Mill Swamp Indian Horse Views: What Factory Farming Costs Us

 Found this one from nearly a year ago-hit this link--its worth theeffortMill Swamp Indian Horse Views: What Factory Farming Costs Us: It produces unhealthy meat with no flavor. It teaches us to accept incredibly inhumane practices as long as they are kept out of our s...

Mill Swamp Indian Horse Views: Corollas on Parade

Here' an old post on a Christmas Parade---Mill Swamp Indian Horse Views: Corollas on Parade: It was a bit nippy yesterday at the Smithfield Christmas Parade. I think that it got up to about forty degrees. Judging from several of the...

A Question Of Vocabulary

Words matter and confusing words matter even more. My terminology has been confusing regarding the wild horses of the Outer Banks. Now to try to explain:

These horses have always been called Bankers. There are now two herds in the wild of these horses. One located at Shackleford and one at Corolla. I have generally called the horses Corollas or Shacklefords so that they cannot be confused with the horses in confinement at Ocracoke. Those horses are mixtures of Bankers and modern breeds.

The picture above clarifies eloquently. This is Huskinaw when still quite young. Her mother, Persa is from Shackleford, and her father, Manteo is from Corolla.


All three are properly called Bankers.

Just please do not confuse them with Chincoteagues or those from Ocracoke. Both of those horses have Spanish lineage but a great deal of modern horse breeding in them.

Liberty Training?

A person who completely immerses himself in natural horsemanship takes huge steps towards freedom. A person who does so while embracing the world of the wild horse achieves freedom.

That freedom comes with a price.

Those enslaved by conformity resent nothing more than one who has become free. I once thought I was free because I resisted conventional rules. One who does so is merely a rebel and a rebel is not free. I now realize that I only became free when I was finally able to stop recognizing the legitimacy of conventional rules. Freedom only comes to those who never reach the point of deciding whether to comply, because they never reach the point of even considering the validity of conventional thinking.

Freedom is not the same as anarchy. In fact, freedom requires integrity and integrity only exists when one fiercely adheres to rules. But rules of my own choosing, rooted only in my own belief system and in my own priorities. Those priorities are all based on honesty, kindness, compassion and resilience. 

In order to fit seamlessly into society one must be comfortable living with lies, lying, and pretending that lies are true. In order to fit seamlessly into the world of the wild horse one must recognize that the horse cannot lie.

The horse knows, without having to be taught, that what matters is whether the grass tastes good, not whether it looks good. In terms of conformation, he knows that what matters is whether the horse can comfortably carry a rider fifty miles, not whether he looks like he can comfortably carry a rider fifty miles. The horse values a herd mate only in terms of how that herd mate treats him in complete disregard of  that herd mate's sales price or the number of ribbons he has won. The horse knows that when he is trying to outrun another horse the only thing that matters is how fast that horse can run, not whether that horse has a pedigree full of fast runners in his lineage. The horse cares for his herd and is without care for the greatest corrupter of people, dreams, religion and good intentions---money.

It is not just the horses that have freed me. I have learned freedom from an array of horse people who are also walking daily towards freedom. I have no doubt that if I told Ashley that I had a come across some new technology that could alter her voice  to make it appear perfect she would have no interest in it if it created a sound that was no longer authentic. Lydia would not consider using a "beauty cream" that made her appear to be anything but herself. Jen would never trim a hoof to make it look good at the expense of the horse's comfort.

I generally have little regard for Plato's philosophy. However, his story of the prisoners in the cave who think that the reflections and shadows that they see on the lake are real because their chains prevent them from ever being able to distinguish reality from appearances is one of the most important insights into the human quest for truth that has ever been presented.

I do not believe that it is possible to truly become immersed in the world of a wild horse and still fit into society. If your horsemanship is not giving you the freedom to see the absurdity of what this world values then you are not at one with your horse.

But you do not have to remain chained in the cave. Unlike Plato's prisoners you have access to reality. But you will not find that reality in a shopping mall, a fashion magazine or a home decorating catalog.

The truth can be found in the round pen.

The instrument in my hands above is called a bouzouki. I do not know how it is supposed to be played. I have never had a bouzouki lesson. I have never even seen one played in person. In fact, my bouzouki is the only one that I have ever seen.

But I once heard a recording of Ralph Stanley playing a mandolin. It sounded as if he was using a technique very much like his banjo style. I play my bouzouki in imitation of how Ralph Stanley sounded to me when he was playing a mandolin in a manner like a banjo.

I am sure that that is not how a bouzouki is supposed to be played. It breaks all the rules to do this.

But how does it sound? It sounds the way that I want it to.

And that is freedom.

To Teach: An Educational Institution

Each day spent without learning something is a wasted day. One of the most compelling attractions of the Colonial Spanish horse is his role in our history. A key to efforts to preserve these horses is to present them in their historic context.

That is where the settler's home in our horse lot fits in. That is where the Colonial Spanish goats in our horse lot fit in. That is where the heirloom seeds that Jackie will be putting down in our garden fit in. That is where dramatic presentations about Betsy Dowdy will fit in. That is where presentations on stone age technology and Indian artifacts fit in. That is where our library at the Little House, which contains books not only on horse training but on American history, fits in. That is where riding at night fits in. That is where learning ancient songs and playing and singing them around a big fire last night fit in.

One of the other compelling attractions of the Colonial Spanish horse is that he can be the horse of our future. He is the ideal family horse for the hobby farmer, the homeschooling family and those interested in sustainability. That is where rotational grazing fits in. That is where experiments with worm production in compost will fit in. That is where resource utilization including allowing the horses to eat browse fits in. That is where soil conservation planning fits in. That is where free range chickens fit in. That is where constant education on plants and wildlife fit in.

So how do learning to tan hides fit into the preservation of Colonial Spanish horses? Look at these pictures of Kyle and Krista doing their first day of work tanning hides. Their mother helped them with defleshing and stretching the hides. It was her first effort at ever doing so. We were working these hides at the tack shed, about three hundred yards east of Archaic era Indian sites that are found in pasture Number 1.

A mother and two of her children in 2014 working deer hides together just up the hill from where mothers and children worked hides together nearly 2000 years ago.

That is teaching. That is learning. That is enriching lives.

And it is also preserving Corollas.