The Road Runner

Yesterday my wife Beth just completed her first 5K run on as hilly a course as could be found in Tidewater. She has been diligently working on barefoot running for several weeks and her hard work paid off yesterday.

That would be a nice accomplishment all by itself,five years ago Beth was recovering from chemotherapy, surgery and radiation. This is a remarkable achievement. She is a great role model for my little riders and my little grand daughter.

She has approached every challenge with courage and perseverance. The older I get the more I realize that to persevere is to win.

Students Rolling In Already

I am gratified by the response to the announcement of our on line training program. For those of you that have contacted me already please do not be concerned if you do not receive a response from me until the early part of the week. For others who would like to enroll please see the post below about our great new program, "The Horse, The Herd, and The Hoof."

This on line series is designed to teach the principles of natural horsemanship, natural horse care and natural hoof care that we use in our program. It is a no-frills, get to the point, form of instruction that is easy to understand and put into practice.

One of our guiding principles at Mill Swamp Indian Horses is that the cost of horse ownership should not be beyond the means of working families. This program, like everything else that we do, is very affordable. In addition, $60.00 from each registrant's fees are divided and donated to the Corolla Wild Horse Fund and the Horse of the Americas 'Lido Fund", which is used to save Spanish mustangs in crisis.

Once again, for those who have already contacted me, do not worry I will be in touch in a few days. For all others, remember that I only plan to accept 15 students in this first session and registration is first come first served.

To Clarify

Readers of my book and new readers of this blog may be confused about Lido. For those of you who asked about him in the book I understand your confusion. Patrick was his adopted name and that is how I referred to him in my book.

Blog readers who are confused by references to him should go into the blog archives and begin to read a series of posts beginning December 29, 2008

The Horse, The Herd, and the Hoof

We are now ready to offer a very special service that has been years in the making, our on line class, The Horse, The Herd, And the Hoof. Mill Swamp Indian Horses has become a center for teaching Natural Horsemanship, Natural Horse Care and Natural Hoof Care. In the past decade my little riders and I have started over 45 colts and wild horses. Nearly all of those horses have been ridden at least 45 miles in a day. We did this without injuring a horse and the only injury that any of our little riders have had while training was one broken finger. Our on line sessions are designed to cover about 20 weeks with 15 written classes. However, the class is taken entirely at the student's own pace. The next lesson is not sent until the student has completed the previous lesson.

Beginning November 1, 2010, we will be offering an on line class on the techniques that we use to train and keep our horses healthy and happy. The sessions will cover our colt starting and riding methods. It will explain how kids as young as 10 years old have trained their colts under my supervision. The sessions are presented in simple terms without a lot of complicated new vocabulary for students to learn.

Further lessons will show how natural horsemanship ties in so well with natural horse care. Those sessions will cover a horses nutritional needs, and will give a solid understanding of why natural horse care might just be the best gift that you could ever give your horse.

Lastly, we will delve into the mysteries of the hoof and will show how to keep it in great shape for movement and how to use movement to keep the hoof in great shape.

Students will be expected to acquire and closely read Joe Camp's great book, "Soul of a Horse," and Pete Ramey's wonderful book on trimming the natural hoof. The lessons that I send out will not be lengthy and will be written in clear, easy to understand language, the same language, and the same themes, that I have used to teach children to train wild horses.

I expect that most students will enjoy the one on one aspect of the instruction. All students will be strongly encouraged to share their opinions and questions with me via e mail. Students will receive tests to insure that they understand the material being covered. In short, I hope that this on line experience will be as close as one can get to spending the summer with my riders and my horses and learning directly as they do.

Students will be required to obtain Joe Camp and Pete Ramey's book on their own. The only other required material is our training DVD entitled, And a Little Child Shall Lead Them, which can be ordered by mail from Mill Swamp Indian Horses for only $15.00.

The program will only cost $160.00 and of that amount $30.00 will be donated to the Corolla Wild Horse Fund and $30.00 will go to the Horse of the Americas Registry's "Lido Fund" which is used to rescue Colonial Spanish horses.

Those who are interested should contact me right away. Sessions will be ready to sent out in the first week in November. Because I anticipate spending a great deal of time corresponding with students one on one, I have to limit class size to 15 students at a time. I will take on students on a first come first serve basis.

Followers of this blog know that what we do is much more than simply giving horses some trips around the round pen. My little riders learn to understand horses even before they know how to ride them. This course will be a no frills discussion of the insights that we have developed over the years from working our horses and working with my little riders.

The picture taken above is on one of fifty mile rides. Every horse in that picture was trained by me and my riders. If this is the kind of horsemanship that you desire, register for the classes today.

Take Your Shoes Off Moses

Perhaps the best step that one can make to improve comfort in the saddle and to give the ability to ride 50 miles or more in one day, is to simply take off your shoes and jog. Barefoot running is common enough now so that there is a great deal of research and information about it out there on the inter net. Log on and learn.

When running barefoot one engages many of the leg muscles that are used in riding. It also improves balance. Barefoot running, core strengthening exercises and hundreds of hours in the saddle will do great things to change a riders body, ability, and outlook on life. As a rider's fitness improves it becomes much easier for the horse to to carry the rider's weight.

Take your shoes off. It's good for your heart, good for your head, and good for your horse.