HORSES
When I bestride him, I soar, I am a hawk: he trots the air; the earth sings when he touches it; the basest horn of his hoof is more musical than the pipe of Hermes. ~William Shakespeare, Henry V
Horses have always inspired lofty emotion with their beauty and spirit. They are inextricably entwined with human history and evolution. The equine species has enabled human migration, exploration, building, agriculture and defense throughout time. They have provided our means of transportation, labor and war. Today the horse-human relationship is changing from one of physical service to one of emotional and spiritual service; one involving fun, sport, health, education, rehabilitation and love... Horses and humans increasingly come together based on choice rather than necessity. In some ways horses may even be becoming our teachers. You can read more about the extraordinary metaphysical ideas surrounding the horse/human species relationship by following this link: http://www.taoofequus.com/.
Natural horsemanship and horse whispering are the modern terms touted as new approaches to horse training but they are not really new. These approaches have always been known and used by an elite number of great equestrians, the best old timer cowboys, native Americans and some classical dressage trainers. They can be documented as far back as the time of the Greek horseman Xenophon. What is new today is that there is a massive educational movement afoot which shares this knowledge, bringing it popularity throughout the horse world. Check out http://www.reisranch.com/ to learn more about natural horsemanship training methods.
Cosmo
My horse Cosmo is just the sweetest horse. He was the first completely untrained horse I ever worked with. He is a purebred, registered Polish Arabian who was bred for showing at halter. I bought Cosmo at an auction in 1991 as a rescue horse. He was a four year old stallion that had been abandoned by his owner, a man who fled the country to escape legal trouble. Cosmo had been badly neglected then confiscated by the humane society and nursed back to health. I didn't actually mean too buy him. I thought such a beautiful, spirited horse would sell for a very high price and I was playing around to make a low bid on him just for fun. Suddenly the auctioneer said 'sold' and my journey with Cosmo began. I believe there are no accidents and decided the event was a cosmic synchronicity so I named him Cosmo. Horses are such amazingly patient kind and forgiving creatures! I made so many mistakes learning with Cosmo......and yet he loves me. He is retired now and has a coushy life in the field by The Dream Studio.
Midday Delite
This is my dream horse, Midday Delite. He came into my life as a yearling. Before I met him, I had had a dream in which I saw him freeing a group of young girls who were emprisioned in a high school. He was a horse too wild for anyone to touch but then he chose to come up to me and he touched my hand. A few months later I saw him In waking life. I recognized him and bought him on the spot. I trained him myself with the help of horse mentor, Pat Fitzgerald and the methods I gained from my courses with Dennis Reise. Delite is quite athletic. He is doing third level dressage now and is truly a dream to ride. He is also learning to go bridleless and I love to do liberty work with him.
The sight of that pony did something to me I've never quite been able to explain. He was more than tremendous strength and speed and beauty of motion. He set me dreaming - Walt Morey
Pat Fitzgerald
This is a picture of master horse mentor Pat Fitzgerald which was taken in the 60's. Pat has been teaching and training horses professionally since the age of 13. She has started over 2000 horses in her career. She studied with Chuck Grant who is known as the Father of American Dressage. In this photo she stands in front of a large number of ribbons and trophies she had already won. MORE SOON.
CIARRA
