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Silver Appleyard Ducks
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Silver Appleyard ducks are triple purpose: meat, eggs, and beautiful plumage.
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Natural Horsemanship
 While I have studied a number of natural horsemanship systems by various human gurus, I like to credit my ponies with teaching me what works best and what's best left behind. I have had the advantage that my only formal conventional horsemanship training was more than a few decades ago, so I came to my ponies relatively fresh. Living in a remote area means utilizing what's at hand, so learning from ponies was an obvious approach. Below are some examples of what natural horsemanship has looked like for me. At left is another example: riding stallion Midnight Valley Timothy on a trail ride solo with just a halter, lead rope, and bareback pad.
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All my ponies load into my horse trailer easily. This photograph was published in The Native Pony magazine in Scotland. If you are interested in reading my article "Teaching Foals to Trailer Load," click here. |
| Here I am trimming Willowtrail Wild Rose's hooves with her at liberty (no halter or lead rope). She was six months old. |
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After my youngstock reach a year of age, I like to teach them the seven games of Parelli Natural Horsemanship, including jumping over a pole. |
| Many of my adult ponies willingly play with me in the round pen at liberty. This is Turkey Trot Sand Lily circling with no halter or lead rope. You can see a video of me playing with stallion Guards Apollo on-line and at liberty in the round pen by clicking here. |
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I've read that equines won't let you approach them when they are lying down if they don't trust you. This is my stallion Guards Apollo, who not only let me approach but let me give him a big hug long enough to take some pictures. |
| When I start ground driving my ponies, I always begin with a rope halter and lines for our basic communication. I want to save the bit for more refined communication. I also work my ponies in open bridles (no blinders). |
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This is stallion Midnight Valley Timothy crossing the Michigan River with me riding bareback in just a halter and lead rope. The truth behind this photo is even better. It took several tries to get the right camera angle, so Midnight had to stand in the middle of the river for awhile! |
| This is Willowtrail Winter Lad at four weeks old learning about boundaries. If you are interested in my article, "Setting Boundaries with Foals," please click here. |
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Here I'm leading stallion Midnight Valley Timothy and mare Sleddale Rose Beauty in from pasture together. This was a nightly ritual for many weeks at that time.
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