the hoof is the shoe...

pableus only shoe holds his good luck

Creator did such an amazing job designing nature and this is exemplified in the animal nations. the speed of the panther, the intelligence of the gorilla, and the grace of the horse. then man comes along and tries to alter the design to satisfy his greedy needs. let's take horse hooves for example. they are perfect. they are the shoe. if you study (and everyone with a horse should) the anatomy of the hoof, both inside and out, you will see that the hoof is designed to function just fine, bare. i got this visually when i saw martha olivo dissect a hoof. it all came together for me when i saw how the hoof works from the inside out and the incredible beauty of it. but because some people want their horses to go longer, faster, and harder while oftentimes lame, they nail shoes into the hoof over the shoe that's already there. dumb idea. then comes 'smart' man and he sees the health potential of being shoeless and invents boots for horses. cool hm? a healthier alternative for horses who need to heal or horses who need support over rough or rocky terrain while being ridden. if a horse has had shoes for all of it's life and an owner wants to transition to going barefoot, there's usually a period of healing that includes the owner being pro-active in helping the horse along and, the horse usually shoudn't be ridden until the hooves are healthy and healed again. time and time again, people bulk at this and don't want to do what's required of them to help their horse heal and really want to continue to ride. they will cave, give in, and slap shoes back on. this is dumb too. it takes patience and lots of it, to have a healthy horse and  the problems our ponies experiance can only strengthen our knowledge about them and provide us with info we need to learn about them and their needs.  again...we have to listen! we have begun teaching pableu about his hooves and trimming and we will give him all the time he needs to get comfortable with it. his hooves so shiny and stripey, so vital for keeping his heart pumping and strong, have little invisible wings attached to them that bloom when the moon is full, and carry him to places we can only dream of. hehe...

his hoof waiting for it's first trim

linda parelli and john wayne's teeth...

about a year ago i saw linda parelli smack a young, one-eyed paint horse she was working with on national tv. i couldn't believe it! i never liked the parelli's anyway because they always smelled phoney to me...like something wasn't quite right especially with linda. pat's stuff isn't even hidden, it glares at you right up front. linda's is more hidden, more sneaky. but that day on tv it wasn't and she smacked him good, yanked on his halter and treated him like shit. i was appalled. it's bad enough to know that most people hit their horses regularly but there she was, the idol and role model to millions smacking this young, one-eyed horse on tv. IN THE FACE!!! once in a while i watch the shows with trainers so i can learn what not to do not what to do. because as far as i can see, there isn't one person out there worth a bag of salt that is truly kind to horses. they all smack 'em, chase 'em, tug on 'em and treat them badly, all of them. so if their doing this on national tv, what are they doing behind the scenes? this came up one day when i was telling a woman about it who had been to the parelli ranch in colorado. she said she left there after three days the abuse was so bad and the horses so lame. she was so glad to leave she didn't even ask for her money back and she paid a bundle to go there and be mentored. what your probably wondering is what does linda parelli have to do with john wayne's teeth? nothing if you get what i'm saying, everything if you do. there's a song about him that questions his character by asking if his teeth, which are hardly ever seen (which doesn't sit well with native people), are real. you can hear it if you click on the video i have included for you to listen to. when i think about linda i think about john wayne and his teeth. he was phoney as boloney. i had a boyfriend who lived next door to him when we were kids in high school in newport beach and he was a foul-mouthed drunk who'd throw beer bottles at us for fun when we'd row our dingy past his deck. he too was beloved by millions...people adored and respected and looked up to him and they still do! i have an older friend in arizona who idolizes him and whenever he'd get anything 'john wayne' and show it to me, his face would light up like a little boys. all i could say was "oh frank...". my point is that both linda and john wayne were phonies. behind the scenes they were not the people they portrayed themselves to be to those of us who have seen them on the screen. sure john wayne was an actor playing parts and so is linda. she spends most of her time in front of the camera or in front of audiences because she loves horses? no way! she wants to MAKE MONEY!!! lots and lots of it and so she'll do whatever the hell she feels like doing to a one-eyed horse that's getting on her nerves because people will still adore her and hang on her every word. or slap, or yank. john wayne was killing indians in the movies long after they had already been wiped-out, thrown onto reservations and discarded by society and people still loved (love) him! ai yi yi...i spent the day singing "john wayne's teeth" but i substituted the words john wayne's teeth for linda's teeth. it worked....so now perhaps your wondering what this has to do with a blog about a little colt? this... i will never, never, endorse, copy, use, or watch, ever again even to learn what not to do with my precious little colt or any other horse, anything parelli. come clean linda. come clean before your horse tramples you and throws you over his back like the sad bag of bones you are...  

