"Why I Do What I Do"
One of the most majestic things in this life
is seeing something do what it was born to do...
...and maybe that goes double for horses.
I grew up on riding horses and then about 10 years ago, I discovered draft horses and the all-but-forgotten, heart-stopping art of pulling. I didn't think anything could thrill me more than riding, but live and learn!
In my 40-plus years of horse ownership, I’ve seen a lot. I’ve seen a lot done right, and I've seen a lot done wrong. When it's done right, it's life-affirming, and that's what this site is about. When it's done wrong, it's almost always the horse that pays, often with his life. I've seen...
- Young racehorses overworked and ultimately destroyed because their bodies were not develped enough to withstand the training.
- Valuable polo ponies given compounded drugs that resulted in wracking whole body seizures and death.
- Thirsting draft horses kept from water for some supposed advantage at weigh-in only to collapse and die from dehydration.
- Dressage and hunter-jumper horses drugged to mask pain fall and permanently injure themselves in competition.
- Rodeo and working horses hopped up on steroids to the point that they were half mad with aggression and the need to flee.
In short, I've seen good horses suffer and die because of too little good food and too many drugs. Animals used for human pleasure and profit experience the fatal side effects of drugs every day.
I saw my own pulling horse, Tom collapse in the arena with an anguished groaning gasp. His heart had exploded in his massive chest from steroids given to him without my knowledge and against my wishes. As I watched Tom's body dragged away, I was overcome with the waste of such a death. A noble animal in his prime had died because of someone's ego. I knew there had to be a better way to help improve performance and I vowed to find it. It took some time, but I found it and what I found was worth it.
My mission is two-fold:
- To share equine superfoods and whole horse nurture as widely as possible.
- To end the use of anabolic steroids in the horse world completely and permanently.
Meet My Whys
The Horse that Rocks My World
It wasn't too long ago that my turning down a nice five-figure sum for my dappled gold Belgian was quite the news in my neck of the woods.
At pulling events all over the United States, when Rock paraded to the boat, all horse and human eyes turned to him.
As he was cinched and strapped and snapped to the equipment, the anticipation became palpable.
Never the biggest or handsomest horse, he nonetheless filled the arena.
Then, when I called, "Here!" Rock gathered himself and got down like no other horse most of us had ever seen.
His heart for his work (and me) and the extra power it gave him brought grown men to tears and repeatedly blew the competition away.
The Girls
Lela
Lela the Lovely is a quiet, self-possessed broodmare.
She has produced six beautiful Belgian babies in the last eight years, passing on her quiet mind and willing heart.
Lela typifies many of the best attributes of her breed in confirmation, disposition, integrity, loyalty and power.
Spring
This gorgeous girl was born to the infamous "wild mare" of Indiana on a stormy night.
Her pre-dawn catapult down a steep bank and into a cold creek was her entrance into the world.
Her cries for help echoed through the countryside and helped me find her in the woods, while her dam stood warily aside.
Spring exhibits a mental maturity uncommon in such young stock to this day.
Chastened by nature and loved by me, she is now a fire-and-ice filly with exciting prospects.
The Big Boys
Lester
Despite his imposing appearance, Lester is the teddy bear of the herd.
Unfailingly good-tempered, he is always ready for whatever, happy to be ridden or hitched.
He will look out at you from under his blond bangs at the end of a hard day and make all your troubles melt away.
A handsome, innocent, joyous horse of the field.
Buckshot
There ought to be a law against horses like Buckshot.
He's big, he's bold, he's brassy, he's bossy, he's spoiled, he's full of himself, he's too sexy for his collar.
If the other horses have been driven out of the barn or something's been broken, one thing is for sure, Buckshot did it!
When I see that the barn is still standing every morning, it's a good thing.
The Heart of Horses
Late one spring afternoon my niece got her Jeep stuck in the mud. Really stuck. After trying to pull her out with mechanical horsepower, it occurred to use to use the real thing. Duh!!!
We pulled Rock and Lester out of the woods where they'd been innocently napping. We got them into their bridles and collars and then walked them, not to the sled, but to the Jeep. They looked at it sleepily. The 5,000 pound Jeep was now up to its axles in cold mud and thick clay. We hitched them up. They stood quietly while we affixed the rest of the equipment.
My niece climbed in the driver's seat and I got behind my team. We frankly did not expect much, but this was our last chance before calling for a tow that would likely cost 500 dollars or more because of the danger and difficulty. I was not concerned about the weight, but Rock and Lester had not pulled anything besides a sled in a long while, nor had they pulled without shoes, nor had they pulled in the mud and up a steep incline.
As I surveyed the situation, the thought of my horses getting hurt got to me and I realized we should forego the endeavor. As this thought hung in my heart, I looked at the boys. There they stood, poised, ready and waiting. Their body language said it all: they wanted to give it a go. How game they always were for whatever was asked of them. How unworthy I felt as I stood there taking it all in.
I checked my lines for the last time, took a deep breath and then called out, "Here!". Rock and Lester bowed down, moved out on the line, felt the load, dug in, pulsing in time and then they exploded. The mud let go of the Jeep with a giant sucking sound. The vehicle became airborne. My niece flew back in her seat while the contents of the cab shot backwards. I became airborne, too, and somehow hung onto the lines and I flew through the air.
Fully awake now and their blood up, my gentle giants motored up the hill, through the woods, out of the mud, across the pasture and were only too willing to pull that Jeep all over southwestern Indiana. What a ride we had that night!
Do I give my horses superfoods? Every day!
