Annie is a USERL mustang. Vickie is a retired school teacher. Annie was an unwanted horse. Vickie always wanted a horse. Annie needed a home. Vickie gave her a home. Annie had no training for riding. Vickie had no training as a rider.
Friday Vickie rode Annie in the woods with us. It was a first real ride for both of them.
The established horse world says that Annie is worthless because she has "no marketable value." The established horse world says that Vickie is not qualified to be a horse owner because she has "no schooling in proper riding."
But Annie does not hear them, and neither does Vickie. It is as if those two are deaf. The established horse world does not see the potential in either the Annie's or the Vickie's of the world. It is as if that world is blind.
Natural horsemanship, natural horse care, and natural hoof care are the three pillars upon which a new horse world can be built. The practice of natural horsemanship makes it possible to move from novice to true horseman in a matter of months. The practice of natural horse care produces healthier, happier horses that are affordable for working people to maintain. The practice of natural hoof care allows us to discard expensive, crippling practices just as modern medicine has allowed us to discard the use of leeches.
Today's established horse world is based solely on greed, competition, and ignorance. It trends toward making horses merely playthings for the rich. It will wither. It will collapse upon itself. The sound practice of natural horsemanship, natural horse care, and natural hoof care can hasten that collapse.
More Annie's. More Vickie's. More true horsemanship.
And we need more Steves to help make little and big girls' dreams come true!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Steve from both Wild Annie--who is a little less wild and me--who is a little less tame. :-)
Just found your blog and agree with everything written in this post.
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