free-up

joaquin and pableu freein' up

i have a beautiful young friend named keith 'kdub' williams who's working real hard to improve the lives of inner city youth with art and skate skills. recently he commented about a tv show that shows a bunch of folks  dancing and having a really cool time to music. he referred to it as "free-up". i thought about this for a long time cuz so many of us are so caught up in stuff we've forgotten how to free ourselves up and have fun. we overthink, overuse, overanalyze, overdo, we just do way too much of a whole lotta nothin'. what if we applied a "free-up" principle to our relationship to horses? instead of constantly asking them to do stuff for us, how 'bout just letting them be sometimes. letting them do what comes natural to them to do with little or no interferance from us? my husband elvon let pableu out of his corral today and he went nuts running and bucking and getting all the other, older horses all riled up. it was great. he was so happy. he freed-up. horses are contantly freeing up. it's part of how they live in the world and how they express themselves. why don't we take the time to do this? why don't we run around and act nutty and goffy outside when the weather is nice or put on some music and really let loose?  we're too busy, too caught up, too this or too that to free-up. maybe if we did, maybe if we ran with our horses, played with them on their terms once in a while, they will see that we are not so strange, so repressed and so uptight, and the love and trust we so desperatly want from them will come easier

the first nicker....

he was very happy to get his morning snack and let me know in horsetalk!

you'll have to bear with me. this is the first time i've ever had a colt. had lotsa older horses but never a 'baby' so when pableu does new stuff i get all silly and fuzzy the same way i would if it were one of my grandkids. plus he's just so stinkin' cute! the white part of his eyes make his expressions all the more adorable so add that to his silky fur and long spidery legs and i'm mush. every morning i give him some alfalfa pellets wet down with meadowsweet tea and a scoop of his vitamins and when he saw me coming he nickered at me! this was the first time he ever has. he's really quiet and except for calling his uncles when they get out of eyesight, he never makes a peep. so when he nickered, i was elated. what, really, is a nicker? it's a horse talking...expressing itself, giving you a message. if only i could know all of his language! perhaps if i shut up and listen, be quiet and always kind, i will....

liberty?

i don't want to hurry with pableu. i don't want to put a halter on him yet. he managed to get the too tight neck tag with his blm number on it at the corrals off so what is that telling me? i like the idea of him never needing one but for a short time, then on to a cordeo around the bottom of his neck instead. i don't want him to fear or run from me. i don't want to teach him tricks or make him do things that humiliate him or make fun of him. i don't ever want to think that i know what's good for him more than he does and impose my selfish, human ideas on him. i don't want to be "the boss" or the lead mare or dominant over him in any way. why? because i am not a horse!!! and horses know that we are not. to try to pretend like we are or even mimick herd behavior is ridiculous to me because they know the difference and to behave otherwise will only confuse and upset them. will i ride him someday? maybe, maybe not. he will decide if that's something he wants to do and let me know and whatever he decides will be ok with me and...i hope with all my heart i learn from him and apply what i learn to my other horses. i have made mistakes with them and it saddens me to think about the damage some of those mistakes has caused. pableu's not my slave or here to serve or work for me any more than my husband is. he too is my partner, my friend, my equal. i feel like people are using the term "at liberty" with horses the way they use "natural" horsemanship. there's nothing natural about it all. it's still humans asking horses to do stuff they usually don't want to do or are not comfortable doing and the horse does them just to 1) make the human happy or 2) make them shut up. and liberty? i understand what people try to mean when they use that word but in reality, that big ass ugly helicopter that chased and scared the shit out of pableu and his band during the round up in august and ken salazar took that away.

my little stallion...

a proud and happy pableu

i know this is really silly but i got as excited as a mother whose son just got his first whisker today when i noticed that pableu dropped his first testicle. hehe!!! i know...it's stupid and funny at the same time getting excited about it, but i couldn't help but feel proud for him. guess the other one should be coming sometime within the next month or so and then come spring, we'll have to consider gelding. ah my poor boy...in a perfect world you could keep all your parts along with your freedom and make a fine, fine family. instead, let's celebrate your growth and health and give you all the love and adoration we can...