NATURE explores the fascinating partnership between animal and human in Horse and Rider.
“Bet Yer Blue Boons” is one of the most agile and intelligent cutting horses in the world, a true champion.
“Rio,” a spectacular polo pony, is a gifted athlete able to sprint at 30 miles per hour, then stop suddenly and turn on a dime.
“Chamont” has the natural talent and physique of a great dressage horse, but also at times a timorous personality that puts a question mark on his future success.
Each of these remarkable animals shares an astonishing trait: the ability to implicitly trust, and perform complex tasks in tandem with, a human partner working toward a common goal. This teaming of horse and rider is arguably the most sophisticated and intriguing example of human-animal cooperation. NATURE explores and illuminates this absorbing phenomenon in Horse and Rider.
To order a copy of Horse and Rider, visit the NATURE Shop.
Online content for Horse and Rider was originally posted October 2002.
Many stations will be airing a rebroadcast of “Horse and Rider” on June 13, 2010.
My husband’s horse Leroy is an adopted rescue horse, a little Arabian gelding about 14 years old. He went through the worst kind of livestock auction, but he was so thin that even the killer buyers weren’t interested in him. He turned out to have perfect ground manners, and is very well-trained. He’s so good that although we know nothing about his background, I am sure that he has registration papers somewhere, and may even have been a show horse before he fell into bad hands. We are glad every day that we adopted him, but we live out in the country and keep Leroy in our backyard. It’s a trade-off, because even though we live in the snowy Northeast and are both over 50, we both commute 60 miles one-way to work. Because we keep Leroy in our backyard, having a horse is not as expensive as you might imagine. But you have to make caring for the horse your priority. Instead of renovating our house, which it badly needs, we pay horse expenses. Having a horse does get expensive when you keep her or him with a trainer, as we do with my mare Luna. But to me it is worth it because of the personal fulfillment I get out of learning to communicate with her in a way that enables both of us to perform at our best. It is a wonderful experience, worth everything I have given up to have it.
i just wanted to know if someone knows the name of the lady that was the cutter trainer,and possibly how to get ahold of her,,thanks
In reference to the dressage. There may be good intentions here but they are not helping the animal. It unfortunately to me is just another common example of the advanced riding today, it lacks understanding of the horse and the movements lack soul. Its a shame that there is not more public examples of what is truly harmonious with the horse. It is not surprising to me to not see it here either. For the people that really seek a partnership with their horse in dressage keep looking we are out there, and know that this is not it.
To Kelly, I think the cutter trainer was in Weatherford, TX, but I’m not sure. I would like more info on her too, if I find any.
horse slaughter is wrong. and i believe it should be illegal in all parts of the world. i am doing a school persusave paper to tell people to end horse slaughter. if anyone has any useful information would you please let me use it?! thanks! L
I love horses, but slaughter isn’t bad. What makes them different than cattle? It is often more humane than alternatives. Besides, why is that discussed here instead of the discussion of the video? Perplexed.
I always wanted to own my own horse best I can do is hace one on my site My Site
I’d love to see this full episode… Sadly, it doesn’t seem like this site gets much update action…