“Spirit” Due To Open Memorial Day
Preserving Is Promoting
by John Fusco, screenwriter of Spirit, Stallion of the Cimarron
The epiphany came to me in the round pen. I had been in there for hours with my young foundation stallion, when
it hit me: this is not the best way for me to "do my bit" for the Spanish Mustang (or as my Grandpa Redbow
preferred, "Ind'n Pony.") Earlier that morning--try 4 A.M.--my mare band busted out a gate when coyotes came
calling and then busted IN the gate to the stallion, herding up behind him. So after hours of mending fence,
coaxing Spanish mares, and keeping up the training of all, I realized that I wasn't
where I was supposed to be:
sitting at the typewriter, telling stories.
As a writer of movies, I have had the wonderful opportunity to see stories come to life on the big screen and reach
millions of people. Not that film is literature (especially Hollywood), but there is no denying the influence movies
have on our society. In 1992, my movie "Thunderheart" brought the story of the modern-day Indian wars to an
audience fresh off the safe historical distance of "Dances with Wolves." The movie found its way to Capitol Hill
and was used by Native American lobbyists to pass legislation protecting sacred sites. It raised money for the
impoverished Pine Ridge Reservation and exposed many to the Third World within our own country. It was only a
movie, but it made some things happen; movies--good or bad-- are the widest-reaching medium in the world.
So that day in the round pen, I called on my friend Vik and asked her to inherit the then-defunct HOA that I had
purchased along with some fine Brislawn horses. Some of us, like Vik, have the talent to work with the horses and
to show them at their best while some of us have other ways to promote the breed, but, at the end of the day, we're
all conservators.
With my movie "SPIRIT: Stallion of the Cimarron" already in the can at Dreamworks and set for a Memorial Day
2002 release, I hope to bring the story of a pure Spanish Mustang to a young and wide audience. Steven Spielberg
is so pleased with the film that he is premiering it the same night as the new Star Wars. Don't worry: I think our
Kiger boy will give Luke a run for his money.
Nothing if not mustang-obsessive, I decided to keep
the push going and sat down to write the story of
Frank T. Hopkins and his little Spanish Mustang who
won the 3,000 mile endurance race across the Arabian
Desert in 1890. I had wanted to bring this amazing
story to the screen for years, but it was while telling
the account as a conservator that I realized what an
impact it might have. I am excited to report that Walt
1
Horse of the Americas Officers
Disney's "HIDALGO" begins filming in Morocco this coming
Spring.
Spanish Mustangs will also be featured in my upcoming
Hallmark/ABC mini-series "DREAMKEEPER", a two night
dramatic special based on legends from Native America.
Original American Indian Horses have been written into
nearly all of the legends to be portrayed (The Legend of the
Dun Horse, High Horse's Courting, and The Vision Quest
being a few examples).
As a member of the HOA publicity board, I hope to connect
all three of these high-profile productions with our efforts to
promote and preserve America's first horse. As a
spokesperson, interviews that I give will be angled toward that
goal. It is also my hope that all fellow conservators will be
proud enough of the films to say "those are our horses" and
will take advantage of any heat the movies generate. Because
whether in the round pen, on the trail, or at the typewriter and
movie camera, we're all conservators.
Those are our horses. Long may they run.
“SPIRIT: STALLION OF CIMARRON" & ALL RELATED
MARKS & MEDIA ARE TM & © 2002 DREAMWORKS
PICTURES.
Vickie Ives Speir, President, Newsletter,
Web Page Design
Tom Norush, 1st Vice President
Kyle Germany, 2nd Vice-President, National
Awards Committee Chair, Gaited Activity
Group Chairman
Gretchen Patterson, Registrar, Executive
Committee, Web Page Design
Lisa Germany, Secretary
Dr. Phil Sponenberg, Special Consultant to
the Executive Committee
Carol Stone, Reporter. Send your stories to
Carol at 2242 230th St., Afton, IA 50830-8239.
Publicity Committee: Carol Stone, Tom
Hebert, John Fusco, and Shiela Cochron.
Online Sale Pages and help with Web Page
Design: Jeanne Vaughn
Strain Club representatives:
Sheri Wysong, Sulphur
Vickie Ives Speir, Havapai Pony (Grand
Canyon)
Alan Bell, Romero/McKinley
Doug Norush, Banker
Tally Johnson, Yates.
Nanci Falley, Tribal strains
Christine Cambell, Kiger
Sharron Scheikofsky, Sorraia Mustang
We need more Strain Reps! Volunteer to
represent your Strain. You’ll be helping HOA
promote YOUR favorite Spanish Colonial.
