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“Hi and happy Friday from Charlotte, NC! Your story touched me deeply. I wanted to share a little something…hope you don’t think it’s odd of me.

I have never had the privilege of owning a horse of my own. When I was a child, I volunteered my time at the horse stable down the street from my house every day! It was a home for about 30 horses. The hard but most rewarding work was thoroughly enjoyed! I had the chance to get to know the owners of several horses and eventually they asked me if wanted to take care of them! If i did well, I could tend to them when they were not able to come into town. Well, I could not have smiled any wider!!! I learned everything I could, my brain was a sponge! They taught me how to ride as time went on too. To me this was the best! I’ve always had a great respect for horses, honestly for all animals. And I do believe that they can sense things in people. They know who to trust! As Julie said, by showing them patience and giving them love….well in doing that you get it back in abundance! And at that young age I learned that each horse is different!! Just like people! I am overjoyed even to this day at 46 years old when I get the chance to be around, ride or even see horses. I always get out if my car to look and call then over.. Sometimes they come! I wish that I could work with horses again….it’s we’re my heart is. It is my dream to learn and do what you and Julie does with horses. It’s hard work but well worth every minute. Who knows? Maybe one day I will get the chance to work and be with horses on a regular basis! Sincerely, I love and enjoy to Pay it forward….it feels wonderful… working with horses would be doing just that each day!! it’s not a give and take…..it’s a give and give for both horse and person.

Sincerely,

Jenn”

“For years my first horse, a cuttin’ quarter kinda gal, terrorized the neighbourhood. We frequently rode sans bridle, halter and saddle. It seemed like I would just about get everyone trained, then someone new would move in the area. Mom, or some other neighbour would get a call about a child being run away with on a horse who’d lost its bridle.

I took the horse to the Chicago area barn I was working in. The owner’s son/”trainer” lost $50 bucks in a bet about honest jumpers: I bet him the horse could jump a 5′ fence wearing only her halter. He set up two standards and a single rail at 5″. The mare was only 14.1 hands tall and could run right under the bar, so it was kind of a dirty trick. But it also showed his ignorance of a horse he’d supposedly “known” for 6 months. I told him we would to a figure 8 course of fences – with change of lead, then come down over the 5′ rail.

And then I dropped the halter off her head. Because the bet was all about honesty in the horse, after all.

Well, the horse did the smaller fences, in a figure 8, with flying lead changes, then came around to address the single rail. For a pony to jump over her own height is a pretty good deal. But to jump a rail she could run right under, or run around or completely avoid because she is wearing nothing was quite spectacular. It really infuriated the bettor – who actually refused to pay up!

His mother would sustain much the same fury when we decided to leave the barn. She turned out some 30 school horses with my horse, in an indoor arena. Every horse turned out had a halter on, except 1 single horse. Guess which one. Now I have learned where her son gets the “dirty trick” gene. She had tried to purchase my horse, and I wouldn’t sell; this was her way of encouraging me to change my mind!

I went outside, hitched up my trailer and opened its back door. Then I went back into the indoor arena, wherein were milling 30-odd horses. The owner was smirking as it was hard enough to catch up a school horse turned out in the arena on a day off. That was why they all had halters on – and mine did not! And she had no problem standing at the gate to the outside tossing dirt clumps to get them going.

As horses began to pick up swirling speed, I just stood there. As my horse cruised by, I called her name. She stopped and stood while I jumped up on her. Then she picked up a nice little canter down the arena, jumped over the gate to the outside – causing the owner to jump out of the way – and walked into the trailer, where I hopped off, closed the back door, and off we drove!

Thank you for this happy memory!

Cheryl”

Hope enjoyed those. I did. Please keep ’em coming.

Best

Al

Horse whisperer link here

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It was a harder time for the working horse, and Old Billy undoubtedly lived a hard life. He was a barge horse, pulling cargo along the sides of canals. A horse pulling a barge can pull 50 times as much cargo as a horse pulling a cart. It was barge horses that pulled society through the Industrial Revolution. They were used right up to the mid-20th Century.

I sometimes wonder if easy living is partly to blame for our horses’ comparatively short lives. At Peak Forest in northern England, barge horses still pull tourists on riverboat trips. Maybe they hold some of Billy’s secrets?

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Some say the finest horsemen in history were also the most natural…

The Cherokee Native Americans set what seems an unreachable bar in horsemanship.

But for the beginner? Are we ready for treeless saddles?

Riding with a treeless saddle is not the same as riding bareback  – that would be completely ludicrous. But is a similar level of horsemanship needed?

