Endurance.Net Ridecamp Archives

Thought I would share this with ridecamp.

Cheryl

Following is an excellent quote from Jane Smiley"s book ?" A Year at the
Races"?
Most horses pass from one human to another - some horsemen and women are
patient and forgiving, others are rigorous and demanding, others are cruel,
others are ignorant. ?Horses have to learn how to, at the minimum, walk,
trot, canter, gallop, go on trails and maybe jump, to be treated by the vet,
with sense and good manners. ?Talented Thoroughbreds must learn how to win
races, and if they can't do that, they must learn how to negotiate courses
and jump over strange obstacles without touching them, or do complicated
dance like movements or control cattle or accommodate severely handicapped
children and adults in therapy stables.?
Many horses learn all of these things in the course of a single lifetime.
?Besides this, they learn to understand and fit into the successive social
systems of other horses they meet along the way. ?A horse's life is rather
like twenty years in foster care, in and out of prison, while at the same
time changing schools over and over and discovering that not only do the
other students already have their own social groups, but that what you
learned at the old school hasn't much application at the new one.?
We do not require as much of any other species, including humans. ?That
horses frequently excel, that they exceed the expectations of their owners
and trainers in such circumstances, is as much a testament to their
intelligence and adaptability as to their relationship skills or their
natural generosity or their inborn nature.?
That they sometimes manifest the same symptoms as Romanian orphans -
distress, strange behaviors, anger, fear - is less surprising than that they
usually don't.?
No one expects a child, or even a dog to develop its intellectual capacities
living in a box 23 hours a day and then doing controlled exercises the
remaining one. ?Mammal minds develop through social interaction and
stimulation. ?A horse that seems stupid might just have not gotten the
chance to learn!?
? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? Take care of your horses in 2010



=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Ridecamp is a service of Endurance Net, http://www.endurance.net.
Information, Policy, Disclaimer: http://www.endurance.net/Ridecamp
Subscribe/Unsubscribe http://www.endurance.net/ridecamp/logon.asp

Ride Long and Ride Safe!!

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-