“Spirit” Synopsis
Currently approved HOA Colonial Spanish
strains include:
Quoted from dreamworksfansite.com/spirit/
1) Brislawn foundation
2) Book Cliffs foundation
3) Original Horse of the Americas foundation
4) Jones foundation
5) Tribal strains: Choctaw/Cherokee/Huasteca
6) Wilbur-Cruce,
7) Romero/McKinley
8) Yates
9) Belsky
10) Havapai Pony (Grand Canyon)
11) Bankers (Ocrakoke, Shackleford, Currituck, Corolla,
and Hatteras)
12) Florida Crackers and Marsh Tackies
13) Pryor Mountains
14) Sulphur
15) Kiger
16) Cerbat
17) Sorraia Mustang
"Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron" follows the
adventures of a wild and rambunctious mustang
stallion as he journeys through the untamed American
frontier. Encountering man for the first time, Spirit
defies being broken, even as he develops a
remarkable friendship with a young Lakota brave.
The courageous young stallion also finds love with a
beautiful paint mare named Rain on his way to
becoming one of the greatest unsung heroes of the
Old West.
The traditionally animated feature film is directed by
Kelly Asbury and Lorna Cook and produced by
Mireille Soria from a screenplay by John Fusco. The
original score is by Academy Award(R)-winning
composer Hans Zimmer ("The Lion King"), with
songs performed by Grammy winner Bryan Adams.
"Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron" also features the
voice talents of James Cromwell and Daniel Studi.
12
Registrar’s Report—
February, 2002
By Gretchen
Patterson, HOA
Registrar
As of this reporting, I have registered 170 horses.
We have extended the herd rates another year for those
with large numbers of horses to register. I hope that with
this coming year, more of you will be able to send in those
registration papers. Over the past few months, I have been
busy with a new grand daughter that has slowed my
registration process time. I thank everyone for their
patience. Jessica and Krysten have now moved to a new
home and I can get back to business in a timely fashion.
One of our registration innovations was to print
each horse’s picture directly on the certificate. Each
certificate has two, and sometimes three pictures. Horses
with unusual white markings or facial markings will have
those features recorded as well. You may submit pictures
in one of three formats: regular photographs; digital scans
on photographic paper or via email. I would like to stress
that digital pictures must be printed on glossy paper. I
cannot use pictures that are printed on regular copy paper.
Horse of the Americas
Handbook
HOA plans to publish the Horse of the
Americas Handbook before the end of 2002.
Our book will be the most definitive work ever
on the Colonial Spanish Horse and will include
the Criteria for Inclusion and the Strain History
on each HOA approved Strain as well as
pictures of the foundation horses for each strain
and strain performers today. HOA Strain
representatives are working with each strain to
develop these documents for each of them.
Below is the Strain History and Criteria for
Inclusion on the Havapai Ponies. This small
strain was the first to complete the documents
for HOA. We include it in our newsletter as
info for our members, but also as an example
of what type information to include in their
own Strain History and Criteria for Inclusion.
We hope it will give our Strain reps and
members an idea as to what we want for each
strain for our book.
STRAIN HISTORY:
Havapai Ponies
If you send pictures via email, they should be no
larger than 400 kb and should be saved as a .tif or .jpg.
Picture files saved as a .gif extension have been
compressed and do not reproduce well. If you send me
pictures by email, please notify me in advance that you
will be sending picture file attachments.
Strain members are still exploring the
history of the Havapai Ponies. The Havasupai
Indians rode and used the small horses for
All photos should be taken in open space,
generations in the Grand Canyon, and many
preferably in the morning or early afternoon. Pictures with
photos of the tiny horses still exist. The history
lots of shadows do not scan well, and the horse’s true color
of the Strain today begins with Robert
is difficult to reproduce. Trees or other busy landscape
Brislawn's
mare,
Grand
Canyon
One,
possibly
a
daughter
of
a
Havapai
Pony called Cordy and the Choctaw
should be out of the background whenever possible. I
stallion
Ka-Maw-I.
Cordy
lived
her
entire
life
on
the
Cayuse
and
was
never
bred
to any stallion except Ka-Maw-I.
prefer pictures of both sides as well as a front and a rear.
If a horse has unusual white patterns on the head, a closeBob isBrislawn
took Grand Canyon I to the Wild Horse Research Farm, later called the Horse of the
up photo
also needed.
