Posts by Charley Snell
Timing in our Lives
Around 1979, a little over 40 years ago I met Ray. I had been around him all I could for a couple of years and was getting some decent things done with my horses. One thing that he had worked on me quite a bit was to not be so concerned about…
Read MoreSunsets and Living In The Moment
Photo credits: Barby Snell and Wistar Hart A beautiful sunset, as it sings it’s song of joy to you, and living in the moment should be an easy reach for most people. When it comes to horses and people, living in the moment can be a different matter. Let us…
Read MoreIs it the Eyes or the Ears
There has been much written about the eyes of the horse and what they mean. Most of it comes up short of the total picture. It has been said that ‘the eyes are the window tothe soul.’ As near as I can tell the…
Read MoreMove Those Feet
“Move those feet” is one of the most common phrases you hear today in the horse world when things are not going right. The other, “If you get the feet you get the mind”. I worked and lived with those concepts for years in trying to help horses and people work together with varying degrees…
Read More“ Where is your horse at?”
“Where is your horse at?” What a confusingly, profound, little statement. I can remember when I first heard Ray ask that question to us all, no one in particular. Strangely, I had a deep sense that he was talking about something other than my horse’s physical place on the planet. As I continued to follow…
Read MoreIf you are not helping your horse overcome his fear, you are feeding it.
Tener Miedo Avoir Peur To Be Afraid Makes no difference the language, one does not need to go to a dictionary to understand the meaning of fear and “to be afraid”. Nearly every horse/rider accident that I have witnessed has been the result of some measure of fear in the horse. Suffice…
Read MoreIntentional Groundwork
Intentional Groundwork. “How important is ground work, really?” I get asked that question more often than you might imagine. And for good reason. Riders who want a good relationship with their horses are beginning to wonder. Most of what they and I see today when it comes to groundwork seems to consist of mindless circles,…
Read MoreHow We Think Around Our Horses
There are a number of things in life that I am passionate about two of which are the person of the Lord Jesus Christ and good honest functional horsemanship. I do not claim to know much about either but nonetheless I pursue both the very best I can. My pursuit oftentimes takes my thought…
Read MoreWhy would we want to teach a horse to let go of a thought and take another?
Well, for one, how about if he had the thought to buck us off? Would be good to change that one! Or leave the barn or his friends and go where we would like? Those thoughts all center around us and our comfort zone but how about the horse that sees, hears, smell, or just perceives that something could…
Read MoreAnd Then There Is Gambler
In just about every clinic I do, there comes a moment when a frustrated rider gets an all-too-familiar “look” on his or her face. And, believe me, you don’t need a translator to figure out the thoughts behind that at-the-end-of-my-rope look. “ I can’t figure this out. My horse always does this thing that sooo…
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