This article originally appeared in Eclectic Horseman Issue No.16 “I have spent most of my life around horses. When I was growing up, my family farmed. We put our crops in and out with horses. Horses have always been a part of my life,” said Ray Hunt in his opening words to a crowd of […]
Written by Barbara Weiss All I wanted was a simple two-track. “Jesus, Mary, Joseph, Tai,” I said this out loud, as if my four-year-old Paint mare might understand words better than anything my seat or hands could communicate. “A two-year-old colt can do this. What is the problem?” Tai’s head bobbed up and down fast […]
Written by Constance Brown Last week in the pasture along the creek by the dying cottonwood thicket, I stood on my horse’s off side combing brambles from his tattered mane. Looking forward toward his head I saw the back of his right ear. Silhouetted against the blue Wyoming sky, it formed a perfect crescent. The […]
Barbara Weiss has been a student of Natural Horsemanship for five years. She has come to believe that Natural Horsemanship is the best path to training, riding, or simply “being” with a horse. Natural Horsemanship, she believes is about honest, thoughtful exploration between horse and rider. “If Wishes Were Horses” examines this kind of exploration. […]
Written by Eclectic Horseman A collection of memories from Eclectic Readers about the late Tom Dorrance. Connie Brown: I never knew Tom Dorrance but all of my “teachers” are horses and trainers from his lineage. He made a great contribution to the good for both horses and horsemen and horsewomen today. Every day I delight […]
Written by Eclectic Horseman 1. How did you get involved with horses? I grew up on a ranch in the San Luis Valley of southern Colorado. We ran cattle and did everything horseback except the fencing, irrigating and haying. I learned to cowboy from my father and uncles who learned from their father and so […]
Written by Eclectic Horseman 1. How did you get involved with horses? I was an eastern-born, California-raised “town kid,” the proverbial black sheep when it came to dreams and later my profession. I saved up three hundred bucks by the time I hit 12 and was allowed to buy my first horse. She cost $300, […]
Written by Eclectic Horseman Chuck Stormes: Saddlemaker and President of the Traditional Cowboy Arts Association EH: What was the inspiration for starting the TCAA? CS: The idea has been around for twenty years or more. I remember discussing it occasionally in the eighties with other craftsmen and artists. When Joe Beeler helped with the Trappings […]
Ol’ Joe jumped up in the gooseneck With Dunny, side by side Even the horses seemed fired up To take this little ride We were goin’ to see a man My pard had heard about He’d heard he could get one goin’ Without a jerk or shout When come to caballo relations, We’d take what […]
Written by Eclectic Horseman 1. How did you get involved with horses? I was raised on a ranch in LaVeta, Colorado, where I day worked and rode bareback horses. I’ve always been around horses and had ridden colts for a few people. My cousin introduced me to Charlie Van Norman. Charlie told me if I […]