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Spirit Blending Foals Before and After Birth, An Old Way Continued

by Harold Wadley

166 pages; quality trade paperback (softcover); catalogue #03-0053; ISBN 1-55395-690-7; US$18.00, C$22.00, EUR14.30, £9.91

This book describes the unique way my Cherokee grandpa taught me to handle horses and mules. It starts with the blending of one's spirit with the mare and unborn foal and then gives a step-by-step instruction to create a lifetime of harmony with your horse.

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About the Book      About the Author      Sample Excerpts      Catalogue Info

About the Book This book is a reflection of my heritage with horses. It comes from both sides of the saddle, so to speak, because both of my grandfathers were excellent horsemen. One grandpa was Cherokee and rode with the Kiowa horsemen in the early days of Indian Territory. They call it Oklahoma today. He gave credit to the Kiowa people for our unique way of working with a mare in-foal in order to blend our spirit with the foal. My other grandpa was an early day cattleman in Indian Territory and was known for his good-minded cutting and roping horses. I was blessed to have been born into this rich mix of horse and cow savvy. As a kid I was careful to take the best of both worlds, the Indian World and the Cowboy World, and develop my way of working with horses. The horses and mules like it. The day-to-day steps of working with the foal and mare ensured a lifetime of harmony with that horse. Each of the 37 chapters takes the reader or rider through each progressive training phase, emphasizing the easy, patient way the movements should be presented to the horse. The spirit blending starts with the mare first then progresses to the unborn foal. This special attention is continued right through the birthing process with the highlight coming at two years of age when the young horse is ridden for the first time. The foal is first taught to lead and "soft" tie at one and two days old. By the time it reaches two years of age it has been taught to readily load into a trailer, stand tied, yield to rope pressure from each leg, stand tied with a snubbed down head, back on voice and body cues, and to be ground led across country as well as ponyied from the mare. I term the essential ingredient of my technique, once the foal is born, "assurance pressure". It creates a sound foundation and willing mind in a horse. It is the glue that holds the spiritual blend together. It lasts for a lifetime with your horse. Praise for Spirit Blending Foals Before and After Birth, An Old Way Continued Dear Mr. Wadley:     I LOVE your book Spirit Blending Foals Before and After Birth, An Old Way Continued. It is a priceless bit of Western History, and horsemanship, and equine behavior... Robert M. Miller, D.V.M. (Thousand Oaks, CA)

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About the Author The author was born and raised in Oklahoma on a ranch with cattle, horses and mules. His lifetime association with horses varies from the running Thoroughbreds at the PaulFred Farm in Berryhill, Oklahoma, to catching and working with mustangs in the Stansbury Mountains of Utah. Mr. Wadley has been a forester, a range rider and a packer in Wyoming, Utah, and Idaho for the U. S. Forest Service. The working with and training of horses and mules was a part of the daily activities. A wide variety of behavior in the horses and mules was encountered in the different regions but they yielded to the old technique of spirit blending. He received a lifetime appointment as an officer in The Order of The Golden Ark by Prince Bernard of The Netherlands for work in China among the ethnic minorities. He lives in Idaho where he continues to work with his beloved horses.

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Sample Excerpts

TABLE OF CONTENTS

SOME BACKGROUND, AN INTRODUCTION OF SORTS

• Mongolian Pony Mare Has a Huge Heart!
• Early Influences; Opposite Views
• Some of the Old Ways Are Difficult to Improve
• Don't Substitute Gadgets for Training
• Ropes of Horsehair (Meca'te), Rawhide or Twisted Hemp
• Smokin' and Pitchin' Ropes and Harness
• Half Breed World, a Bit Different
• Tragedy Rearranges Life
• An Old Family Friend Offers a Job and Lots of Horse Savvy
• A Piece of Old Canvas Form a Bond between an Old Horse And a Kid
• Slow, Spirit Blending Ways Are Effective on Older Horses As well as Foals
• Don and Virginia Wilcox Were Champions as Were Some of Their Horses
• Grandpa John Bacon and Hade Bridges Promoted First Rodeos
• PaulFred Farm Was the Home of Blue Pair
• Blue Pair, Roses Would Have Looked Good on Him
• Old Systems Hold True
• Dad's Kids Were Not for Sale
• Spirit Blending Thoroughbred Mares and Mixing Mash
• Grandpa George Rode with the Kiowa in Indian Territory

CHAPTER 1: Using Horse Language

CHAPTER 2: Starting the Process of Blending Spirits with the Unborn Foal Begins with the Mare

CHAPTER 3: Spirit Blending, the Mare, the Unborn Foal And You

CHAPTER 4: Watching the Mare for Foaling

CHAPTER 5: Preparing Stall and Corral for Foaling

CHAPTER 6: The Mare's Diary and Foaling Kit

CHAPTER 7: Mare Begins Labor, the Grand Entry Is Coming!

