Uh-uh .. that's YOUR job to clean up after US!

Well, as you can see the horses around here are lazy things ... they can't seem to get up off the ground to even help aggravate the humans while they clean! You'd think they'd at least get out of the way so Anne could dump the wheelbarrow but nooooooooo, they didn't budge! Actually, a bit later on Misty (the grey) did manage to rouse herself and shake off the dirt but Tammy stayed sunning herself while I climbed on her back for a "backing lesson". *grin* She's a long 3 year old filly who will be fulled backed this summer as she shows when she is ready.

Now Dorian is a different story ... he doesn't lie down much but he sure does like to "help" and hug. Here he is sniffin' out the manure fork offering his assistance. Gee Whiz! Now they ALL decide they want to help! Hey Guys, leave the help alone so she can get her job done, will ya?

Horse-Human Equality by Gordon Sulley

"Do you consider horses and humans to be equals in their relationship?"
"In their relationship to each other? An it please the court, Yes, Yer Honour, -or at least, they are if they are allowed to be so!"
Trust you to be able to ask one of the deepest and most important questions possible in twelve words, Charles, ..-and it is a very important question to ask, I think, so my answer is going to be much longer than your question! :-)
I'll start with a thought concerning your question:
What is your definition of "equals"? - And, -is a dance partner who leads more 'equal' than the dance partner who is following?
I believe I have recently read that the horse's nearest relative is the deer: the horse is a walking Burgher King or McDonald's, a 'fast food joint on legs' (pun intended!) that has learned to survive under quite hazardous conditions.
There is a lot of research being done concerning the horse's scenting abilities, which I believe it has been said, are greater than a dogs; they can differentiate colours and shapes (and even select the one they are told to choose or fetch!) -and they have extremely good memories, ..and are capable of planning several steps ahead of the actual moment.
They can feel with every single hair on their bodies and know when even the smallest insect has landed on them, they understand trajectories and velocities ...and can kick a flying insect out of the air, or out-run a predator, so they are very well equipped for their natural world, but they don't seem to be able to judge the speed of an on-coming car or train, and they have to be taught to understand the things in our human world, which are not natural to them, and where the majority of them live as prisoners and slaves.
Now, I chose those words very deliberately!
-A horse has no legal rights (or very few!) and no rights of ownership.
They have no 'voice' or 'language' that *ordinary* people can easily understand, so they cannot go out and call a lawyer if they feel they are wronged, -but they do have feelings and intelligence, a strong in-built sense of fairness and fair play, ...and speech of a sort, even though the majority of what they actually say is not expressed by verbal means, -and I am not meaning "horse whispering" or "communication" here!
They communicate by look and feel, and body language, and occasionally by the use of verbal signals, and, because they use verbal signals themselves and have good memories, they also understand our verbal signals, those that we call "language", and they remember what the different sounds and noises and whistles and grunts that we use mean, -and all that, plus all the thousands of things I have missed mentioning for lack of time and space, makes them, at least in my book, into thinking beings who are not actually that unlike ourselves! (Even physically, if we allow for their lack of a collar bone!)
We, at least in the wild, are very un-equal to horses!
We need clothes and shelter to survive, -which they generally do not require; we cannot run as fast as they do, nor detect predators, prey or enemies at the kind of distances that they can as neither our eye-sight, hearing, nor sense of smell are as good as theirs, but they have only one *hand* in the form of a mouth which, with its adjacent sensing hairs, gives them a fantastic amount of information about anything they can feel or manipulate, while we have two, far less sensitive, hands ..with opposing thumbs, which are even better designed than the horse's mouth is for manipulating our environment!
Now, given even the few facts I have listed above, I would suggest that each of us, horse and human, has powers and abilities that the other lacks and that these just about balance each other out sufficiently to suggest that we are equal, or at least 'equally matched', in many ways, so are we "equal"? Well, not by law! By intelligence, then? Well, a horse probably couldn't get a Ph.D at a human university, ..but can we learn to do what they do? No! -So, perhaps we are "equal but different?
Now, having asked you for your definition of "equal", I shall give mine.
In my view, "the balance of power between true equals shifts in different situations from one to another of them, with the one with the greatest knowledge of each specific situation being the one to make the decision in that particular situation", -so, how does this affect our relationship with a horse?
Well, practically speaking I think that particular form of equality is what seems to produce the best, and most successful, results in almost anything that one does with a horse, be it in a competition, or on a trail!
When we start to 'teach' the horse, as most of us do, to do what it is both designed and programmed to do from birth, then I think that we generally reduce its capabilities instead of enhancing them! -And that is not equality! We create at best a servant and at worst an unwilling slave instead of an 'equal partner with different capabilities'!
Look at any competition, and really look at what all those lovely and expensive devices that we are so fond of attaching to our horses to "control" and to "help" them are actually doing!
-Think what we are doing when we tie the horse's head down so that it cannot see, and then ride it in a jumping competition!
-That is certainly treating the horse as a slave and arrogantly claiming that we know its physical abilities better than it does itself!
-There is no chance for the horse to be 'equal' there, but the horse, when trained and in practice, *should* know where to take off for a jump better than we do ...if it can see it, ...and it can then be a help and an equal to the rider by putting its skills and knowledge at the riders service!
-Think what the over-check does in trotting, ...and look at all the horses who compete in many different sports who are so stiff in the hamstring muscles that they cannot properly get their back legs under themselves! -Horses with artificially shortened strides and bad training are never allowed to be the 'equals' of anything that is not being similarly (mis-)treated!
Can we really "contol" a horse by the use of a bit?
-Yes, we can, -by the use of pain, ..and there is nothing very equal about that, ..., -until the fear and the adrenaline over-ride the pain, ...-and we the human end up somewhere we didn't want to be, like in hospital, on the Intensive Care ward!
A horse is controlled through its mind and not through its body, and when controlled through its mind, by two-way communication, training and understanding, then, and only then, can it become a true and equal partner and helpmate!
So, yes, I DO think that we are equals, 'equal but different', perhaps, which means that in the human world, we, as humans, usually have to be "the senior partner", "the leader", the one who assumes the responsibility for a decision because we have the most complete knowledge of the whole situation, but, even more importantly in that human world, we must be "the educator" who can lead the horse through it's natural fears and help it to overcome its natural instincts as a prey animal, to teach it to be both brave and confident in our world as well as in its own, but we must also, I feel, be sufficiently humble to be able to accept that, at least in some cases, the horse actually does know better than we do and to accept its leadership in those situations!
Is a horse just being awkward and "playing up" at a river crossing, or are you, the human, trying to force it into quicksand? -Has the bank been undermined, since you crossed there last? The list is almost endless and, because the majority of us are so certain that we know best, we do not listen when the horse tells us something, and that means that we are missing a host of opportunities every day to create real and meaningful 'equal partnerships' in the true sense of the word according to my definition above, with our extremely intelligent and potentially equal partners whom we insist on treating as slaves!
If you really want to find out just how 'equal' horses are, I really would recommend that you take Gwen's 'Progressive Equine Partnership Training' course (by visiting http://www.thepenzancehorse.com/ ) and that you read some of the stuff on the following links:
http://synalia.com/
http://grandin.com/references/research.html
http://www.wagntrain.com/OC/
http://clickryder.com/
-And then, of course, last but by no means least, there is a marvellous tool for getting into a meaningful communication with a horse in the first place, ...-a very subtle and psychologically effective tool that allows you to talk to the horse in horse language and that allows you to set the rules and limits that can later be modified and relaxed in order to really allow the horse to become an equal!
It is not "round-penning", and it is not some idiotic attempt to establish one's 'superiority' by attempting to tire the horse out, but a psychological concept that can be applied with the horse on a lunge line, or loose in a corral, or even loose in an 8 acre field!
The use of this at the beginning of a relationship makes the use of all other methods of training much simpler, and that fantastic tool is a thing called 'The Bonder' which is available from a guy named Marv Walker at http://marvwalker.com/ !!!
-We, as humans, really have progressed a little in our understanding of horsemanship and horses during this last few years simply by "scientifically proving", and therefore finally beginning to accept, what many horsemen have known for generations, and we are finally getting, at least slightly, beyond the "a bit made of barbed-wire will get him nicely under control!" stage, ...and at least a little bit more towards Dr. John Doolittle!
-It's there for us if we want it, and if we dare to use it, ...-and if we do want and dare, then there are some marvellous results to be achieved!
-Ever seen a fairly small lady having a play "boxing match" with her horse? I have! -Now THERE was both "equality" and "mutual respect"!