Americas Research Farm in Porterville, California. This recreation effort includes bloodlines of three foals out of
Grand
I (Grand Canyon
II, Daisy
Ice and
Barbwire, all reportedly sired by the Bookcliffs stallion
ForCanyon
more information,
please contact
Gretchen
Patterson,
Snipper).
These
three
eventually
made
their
way
to
Texas
202 Forest Trail Rd., Marshall, TX, 75672 or by email:when the largest breeding group of the remaining Horse
of the
Americas herd was purchased
by C.O.
"Buddy"
Ice and his wife Wanda in 1988. Another small group sired
tpranch@internetwork.net
Daytime
phone
is 903-935by Tasselhoff
(by
Barbwire
out
of
Little
Corn,
she
by
Four Lane out of Little Thing) remained in California with
5358; night time is 903-938-2908.
owner Gayle Noble.
The first period of search includes the years beginning with the twentieth century and into the late 1960s.
There are accounts and lore which have been circulated in past years and which reflect upon the existence of small
Grand Canyon horses; but there is little doubt that they existed, both as wild and as a part of Havasupai Indian life.
The Havasupai are the native residents of the Grand Canyon. Early twentieth century photographs of Colonial
Spanish type horses in the Canyon do exist, and many are available for viewing on the Internet through the
13
Cline Library, Special Collections, Northern Arizona University.
The National Parks Service was given a mandate to remove non-native species from the National Parks,
and this may have been the main factor in the loss of the feral members of this Strain. However, we might
consider that new influences were also at work during the 1960's and later. There was uncertainty concerning the
impact on the Canyon with construction of the 1963 dam on the Colorado River and which created Lake Powell.
There was also growing public criticism regarding the forty-year practice of killing burros and horses. Perhaps
removal of wild horses for preservation became a greater concern of the NPS; and it has often been repeated as
Havapai Strain lore and in Grand Canyon horse discussions that the mare that came to the Cayuse Ranch was
brought out of the Canyon by helicopter. This was entirely possible, but does not tally with information printed in
the Horse of the Americas' Newsletter which stated that the original Grand Canyon mare had come from a mobile
home dealer in South Dakota.
Regardless of how it was accomplished and whatever the chain of events were which followed, the accepted
conclusion of this Strain Club is that there was an authentic Havapai Pony mare. She and her daughter made their
way into Colonial Spanish breeding programs in the 1970's.
The second period of historical search concerns Grand Canyon I, the daughter or granddaughter of the
original Brislawn Grand Canyon mare. Her known history begins at Porterville, California where Robert Brislawn
and Jeff Edwards established the Brislawn-Edwards Wild Horse Research Farm, and later the original HOA. This
segment and time line likely began in the 1960's when it is believed that Bob Brislawn bought the original Havapai
Pony mare (who was called only "Josie's Black Pony" according to Kitty Brislawn) from a mobile home dealer in
Sioux Falls, South Dakota. He took her home to the Cayuse Ranch at Oshoto, Wyoming where she produced
"Cordy", possibly sired by an unknown stallion prior to coming to the Cayuse. Reports from the Cayuse suggest
that neither ever left the Cayuse Ranch, so the tiny dark bay mare known as Grand Canyon I which was taken to
Porterville, CA may have been a daughter of either by one of the Cayuse's stallions.
Of some interest, a few small unregistered horses or ponies with an obscure lineage are still being raised
on the Cayuse Ranch for younger riders, and they serve as a reminder of our link with the two small horses which
Bob originally bought.
Bob Brislawn selected some of the ranch's finest Colonial Spanish horses to begin the Horse of the
Americas herd, bringing the first "stud bunch" to the Research Farm late in 1971. Jeff Edwards, the other original
HOA founder, later wrote, "In 1972 the Department of Agriculture recognized Bob Brislawn as the founder of the
Spanish Barb Mustang horse. Now with the horses on the Research Farm being personally selected by Bob
Brislawn they are 'authenticated.'"
We believe that Grand Canyon I, the mare at the Research Farm, was an authentically sized Havapai
Pony. She was originally selected by Bob Brislawn to study genetic size. She may have been sired by an unknown
stallion prior to her dam coming to the Cayuse, but Grand Canyon I was likely out of Cordy or Josie's Black Pony
and by Ka-Maw-I, a black Choctaw. Grand Canyon I did not go to the Research Farm with the first stud bunch
shipped to California, however, but rather went sometime during the period from early 1972 to mid-1975. Once at
the Research Farm, Grand Canyon I produced several foals by Snipper, a small black Bookcliffs stallion.
