What is a natural horseman?

Random musings ...

Natural horsemanship begins with clearing one's mind of preconceptions and making a serious study of the nature of the horse as a unique animal species. It then requires a commitment to working with the horse's nature rather than against it. The specifics of the training methods don't matter as much as the underlying principles. A carpenter must understand wood. A mechanic must understand cars. A doctor must understand biology. Viewed this way, a natural horseman is simply an effective horseman, for any person who attempts to work with horses without understanding and respecting their nature is doomed to failure.

Rick

Wild Horse Issue

Okay, let's get some rational discussion going here on the wild horse "slaughter" being proposed by the BLM. What should they do instead? It does no good to mobilize public support against something when you have no workable alternative to offer in its place. Help!
R

Questions?

It occurred to me the other day that this blog might be a good way for me to answer a few horse-related questions. So, if something is on your mind, ask away!
Rick

Doug Preston

I'm a reader, or a bookworm as they used to say. I always have a novel and a few nonfiction books working. My buddy, Rick Swan, got me started on the Douglas Preston/Lincoln Child thrillers. Turns out Doug Preston is an avid horseman - did a 1,000 mile ride retracing the route of Coronado searching for the seven cities of gold and earned a place in the Long Riders Guild. I emailed him and invited him to be on my radio show and he agreed. Great interview covering a wide range of topics, not just horses. Check it out online. We're going for a trail ride next time he comes out this way.
R

Haythorn Ranch

Spent a couple days at the Haythorn Ranch in Nebraska "helping" with the calf branding. Actually I wasn't much help but they kindly let me ride along with the cowboys and even rope and drag a few calves to the fire. We shot video for our TV show. The episode airs July 22nd and 27th on RFD-TV. It's a cool story, really. The history of the ranch goes back to 1876 in England and spans five generations of Haythorns. They still do things the old way there and have a fantastic horse breeding program. The cattle are kept around mostly to give the horses something to do. Nice folks.
R

Remembering Orren Mixer

Hi Friends,

Orren Mixer passed away this week at 87. Many of you have been touched by him, even if you didn't know his name or have the priviledge of spending some time with him, as I did. Orren was a painter and a true horse lover. His painting of the "ideal" American Quarter Horse became an icon of this breed and is seen still on the AQHA web site and in AQHA advertising. Same with his paintings of American Paint Horses. And if you have seen the "Legends" series of books published by Western Horseman, you have seen his work on the covers of those books, too.

I met Orren only once, at the AQHA World Show, around 2000. AQHA hired Diana and me to do audio interviews with the new world champions and upload them to the AQHA web site, along with photos, to create virtually "live" coverage of the event. We did that for four of the world shows and met some great people. We also developed some opinions about what is wrong with showing, but that's another story. We loved being around the horses and the people and the excitement.

Orren had a booth in the trade show area and I couldn't believe he was just standing there, so accessible! I was totally familiar with his work and a big fan. I introduced myself and he put me completely at ease. I then realized I had a golden opportunity and I asked him for an interview. He said yes and we did it right there in his booth. I got him talking about his life and some of the famous paintings he did. We laughed and became friends. Years later, when I wanted to publish excerpts from some of my interviews in Horse Smarts, he graciously agreed. I'm going to rerun that original interview in my 5/17/08 show. And if you want to hear some short pieces, go to The Horse Show Minute section of my site and search on "mixer".

In a way, this is the end of an era. I'm so glad we that hour together back in 2000.
R

Shooting TV spot with my horses

Today we had a fun day shooting a TV commercial for Ritchie Waterers at our house. All four of our horses got into the act. The challenge was to get them to drink on cue. Remember the old adage about leading a horse to water? Well, Diana proved it wrong. First, she taught each of them to eat a horse cookie out of the dry bowl. Then we added sweetened water and the horses really went after those cookies, just like they were bobbing for apples. Our youngest, Sarah, did best. She's such a ham! I was very proud of Diana and all of our horses. Keep your eyes open for the spot when our new season begins in May on RFD-TV.

R