There are no vicious horses, just spoiled ones. Likewise, there are no evil people, just damaged ones. In many if not most cases, the injuries can be repaired and the gaps can be filled through a steady diet of empathetic attention and thoughtful intervention. The ideal, of course, is to create a world wherein as …
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Pure Arete
The ancient Greeks developed many useful concepts which we, in our current vaunted era, would be wise to revisit. One such concept, arete (Ancient Greek: ἀρετή), was used extensively by the Sophists. In its most basic sense, arete means excellence of any kind. It implies effectiveness and it is exhibited whenever and wherever full potential …
Your Microbiome: Friends with Benefits
What are you? A human being, of course, but what is a human being? Let's leave out the debate over the invisible, intangible aspect of you for the moment, that is, the "being" and look simply at the "human" part of the equation, your physical body. What are you, physically speaking? Biology textbooks tell us …
A Probing Analysis
"Indeed the development of one's riding skill lies not so much in knowing the answers as in understanding the questions." - William Steinkraus I once heard it said that if you can form the right question, you can find the true answer. It sounds straightforward but putting it into practice requires a certain perspective vision …
The Elegant Solution
You know a book is going to be interesting when its preface is riveting. William Steinkraus' prefatory comments to Lt. Col. A. L. D'Endrödy's excellent work on equitation "Give Your Horse a Chance" provides powerful insight into how to be more effective in living. Steinkraus noted: "It is ironic that so many of the people …
Give yourself a chance!
Thanks to a generous new acquaintance, I've just started reading Lt. Col. A.L. D'Endrödy's classic work on the training of horse and rider "Give Your Horse a Chance." D'Endrödy explains in the introduction that "I drafted the first outline of my book while in captivity at the foot of the Caucasus Mountains, on the shores …
Ask, Receive, Give
"Remember, the conversation between you and your horse must never be dull or inert. It should be, 'Ask, receive, give. Ask, receive, give.' Ask with your body and legs; receive through your body into your hands; give primarily with the hands, but also with your body and legs, so that you can ask all over …
Weapons of Mass Construction
It is well-known that fission and fusion, two forms of nuclear reaction, release tremendous amounts of energy from relatively small amounts of matter. Weapons whose explosive energy is generated by fission are commonly known as "atomic bombs," though the name is somewhat misleading as the energy released comes specifically from the nucleus of the atom. …
The Mind of the Student
Yesterday's post on mating mosquitos got me thinking about the learning process. I've often thought that learning was akin to sex in that the acquisition of knowledge occurs through a rhythmic interplay of the student and the unknown. There is, borrowing from the mating habits of mosquitos, a harmonic convergence where the mind of the …
Harmonic Convergence
Summer is fast upon us in the northern hemisphere, and the warming temps herald the coming of the familiar and foreboding sound of mosquitos buzzing through the air. The buzzing sound they produce is of course a function of their wing beats and mosquitos have the ability to modify the speed at which they beat …
Gregory Hake 