Fate changed the destiny of all the HOA horses at the Research Farm, beginning the Texas historical
segment of Havapai Pony history. Bob Brislawn passed away in 1978. Jeff Edwards also became ill and was
unable to continue the effort. During the middle to later 1980's, the existing HOA stock passed to other hands;
around 1989 the three offspring out of Grand Canyon I went to Buddy and Wanda Ice in Odessa, Texas. They
included the black stallion named Barbwire and two mares, a dark bay called Grand Canyon II ("Twoie") and
Daisy Ice (originally known as just "Daisy"). Barbwire died at the Ice's Las Remudas Ranch near Monahans,
Texas. After the death of Wanda Ice, the two mares went to Karma Farms in East Texas in the spring of 1995,
where the Speir family has dedicated themselves to developing Havapai
Pony Strain. Incorporating some of finest Karma Farms Colonial Spanish
stallions into the Havapai Pony program, the Strain was expanded, adding
both paint and appaloosa color patterns and the occasional laterally gaited
Havapai while preserving the small size characteristic. Other breeders
have now joined that effort.
Grand14
Daisy Ice (Snipper/
Canyon I)
at 22
years old.
Criteria For Inclusion:
Strain: Havapai Ponies
(adopted May 2001)
The Havapai Ponies are a recreation of the horses of the Havasupai Indians of the Grand Canyon. Using the blood
of a little Colonial Spanish mare recorded as Grand Canyon I and stallions of recorded Colonial Spanish ancestry,
the Havapai Pony breeders wish to preserve a smaller Colonial Spanish horse. Havapai Ponies generally stand
13'2" hands or under which is called Classic size. Havapai Ponies standing over 13'2" hands or under are called
Standard size. Even Standard Havapai ponies rarely stand over 14 hands.
Purpose of the HAVAPAI PONY STRAIN:
1. To preserve the blood and genetic size of Grand Canyon I in a Colonial Spanish pony which will utilize the
flexion, endurance and trainability of the Colonial Spanish in a horse sized for those who have use for a smaller
mount of Barb type.
2. To preserve and promote the natural sound and amicable temperament which makes the Havapai Pony so well
suited as mounts for children.
3. To develop a gene pool of Classic sized Havapai Ponies and to understand the inheritance of Havapai Pony
Classic size.
CLASSIFICATIONS:
Classic and Standard
1. "Classic" size shall include
hands (54 inches) and under
2. "Standard" shall include
hands.
Standard shall also
classification is determined at
Havapai Pony Strain registered horses 13' 2"
when measured at four years of age or older.
Havapai Pony Strain registered horses over 13' 2"
include all eligible foals until Classic
maturity.
Above: Fewie (Little Chief/Babe) is a Standard sized Havapai Pony mare, owned by Karma Farms. Her Classic
sized daughter, Donna Anita is by Barbwire. Donna Anita is now owned by Rockin’ B Ranch. Left photo
shows Donna Anita as a foal at Las Remudas Ranch, Monahans TX, when Buddy and Wanda Ice owned the
HOA herd. Right photo is Ben O’Connor on Donna Anita in Native Costume Class at the American Indian Horse
National Show, 2000.
Qualifications for Strain Inclusion
1. All applications for Havapai Pony Strain Inclusion shall be registered with the Horse of the Americas Registry.
2. All applicants shall either trace their genetic ancestry to the mare Grand Canyon I, or be a descendent of other
Havapai Ponies as determined and approved by members of the Havapai Pony Strain Club.
15
3. All applicants who do not have Grand Canyon I ancestry shall, in addition to the above qualifications
and before being eligible for Havapai Pony Strain registration, produce two foals of sound quality and which offer
Classic potential at maturity.
Locate and palpate the Wing of Atlas:
What sets the Spanish Mustang aside from the REST
by Sharon May-Davis B.App.Sc. (Equine)
I believe this question has been asked many times amongst breeders of this fine, old and traditionally unique horse.
Subsequently, when Gretchen Patterson asked me to come and view the ‘bone yard’ on offer by the renowned
breeder Vickie Speir, I accepted with glee. Now you may be thinking that this is a strange invite to one so far
away, but for one such as me, this invite had me running. You see my expertise is the Equine’s Musculo-skeletal
System and with the nickname “The Bone Lady”, this opportunity was too good to miss.
So why am I writing this piece? Good question! Well, my reasoning is that having viewed the numerous skeletons
on offer, I found a specific detail that was peculiar to this breed alone and not one that I had encountered in other
breeds previously studied. Ok, then you ask, “What is it?”
