Mill Swamp Indian Horse Views

Sunday, December 21, 2014

This Post is Old Also

Reciprocity

For the first few years that I trained horses my little brother, Lido, was the first person to get on all of the wild horses and colts that we started. He did so though he was only about ten years old, had cerebral palsy and had a right hand and leg that were of nearly no use to him.

Lido, without letting anyone know, slipped an old Appaloosa mare back to the tack shed late one night and bred her to Tradewind, one of my Corolla stallions. Several months later he told Daddy what he had done but Daddy assumed that it was a joke.

The colt was born several months after Lido died. Legacy is a very impressive colt. He will likely be gaited and will definitely be beautiful. That is his owner, Samantha, there with him in the picture above.

Yesterday was a big day for Legacy, Samantha,.....and me. I took Legacy into the old round pen that Lido and I used to use and put him through all of the despooking and calming exercises that we always used. He took everything well. It was the first time that I put any intensive work into the colt, though Samantha's mother has been doing a great job of introducing him to learning.

Yesterday the introductions were completed. I paid back the favor to Lido. I gave Lido's colt his first mounting the same way that way he provided so many of my colts with their first mounting. He did great as I got on and eventually let him take a few steps with me. He will continue to be trained slowly and patiently---the way that we used to do it.

Samantha was not so sure that she wanted to mount up. However, we proceeded--slowly and patiently--and before the sun set Samantha had also sat on her horse. She went home happy. Legacy went back to the pasture contented and I went home with a feeling that I had nearly forgotten--satisfaction.

I encourage my little riders to study every thing that they can get their hands on concerning natural horsemanship. I encourage them to go see every great clinician that they can meet and to learn all that they can from them. I encourage them to apply everything that they can learn from every great clinician.

I discourage them from falling into the trap of believing that any particular clinician has all of the answers and that all other methods are wrong.

That false belief is an insult to Lido, and to Legacy.

1 comment:

Jim E. said...: Wow. A wonderful story that reminds us how important it is to explore, try, try again, and enjoy the curiosity and support of others.; September 18, 2011 at 4:06 AM

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Tuesday, December 16, 2014

Another Old December Post

The Importance of a Good Set of Wheels

When Lido was about 12 or 13 he and I were watching RFD-TV when a commercial for a manure spreader came on.

'Dat's what Ah want," he said emphatically.

I asked him what in the world he would do with a shiny, new manure spreader.

"Ah take my guwl friend widen on it," he advised, surprised that I did not realize how impressed a young teen girl would be at a ride on a brand new manure spreader.

Aliens

Of course, not all city people are shallow and vacuous. In college I met professors who were raised generations from the soil yet could be legitimately described as wise. Achieving wisdom while being raised generations from the soil is a tremendously difficult, but many overcome such handicaps.

Modern life makes it hard to do.

City people are alienated from everything they consider unpleasant about life. They are alienated from blood. With each generation fewer and fewer of them ever dug a hole to bury a dead pet as a child. They are alienated from farm odors. They are alienated from their own food. I cannot tell you how often I have had kids out to the horse lot who are appalled that we would eat an egg laid by a chicken instead of getting a nice clean one from a grocery store. They do not want to eat potatoes grown in the dirt.

They will happily eat an apple with a spotless skin (produced by applications of pesticide and herbicide),but would never eat one that had a brown spot or insect damage.

Living close to the soil teaches one very important lesson--to discern what is real.

Life is real. And all that is needed to sustain life is real. Death is real. Wisdom cannot be gained without understanding the difference between reality and appearance any more than satisfaction can be gained without understanding the difference between being happy and being high.

Kids raised close to the soil look in a pasture of beautiful horses and see horses. Kids raised away from the soil look at that same pasture of beautiful horses and see horse manure. Kids raised close to the soil hate the fact that Ole Yeller must be shot--but they surely would have shot him. Kids raised away from the soil, even those who agree that Ole Yeller must be shot, say they could never have shot him.

The good news is that exposing kids to the reality of birth, life, death, planting, harvesting, and butchering can open the door to understanding what is real and what matters. In past generations city kids could become grounded by spending the summers on their grand parents' farms. Now only a handful of grandparents have farms.

That is why one of the most important parts of our educational programs is rooted in putting kids in contact with the soil and the animals that live on it.

Chris is growing up wonderfully over the past year. Chris waters the hogs. Chris asks if he can water the hogs. Chris does a good job of watering the hogs. Chris is becoming a man. The list is endless--Hailey and so many others (just mentioning Hailey by name because I miss her)--wonderful kids who are better than they would have been because they have been in the dirt in the horse lot.

Lydia thinks that for a lot of kids it is the most important thing we do.

I expect that she is right.

Friday, December 12, 2014

Hugelkulter: Keeping Water In The Ground

I am not of teacher of permaculture. I am a beginning, but fascinated, student. I believe that permaculture can be another very important step in keeping the cost of horse care down while increasing the health of the horse.

A horse thrives best when provided a variety of forage plants. A pasture should not look like a cemetery or golf course. A pasture should not give rise to unnecessary runoff and erosion. I want to continue to refuse to use herbicides and to work to reduce soil compaction.

Hugelkulter, (which I just discovered yesterday) might help. It involves burying logs and tree limbs, covering them with manure or leaves or grass clippings and then putting a thin layer of soil on top. The rotting wood helps hold moisture and increases micro biological activity which could lead to much better forage production.

If your neighbor is harvesting timber at the moment in an operation that will likely leave an great deal of waste wood above ground (as mine is) then you will have enough wood with which .

I have to go now to feed my red wiggler worms and put more coffee grounds in the compost.

Thursday, December 11, 2014

Hard Riding Can Get You In Shape

I just got this picture sent to me. I would have been 50 years old when this was taken. The summer before this picture was taken we began cantering the horses hard for five miles before work every day. I lost 13 pounds that summer.

Don't ever let anyone tell you that riding is not great exercise.

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