The Five Horses We Meet On Earth
The Five Horses We Meet On Earth
from Joanne Friedman's "Horses in the Yard" 1. The Intro Horse. We each came into horses in our own way, but it was always with a horse
leading us. This might have been a friend's first pony, or perhaps it was a
draft horse on a farm you once visited It might have been a real-life
meeting, or an imaginary one. I was escorted to the party by The Black,
Walter Farley's star horse in The Black Stallion series... 2. The Experimental Horse Once you had crossed the line between "Damn, they're big!" and "Wow! Can I
try that?" you found yourself face-to-face with the horse that would suffer
through your early attempts at figuring out the whole horse experience ...
wherever this horse came from, he probably didn't benefit from the encounter
as much as you did... 3. The Connected Horse The first horses we meet don't really connect with us, nor do we with them.
Those are experiences in survival and tests of endurance. The Connected
Horse is the first horse you truly bond with. This is the horse that sounds
a chord that lives so deep in you that you might never have heard it
otherwise... 4. The Challenger Into each horseperson's life, a little challenge must fall. You'll have read
that one final training book, bought yourself a clicker and heading rope,
and there you'll stand, arms crossed, assessing the situation as if you
actually knew what the situation was. It might be difficult to believe, as
you are flying down the aisleway on the losing end of a braided cotton line,
but you actually need this horse in your life... 5. Your Deepest Heart There will come a time when you will look at yourself with a cold,
appraising eye, and you'll have to be honest about your continued ability to
deal with The Challenger and other difficult horses. At that point, you'll
seek out the horse that will be your soul mate forever... You'll have bought
him the most comfortable, best fitting equipment... Maybe you'll still go to
shows and ride - brilliantly or barely - in the Alzheimer's class. Maybe
you'll just stay home. Whatever you do, one day you'll realize that after
all the money you spent on animal communicators and trainers, you only had
to stop and listen and you would have clearly heard your horse's thoughts
and desires. ----------- More from Joanne Friedman's "Horses in the Yard" ... On equitation... "Women are built differently than men, and I am not talking obvious body
parts. A man's center of gravity is in his upper torso. That's why
Christopher Reeve toppled so disastrously from his horse and was lawn-darted
into a rock wall. A man's weight is in his chest. A woman's on the other
hand, is in her (sorry) hindquarters. This is a good thing for riding's sake
as it allows a woman to ground significantly more thoroughly in the saddle
than a man can.... A woman who can imagine being a half-empty (or half-full,
depending on her level of optimism) sack of grain can sit in a saddle with a
security and balance few men can achieve..." On expectations... "We treat our horses like we treat our children: we load them up with
expectations, then we withhold the tools they need to fulfill them. The kids
go off and do drugs and get pregnant, and we blame anyone who can't get out
of the way fast enough. The horses buck us off and become hard to catch in
the field, and we curse our bad luck at having wound up with such an
incorrigible beast. They're all yelling at us, and we're not listening." On farriers ... How should you prepare your horse? Well, you can start by going out and
getting him from the field before the farrier gets there. Don't leave notes
with instructions as to where Loopy Lou can be found. Go find her yourself.
Have her reasonably clean and dry and standing in a stall or nearby pen in
plenty of time. Many shoers will not hesitate to go look for your horse, but
it's a kindness to everyone involved if he doesn't have to. Besides, there
are not enough horse shoers as it is. We don't need to be wearing out the
ones we've got." ----------------------
from Joanne Friedman's "Horses in the Yard" 1. The Intro Horse. We each came into horses in our own way, but it was always with a horse
leading us. This might have been a friend's first pony, or perhaps it was a
draft horse on a farm you once visited It might have been a real-life
meeting, or an imaginary one. I was escorted to the party by The Black,
Walter Farley's star horse in The Black Stallion series... 2. The Experimental Horse Once you had crossed the line between "Damn, they're big!" and "Wow! Can I
try that?" you found yourself face-to-face with the horse that would suffer
through your early attempts at figuring out the whole horse experience ...
wherever this horse came from, he probably didn't benefit from the encounter
as much as you did... 3. The Connected Horse The first horses we meet don't really connect with us, nor do we with them.
Those are experiences in survival and tests of endurance. The Connected
Horse is the first horse you truly bond with. This is the horse that sounds
a chord that lives so deep in you that you might never have heard it
otherwise... 4. The Challenger Into each horseperson's life, a little challenge must fall. You'll have read
that one final training book, bought yourself a clicker and heading rope,
and there you'll stand, arms crossed, assessing the situation as if you
actually knew what the situation was. It might be difficult to believe, as
you are flying down the aisleway on the losing end of a braided cotton line,
but you actually need this horse in your life... 5. Your Deepest Heart There will come a time when you will look at yourself with a cold,
appraising eye, and you'll have to be honest about your continued ability to
deal with The Challenger and other difficult horses. At that point, you'll
seek out the horse that will be your soul mate forever... You'll have bought
him the most comfortable, best fitting equipment... Maybe you'll still go to
shows and ride - brilliantly or barely - in the Alzheimer's class. Maybe
you'll just stay home. Whatever you do, one day you'll realize that after
all the money you spent on animal communicators and trainers, you only had
to stop and listen and you would have clearly heard your horse's thoughts
and desires. ----------- More from Joanne Friedman's "Horses in the Yard" ... On equitation... "Women are built differently than men, and I am not talking obvious body
parts. A man's center of gravity is in his upper torso. That's why
Christopher Reeve toppled so disastrously from his horse and was lawn-darted
into a rock wall. A man's weight is in his chest. A woman's on the other
hand, is in her (sorry) hindquarters. This is a good thing for riding's sake
as it allows a woman to ground significantly more thoroughly in the saddle
than a man can.... A woman who can imagine being a half-empty (or half-full,
depending on her level of optimism) sack of grain can sit in a saddle with a
security and balance few men can achieve..." On expectations... "We treat our horses like we treat our children: we load them up with
expectations, then we withhold the tools they need to fulfill them. The kids
go off and do drugs and get pregnant, and we blame anyone who can't get out
of the way fast enough. The horses buck us off and become hard to catch in
the field, and we curse our bad luck at having wound up with such an
incorrigible beast. They're all yelling at us, and we're not listening." On farriers ... How should you prepare your horse? Well, you can start by going out and
getting him from the field before the farrier gets there. Don't leave notes
with instructions as to where Loopy Lou can be found. Go find her yourself.
Have her reasonably clean and dry and standing in a stall or nearby pen in
plenty of time. Many shoers will not hesitate to go look for your horse, but
it's a kindness to everyone involved if he doesn't have to. Besides, there
are not enough horse shoers as it is. We don't need to be wearing out the
ones we've got." ----------------------