To answer your question we have to address the Wing of Atlas, also known as the transverse process of C1. This is
the first cervical vertebra behind the skull and this wing in most breeds appears as a semi-circular lateral
downward facing extension from the vertebral body. However, in the Spanish Mustang, the wing appears ear
shaped in comparison, although up side down depending on the aspect from which it has been viewed.
The next question is, can this be palpated? Yes. The Wing of Atlas on a regular breed like the thoroughbred or
quarter horse has the significant semi-circular shape that travels from the upper edge of the jugular groove to
behind the horse’s ear with little deviation. However, in the Spanish Mustang it starts at the same place from the
upper edge of the jugular groove, but instead of traveling upwards towards the ear it deviates dorsally towards the
nuchal ligament, centered under the mane.
Other aspects of note were; the dorsal area caudal to the Alar region, the spinal foramen, the actual shape of the
wing from convex to concave and the articulating surface of C1 that receives the dens from the Axis (C2).
Unfortunately, I only had a short time to spend in Texas and hence, I was unable to acquaint myself with this breed
further. But I would like to take this opportunity to thank Gretchen Patterson and Vickie Speir for this chance to
meet such a sturdy and unique breed.
16
Part 2
Update by Sharon May-Davis B.App.Sc. (Equine)
Six months ago I was privileged to view a number of skeletons from Vickie Ives Speir’s Spanish Mustang
graveyard. As a direct consequence, I noted the Atlas’s (C1) pear like shaped variation in comparison to other
breeds. Although my previous investigations were limited to Arabians, Thoroughbreds, Quarter Horses and the
more popular breeds, I felt the overall number of those that I had researched gave the variation in the Spanish
Mustang case more credibility. Since then, the palpation techniques I shared with Vickie Speir and Gretchen
Patterson to determine this variation has shown 100% accuracy in pure strains.
Hence, I would like to write a more detailed account with diagrams to assist others to determine this variation. In
most cases, the Wing of Atlas from other breeds looks similar to the top one shown in the diagram on the next
page; however, the Spanish Mustang is displayed directly below it in the very same photograph. The pear shape
wing, as opposed to the semi-circular one, gives rise to a potential verification of the breed if the parentage of the
horse is known.
Now to palpate the Atlas in the Spanish Mustang, run your thumb or forefinger along its wing as shown by the
arrows in the diagram on page 8. You will note the deviation from the Wing of Atlas in other breeds by the sharp
upward angulation of the wing. In other breeds this palpation follows a smooth descending arc from behind the ear
towards the jugular groove, but not so in the Spanish Mustang. However, it must be remembered that this
phenotype attribute could also be found in a part bred as a hereditary factor and must not be looked upon as the
only classification of the breed.
As mentioned earlier I had not encountered this variation in other breeds prior to my visit to Texas or to Karma
Farms. But I must now contend that after I wrote the original article I encountered a similar Atlas in a miniature
horse in Colorado. This brings me to the point where it has been inferred that the wild small horses of the Grand
Canyon were used for miniature horse breeding programs early to mid last century. This would clarify and I am
now hypothesising here, that these horses evolved from Spanish stock to survive the harsh conditions encountered
in the terrain and possibly explains why the Karma Farms Canyon Horse bares the same Atlas. I’m afraid more
questions rather than answers have evolved here instead ?
About the Author
Sharon May-Davis is a renowned Equine Therapist who has been involved with performance horses for nearly
thirty years. She attends to Australian and State Champions from most equestrian disciplines including Dressage to
Western. Furthermore, she was the Equine Therapist for the Modern Pentathlon Horses whilst in training for the
Sydney 2000 Olympics and the Australian Reining Team demonstrating on site. Her competition years included
show, rider and in-hand classes up to Royal standard with success in all three categories. She is a qualified Judge
for the Show Horse Council and Miniature Horse Association of Australia and as such, judges breed, saddle and
rider classes with requests up to State and National Titles.
Her equine academic qualifications have been gained at College and University levels in both Australia and the
United States of America (USA). These include a Bachelor of Applied Science (Equine), Advanced Certification
in Horse Management and numerous Equine Therapy Programs She has been teaching equine subjects at colleges
for over five years and spoken at numerous public gatherings in relation to her work.
Her research into the equine’s musculo-skeletal system has earned her the nickname “The Bone Lady” in both
Australia and the USA. Her extensive research covers the skeletal anatomy of numerous breeds and performance
horses, which has been documented and delivered to several universities and colleges for further clarification. This
work prompted Midway College in Kentucky to grant her a “Certificate of Honor” in recognition.
