What in a Horse by Gregg Hake What in a horse Lifts man's spirits To the heavens? His graceful air, His gentle strength, His serving heart? His pliant will, His playful mind, His quiet look? What in a horse Draws forth virtue From his rider? I dare not choose.
Tag: horsemanship
The Ride of My Life: Life Lessons Learned on Horseback
"They say Princes learn no art truly, but the art of horsemanship. The reason is, the brave beast is no flatterer. He will throw a prince as soon as his groom." - Ben Johnson Despite my best laid plans, I've often found myself bouncing along the path of life like a bad rider on a …
Continue reading The Ride of My Life: Life Lessons Learned on Horseback
Moral Collection
My wonderful horse, a large and long Hanoverian named Leo, has taught and continues to teach me a great many lessons about life. One of the latest centers around a concept which is just beginning to germinate in the soil of my mind, one that the classical riding masters called rassembler. Rassembler or "collection" as we …
The Ascending Spiral
There exists a remarkable parallel between raising children and schooling horses. Both horses and people move through a period of intense physical development in their youth, followed by mental and emotional growth and maturation. Handled rightly, this process oscillates back and forth between tension and relaxation. In the moment it might feel like you are …
Indispensable Self-Control
It takes time to develop proficiency and even more time to come to the point of mastery in any field of activity. That said, the more perfect the practice and the more consistent the progression, the less time is spent retracing steps and rebuilding foundational elements that have eroded with the passage of time spent …
A Better Way
"Playing both ends against the middle" is an old saying that means trying to get opposing people or groups to fight or disagree so that you will get an advantage from them. It is a way of distracting the attention of others so that the one playing the ends can swoop in and take what …
Facing the Mistakes of Life IX
"Right principles are vital and primary. They bring the maximum of profit from mistakes, reduce the loss to a minimum. False pride perpetuates our mistakes, deters us from confessing them, debars us from repairing them and ceasing them. Man’s attitude towards his mistakes is various and peculiar; some do not see them; some will not …
Monty Roberts, Compassionate Leadership and Principles of Horsemanship
Man's conquest of the natural world has not always been achieved through gracious and entreating means. I imagine that in times of dire necessity (such as the early pioneering days or in times of war) shortcuts are perceived as being optimal versus an approach based on compassionate leadership, but in times of plenty, can these types of methods be justified?
Gregory Hake 