

Happy Easter

We Shall Rise


On that Resurrection morning when the trumpet of God Shall Sound
We shall rise. We Shall Rise.
And the saints will come rejoicing and no tears will e'r be shed
We shall rise, Hallelujah! We shall Rise.

We shall rise hallelujah! We shall rise, Amen!
We shall rise!
On that resurrection morning when them prison bars are broken
We shall rise! We shall Rise!

(The Carter Family recorded the entire song in the early 1930's. Lido particularly liked A.P. Carter's version of this old Pentacostal hymn)

"I am not a human being! I am an Animal!"

All horsemanship should begin with a complete understanding of the implications of this inversion of the famous quotation from the movie, "The Elephant Man." Horses are not people. Things that we adore,like cozy, comfortable small rooms are endless sources of stress and repressed anxiety for horses. Perhaps the greatest enemy to their long term health is the surplus of unnatural calories pumped into them by conscientious members of the established horse world. They receive endless rest and little movement though they evolved to move nearly constantly.

Natural horse care provides horses with opportunities for improved health and real happiness. Joe Camp's great work, "The Soul of a Horse" explains the benefits of natural horse care in a way that a complete novice can understand and apply.

Our next interview will be with Joe Camp and will be featured in the next few days. In the mean time, go out and buy this great book. Your horse will appreciate you for it. You might just end up putting many extra years on his life.

(Here is a great shot of Croatoan, one of my Corolla stallions, his first spring after capture. Since capture he has produced several foals. He is strong, smooth gaited, and gentle enough for his main trial rider to be only 8 years old. He loves living like an animal.)

The AIHR

The American Indian Horse Registry was formed in 1961 to preserve and promote the horses of the American Indians and to recognize the modern breeds that trace their lineages back to them, such as the Appaloosas and Paints. As such, it has a very broad mission. The AIHR recognizes several classes of horses ranging from the "O" (pure Spanish Colonial Horses) to the "M" (modern breeds with Indian roots).

The AIHR serves a vital role for horses like Half Yellow Face, who appears as a yearling in the picture above. This young stallion carries the curly gene and it really comes out on him in the winter. He has primitive stripes and bars, is short backed, strong, smart and very gentle. He has strong Spanish movement at the trot and perhaps has the most comfortable canter of any non-Corolla horse that I have ever seen.

In short, he would have been the pride of many Indian herds in the 1870's. However, he cannot be registered in either the SMR or HOA because his lineage is outside their preservation goals. Their preservation goals are entirely appropriate and were it not for these two organizations the Spanish Mustang would likely not exist today.

Half Yellow Face is of Chincoteague and BLM origin and as such he is eligible for membership in the AIHR. The AIHR recognizes the importance of preserving and promoting super horses like him. Their shows and awards programs encourage the breeding of more spectacular horses like this little stallion.

While members of the established horse world might scoff at such a goal,the AIHR is a vital incubator of preservation and innovation. Half Yellow Face's half brother, Young Joseph, is likely to be a future member of the AIHR Hall of Fame. He is the result of the same BLM/Chincoteague program with which we have had so much success.

The AIHR promotes versatility, affordable horses, history, solid horsemanship, and fun. That is the prescription to revitalize the horse industry. It is a shame that more of the the established horse world does not recognize that obvious fact.

Irony of Ironies

For a Quarter horse breeder to complain that there is such a surplus of horses that we should cease our efforts to breed the Corrolas is about the same as if the ocean would complain to the bath tub that it has a leaky faucet.

And Miles To Go Before I Sleep--And Promises To Keep

Mokete, the first pure Corolla foal born of the off site breeding program is nearly one year old. Three of my riders, Amanda, Katelynn, and Emily now own Corollas and Sarah Lin has a stunning little 1/2 Corolla. My riders and I have trained eight Corollas and two Shacklefords to saddle. The off site breeding program is now a multi state program. All Corollas that are adopted must be immediately registered with the HOA which will make it much easier to keep track of where the horses are in order to facilitate off site breeding.

The 1/2 Corollas will never be used in the breeding program. They will simply be super horses for trail and endurance riding and I hope that each purchaser of these yearlings will put endless miles on them. Of course, when one of these yearlings turns two we offer to take it back and start it to saddle at no charge. As these horses are seen in public they certainly will attract a lot of attention. Other horse owners will want to know why these horses are so gentle and trainable. They will want to know why their gaits are so comfortable. Most of all they will want to know why these horses never seem to tire.

The simple answer will be, "Because their father is a Corolla." Placed with the right families, these 1/2 breeds will become ambassadors for the breed itself. They will help demonstrate why it is so important that we not allow these horses to become extinct.

