Potential

I want to get back to the discussion on horses in the wild and the idea that being in the wild and having to survive makes them talented. I do not believe it is so.

I have had a lot of people comment that horses coming out of the wild have a natural lead change, nice stop, and a terrific handle, etc. all they need is training. People tend to give no credit to the trainers who train these horses with such good “wild skills”. The reason we notice this particular horse is because of its natural born abilities. The wild does not make this horse handle. This horse stands out because of its lack of effort to run, stop and turn. It moves with the greatest of ease. You can compare this wild horse in some ways to those great cowponies who seem to read a cow like a book, those perfect polo ponies who will fly down the field as fast as possible and then turn on a dime when the ball changes directions right in front of them. Even the big jumper who seems to have been born with its knees tucked perfectly over a jump and looking for the next one before its front feet hit the ground. The wild horse is not bred out in the wild for one specific thing; but it is born to do many things. They only do what we show them, it is up to us to make it work when it needs to work; stay out of their way when things are perfect. We have the perfect blank slate to work with, if we know what we are looking for! We look for conformation, disposition and that beautiful eye. We look for that horse with presence, with kindness and sometimes with fire. It is very possible that this horse is a descendant of some great horse whose papers were not important, but its heart and ability were.
When we decide that there is more to life than the importance of public and private opinion, when we decide that we cannot ride paper but we can ride a good horse and possibly train some great ones, then we can be a part of a new era and a part of the solution.