BigBlog

6:00am I heard a deep rumbling sound like thunder as 28 hoofs pounded the ground as the herd flew past where I was Sleeping. Nothing in the world sounds better to me than rising to the sound of horses galloping past the house like they are right next to you. You can feel it and hear it as if they are about to come busting through the walls, you can't help but to jump up and check it out through the the window. After a quick breakfast I head out to see where they all headed so I can join the herd.

My mental, emotional and physical fitness is a must when mixing with a herd of horses over a vast terrain while I'm on foot which is why I need to give up smoking. Just as I thought their all on top of the hill already - 3 hills away that is! man, might as well give up the coffie while I'm at it.

As I braced my self for big walk I noticed some of the herd had caught me out of one eye already. First it was my pinto named Shazzam, he's always very alert. The alfa horse soon tuned in that there is a preditor in the distance -refering to my self. Unfortunately horses perceive people as preditors and that will never change untill you do something that proves to them that you will never do anything to hurt them, and a few other little factors as well.

Within seconds all the horses were aware of my pressence and I had'nt even started walking yet!. By aproaching and retreating I managed to walk all the way up to the herd with out them making the decission to run off - thank god for that hey, I already had walked Km's to get to them.

Swan is young and his safety lies tight within the pack so I worked my way into the middle. So far everything was as smooth as. I caused a few horses to yield out of my space using my body language and string for support to gain some leadership points, as a result of that I became high up in the pecking order and soon took over the role as alfa. Sorry Shaddow (he is one of my other horses) that has maintained his No.1 position for over 2 years, well untill I enter the pasture anyway but he gets it back when I leave.

I always try to make an effort to take the time in becomming 1st in the pecking order (in a fair and friendly way of course) as I enter into thier world, It always pays off as safety is always a key issue when around horses even if its little tony the pony. As soon as I gain enough respect so they dont go run'n over the top of me I show them how much I care. 

This was the ideal time to leave on that "good note" so I made my way back to the homestead with the feel'n' that I made good progress for day1. Even more thought went into giving up the smokes as that was a good little taste of how steep those hills really are.

I'm a horse lover that has a young colt named Swan. He's not halter broken, has never felt a human on his back and has been living his life so far in a herd and barely any contact with people.

I've created a challange for myself thats a little out of the the norm for most horse lovers. The idea was created through using my imagination which at times even has me wondering!

Instead of "breaking in" this young horse I'm going to attempt to "start" him off at liberty (no ropes attatched) wich gives the horse the freedom to make his own choices when being asked to do something.

What I'm going to end up with out of all this is the truth. The truth about how much this horse is willing to follow my suggestions and percieve me as a parter and as his leader.

At present this colt has his dignity, is mentaly and physicaly healthy and full of spirit. My goal is to preserve these wonderfull qualities that nature gave to him while teaching him how to live in a humans world by gaining his trust, respect and winning his heart, proving to him that man and horse can come together as one.

So how far am I going to take this? I'm attempting to go from the begining to the finished horse with out ever attaching any ropes, halters, bridles or using a saddle. The only tool I want to use is a short piece of string to communicate. I'm not going to trick him, trap him or use any means that a horse could percieve as using force.

Wow! this seems like quite a mission doesn't it? Its something I have always dreamed of doing so I'm up for the challange. I hope that you enjoy following me on this quest to become at one with nature, I know there will be some spills along with the thrills and I will share as much with you as I can as I go along. There are no images to see yet but will upload some tonight so check in later to see how day 1 panned out.