credit for Sunday Sermon

[Darolyn Butler <darolyn@swbell.net>]

  Hi Folks,
 Wow!!!  Many of you liked that Sunday Sermon as much as me.  I had several
requests for more information about how to get in touch with Gail & how to
get permission to reprint.  I was able to get that from Gail & also a
correction of a typo.  So I have included a corrected copy as well as some
of the interesting  comments that were made.

Gail Ivey
School of Horsemanship

Darolyn's Foreword:
     Actually, as an endurance rider, I feel pretty good about our treatment
of horses. Granted, they may not "on their own" go out and run 50 or 100
miles in a day, but I think what we ask them to do and the training thereof,
is more to the natural desire of the horse than any other discipline man has
devised for them.  And we do listen to our horses.... probably more than any
other discipline in existence.... Be proud to have a well-conditioned and
happy long distance equine.... And keep listening when they whisper!!!

 Now:
Gail's Thoughts on Horses

If anyone is interested in resposting it, they can contact me directly at
ginsrx@aol.com  or ginsr@earthlink.net.  You can also provide a link to my
web page: http://www.epcomm.com/gisoh/   Gail Ivey

     Posts of the last couple of days got me thinking about how us humans
expect things from our horses, yet rarely allow the horse to do them
according to their ability. We spend a lot of time thinking about we want
them to do, unwilling to compromise or make sacrifices in order to make it
easy for them to do what we want. We go on autopilot, we do what we always
do, we get what we always get. We grieve over their unhappiness, but grieve
worse over our inconvenience. Convenience wins out.

     We don't invite the horse to share our world, we bring him in whether
he wishes or not. We remove his ability to move, then demand that he move
for us. When he expresses himself, we want him to shut up. When he finds a
way to cope with his situation, we want him to stop coping his way and do it
our way. We ask so much, take away so much, return so little. Food, water,
shelter we provide, then proceed to invent things the horse "ought" to be
grateful to us for, when we can't provide his basic needs - room to move,
companionship, freedom to behave like a horse. Despite this, our horses give
to us all that we ask, try so hard to understand us.

    In our defense, most of us try to understand our horses, too. But how
many are willing to remove that idea in the back of our minds of "yeah, but
I want him to.." and just look at what the horse needs us to do for him to
make it easy for him to do it.

     Nature made the horse the most beautiful of all creatures. Humans want
to think they can do better. We push and pull, force and mold, warp and
exaggerate, over-confine and overmedicate. Yet, still the most beautiful
moments come when we do not interfere with what nature gave the horse.

     When we can allow nature to bring out the best in the horse, we can
improve him mentally and physically. When we deny what nature gave him, we
destroy him, mentally and physically. Lately, I've had to be around some
horses and their humans who are bent on getting what they want from the
horse, and removing his ability to do it. The horses flash and wring their
tails, buck and rear, flip their heads, pin their ears, kick out, bolt, or
just plain don't move. They are scolded, spurred and whipped for their
"insolence."    These are not cruel and intolerant humans, simply ones that
do not understand the horse, and are doing what someone else told them they
should do. I don't think anyone wants to hurt their horse, but worse than
that, no one wants to be told they are hurting their horse. So, my heart
aches for their horses. There's nothing I can do, except try to be an
example of a better deal for the horse, to the best of my ability.

The best thing for the inside of a man is the outside of a horse" -  Winston
Churchill
                                    "The best thing for the inside of a
horse is the outside of the barn" - Gail
********************************
Responses:
Cindy Simcox:
Darolyn- I'm not much for responding to the Internet chatter, but the
original posting struck a cord for me. Granted our horses don't come begging
and pleading to do the sport, but after 22 years and 10k plus miles I know
one thing- horses that don't like to do the sport don't stay in it! They
lame out, are metabolic nightmares etc but they aren't long finding a
discipline other that ours. You can "push, pull and drag at the 25-mile
level =, but above that too much heart and desire takes over. People that
don't like to run don't keep training for marathons! Hope I didn't get too
lofty on my soapbox. Cindy
*****************************************************
From Terre:
Thanks so much for sending that into ridecamp--I just loved it! Truer  words
were never spoken......
***********************************
Joaquin Avellan:
Beautiful, profound and so true. I confess I have sinned many a times of the
ignorance of not listening to what my horse is telling me. Yet I promise
myself every time I will never do this again.  Somehow a horse, my horse,
the horse... it is all of the same, reminds me of  myself as a child, open
to all of the possibilities of life's trails.
****************************************************************************
**
From:  Barbara Houck
wow....,that was just super...Darolyn, could we say the same thing
concerning our family, our children, mates.....God made Designer's
Originals......Some times we can be so hard on each other. Read this again
with a human in mind and see if we see the same thing......Love you a
bunch.....B
*******************************************

From:  Terri Chipman
Thanks for sending me Gail Ivey's Sunday Sermon. I'll try to get it in the
newsletter for TETRA.
Thanks,   Terri

karen standefer hrschk@yahoo.com
"The best thing for the inside of a horse is the outside of the barn" - Gail
Ivey
AAAAAAAAAAMEN!                         Karen
*****************************************************
I LOVE IT! THANKS FOR POSTING!
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Heidi-aerc#M20935 /\_/\~
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