Articulation skills were developed as a ‘layperson’ through the Australian Museum and since then Sharon has
been producing articulated equine skeletons for educational facilities throughout Australia and the USA. Hence,
she is frequently found in the field either exhuming skeletons of note or palpating horses prior to euthanasia to
correlate her work with the skeletal remains. Therefore, this type of documentation is relevant to the equine athlete
as a source of information to base changes within skeletal anatomy pertaining to breeds and performance.
17
Working With Wild Spanish Barbs
by Alan Bell, HOA Romero/McKinley Strain Representative
In the spring of 1998 I was fortunate enough
to be able to meet Weldon and Margaret McKinley.
The McKinley’s own a ranch near Los Lunas, New
Mexico that has had Spanish Mustangs running wild on
it for at least 200 years. On a tip from Emmett
Brislawn, the son of the Spanish Mustang Registry
founder, Bob Brislawn, whom I had visited while
trucking (every job has its perks), I renewed my effort
to contact the McKinley’s, as Emmett assured me they
still had some of their famous horses and showed me
the last one taken off their ranch, a chestnut mare he
owned.
I had tried calling, and though there are only a
few McKinley’s in Los Lunas, they all denied knowing
anything about the horses. So, I decided to write and
got the address from an old copy of the SMR
newsletter that Marye Anne Thompson, SMR
Registrar, had sent me, which had an ad for the
McKinley’s. I wrote and they answered! My second
daughter was born shortly thereafter, and it would be 2
more years before I could take them up on their offer of
horses. In the winter of 2000, I finally started finalizing
plans with Mark McKinley to get some horses in
exchange for acting as a broker for horses they would
gather that spring. I offered to halter break the herd and
set up a sale in exchange for 2 mares.
I tried to enlist everyone I could, but in the
end only 2 people could make it. They were both there
for 3 days, then one left, and the other stayed 2 more
days. The last 5 days I would be on my own. This was,
I thought, an easy way to acquire some of the famous
McKinley horses and has turned out to be a “don’t try
this at home” deal. Although, I’ve had the experience
of a lifetime, I’ve paid more for the 2 mares than any
horse I’ve ever owned! I wouldn’t have it any other
way, because what I’ve
18
A wild 4-year-old bay McKinley mare races around the
catch pen. Photo by the author, Alan Bell.
Although evident throughout this method, it is this
latter stage that truly illustrates this principal. Horses
will, more often than not, turn to the outside of the pen
when changing directions as this puts their hind legs
towards the center, and it’s a natural instinctive action.
In order to get the horse to turn to the inside
you must stop the horse from turning to the outside and
cause him to continue in the same direction. Every time
you position your body towards the horse’s path he’s
been changing directions. Keeping the horse as your 12
o’clock reference you move towards either 10 or 2
o’clock, depending on the horses direction, and the
horse will change direction. Now move towards 8 or 5
o’clock to get the horse to turn to the inside. This gives
the horse more room to make the turn and the horse
still perceives you as entering his path. If the horse
starts to turn to the outside you should stop him and
allow him to continue on in his original direction.
done and learned is PRICELESS. It is some of these
observations and lessons the horses have taught me that
I would like to share.
I feel there are levels to be discussed when
working with any horse; physical, mental, and spiritual.
I mention the spiritual aspect because I feel that those
of us that chose this breed, over the other more
common or accessible breeds, do so because we feel a
connection…a connection, to either the horses, or to
the people that have depended on them in the past.
Some feel akin to the old cowboys, some the Vaqueros
or the Native Americans, still others the Spaniards and
some like me might feel somehow connected to all of
the above even the Moors of North Africa. I also feel
that the greatest horsemen throughout history have
been warriors. And the greatest of these has to
recognize a high spiritual standard or else fall prey to
the lowest depths of society. A warrior, by necessity,
had to have a horse that he could rely on in the most
volatile situation and that dependability comes through
a high level of trust and caring. A mount that cared for
it’s rider could save your life and a “Crazy Horse” was
one that fought for it’s rider and was honored with
retirement after such a feat as it was deemed a gift from
the Great Spirit.
The mental and physical go hand in hand in
my eyes as “ the mind commands, the body follows
and the Spirit flows”. There are principals to good
horsemanship and when the right principles are
followed the actual techniques matter little. So I will
discuss mostly the principals and show how to apply
them to various techniques.
