Quick Tip #89--Hit The Right Books

Unfortunately, it is just as easy to learn the wrong way as it is to learn the right way. When one factors in the threat to truth created whenever agribusiness or the established horse world has a financial interest in getting horse owners to believe that up is down, and white is black it is no wonder that so much misinformation about horses is taught, read, and, unfortunately, learned by those who would otherwise seek to do what is best for their horses.

It is best to immerse oneself in facts before wading into the world of ignorance that will confront the new horse owner. Start with a solid overview of horsemanship. Read, 'The Revolution in Horsemanship" by Dr. Robert Miller. Then drink in everything you can find that Buck Brannamen wrote. Understand Mark Rashid's writings. Read a few of the basic "how to" manuals like those by John Lyons and Clinton Anderson.

Then read "True Horsemanship Through Feel", Leslie Desmond's great adaptation of Tom Dorrence's wisdom. Then read it five more times.

Read "Soul of a Horse" to understand how to properly care for a horse. Read Pete Ramey's work to understand how to properly trim hoof.

Lastly, stay current on medical research regarding equine health and nutrition. We are learning more daily about complex issues like metabolic disorder and how to best condition horses.

What is set out above is a prescription to learn what yur horse needs you to know. . Beware of those who are drawn to horsemanship because they view it as a set of rules with which they fiercely identify. These people teach dogma, not science. They can recite a rule for every suggested action--e.g. "No horse should be ridden until it is seven years old--No one over 5'2" should ride a horse less than 15 hands--A horse can carry 20% of its body weight--Shoes are required to keep a horse's hooves in balance--Blankets must be worn anytime temperature dips below 45 degrees"

They have codified ignorance and declared it to be  law.

Most importantly, always keep in mind that if your horsemanship is not making you into a better person, it is failing. If you do not become more kind, more wise, more generous, and more courageous--your horsemanship is failing you.

And you are failing your horse.

With enough dedication to learning anyone can come to understand horses nearly as well as does the little girl in this picture above. Its never too late to learn and it is never to early to start learning.

Mill Swamp Indian Horse Views: What I Learned In 109 Miles In The Saddle In 15 Ho...

Mill Swamp Indian Horse Views: What I Learned In 109 Miles In The Saddle In 15 Ho...: I learned that I could do with the help of many what I had failed to do with the help of few. In the past I had tried and failed to...

Doing Your Part To Save Colonial Spanish Mustangs--The Lido Fund

Take a moment and go to http://www.horseoftheamericas.com/ and learn about the work of the Lido Fund. Then go to the Mill Swamp Indian Horse group page on face book and look at the great tote bags that Pam has designed to raise money for the Lido Fund.

You need a bag. The horses need to be saved.

The Lido Fund can help you solve both problems at once.

This Post Is Four Years Old And As Accurate Today As it Was Then

Daddy, What Did You Do In The Revolution?

Pardon me while I take a moment to wrestle with the most important question facing the future of horsemanship in America--"How can we best hasten the implosion of the established horse world and replace it with system of enlightened horsemanship based on natural horsemanship, natural horse care, and and natural hoof care?"

The established horse world is fueled by greed and revolves around competitions which lead owners to view horses as fungible goods. The constant need to buy a "better" horse (one that gets a blue colored ribbon instead of a red colored ribbon)has given rise to an industry that supports over production and most sickeningly of all, horse slaughter.

Does not a registry which supports horse slaughter as being a humane solution to the problem of "unwanted horses" indict itself? Just as some rights are self evident, are not some wrongs self evident?

In the long term the current state of the horse market may be in the best interest of horses and real horsemanship because it will help to drive those most motivated by greed into other ventures. Lawd, I sure will miss those people. With them gone who will I have to tell me how wrong I am?

Herein for me lies the dilemma. There is no hope of preserving the Corollas unless more people understand and are given reason to care about their plight. The same is true of every other strain of Colonial Spanish Horse. How can that most effectively be done? I do not believe that involving ourselves in competitions that are the underpinning of the established horse world is the best way to do so.

I believe that getting our horses out in front of the non-horse owning world is vitally important. We must attract new owners that do not bring with them the crippling baggage of being an "experienced" member of the established horse world.

I am a mediator, a conciliator, and a compromiser by nature. I view conflict nearly always as something to avoid. However, in this case conflict is necessary. I cannot pretend that there is any validity what so ever in the preachings of the established horse world and the artificial agribusiness that has grown up to support. That is the case whether we speak of bits, nutrition, shoeing, or proper conformation. For the horse's sake we must refrain from doing anything for the simple reason that that is how the experts say that it should be done.

I do not want to do anything that remotely suggests that I am seeking the approval of these people. I do not want my horses to earn the respect of such people, but I would love for those experts to earn the respect of my horses.

The only effective alternative that I see for myself is to seek to be known by my fruits, to teach by doing. People start to notice.

"Steve's horses do not wear shoes but they are never lame. Steve's horses live outside 24/7 but they do not get respiratory problems. Steve's horses were wild or at least their parents were and they are gentler and friendlier than any horses around. Steve's horses are ponies but they often carry riders weighing over 200 lbs, sometimes for fifty miles in a day. Steve's horses are trained by his little riders but they are safer and more reliable than many horses trained by professionals. Steve's horses only colic in the rarest of circumstances. Maybe I should take a look at how his horses live if these are the results that he gets."

So that is where I draw the line. Parades, such as the one pictured in the shot above, we participate in. Horse shows, except for those of the type that the American Indian Horse Association holds, we do not participate in.

Coming Home To A Place He's Never Been Before II: The Grand Canyons

Next week Kelly will be making another long distance trip to bring home another super rare lineage of Colonial Spanish Horses, the Grand Canyons.

This is Scoundrel Days, a very high percentage Grand Canyon stallion. He will join our Corollas, Choctaws, Shacklefords, Marsh Tacky,Baccas, and Spanish Mustang Registry horses. He will be accompanied by his mare,Queen Jane. He looks like a nice cross for Persa, a short backed Shackleford mare.

Future posts will tell a bit about the history of the Grand Canyon Horses. In fact, I look forward to learning what it is that I will be writing.