How We Build A Stage For Music At Mill Swamp Indian Horses

First we cut down some trees. 

 An opportunity to look back into old traditions and skills is one of the best things that we can give to young people who are in our program. This oak pole has been drying out since the fall in Jacob's Woods. It will be part of the stage that we will use when our music program is practicing each week. 

It is going to take a while to get the stage built. It involves more than a trip to Lowe's.

It takes a while to scrape the bark off of these big pine slabs. We remove the bark with shovels. 

One day Mandy and Audrey will be grown and will be driving their kids back to the horse lot so they can ride and play music. I have no doubt that they will tell the story over and over of how we built the stage that they are getting ready to play music on.

Sankofa  rebuilds traditions and builds relationships across time. How much of an impact does it have on young people? I can only measure by the powerful, yet simple, terms of a note that I received from at 13 year old participant.

"Thank you for teaching me how to work hard and how to play music."

Exciting New Program For Young People Beginning At the Horse Lot at 6:00 pm Today

Tonight (June 23) at 6:00 we will begin a brand new program for young people. For many years we have taught the importance of taking the lessons learned from natural horsemanship and applying them to our lives outside the round pen. This aspect of what we do has been taught primarily by example with occasional group discussions. 

 Tonight we will begin to teach with more focus. To put it in its simplest terms, we will learn to become better people. The weekly sessions will focus on increasing confidence, building communication skills, dealing with anxiety, becoming more generous and caring, learning to build a sense of community, and perhaps most importantly, learning to understand ourselves. Eventually we will learn to apply lessons of healthy nutrition and exercise to ourselves as we seek to do with the horses.

 Of course, there is no charge to participate in this program. I hope to see it grow into quite a large group. As we have stressed for years, we practice natural horsemanship not only to make better horses, but to make better people. Everyone in the program from age eight on into young adult is invited to join us.

The Thing That Abigail Gave To Me

On this profoundly sad day I am deeply grateful for the wonderful thing that Abigail has given to me. Taney Town is a Marsh Tacky mare with a decidedly un-Marsh Tacky temperament. She was nervous to the degree that I decided that we would have to send her away. I could not ever see how she could fit into our program. 

When I told Abigail of my decision she demonstrated  a decidedly un-Abigail temperament and asked me if I "realized how insulting" that would be to her. 

There have been several occasions in which she and I have had different ideas about how to do things and, much like with Lydia, she has nearly always been right. I relented and Abigail has spent scores of hours training the mare. 

I have been on Taney Town a time or two but have not trotted her for any length. This morning I did. Her trot fits me perfectly. We mesh now and we will soon ride as one being. 

And it is because Abigail was right to not give up on the horse. More importantly she put her time and energy into what would be a mere hope for many other young people. 

Abigail turned Taney Town into a horse that I can ride on into my old age. She will join Janie as my main saddle horses. 

(The picture above is when she was around two years old after we obtained her from the Lowther herd.)

As Long As...

As long as I believe more than I know. 

As long as I accept more than I understand,

As long as I have more faith than I have doubt,

As long as I build a Watch Tower beside every painfully sad memorial,

As long as I know that the Word as lived is more important than the Word as read,

As long as I know that those who are gone are not truly gone,

As long as I can believe--and accept--and build --and know...

I will always know that one day I will play music with Jesse again.

And the Circle Won't Be Broken

What Can You Expect From A Mill Swamp Off Site Clinic

What makes a Mill Swamp Indian Horses Round Pen Clinic with Steve Edwards different from any old you tube video that is within reach of the nearest lap top? Simply put, at a Mill Swamp program one can begin to learn to understand horses.

Too many clinics focus on miracle cures for behavioral problems in horses that last about as long as it takes to trailer the horse back home. The audience merely gets entertained by what seems like a series of magic tricks and is left with the hope that by mastering specific techniques a real "relationship" with a horse can be built.

A Mill Swamp Round Pen Clinic teaches how to over come the fundamental conflict between a human's desire for autonomy and a horse's desire for security. These clinics show how human experience with trauma can either help strengthen or weaken one's relationship with a horse. Participants  learn to listen with their eyes so that they hear and understand every silent utterance that the horse makes. They learn to be as aware of their surroundings as is the horse. 

They learn to begin to see the world through a horse's eyes.

For over seven years we have provided sessions for veterans in the inpatient PTSD program at our local Veterans Hospital. We have provided training to first responders, educators, prosecutors, victim advocates, and other professionals who deal with people who have experienced trauma--using the horse as a model to understand how emotional pain effects human behavior. 

And those same lessons provide the inverse message that understanding human trauma responses allows us to understand horse behavior and to train the horse in accordance with its nature, instead of in opposition to its nature. 

But no message is of value if it is not heard and understood. Steve Edwards, author of "And a Little Child Shall Lead Them: Learning from Wild Horses and Small Children", has taught natural horsemanship for twenty years. For over twenty years he has prosecuted child molestation and sexual assault crimes. This unique blend of experience has provided for unique insights into the mind of the horse and a powerful ability to articulate those insights with enthusiasm. His blend of meaningful anecdotes and sharp humor drive these insights home in a way that no digital presentation can ever do. 

At Mill Swamp Indian Horses the message is clear--"We teach natural horsemanship not just to make better horses, but to make better people."

On Saturday, September 4, from 9-2 pm, Steve will be up in Pennsylvania presenting a great session at Harmony Hollow, 132 Hollow Road, Kirkwood, PA., sponsored by Noble Hill Horse Rescue. For further information on the session please email msindianhorses@aol.com