It’s getting so that there are almost factions in
the horse training world. There are the Parelli-ists, the
Lyon-ites, and the Monty Roberts-aphile etc. All of
these horsemen have achieved things that set them
apart from the norm in the horse world. And all are
almost as different in their methodology as Night and
Day!! Looking for the common threads can lead to
insights that can be defined as principals. I’ll start with
a principal shared by all: ‘Make the right thing easy
and the wrong thing hard’ which leads to another ‘let it
be the horses idea’ and a common goal: get the horse to
‘key’ onto the handler.
Let’s start with John Lyons and “Round Pen
Reasoning”. John has the horse moving at liberty in a
round pen and, using body positioning, controls the
horses direction and when the horse changes direction.
He will then start controlling how the horse changes
direction i.e. by turning towards the outside of the pen
or towards the middle.
To make the right thing easy you must be able
to stop the horse from getting to far into the outside
turn. If you can catch him as his nose tips to the outside
it’s far easier for the horse than if he had completed the
turn and had to stop and turn again in order to continue
on his original direction. The wrong thing is hard
because the horse is using momentum to turn and has
to stop that momentum and redirect it back onto it’s
original course. This leads me to my most important
discovery; it’s more about training yourself than
training the horse!
8
How in tune can I be in order to make the right thing as
easy as possible and the wrong thing just a minor
inconvenience?
Many people fall into the habit of making the
wrong thing warrant some sort of punishment! A
horseman finds ways to make the wrong thing just hard
enough that the horse appreciates the right thing and
thus fulfills another principal: Let it be the horse’s idea.
As the horse gets better at this you go back to asking
for outside turns again and soon the horse is looking to
you for direction and relief. The horse has ‘keyed’ onto
you.
Monty Roberts also starts a horse in the round
pen, but his focus is on keeping the horse moving until
he sees certain signs he calls the ‘Language of Equus’.
Monty wants to see the horse lick its lips and then see
the horse lower its head. These actions he interprets as
the horse saying he’s a herbivore and then asking you
to become the leader of its herd, respectively. At this
point Monty allows the horse to stop and turns his
shoulder diagonally to the horse. The horse
acknowledges Monty’s leadership by coming and
putting his nose at Monty’s shoulder in an action
Monty calls ‘join up’. The same principles are
illustrated in that it’s easier for the horse to allow you
to be its leader than to keeping moving around the
round pen and that the horse has to ask you to be its
leader before the pressure is taken off. And the goal of
having the horse ‘key’ on to you is achieved in ‘join
up’. Again, knowing just how much pressure to apply
is paramount to keeping the horse from either
accepting leadership or considering you a tyrant. Either
of these methods works well with wild horses when the
aforementioned pitfalls are avoided and a round pen is
available.
You still can’t touch the horse, but he’s keyed onto
you, so I’ll discuss that now. In New Mexico I didn’t
have a round pen and had to achieve the same goals.
What I did accomplished all the above and allowed me
to touch the horse! We were in a rectangular corral, and
I would get the horse at one end. The corral was just
wide enough that I could move to keep the horse from
running to the other end but when they did I would
chase them back to my working end. I feel this is
important as the horses perceived this was something I
was trying to get them to do and thus had to start
keying onto me sooner.
When I would get the horse to quit trying to
move to the other end and stand still I’d really begin. A
short bit of human interest is appropriate; when a
returning scout would come back to the main camp,
amongst the Sioux, he would not ride directly in. He
would come in a little at a time, stopping and circling
and advancing in stages. This told those in the camp
that there was no danger found on his scouting mission.
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If he was to ride directly in it meant something was up,
and all would rush to find out what. Horses, and
especially wild horses, are the same!
Once the horse is standing if I would walk directly up
to him, he would flee, perceiving there was some
predator about (me). The harmonious world is circular,
the turbulent one, angular. I would approach the horse
a little at a time with my hand extended, palm towards
the horse, until he’d look at me with both eyes or ‘face
up’, then I’d stop and circle back to my original
position. I presented the pressure to the horse gradually
by moving a little closer every third time or so, but was
always ready to adjust back when I noticed the horse
getting too anxious.
Within 15 feet of the horse I noticed some
changes. The horses would nod their heads up and
down as if saying yes, and most ceased the snorting
they had begun when the whole exercise started.
Several would actually start to follow me as I turned
and walked away. When I was back at my starting
place I would relax and open my heart until the horse
looked away. As soon as they looked away, I’d
approach hand extended, palm towards the horse until
both eyes were once again upon me. Within the last ten
feet I would start to consider where the horse’s ears
were pointing, and if the ears were not towards me, I
would continue to pressure the horse to face up in order
to get me to stop approaching. Around the fifteen feet
mark or so, I also would only go back four or five
steps, not all the way to the original position unless it
appeared the horse was getting too anxious.