The tree is built to provide support, even pressure and comfort – for the horse and the rider.

A treeless saddle cannot offer these same benefits. Instead, it leaves the horse vulnerable to abnormal pressure points. The rider’s seat bone can dig into the horse, causing its back muscles to tighten.

Isn’t the tree there to help, where we lack the supreme ability the Native Americans had?

Perhaps not? Perhaps you ride your horse treeless? Even bareback? Does it work for you? Somebody please help me!

Karen”

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Many don’t think their horse can get trapped in a 90-degree corner. Even though this is where 90% of horse injuries at pasture occur. It’s easy to miss paddock shapes, while obsessing over nutrition, or the early stages of hoof damage.

So I’m beginning a series of free simple tips. They’re all mercifully short. Just one of these might change your horseback life immeasurably.

If you have any simple tips to add along the way, I want to hear them. Please, please comment below!

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Jaime Jackson observed wild horses. The way many of us look at our horses’ hooves was transformed.

Pat Parelli and Monty Roberts observed wild horses. So many dropped the whip, and saw better results for it.

And Pete Raimey, who specialises in founder rehabilitation, said this. “I’ve had the privilege of working with some of the finest horses, for the finest horse owners in the world. Understand that after two minutes with the wild ones, I knew that I had never seen a true horse.”

Why in 1919, did the American Government issue a bulletin dealing with ‘wild or worthless’ horses? And why today, are there still those who call wild horses “garbage”?

200 years ago, there were 2-5 million horses on the American Plains. Today there are fewer than 50,000. It’s a steep drop. And as wild horse numbers fall, our ignorance can only rise.

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I have to say, when I see Pat Parelli, I see a master horseman. Every time I watch a new Parelli video, my jaw drops at the sheer control and understanding he has. But I was shocked to read this…

http://www.chronofhorse.com/forum/showthread.php?t=224279

Apparently the Parellis claim they don’t need to wear helmets. Instead they deal with behavioural problems at the source. Well, my jaw dropped at this too.

Kids. If you’re reading this, always wear a helmet. Even if you’re lucky enough to ride a Parelli trained horse.

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A horse is an intelligent animal. Head rocking is common equine behaviour in a stall. It’s to alleviate the boredom.

And whether a horse is barefoot or shod, zero movement can only result in a starved white line.

What I dislike most about stalls is that it’s real human intervention in the horse’s natural life.

The owner using horse shoes might say it’s because they ride on roads 90% of the time.

The owner using a bit might say it’s the only way to control their horse.

But the owner locking their horse in a stall 12+ hours a day can only say it’s for their own convenience.

Of course, the stall is sometimes our only option. But let’s always live and work around giving our horses as much time at pasture as possible.

Horse gentler, Ray Hunt, had a blissfully simple mantra for keeping horses. “Make the wrong things difficult and the right things easy”.

Why make the wrong things unavoidable?

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As a teenager, Roberts observed wild horses through binoculars. He noticed they spoke to each other using body language – a language he called ‘Equus’. When a horse lowered his head and made chewing motions, he was asking to be accepted into the herd. “Can we talk?” he seemed to say.

How lucky we are, this knowledge survived. Monty’s father, who told him “hurt the horse before the horse hurts you,” certainly hadn’t inspired this thinking. And when Monty first spoke out against his father’s methods, he was beaten with a stall chain.

But who took the right approach towards the horse? The father or the son? The father’s methods certainly broke the horse, but some would argue the horse’s spirit went with it. Lawrence Scanlan, author of The man who listens to horses wrote this…

‘As part of sacking out, one hind leg was tied up with ropes and connected to a rope collar around the horse’s chest. With the horse’s foot off the ground, bucking was impossible. More sacking ensued, and finally a saddle was put on. The end result may well have been a cooperative horse, but something precious, Monty Roberts came to believe, had been lost.’

You might think it cruel. You might not. But compare this to Monty’s methods, and you’ll probably think it unnecessary. Why work hard to break a horse’s spirit, when that spirit is ‘willingness’. Work with it.

In 1997, Monty Roberts met the manic Happy Go Lucky. He rubbed the horse’s head as he talked. Using a line, he encouraged the horse to power around the perimeter of where he stood. Eventually the horse calmed, ‘maybe this man isn’t so bad’. Before long, Happy Go Lucky lowered his head and made chewing motions.

In 15 minutes, Monty Roberts achieved more than traditional horse breaking methods could achieve in 6 weeks.

“Can we talk,” Happy Go Lucky seemed to say.

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