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 More

Sunsets 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 More

Is 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 More

Move 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 More

Intentional 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 More

How 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 More

And 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…

Read More