Tom Moates - Discovering Natural Horsemanship: A Beginners Odyssey

Cover Carol Moates

Page 1 Carol Moates

Page 9 Ken Moates

Page 11 Rainey Houston

Page 15 Carol Moates

Page 21 Arika Legg

Page 29 Arika Legg

Page 35 Carol Moates

Page 37 Arika Legg

Page 44 Arika Legg (both photos)

Page 47 Tom Moates

Page 49 Arika Legg

Page 55 Rainey Houston

Page 63 Arika Legg

Page 75 Ken Moates

Page 82 Ken Moates

Page 85 Ken Moates

Page 93 Tom Moates

Page 97 Tom Moates

Page 101 Arika Legg

Page 104 Arika Legg

Page 106 Ken Moates

Page 113 Ken Moates

Page 119 Tom Moates

Page 127 Melissa Moates

Page 130 Melissa Moates

Page 135 Rainey Houston

Page 141 Rainey Houston

Page 147 Tom Moates

Page 155 Tom Moates

Page 167 Rainey Houston

Page 172 Rainey Houston

Page 177 Ken Moates

Page 183 Ken Moates

Horses

DISCOVERING NATURAL HORSEMANSHIP chronicles one mans obsession to get better with horses in a gentle way. Author Tom Moatess life and work were on a horseless path until serendipity brought Niji, a sorrel gelding, into his life. Nothing has been the same since.

In his candid and plainspoken style, Moates shares the honest highs and lows that come with the territory of starting out in what he calls the Better Way with horses. Along the road, he works hard to follow the wise ways of many well-known cliniciansincluding Harry Whitney, Buck Brannaman, Pat and Linda Parelli, Bill Scott, and Ray Huntand shares his personal experiences while attempting to implement them.

Sometimes humorous, often inspiring, and always resonating with authenticity, DISCOVERING NATURAL HORSEMANSHIP is for anyone who loves a great true story, whether horses have knocked youfrom the regular orbit of your life, or not ... yet.

TOM MOATES is a professional writer who is driving most of the people in his life nuts as he obsessively tries to get better with horses. He is a contributing writer at Equus and writes regularly for Eclectic Horseman and Western Horseman, and his work has appeared in The American Quarter Horse Journal and Natural Horse. He lives in south-west Virginia with his wife Carol, four horses, and a mule.

Cover design by Maggie Peterson
Cover and author photograph by Carol Moates
Printed in the United States of America

THE LYONS PRESS

Guilford, CT 06437

www.LyonsPress.com

The Lyons Press is an imprint of The Globe Pequot Press

Discovering

NATURAL
HORSEMANSHIP

Copyright 2006 by Tom Moates

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, except as may be expressly permitted in writing from the publisher. Requests for permission should be addressed to The Lyons Press, Attn: Rights and Permissions Department, P.O. Box 480, Guilford, CT 06437.

The Lyons Press is an imprint of The Globe Pequot Press

Feeling of a Horse was originally published in a slightly different form in Eclectic Horseman magazine, in issue 23, May/June 2005.

Parts of Naming My Two and Whipper Tears His Eye appeared in case report and essay forms in Equus magazine, in issue 331, May 2005.

Parts of Going Barefoot appeared in a different form as a cover article in Natural Horse magazine, in volume 6-issue 6, 2004.

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Printed in the United States of America

Designed by Maggie Peterson

ISBN-13: 978-1-59228-950-9

ISBN-10: 1-59228-950-9

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication data is available on file.

This book is dedicated to those whose stories are so entwined with my own that our very roots commingle below the surface, closest to the source: Carol, and the horses, Niji, Sokeri, and Whipper Snapper.

ITS BEEN LESS THAN A YEAR since my first call from Tom Moates. Id been warned by a mutual friend that he might call. The reason for his call was to get my comments for a magazine article. It didnt take long to realize Tom was a beginner in this horsemanship journey. I was impressed with his honesty about how much of a beginner he was. But then I was even more impressed with his eagerness to learn more.

In the communication Tom and I had over the next several months it came out that he was writing a book. Another book on horsemanship, I thought. The stores are full of books and videos on the subject. I wasnt so sure we needed another one. As my understanding of Toms mission with this book grew so did my curiosity. I have just finished reading the book you hold in your hands, and no, its not just another book on horsemanship. Tom has done a great job of giving us a glimpse of his journey in this quest for better horsemanship. No adviceno how-to. Just a good, honest account of a beginners journey.

It is easy to lose track of our beginnings at anything as it unfolds deeper and becomes part of our way of life. Sometimes the experience and the language become so much a part of us we fail to realize why anyone else doesnt understand. And yet those at the beginning certainly struggle.

Having now met Tom face to face and spent a little time getting to know him, I have an idea of what makes him such a good writer. I believe it is his great desire to share with others what he has come to understand is involved in this journeywhich makes me thankful for his passion to keep learning so he can continue to share more of his journey with the rest of us.

I personally thank Tom for sharing his experiences as a beginner. Tom gives other beginners in this quest plenty to relate to, but he also takes those of us who have never known a life without horses back to revisit some of the perils, struggles, and lifechanging discoveries that horses present all of us.

Harry Whitney

June 2006

WITHOUT A DOUBT, downstage center, spotlights pleaseJessie Shiers deserves applause for her work on this book (take a bow, Jessie). I am forever grateful for those heroic hours she spent, as the editor on this project, not only picking at my prose, but tolerating the full-on assault of my rather zealous personality when it comes to horses and writing. Her efforts are worthy of a mention and a medal.

The first person in the chain of events that became this book is Stephanie von Hirschberg, my agent and friend. Im certain events would not have unfolded as they did for this work to get produced and in print if she hadnt been just offstage in the wings providing direction from before the writing began, through all the twists and turns, up to this very day. Im very grateful for all shes done.