Become A Corolla Preservation Breeder

It takes a lot of work for both horse and rider to become part of a team that can cover significant ground. Little over year ago Jen and KC rode a string of horses on stretches of 10-15 miles until they reached their 80th mile for the day around 2:00 am. Most of the mileage was cantering. Until one has cantered 50 or 60 miles in a day one cannot understand the physical strain it puts on the body. Until one has ridden many hours in total darkness one cannot understand the importance of having a relationship of absolute trust in one's horse.

In this picture Jen is riding Tradewind, a formerly wild Corolla stallion who was the HOA National Pleasure Trail Horse of The Year for 2011. KC is on Manteo, another formerly wild Corolla stallion. Both of these stallions have produced beautiful offspring that are now at Boy's Home in Covington Virginia where they will be part of insuring the survival of this nearly extinct breed.

If you want to be part of the breeding program that is working to save this incredible strain of Colonial Spanish horse let us know. We will be breeding several mares this summer.

Riding For Your Life

The month is wrapping up--lot of bad weather that kept me out of the woods more than I want to-January and February are usually our worst two months for weather related program cancellations. However, in the last 60 days I have now ridden 365.94 miles. Time consuming but seems to be doing good things for my health. This weekend was the only really rough time that I have had with it--rest of the riding has just been no real problem-this weekend had heavy back spasms not related to riding and spent 12 of 36 hours in the saddle. Expected to be in pain this morning--but feeling pretty good.I want to keep this intense regimen up for a year and look at raw numbers on its affect on my health. I think that it is going to bear out that intense riding is as transformational as intense aerobics--with the added benefit of the emotional connection with a horse

Though I have No Formal Education In Such Matters...

...it seems to me that if a young lady wants to look her very, very best she should forget about makeup, clothes and hairstyle and simply mount up on a stunning Colonial Spanish horse.


And it turns out that Midnight is just the perfect shade for Chloe

And Chris Rode Zee in The Woods

Zee is a cremello Choctaw mare named for the wife of Jesse James. She came to us as a beautiful athlete with a foundered hoof.

Chris is a kid who is the size of a man. He came to us shy and quiet.

Zee was halter trained, gentle, but pushy with no idea where she fit in this world.

Chris was a kid who did not recognize his own talents and had no idea where he fit in this world.

Zee had a veneer of not caring but in truth she feared everything new.

Chris had a veneer of not caring but in truth he feared failure more than he feared anything else.

Zee did not think she could do it but Chris taught her to wear a saddle.

Chris did not think he could do it but he taught himself to play the wash tub bass and perform on stage.


And Chris took on the training of Zee as the first horse that he lead into the world of riding. He worked patiently with sound principles of groundwork and taught her confidence through despooking. He gave her confidence by teaching her that he could control the situation. He gave her confidence by showing her warmth and affection.

And she put him on the ground. And he got up. And she put him on the ground again, this time harder. And he got up. And Hugh built on the training that Chris gave her and took her for a short ride.

And yesterday Chris rode her deep in the woods,off the trail, into the swamp where there is no trail. And she trusted him. She went into the mud because he asked. And she went into the deep water because he asked. 

And now she is a new creature.

And so is Chris. 

The Horse Does Not Care About What You Have Done. He Only Cares About What You Do.

How do horses heal human suffering? The question has plagued me. Tim Hayes has a great book out, "Riding Home", that deals with the question. One must first of all understand how different the result is between working with other animals and working with horses. Canine therapy provides recreation and a sense of calm. Horses provide the opportunity to completely open up one's being to allow one to trust something. 

The horse seeks security. So do those who suffer. The horse needs to able to trust someone in order to feel secure. So do those who suffer. The horse needs to let out his emotions, both positive and negative. So do those who suffer. The horse speaks a language that few humans understand or care to learn. So do those who suffer. The horse responds only to honest, sincere communication.  So do those who suffer. 

The horse lives in a just world. The horse understands that it can control its environment with its behavior. (e.g. If I turn my head he will release the pressure on the rein. If I do not he will increase the pressure.) The horse has no regrets. He does not worry. Instead he responds to threats by seeking the security of moving away at top speed. He is a prey animal yet exerts a tremendous amount of influence on what happens to him. He feels no guilt. He has never spent a moment of shame in his life. He is not helpless. He is powerful.

And he could use that power to kill the human who interacts with him every bit as easily as a lion could. But he does not. 

Not because he fears the human, but because he trusts him. And when those who suffer learn to trust a horse and when a horse gives them their trust an entirely new world opens for them--a world with some sense of justice, predictability, characterized by being able to trust other people and to be trustworthy one self.

Is that the end of the healing? No, it is the beginning. But it is a beginning made possible by something as simple has working a horse in a round pen. It opens doors where those who suffer not only saw locked doors--thy simply saw walls.

We see it work with our riders. We see it work with patients at our local Veterans hospital. We see it work through the tremendous programs that Ashley Edwards runs in our horse lot. I saw it work when JK and Rebecca drove me out to see Ghost Dance the day Lido died. 

It is hard to understand without seeing it happen scores of times, but remember modern humans  descend primarily from those who were drawn to domesticate and use horses. Through out history horse cultures flourished. It is not a leap at all to say that we are likely genetically conditioned to connect with horses.

The horse cannot judge you, but he can help heal you. And best of all no horse is better at making that connection than the Colonial Spanish horse.

 He is looking for something too. He is looking for a herd, be that herd human or equine.