Horse Sense

Good Morning Fans!I'm hoboclown.Flash Mc Cool has some feedback about his investigation at a horse stable yesterday- There's too much violence in the world! Yesterday,I visited a horse stable in Philadelphia to find some ways to curb youth violence in Philadelphia,PA. I grabbed my magnifying glass and note pad and spirited over to the Bill Pickett Riding Academy to begin my investigation with the stable managers: Ike,Martin and Tweety. Ike is a retired Police Lieutenant and Equine Specialist.Martin is a retired Philadelphia Mounted Policeman.Tweety is a horse riding instructor and adolescent psychotherapist.You see, about three weeks ago,Ike put the word out that he wanted to offer at-risk youth, families & volunteers access to Equine Assisted Psychotherapy at the Bill Pickett Riding Academy as a path away from youth conflict and violence.Four hundred people answered the call announced in the Philadelphia Daily newspaper.I wanted to find out the true ingredients of this Equine Assisted Psychotherapy. The minute I set foot on the stable grounds, I was followed by the eyes of some ten horses in the corral.I found Ike and Tweety counseling ten new visitors (parents with their children) who also answered the call. Tweety and another stable- hand groomed a mare while she and Ike instructed the visiting on-lookers in basic horsemanship.A stable tomcat greeted each arriving visitor. Two experienced adolescents (one boy & one girl) were busy cleaning stalls.Ike explained that they were working fast to earn the Riding Lessons at the end of their chores.According to Ike, the boy would visit everyday after school if he could. There were some 25 or 30 horses in the stalls with 10 corraled outside. Before the three hour investigation,observation and interaction with some of the horses and on the spot tutorials with Ike & Tweety, I had researched the Psychology of Horses.The horse riding demonstration by Tweety put the icing on the cake. I discovered that the relationship of trust, on-going non-verbal communication ( i.e. the rider's posture,handling of the reins, use of legs & feet and verbal commands) facilitates an enjoyable and safe riding experience for the horse and rider. Equally important was the horse herd's acceptance of the rider as a leader of the herd.That is, the tranformation of the predatory human rider into a prey/leader of the herd.Once that bond is accomplished,respected and maintained , the potential conflict between an 800 to 1200 pound horse and rider can be neutralized. Ike and other seasoned Equine specialists recognize that once man (the predator) confines the horse (the prey animal) he has a responsibility to protect the horse's welfare since man is allegedly smarter. My investigative observation was that the horse rider's mental shift from superior intelligence to the lower form of horse sense or herd mentality yielded less conflict between the rider and the horse. You would think that people would get along better with each other if they just used Horse Sense! ____ Until next time, keep cool! Love, ~Hoboclown~ copyright 2006