“For the past four months, I have helped train these mustangs to help them gain experience as saddle horses. They have impressed me even more with each training session. We took our time so that they would not feel rushed, and continued to gain their confidence through basic work before we progressed to riding. The mustangs’ level of intelligence was more and more obvious to me. But what was more, their patience and their level of understanding was greater than I had seen in any other horse. The mustangs impressed me with their stable and calm personality.
Today’s youth have lost a connection to the earth and the animals which inhabit it, because they are too caught up in the next generation of computers, i-pods or video games. I am so lucky to be able to work with mustangs and I hope to continue to do so. However, it saddens me to think of other children who do not have access to these truly wonderful horses.
Just a few weeks ago, my father and I pulled our horse trailer into the Valles Caldera National Preserve. When we stopped, we opened up the windows of the trailer and let the horses hang their heads out. Within a few minutes, a father with his three young children came over to see the horses. I happily let the children pet the horses and answered questions about them. The lack of knowledge that these children had, not only about the horses, but also animals in general, astounded and frightened me. They had no idea what the horses were eating or why the horses were eating hay with their mouths or why it was “messy”!
These children were, in my opinion, underprivileged. I do not mean by today’s modern standards, but rather, because they did not know what to make of animals. To be raised without knowledge of nature or animals, to me, is heresy -- pure heresy. How can we expect future generations to protect our environment if the have no knowledge of it? The less one knows about something the more one fears it. If one fears something, one cannot respect it and if this vicious cycle continues, the human race’s disrespect for animals and the environment will continue and go unnoticed.”
