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Our technological advances in the last few generations have leapfrogged from vacuum tubes
and transistors to nano technology and quantum mechanics. In the interim, it has made much of
what was once regarded as science fiction a few decades ago not only present day scientifically
substantiated fact, but commonly applied usage as well.

With these new advances, unprecedented scientific research discoveries have erupted in the
areas of animal cognition, emotions, suffering, personality and mental states (especially in the
fields of animal emotion research, animal behavior, cognitive science and neuroscience). This
has given us an in-depth understanding of the natural underpinnings of all animals more than
ever before in human history.

Scientific field studies as well as laboratory and clinical veterinary practice have amassed
overwhelming evidence proving beyond any shadow of doubt that the mental well-being of an
animal is of paramount importance in all aspects of animal care. There is no longer the slightest
uncertainty among research scientists that the mental and emotional health of an animal is
equally as important as their physical and nutritional health. (Though for some of us, the fact
that the mental and emotional well-being of an animal is as crucially important as their physical
and nutritional well-being is not any startling revelation.)

As a result, our attitude towards animals (and their treatment) in this interim has undergone (and
is undergoing) a series of radical changes. Whether involved in pet keeping, farming, research,
conservation, zoos, ecotourism, hunting, or veterinary medicine, people everywhere are reexamining
and re-evaluating their relationships with animals and their natural worlds.
Not surprisingly, this paradigm shift has also stimulated a growing scientific and
scholarly/academic interest in the field of Anthrozoology (the study of the interactions between
humans and animals). With this growing Anthrozoologic interest, many horse owners are
learning not only more about their horses, but also about themselves and the human/equine
relationship as well.

While major inroads have been made in the areas of equine reproduction, physiology,
neurology and physical conditioning, documented empirical ethological and scientific studies
have yet to make any substantial impact on our present day maladaptive/counterproductive
management, care and training of the domesticated horse. The emotional impact of tradition,
mixed with the human ego and the insatiable competitive human need for peer recognition
seems to have left the general horse world ‘turning a dilatory blind eye’ in denial of those
ethologically indisputable findings.

Yet this recent undercurrent of sensitivity and awareness, this ever-growing collective sense of
personal and moral responsibility, is slowly being felt throughout the horse world. Each day,
more and more horse owners are seriously contesting the intimidation they once felt when
innocently questioning any facets of our present day methods of management and ‘training.’
Like some quiet, passive mini-revolution vexing an entire worldwide subculture, their
compassion and intuitive common sense continues to prick the established status quo of the
horse world.

As this inkling of newfound knowledge and awareness that we may have been using the most
insanely chaotic, counterproductive equine management and training practices for six thousand
years steadily increases, the rift between the two schools of thought becomes more obviously
pronounced.

On one hand, we have those who would continue to use those archaic methods mired in some
blind utter denial while clinging desperately to tradition as some means of valid substantiation
(if for no other reason than avoiding the task of conceding to any possible - intentional or
unintentional - wrongdoing.

On the other hand, many horse owners continue to strive to gain a greater understanding of
equine culture, instincts and emotions and the devastatingly chaotic effects our present day
management and training formats have on their horse. They regard the ownership and care of a
horse not as some birthright of supremacy, but rather as an incomparable privilege to be valued
and treasured.

The ensuing clash of these opposite poles of ethics, logical thought, empathy and personal
responsibility in the near future is inevitable. Undoubtedly, the winners will be those horse
owners who had a greater love and caring for their horse than any daunting intimidation of peer
pressure. For knowledge and truth are not deniable forever.

Modifying the deeply embedded interactive perceptions of an entire subculture is not a
challenge that I either anticipated or relish undertaking (opting that my time is better spent
enjoying the company of my equine friends). Attempting to explain that their actions and beliefs
are the root causal of every problem they ever encountered with a horse without offending,
without eliciting cognitive dissonance, does not make the task any easier. Nor does the fact that
we have NEEDLESSLY made the life of the domesticated Horse as insanely chaotic as possible
for 6,000 years make this attempt at enlightenment less daunting.

