NO-UPPER-LIMIT
Horse Stories:
Cookee
Starring Cookee:
"Cookee's New Home"
"Jasmine's Secret"
Bear
Now out:
"The Story of Bear, Orphan Colt"
Starring:
Bear
Buster
Mica
Goldee
Buster
Fitzin
Diary of Goldee
Goldee is a
six-year old BLM branded
mustang mare.
Goldee is a very dominant mare. When she is in with our small herd, she is the first to the food, and defends that position by charging and either biting, striking or kicking at the other horses.
At other than feeding time, she will let one of the geldings approach her, but when she's done with the game, again, she will bite, strike, or kick the other horse. She's nicer to our other mare, but still very much the dominant horse.
She is very head shy, will only let her face and ears be touched when being fed grain out of my hand.
She will let me approach her and pet her on her shoulder and neck, for a short time, but will leave if I pet for too long.
We have no idea how she was handled before she came to us.
She had been handled though, because when we first got her, I could brush her and clean her front feet. She hasn't been handled for about a year now, though, so her training will start again from the very beginning as if she had never been handled.
To follow her training just go to: "Diary of Goldee."
There has been alot of talk lately about natual horsemanship and the relationship that can be formed between a person and their horse. A relationship built on trust and respect. A relationship based on communication.
Is all you read and hear about natural horsemanship fact or fiction? Just hype or can that kind of relationship be a reality for the average person?
For me and many others, it is a reality. Never ending problems solved by learning how to communicate, not by force or ever more restrictive equipment. Just learning to communicate in a way a horse can understand.
So, Follow Along for Lessons Learned in
Natural Horse/Person Communication from the Horses of High Desert Way Ranch
The Beginning:
Horse Crazy Kid!
Were you ever called that? I was.
And I was. Very horse crazy. I remember being eight years old, laying on the kitchen floor, crying, because I couldn't have a horse.
I watched every movie and TV show there was with horses in them. "National Velvet," "Black Beauty," "Flicka," "Fury," "The Lone Ranger," "Roy Rogers," to name just a few. I read horse stories, and books on training and riding.
I ran like a horse. I whinnied like a horse. I wanted to be a horse.
Yes, I was horse crazy.
When I was eleven my parents finally gave in and bought me a horse. To other people he might not have been much to look at, but to me he was gorgeous.
I don't remember how old he was, but he was a bay with black mane and tail, and a big white star on his face. He had some white on a couple of his lower legs. I named him Rusty.
He loved to run. He ran away with me quite often. He even ran away with my Dad. Big mistake!
He'd been part of our family for about a year when he ran off with me once too often. I was out riding with my mom and a friend of hers. The friend had miles and miles of riding area on a power line behind her place.
We were on our way home, just rode out of the trees so could now see the house and barn about five hundred feet away. Rusty started getting prancey. Rusty started running. Rusty kept running until he ran into the fence that separated the field we were in and the property where the house and barn were.
I had managed to stay on, until he hit the fence. I will have to say that was one good ride. When he hit the fence I didn't go sailing over his head. Somehow I managed to grab his neck and very gracefully bring my feet over, still holding onto his neck, landed on my feet. Wow, I was impressed.
But, that was the end of my horse life with Rusty. After he'd run off with my dad, and now could have easily killed me, or at least hurt me very badly, he had to be sold.
He was sold, and my parents bought me a Honda 50 motorcycle.
I loved that little motorcycle, but never quit being horse crazy!
The end of Chapter One of my horse life.
Chapter Two started many years later. In the summer of 1995 my husband and I finally got into a position where we could afford a couple horses. Lucky for me, he also had been a horse crazy kid.
So, this next chapter started with a horse named Dakota's High Life, Dakota for short, and a horse named Mica.
The stories of these two horses, and those that came after them, some still here, some moved on, and some who have gone on to that big pasture in the sky with forever green grass and a never dry, cold, clear creek running through it, help to bring forth the lessons we have learned in communicating with these big, strong, beautiful, but so sensitive of animals.
The ride is about to begin, so saddle up and come on along.
All illustrations of horses and other animals, including, Larry the Lizard, done by Jonathan Cooke. If you would like to see other illustrations by Jonathan Cooke go to: www.illustratedstock.com. Then to: Featured Artist: Jonathan Cooke.
For goings on at High Desert Way Ranch:
www.highdesertway.com
For natural horsemanship clinics put on by Joyce Gay:
www.naturalhorsemanshiptc.com
For horse speed event dates in the Reno area, Sagebrush Performance & Speed Horses:
www.spsh.info
For ramblings by a horse training gamma (grandma):
www.highdesertwayranch.blogspot.com
If you have any questions or comments, please contact me at my e-mail address:
possibilities@no-upper-limit.com
or
ranch@highdesertway.com
We do not mean to imply anywhere in anyway, that the methods we have written about here are going to keep you totally safe. Horses are big, reactive animals that can be dangerous. If you chose to use any of the methods written about here, or any other of our websties, blogs, or books, we take no responsibility and are not liable for the results.
We just hope the results you do get do help keep you safe and you and your horse have a long and happy relationship. 