(The picture above is of the September 20, 2008 46 mile ride that we took our Corollas, Shacklefords and a few other horses on.)

Mill Swamp Week in Review: Just Part of the Team

The grass is turning green and the mud is drying up. I woke up this morning around 4:00 and had a topic to write on in mind. As I thought about that topic my mind quickly checked off the week's activities. They really do not need explaining or commenting on because simply listing what has been happening over the last week shows both how different our program is from conventional riding instruction programs and how simple it can be for conventional riding programs to become places of education and inspiration.

1. Last Saturday--Kay took the art students down to Corolla where they spent the night, were given a special herd tour by a member of the board of the Corolla Wild Horse Fund, and presented their paintings to the CWF as a donation to sell in the Corolla Wild Horse gift shop. (Much more on this great weekend in a later post.)

2. Monday--I had a great ride deep into the woods with one of my riders who owns her own Corolla.

3. Tuesday--Loretta and I worked with her AIHR colt, Si Tanka. He is about ready for a rider now. Loretta has done a great job with him.

4. Tuesday--I had a prosecutor's conference in Norfolk and Rebecca brought Liam over for lunch at the Waterside.

5. Tuesday--Lisa pulled up and got out with a charged battery in her hand for the electric fencer. It was time to charge the battery and she simply took care of it without being asked.

6. Wednesday--Cut about 100 poles for our new round pen made of sticks. (much more on that later).

7. Wednesday--Brent mounted Washikie bareback. The colt began to buck and Lea, his owner, remained calm and brought him down to a stand still. Kay and Loretta worked with their horses during the day while I was at the office.

8. Thursday--Terry brought over a co-worker whose family lived near the wild horses of Corolla. She rode with us. She rode Manteo. Before she left she told me about her screen saver with the famous wild Corolla, Cyclops, on it. She was delighted to learn that the horse that she had been riding for the past few hours was Cyclops's son.

9. Thursday--Chance rode Wanchese, my little Shackleford stallion, on the most challenging ride that he had ever been on and did just great. Jacob worked on teaching independence to Chief-Makes-Room.

10. Thursday--Makipiya Luta, my new little BLM filly, let me touch her.

11. Friday--Neared completion of the stick pen, with Brent's help sowed fertilizer by hand, worked with Brent on a big Appaloosa that he is training, and went on a ride with Lea and Ashley. Jacob cut the tops from the sticks of the stick pen.

12. Friday--Brent, Terry, and Jacob went on a lengthy midnight ride.

13. Friday--Amanda rode her Corolla mare, Secotan. Secotan is really settling into becoming a first rate trail horse.

14. Saturday--Little Ashley came out and rode Porter. She is only about seven and is doing a great job of recovering from the shock of her first bucking episode. She is meeting her fear head on and she is winning.

15. Saturday--Danielle brought out a friend who helped us work and then went on a nice ride with us.

16. Saturday--Danielle, Casey, Brenna, Lydia, Chance and Riley, helped worm foals, repair the dam, do erosion prevention and weed removal. Rebecca played with Crazy Bear and put Liam up on his back. Liam's face really lights up when he gets on a horse. However, we will have to wait until the boy turns at least two before he begins any serious riding.

17. Saturday--Terry took the week's accumulated trash away and Bill worked on fencing at the Little House.

18. Saturday--Rosa's owner drove down from Maine to pick her up and take her home. This daughter of Red Feather will be part of the off site breeding program for Corollas in a few more years. Before leaving for Maine, her owner joined us for a long woods ride. She rode Manteo.

My riders and their families devote their time and skill into making our program work. That means an awful lot to me. I am sure that I missed some things but I have to hustle off now. Danielle is bringing her mother and little brother out for their first rides and I need to do a little feeding before the sun comes up.


(This picture is of my Red Feather's father, also named Red Feather.)

Time Out

One reader expressed concern that we rushed the training of our young or wild horses. I understand why she had that misperception. In describing my experience with the Corollas I have stressed how quickly they learn and how easy they are to train. The examples that I gave were not intended to be a plug for how quickly we can train, but instead was a tribute to the horses.

In fact, I believe the exact opposite. We spend more time getting horses ready to take a rider than did the more traditional bronc breakers. The two most dangerous tools for a trainer to use are a watch and a calendar. Training should never be rushed or performed under strict time deadlines. The result may very well be an injured horse or trainer.

(Now can't you look at this picture of on of Croatoan's early rides and tell that I do not have the energy to rush anything.)