A New Start

Today I decided to combine all my blogs into one. After all - the HORSE is one incredible creation designed with all parts working together ... mind, body & spirit. So here you'll read about teaching, natural hoofcare, healthcare and more ... altogether as one.

The past year was a bit of a haitus for me and for my horses. I think we all needed the rest just to play and to ... be. Now, this new year, 2007, is one to start again in a semi-same direction yet a bit different. We've all learned through the seasons ... more and more I have learned to listen even more closely to the horse and my horses have learned to reciprocate in kind. We lost our Patriarch of the herd. Our beloved J.C's Bubba died in November at the age of 31. He left this world amongst his herd, quickly and without fanfare. That seemed to have been Bubba's way. He lived his life without fanfare, never asking to be the "Star of the Show" but somehow humbly accepting that place. He was never arrogant or unkind but always thoughtful and considerate of the others in his herd, both equine and human. He gave his heart to those who earned it and never looked back. A simple horse but his heart as big as the sky. He gave us courage and taught many to trust in themselves. We will continue those teachings this year ... with Bub's spirit ever present.

Each horse in our lives has something to teach us if we but listen with our whole being. Ginger died the year before Bub, a grand lady of 40 years old. She was here at Penzance a short time but shared her love with bounty in full. She taught many women how to love themselves, just the way they were. That's a tall order but was never too daunting for Ginger. She and Bubba left their legacies for the youngsters to carry on and so they will ... with renewed spirits this year.