Tell Me About The Mill Swamp Indian Horse Riding Program

In one version or another I get this request on a constant basis. It takes while to go through everything that we do at the horse lot and often by the time I finish describing all of our programs the questioner is left confused.

This picture was waiting for me when I turned on the computer this morning. Without saying a word it gives a great explanation of how our program works.

Jenner is riding Porter, a formerly wild Corolla Spanish mustang, who was captured because of  an injury that needed medical attention. He was trained here, by young people, using the techniques of natural horsemanship that program participants learn.

Jenner is riding Porter in this shot. Jenner prefers working with donkeys and is the best that I have ever seen at patiently communicating with these animals who are both so much like horses, yet so very different. Jenner is a teacher of donkeys and is a student himself and each week his knowledge grows.  Because of Jenner, our heritage livestock program now includes Mammoth Donkeys.

The bridge that he is riding on was a Boy Scout Eagle project. Over the years the surface boards came to need repair and Jenner's family replaced them and made the bridge safe and secure. They did so at their own cost. We have no paid staff here and everything that we do is done by volunteers.

The plaques on the bridge commemorate the Corolla horses whose extinction we seek to prevent. And they commemorate the life and death of my youngest brother, Lido, who died in a hunting accident at age 17.

One of the plaques reads, "If I can do it, why can't you?" This is not a taunt. This is the encouraging phrase that Lido used to help children and adults become comfortable in the saddle and more confident in themselves.

Before I had a riding program, Lido, at around age 10, was the first person to get on most of the wild horses that he and I trained. Lido was born with cerebral palsy. His right arm was of nearly no use to him and his right leg was much weaker than his left. Yet he learned to ride and to ride long and hard. He learned to understand horses and he learned to understand suffering in other people.

After he died, I learned that it was his encouragement, much more than mine. that meant the most to many of our adult riders who were learning to ride later in life.

So that is what we do in our program--right there--what you see in that picture--student rider/trainers--learning and teaching--families working together--volunteers seeking to build better lives for other people--heritage livestock being preserved and promoted--some volunteers, like the Scouts who built the bridge, from outside of our program helping us grow.

If you want to learn more about our program see our website at www.millswampindianhorses.com and our two face book pages, both our group and our "business" page.