Margaret Matray's article in last Sunday's Virginian Pilot has been spread via social media all over the internet. I am delighted that this has happened. She is a first rate writer and she put a tremendous amount of work into the story. Ashley is an amazing young women and nothing makes me happier than to have her in our program.
I hope that the central message that is take from the article is that what we do can be replicated anywhere by people who care about horses and kids. For a program to have meaning it must be based in natural horsemanship. For a program to be affordable and for the horses to reach their potential for health and happiness it must also be based in natural horse care.
I doubt if I will ever do anything in my life more important than to work with others to establish either off site Corolla breeding programs to prevent the extinction of the Corolla horses or to establish riding and training programs like ours to give meaning to the lives of all participants, human or equine, teacher or student, young or old.
If you want advice on how to get a program like ours started contact me.
(Here is Ashley and Red Fox, my niece's 1/2 Corolla colt. Don't you want to be able to have pictures like this taken in your pasture, or the pasture you could rent in your area?)
1 comment:
Hmm...This blog is almost a consultancy package already published..about all that is missing is the nuts and bolts.
I love this picture..it represents the Alpha of natural horsemanship in that a few week old foal is secure enough to lay down away from his mother with people. most horses cared for and trained using natural methods start much later...the results are truly impressive when a foal is started from the day of birth, and the same care and affection is carried throughout his life. Folks, this little fellow was walking in halter behind his young owner at the age of two weeks...when a human enters his pasture he has the same curiosity about them as he would have about a member of his herd coming back, because they are one and the same.
The point is...it is not difficult to achieve the same result, I do not have data enough to say that anyone can do it, but I have yet to find anyone who wanted to bad enough who could not. I do not believe that it is beyond the realm of reason to believe that the same idea can extend to starting and running a program similar to what we do at Mill Swamp. It does not take 40 horses to get it done, nor does it take 10,000 acres of trail, a couple of horses on a fairly small place can make a difference. The big thing is to get kids and their families around and on horses..together.
As much as I love seeing and helping the kids with the horses, I love even more helping the kids' parents get with them out on the trail or in the round pen.
Too many times I see cheer parents, or soccer parents, or blah blah blah...in the bleachers, not involved but watching, and while that is ok in certain meaure, it is so much better when they do it together. Even better is when the kids themselves lead their parents, help them tack up, show them the ropes as it were...
That always gives me a little tingle.
Else where in this blog is mentioned that, if one has been given the gift of a Spanish horse, one has at their disposal a great healing machine, and one that should be shared, it does not matter however, if it is a large effort, or if it only makes a difference in one life...if such effort changes the life of one child, or one broken warrior, or one person of any walk of life who has walked in their own hell and come out scorched...then that right there is success enough, and well worth the effort.
There is a chapter in Sun Tsu's Art of War which discusses the multiplication of force in unconventional tactics..One man carries an idea to two men, those three then carry that idea to another six and so forth..a geometric expansion of data if you will...that is what these horses, these kids, and this dog eared, tired old world needs. "Psst! Hey buddy! Pass it on!" -Lloyd
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