"Long Riders categorically believe equestrian travel has no frontiers, political or otherwise. It is the heritage of every nation. Though we individually originate in every imaginable country, we as a group represent no specific nation. We will not be simplified by categories into sex, creed, allegiance to one horse breed, or lines drawn on a map. We are comrades of the saddle whose agreed upon international language is "horse."    We believe the only valid definition of a Long Rider should be courage in the face of danger, resolve in the presence of hardship, and continual compassion for our horses." Courtesy of The Long Riders Guild

When I was shoeing horses I would always say "no foot, no horse" and that is an accurate statement. The very same holds true for working a horse. To ride a horse means to communicate what you are asking to his feet. The reins are extensions to his feet as is the saddle, your body and the bit. When we are on the horse we are asking him to move in a certain way, a certain direction or we may ask him to be still. He can begin to learn this from the groundwork provided so that he is prepared for the transition when he is ridden.

There is no better place to start than at the beginning. There is no better place to return to than the beginning. It works ! The horse did not ask to be invited into our world, we insisted he be in it. We should pay heed to that and have patience and understanding. There is a time to be firm and a time to release. I have no desire to fight with 1000 lbs of horse, I would rather reach an understanding with him having him think it was his decision.

Long before clinics were the clinics we see today, I had my education for the wages of $100 a month at times. Well before dawn and long after sunset was a typical day. There were no videos, no dedicated TV station, no short cuts or gimmicks. Experience, patience and horses were my teachers. My classroom was and still is the open land. My teachers were horses and the folks who rode them for a living. Whenever I had the opportunity to wrangle the remuda, I would watch the way their “society” worked. One really had to learn by seeing and observing. If you watch horses interact and are around them long enough you will see how they “drive” each other away from the herd or show aggression and defeat. We can learn how they become the dominant in the herd and the way they move and why they move in the manner they do and we can incorporate that into our horsemanship It is a great education and a person would do well to speak (body language) to the horse so that he understands what it is you are asking and you can do so just as one horse does to another. We can understand why a horse needs to yield, bend and learn where to put their feet. The horse knows what to do we have to know how to ask.

Horses are a way of life for me. I have learned by doing and listening to horsemen at every chance I had. My education came not only from the horse that has bucked me off or run me over but also from the horse that took me through the Continental Divide or shared the quiet of the sunset with me – the good and the ……. well it was all good and still is.