Then one day, a co-worker introduced us to a family friend who
changed EVERYTHING. Jake Jacobson, a believer in what the
horse can 'teach you', is a cowboy who has studied, and learned from
his own horses. He now teaches people what he's learned from the horse !
From age 9 to 17, he spent summers working on his grandfather's
cattle ranch in Northern California. Rather than living in
the BIG house with his grandparents, Jake was ushered to
the bunkhouse for a real education from true cowboys who had
ridden the Chisholm Trail! His knowledge & respect for horses,
as well as knowing the importance of listening to the horse,
came from Bill Butler, the ranch's Apache remuda boss.
Below, Jake and Sophie discuss training techniques for yearlings!
As you can see from these 2 pictures,
I've come a long way in the 12 years since
we met Jake & Judy.
Through the years, while showing us firsthand how to relate & learn
from our own horses, Jake has steered us toward a few people who
share his traditional knowledge or school of thought.
Fortunately, all 4 of these men are available on the Internet.
They include: Tom Dorrance (who died recently), Ray Hunt,
GaWaNi Ponyboy.
After reading their books and viewing their video's, I strongly
recommend them to anyone like me who loves horses & wants to
understand how to become their partner.
The fourth one is
Gary 'White Wolf' Whited, of "Mounted International",
who offers horse clinics & equipment for mounted police and others.
Gary was a mounted policeman for 16 years. He & his
horse were on the job during the L.A. riots. I can't imagine a more serious situation where a PARTNER, working
with you, is so desperately needed. Anyone who can do that
with a horse, should teach!
I don't profess to be ANY kind of expert. My goal
with this website
is to pass on my personal experiences & show (through lots of pictures)
how I've learned to solve some of my own problems with what Jake
has shown me.
You'll need lots of time and even more
patience to
train your own horse, but then the HUGE benefit will be not
having to repeatedly look for someone else to fix your problems.
The fix will only last a little while, until your horse realizes
your moves are not the same as the one who taught him, so he'll be
able to get away with
the same things again. Once again he will be
the head of his herd, but he really wants YOU to be his herd leader.
It's been about 3 years since I've added to my introduction
page .......&... Heeeeere's . . . "Rosa"! She's
our, now, 4 year old Quarterhorse filly. She's 6 months old in this picture
when she still had her 'Mohawk' mane! We've had her now for 3-1/2 years & I
feel as if she's always been here!
I welcome any and all feedback! Please feel free to email or add your
comments to the 'Horse Talk Forum'.
