Jack Canfield - Chicken Soup For The Horse Lovers Soul: Inspirational Stories About Horses and the People Who Love Them

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CHICKEN SOUP FOR THE
HORSE LOVERS SOUL

CHICKEN SOUP
FOR THE HORSE
LOVERS SOUL

Inspirational Stories About Horses
and the People Who Love Them

Jack Canfield
Mark Victor Hansen
Marty Becker, DVM
Gary Seidler
Peter Vegso
Theresa Peluso

Backlist, LLC, a unit of

Chicken Soup for the Soul Publishing, LLC

Cos Cob, CT

www.chickensoup.com

Contents

Lori Bledsoe as told to Rhonda Reese

Diane M. Ciarloni

Roger Dean Kiser

T.C. Wadsworth

Tom Maupin

Tiernan McKay

Teresa Becker

Judy Pioli Askins

Jerri Simmons-Fletcher

Jennilyn McKinnon

Robin Roberts

Denise Bell-Evans

Michael Johnson

Monty Roberts with Carol Kline

Jane Douglass Rhodes

Don Keyes

Patricia Carter

Woody Woodburn

Starr Lee Cotton Heady

Diane M. Ciarloni

John L. Moore

Gary Cadwallader

Boots Reynolds

Stephanie Stephens

Gerald W. Young

Sandra Tatara

Chris Russell-Grabb

Gayle Stewart

Laurie Wright

Christina Donahue

Joyce Stark

Nancy Minor

Jan Roat

Kris DeMond

Vikki Marshall

Thirza Peevey

Lynn Allen

Pat Parelli

Jennie Ivey

Marguerite Suttmeier

Jeanette Larson

Kimberly Graetz Herbert

Tracy Van Buskirk

Paula Hunsicker

Lisa B. Friel

Gayle Stewart

Janice Willard, DVM, MS

Barbara A. Davey

Stephanie Stephens

Tom Persechino

Diana Christensen

Melody Rogers-Kelley

Carole Y. Stanforth

Laurie Henry

Mary Gail Cooper

Sharon Byford-Ruth

Diana Christensen

Sissy Burggraf

Diane M. Ciarloni

Robin Traywick Williams

Sandra Moore

Kimberly Gatto

Marla Oldenburg with Bill Goss

Edwina Lewis

Tiernan McKay

Debbie Hollandsworth

Jennifer Chong

Mitzi Santana

Theresa Peluso

Jan Jaison Cross

Carol Wade Kelly

Michael Compton

Craig Wilson

Thomas Peevey

Debra Ginsburg

Ky Mortensen

Dave Surico

Jeff C. Nauman

Basil V. DeVito Jr.

Woody Woodburn

Chris Russell-Grabb

Marty Becker, DVM

Boots Reynolds

Barbara Greenstreet

Cristina Scalise

Tom Truitt

Gary Cadwallader

Janie Dempsey Watts

William Geen

Renie Szilak Burghardt

Lynn Allen

Dottie McDonald Linville

Christine Barakat

Susan Farr Fahncke

J.L. Lindstrom

As our ancestors sat cross-legged around fires in caves for warmth and protection, the rhythmic pounding of wild horses hooves broke the silence. The thundering sound echoed across time and space.

Primitive cave art in Lascaux, France and classic stories of horses carrying Roman legions, Spanish invaders, and Native Americans to war contrast with modern images of horses racing across our television sets carrying the Lone Ranger, Roy Rogers and Ben Cartwright. Mounted horse racing was popular in the Greek Olympics almost 700 years before Christ. Today, tapes of 4-H shows are re-played in living rooms and photo finishes are simulcast at racetracks around the country.

Mourned by warriors, immortalized by Hollywood and cherished by little girls, the special relationship between mankind and horses not only exists historically, it still flourishes today. The magic of the relationship between horse and human lies not in its strength and longevity; it lies in the mystery of how two different species can be drawn so closely to one another.

Watch as a little girl, only a hock high, holds an apple in her hand as this massive animal takes it gingerly into its mouth. So delicate she is, in contrast to the horses massive size and strength. The eternal instinct to flee is subdued as a rider climbs onto a horses back; a position this prey animal should find threatening, yet there is no fear, only a mutual shared trust.

In a marvelously symbiotic relationship, horses give humans speed, stamina and strength, while we provide them with a steady food supply and protection from predators.

We have shared a destiny for thousands of years as the horses role in our lives has changed from utilitarian to one of emotion and pleasure. Within the past hundred years, horses were as much a part of our daily lives as our cars and tractors are today. Long before airplanes and cell phones, the horse had become integral to our very existence and ability to communicate, as it not only moved faster and farther than almost any animal, it could and would carry a human upon its back. For early man, the experience of riding was as close to flying as he could possibly get.