CHAPTER 8: A Special Birthday Greeting!

CHAPTER 9: Critical Spirit Blending Time

CHAPTER 10: First Leading and Yielding to Pressure

CHAPTER 11: Mobile Tying

CHAPTER 12: Another Natural Training and Spirit Blending Opportunity - Foal Heat

CHAPTER 13: The Magic Word "Ho"

CHAPTER 14: Ponying (Leading the Foal from the Mare's Back)

CHAPTER 15: Absorbing " Assurance Pressure" and Yielding To Pressure

CHAPTER 16: Preparing for the Cinch and Kiowa Rigging

CHAPTER 17: Backing, Not a Normal Way of Going

CHAPTER 18: Backing in Unison with Two or More Head

CHAPTER 19: The Magic Word "Come" or Its Visual Equivalent

CHAPTER 20: Being Honest in Catching a Horse

CHAPTER 21: Turning Loose is Also a Part of Catching

CHAPTER 22: Trailer Loading: Let the Mare Do It!

CHAPTER 23: Biting, a Nippy Subject

CHAPTER 24: A Tribute to Nugget

CHAPTER 25: Grooming Time for Foals

CHAPTER 26: Bitting Up

CHAPTER 27: Introduction to Reining

CHAPTER 28: Weaning Time, a Special Opportunity!

CHAPTER 29: Blindfold Time, Closing the Circle

CHAPTER 30: Ground Tying or Hitching

CHAPTER 31: Rope and Yield Savvy Makes Hobbling Easier

CHAPTER 32: Training for Trouble, a Foot Caught

CHAPTER 33: Take a Little Spin!

CHAPTER 34: Potential Problems or Caution

CHAPTER 35: A Tribute to Star

CHAPTER 36: Time for the First Ride!

CHAPTER 37: A Closing Tribute

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Early Influences; Opposite Views

This book is a mixture of our old Indian ways and philosophies as well as hands-on ways of how I work with horses, particularly in starting foals before they are born. Every horse or mule is just a different personality and has to be handled and trained accordingly. My method, however, gives each one of them the same opportunity to blend their spirit with yours; a common ground that will provide the basis for working with them individuality as each day unfolds. Each day with a horse offers a new treasure, a new experience. Each is different which makes for a wonderful relationship.

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A Piece of Old Canvas Forms a Bond between an Old Horse and a Kid

My chores at the Wilcox ranch included caring for two stallions, Copper and Hard Rock, and eighteen head of broodmares and foals up at the Wild Horse Prairie pasture along Coyote Trail about five miles away. They were registered quarter horses of the old foundation stock. Another part of the chores was milking Ol' Peggy morning and night and trying to keep the Johnson grass out of the garden. After grubbing out the ever spreading rhizome roots only to find them reemerging the next day, I was convinced the devil invented Johnson grass!
Each morning before heading to school, I and Old Rex, a bay gelding, one of Hade Bridge's retired horses that really knew how to work a rope, made the ride to Wild Horse Prairie to feed the mares. In the winter time it was early morning dark as we climbed the ridge of blackjack oak towards the pasture. Sometimes I would go to sleep, soaking in the warmth of Rex's fuzzy winter coat, because I always rode him bareback with a Kiowa rigging and a halter in the winter. The rope rigging enabled me to sit down on him or stand if need be on the rough sections of the trail. Many a'time I awoke as I felt him stop. He would be standing at the pasture gate! Some mornings the sleet and cold rain pelted us so hard Rex would have his head close to the ground trying to evade the stinging sleet. I had on batwing chaps and an old square of canvas draped over my shoulders to try and keep dry. I would hunker down on his withers to hold the warmth of his body until we reached the gate. The canvas over my shoulders covered his back while I fed and cared for the mares. He always softly nickered to me when I returned for the ride back. He liked the canvas. He was my buddy. While working with those broodmares, I practiced what Grandpa had taught me.

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Catalogue Information

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