Back to Blogging and a Reading Recommendation

After a long break Everyrider.com is ready to get back to blogging.  Its time to empty my head of all the collecting entries swirling around over the last few months just waiting for the chance to escape. 

Summer madness is winding down and I am finally able to catch my breath.  I am so proud of my ponies for being such troopers despite the exhausting heat and relentless little people invading their stalls, helping feed them, and bombarding them with paintbrushes, crafts and endless games requiring so much patience.

There is something incredibly magical about watching a horse with a child.  I have seen confidence burst from children who are too timid to speak, and quiet concentration from children labeled disordered.  They have a certain healing quality about them which enables us to feel stronger and much bigger than we are.   Likewise, children seem to have a similar effect upon some horses only in the opposite direction turning horses that may be stubborn or moody under a seasoned rider into gentle giants with low headsets.

While we had a fantastic summer, I must admit I was happy to see the yellow school bus creep down my gravel road again bringing with it cooler air and a bit shorter workday.  I am eager for the leaves to turn and to have an hour or two spent selfishly in the saddle wandering around aimlessly on our little trail.

I did manage to read an interesting book over the summer written by animal behaviorist Andrew Mclean entitled "The truth about horses". Dr. Mclean holds a PhD in horse training psychology has been an accredited riding coach for over 20 years  While I did not necessarily agree with every theory or method employed in Dr. Mclean's book I found his no nonsense scientific approach to be a breath of fresh air.  The trend towards more natural methods has produced many great training philosophies but not necessarily the theory or science behind them.  The book gives great insight into the way that horses learn and process information as well as their cognitive limitations.  I found the book an easy read at only about 150 pages and it is full of great pictures along side step by step instruction. To read Andrew Mclean's articles online visit his website at htpp://www.aebc.com.au/articles

   

Comments

[Patricia Barlow-Irick]

McClean's book is a fantastic antidote to the hype of Natural Horsemanship. He says that he is not so proud of that one, but his other one is much better.... unfortunately that's an out-of-print Australian publication.... he says he is rewriting it (but maybe he needs our encouragement as that's been several years ago?)

I am glad that you are blogging again. Hopefully we can keep each other inspired.

Yrs,
Patricia

[risingrainbow]

I'm glad that you're back. Do we get to hear the story behind the picture in this post?

[Callie]

Wow, nice paint :) horses have a way with allowing us to humiliate them for the sake of the children. Sounds like a busy summer.

[Larry Wiseheart]

Our Horsemanship Training Library™ (HTL) launches in November exclusively on the Horse.com and StateLineTack.com websites in partnership with Pets United. Host trainer of the HTL is Chris Irwin, highly respected equine educator and author in the U.S., Canada, and abroad. The HTL is a subscription-based, video training library that will be a revolutionary new online resource for horse owners worldwide.