Yet the appreciation, indebtedness and love I feel for each of my horses (and all horses) compels
me to make a sincere attempt at rectifying a 6,000-year-old ‘tragedy of speciesism.’ In so doing, it
forces me into that unpolitically correct position of the small child who cried, “LOOK! The
Emperor wears no clothes!”

The abyss between the two belief systems grows wider each day. The Humpty-Dumpty shell of
our present day narcissistic ‘presumption of entitlement’ concerning the care and training of the
domesticated Horse is slowly splintering and cracking. Hopefully, it will not take another 6,000
years for it to fall into the useless pieces it has so richly deserved for those six millenniums of
needless chaos and torment.

My email address: naturalhorse101@aol.com
I am only a common man, but one with a more than uncommon love and appreciation for the
Horse. Other than that, the ‘101' only signifies the same as in any school of higher learning
designating the initial beginning of learning and acquiring knowledge, not the end. That end is up
to you. It is your choice both where to seek knowledge, (and from whom) and how much time you
will invest doing so, not mine. I can only point you to the learning landmarks that have brought
me this far in life.

The rest is up to each of you to make your own critical evaluation, and to reach that final
decision in your own heart and mind as to what is truly ‘right and wrong’ for your horse. You can
choose to be a callous, indifferent animal trainer, or the concerned, benevolent caretaker of what
can only be God’s greatest masterpiece in the animal world. The choice is yours, and yours alone
to make. And as with all things in life, we each must live with the rewards and consequences of
our choices. Choose wisely....for both your own sake and that of your horse.

Sincerely,
Chuck Mintzlaff
(And kids)
Lady, Able, Sundance, Boss, Rebel, Combustion & Nikki


There was never any one great epiphany or sudden insightful, dawn-breaking revelation.

The final conclusion, the undeniable truth, came in bits and pieces over decades, laboriously drawn from thousands of hours of personal observation and literary ethological research.

The realization that I was part and party in both perception and deed left me devastated at both extremes emotionally.

On one hand, I felt the overwhelming remorse and guilt when someone discovers they have been unwittingly inflicting mental, emotional and physical pain on a helpless, innocent, sentient being they love very much. That my actions were completely unintentional due to my ignorance and complete lack of understanding did nothing to alleviate that remorse and guilt.

 That I had gained the full approval of both my peers and the supposed experts in the horse world left me regarding our present day management and 'training practices' with a contemptuous repulsiveness not unlike what an ex-smoker cancer patient might feel standing in the middle of a hazy cigar lounge.

At the other extreme, it rewarded me (and anyone else who shares a degree of love, caring and deep sense of personal responsibility for their horse) with an ability to achieve a level of oneness and intimacy with the Horse that no 'training format' could ever possibly attain.

You have already invested a great deal of personal time, effort and money to do the very best you can for your horse. It would be a natural reaction to feel some degree of disbelief, absurdity, resentment, defensiveness and 'righteous indignation' when accused of not only making your horse's life as chaotically difficult as possible, but also being the cause of every 'bad horse/behavioral problem' ever known.

Of course we are not accusing anyone of anything. We each must answer to a different morality and perception of the Horse (and the human/equine relationship) as our heart and knowledge dictate.

But we implore you to reach above and beyond the norm of present day 'training' perceptions to learn the real reason WHY we still have so many behavioral horse problems after 6,000 years of 'practice.' Especially so with an animal that has remained virtually unchanged instinctually, mentally and emotionally for all that time.

We would caution you to be very concerned about the SOURCE of your learning. For if you look only in one place, only in one area of horsemanship and the human/equine relationship, your knowledge and perception will be limited to that area alone.

And we beg you to first learn of horses in their natural surroundings and THEIR regard and needs for home and family from equine ethologists who have no 'ulterior motives' or marketing schemes, and who only offer pure, empirical knowledge and truth. Then, and only then, will you be able to make an objective evaluation of what may be right or wrong for both your horse, and yourself as well. We have no doubt that if you do, you will come to the same conclusion we did.

We promise you will never ever regret it.

And neither will your horse.

 

(signed)  The Friendship Training Family