I WAS NOT BORN INTO A HORSE OWNING FAMILY. WHEN I WAS ABOUT 10 YEARS OF AGE I WENT TO STAY WITH AN UNCLE WHO WAS A BLACKSMITH AND LIVED WHAT WAS THEN A REMOTE PART OF CORNWALL. AT THAT TIME IT WAS NOT UNCOMMON FOR FARMERS IN THE AREA TO STILL BE USING HORSES TO WORK THEIR FARMS. SO MOST DAYS I WOULD SEE DIFFERENT HORSES OUTSIDE MY UNCLE'S SHOP.
I HELPED WITH THE FETCHING AND CARRYING, BUT AS THE DAYS PROGRESSED I FELT MYSELF DRAWN MORE AND MORE TOWARD THE HORSES, GENERALLY BEING CONTENT JUST STROKING THEM. THEN ONE DAY I FOUND MYSELF WALKING UP A TRACK TO A FARM OPPOSITE MY UNCLE'S SHOP. AT THE TOP I MET THE FARMER BEN DALE, I DIDN'T KNOW IT THEN BUT BEN AND I WERE TO BECOME FIRM FRIENDS, A FRIENDSHIP THAT SPANNED NEARLY FIFTY YEARS UNTIL HIS DEATH A FEW YEARS AGO.
BEN WASA QUIET MAN, WITH THOSE GREAT GIFTS OF PATIENCE AND PENETRATING OBSERVATION AND A DUST DRY WIT. BEN USED HORSES TO WORK HIS FARM BRED A FEW TO SELL OR TAKE HIM HUNTING. OVER THE YEARS I WITNESSED HIS INCREDIBLE ABILITY WITH HORSES, DOGS AND ALL KINDS OF LIVESTOCK. WITH THE BENEFIT OF HINDSIGHT, MEETING BEN SO EARLY IN MY LIFE, NO WONDER I WAS HOOKED!
I HAVE BEEN INVOLVED WITH DRAUGHT HORSES AND POLICE HORSES, BUT THE LARGER PART OF MY HORSE HANDLING EXPERIENCE HAS BEEN AT THE SHARP END OF THE HUNTING FIELD AND I LOOK UPON THAT EXPERIENCE AS BEING ONE OF THE MOST VALUABLE AND A REAL EDUCATION , CONSIDERING WHAT YOU NEED TO BE ABLE TO ACHIEVE WITH ANY GIVEN NUMBER OF HORSES TO ENSURE CONTINUED SUCCESS YEAR IN YEAR OUT AND THIS INCLUDES BEING A SOUND JUDGE OF AN ANIMALS CONFIRMATION, ABILITY, YOU ALSO NEED TO UNDERSTAND THE INDIVIDUAL HORSE IN ORDER TO BE ABLE TO FEED AND HANDLE HIM SO THAT HE CAN SUCCESSFULLY FULFIL HIS ROLE.
IN TH MID 90s I BECAME INTERESTED IN THE AMERICAN QUARTER HORSE AND QUICKLY BECAME ATTRACTED TO THE CALIFORNIAN VAQUERO TRADITION OF PRODUCING AND RIDING A HORSE. MOST YEARS SEE ME BACK IN SOME PART OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES GREAT BASIN AREA WHERE I HAVE BEEN FORTUNATE TO GET TO KNOW AND WITNESS SOME OF THE MOST TALENTED EXPONENTS OF THIS ART AND OF COURSE FURTHER MY OWN SKILLS AND KNOWLEDGE.
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