Overheating in Horses the Whys and What to do

July 16, 2010

I recently had the experience of shipping 2 horses in summertime from Hawaii to North Carolina. One could criticize this during hot weather, but half the trip was by ship, and calmer waters occur in summertime. The 2 week trip had enough layovers, but they still lost weight,  and have struggled to adapt to a [...]

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Ride Outside in or inside out? About riding with Connection to the Horse.

June 21, 2010

I had been searching for a way to describe the difference between how Indians and non Indians relate to horses. I was giving a lesson in Indian horsemanship to a beginner rider. She was used to riding a fully tacked horse. I’m all in favor of tack, and have lots of it myself. However, when [...]

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Horse Treats and Training; should we or shouldn’t we?

June 21, 2010

To treat or not to treat, always a question. On one extreme there is the macho cowboy who believes that treats are bad, and obedience comes from the avoidance of pain. On the other, there is the image of the doting, probably non-riding lady who gives so may treats to her horse that the horse [...]

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Passing the Buck, or why science is behind Natural Horsemanship Techniques

June 10, 2010

The sooner the better.
In today’s horse world, the operative concept is “natural horsemanship” This concept involves a light handed approach to training and being with horses, abandoning some of the older more punitive methods. The idea is one of the development of a learning relationship over time in which the human tries to understand horse [...]

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American Indians on Horse Training Medicine Hat Paint Horses most prized

June 7, 2010

Cultural values are sometimes difficult to write about, so it seems that a society’s values of the hereafter sometimes define the society. I can’t really describe the subjective feelings of Comanches and their horses except in the following way. The Spanish brought the first horses of the modern era. By the time white settlers entered [...]

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Developing new equine products a historical persepective of tack

June 7, 2010

The horse industry has one of the longest histories of product development. We will never know anything about the Assyrian who, around 700 or 800 BC had that sudden “aha” moment and decided to put a surcingle with a pad to ease the impact on his seat. Further moments of anonymous genius produced the first [...]

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Be The Horse – American Indian Horse Training Part Two

May 31, 2010

Once the American Indian child has developed patience, concentration, and sensitivity, the in depth  relationship with horses begins. The next step is to learn what the horse is to their culture. In this phase the child begins to learn that a horse is not just a large animal, it is a spiritual entity whose existence [...]

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Eye Contact: Beyond Horse Training; Towards Connection

May 27, 2010

The eyes – messengers and message
Eye contact is the great carrier of understanding between humans and between humans and animals, because the eyes are anatomically part of the brain itself. When your eyes are covered, as with sunglasses, messages lose their meaning and are just words. Covering the eyes hides meaning, disrupts contact with the [...]

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An American Indian Riding Exercise used for Young Riders

May 27, 2010

Be The Horse
After being asked to share concepts of American Indian horsemanship, I thought I’d start at the beginning. In our culture it’s the mother that starts the child riding. Once the child can sit independently and has started to gain leg control by standing while holding on to something, they are placed on a [...]

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The Original Natural Horsemen: American Indians Speak on Horse Training

May 25, 2010

The American plains Indian represents a unique reservoir of horse knowledge. Indians’ appreciation of the relationship between humans, animals, and the place of both in nature resulted in excelled horsemanship. After confronting them, more than one army officer pronounced them the world’s best cavalry.
Indians earned their horsemanship status the hard way. In the beginning all [...]

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