At ten feet I also could approach a step or two
beyond the point where the horse faced up. Soon, at
about five feet, the horse is nodding and snorting, and I
would stop and pause before retreating giving the horse
time to smell and talking gently to it. Then I was able
to touch the horse between its eyes. Some would stand
there while others would flee at first touch, but those
that did were easier to start over with.
I should also point out that most of the horses,
especially the older ones, I had lassoed, and they were
dragging a lariat that I would try to get them to allow
me to grab. When they would allow me to grab the
lariat, I would continue to do the advance and retreat
thing for awhile and then would try to get them to let
me also rub their necks. Soon they were leading! Also,
I never got into a real ‘tug-of-war’ with these horses. I
would always try and have some give in the rope. I
would try not to set a brace in the horse and would
instead “pump” the rope in order to get them to stop.
It’s kind of like the feeling of catching an egg. As soon
as the horse feels your contact, it’s gone, and they have
nothing to resist or fight against. Of course with most
of these horses this was done on the run, trying to keep
up with them, and when I couldn’t, I’d simply let go of
the rope and begin anew.
I made the right thing (facing me) really easy
and the wrong thing (looking away) not so hard.
Looking away meant only that I would continue to
apply pressure by continuing to approach the horse. It
was the horses’ idea to look at me to get me to stop. It
was the horses’ idea to allow me to touch it and let me
into its herd and because these horses are survivors,
they figure out quickly what is asked of them and
whether it is life threatening or not.
and turned and faced up to me and came back to me to
be rubbed between the eyes (as soon as I could stand)!
I could have used any method from lassoing
and choking them down (as was suggested) to round
pen reasoning to join up. I feel what I did
worked best because I was able to touch the horse in a
shorter period of time. Although not for everyone, it
works for me. It is hard and physically demanding to
work with wild horses. I’m inherently lazy so I like to
find ways to do things right the first time so I don’t
have to do them over again!
All this took, from beginning to end, on
average 30 to 45 minutes per horse. Thus I was able to
halter break 18 wild mustangs in 10 days. It teaches the
horse to face you and not present his ‘business end’ to
you. It teaches the horse to accept you and your
leadership. It teaches the horse that relief from
pressure comes through looking at you. This is
extremely important as it leads to trust and respect. I
had a Blevins buckle come undone on a horse I was
riding, causing him to buck me off. The horse stopped
Alan works with a McKinley 3 year old filly.
Karma Farms congratulates
Margerita on her son Fernando’s
NATRC 2001 National Championship.
(also NATRC High Point Spanish Mustang and HOA
2001 Champion CTR Horse)
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Photographing Your Horse
for
Introducing “Ferdie’s” little brother Flaming Pie out of
Margerita by Building A Mystery (“Bam” by Rowdy
Yates out of Liona). Solid grulla 2001 colt with looks,
pedigree and a distance pedigree second to none. “Pie”
is for sale: $1000. Other nice Colonial Spanish horses
from breeding stock to 2002 models. Stallions at stud
including Rowdy Yates, El Tigre Segundo, Dance
Magic, Locomotion, Tambourine Man, Geronimo
Fusco, Trail Blazer and Doctor Wu.
Visit us at karmafarms.com or call (903) 9359980 for more information.
Registration or Inspection
by Vickie Ives Speir, President
Gretchen Patterson, HOA Registrar
What makes a good picture for use on your
registration certificate or for inspection for inclusion in
HOA? Here’s a guideline:
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Here No Myth’s whole front end is facing away
from the camera and we can’t even see his facial profile.
Certainly would have difficulty judging the conformation
ratio and true angle of shoulder although Myth’s
shoulder is so laid back that there would be no question
of his being straight-shouldered, even from this shot.
This is a good shot for his leg markings, though.
Horse of the Americas,
Inc.
202 Forest Trail Rd.
Marshall, Texas 75672
www.horseoftheamericas.com
Ever After doesn’t have a heavy forelock
obscuring his marking. The angle is good. Hip is very
slightly toward the camera so it’s not perfect, but it’s
good. The heavy shadow on the neck is about the only
flaw. But if he had a leg marking in right rear, it
wouldn’t be so good. We can’t see that leg at all.
Remember, good photos make your
registration certificate look better, and will
increase the likelihood of acceptance on a
good Colonial Spanish feral.
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