I don't know about you, but for me, it has a been a struggle to learn. Sometimes it was money, sometimes it was opportunity, sometimes it was the quality of information out there. One thing I've always demanded is to really learn, really know what is happening. How and what I'm doing is having an effect on the horse. Finding innovative and real information hasn't always been easy. Information that could be tested on multiple horses of different breeds and different riders and prove to be successful, that could prove to be a truth.

I've always been a searcher. Searching, looking for knowledge. for information. I poured through the texts that are out there. Wynmalen, Nuno Oliveira, especially accompanied me on my journey. I poured and poured over their words again, and again through the years. It always amazed me how their experiences, could so help me sometimes with very different horses.

Then one day I found a magazine that is no longer published called Dressage & CT. I think for a short time I was in heaven. The magazine challenged me, made me think!  It was truly incredible. I was devasted when I found out that it would no longer be published. At the time wishing with all my heart that I had the finances the resources to continue it on. I know many other dedicated horsemen and women felt the same way.

Something happens to us when we get older. We get faced with our own mortality. For me this happened when I got sick. And all of a sudden my body no longer obeyed my commands.And all of a sudden I faced my mortality. I "knew" I only had a few years left, relative or not, on this precious earth. And at that moment a clarity came to me. And the question was asked and answered. If I died today what would I regret most.

I thank God for all the joys he has brought into my life. And the most precious gift he has given me are my children, all three of them. I love them with all my heart. And consider them a very special blessing and gift. I have been so lucky in my life. I live in a country that is not in war, I grew up feeling safe, not worried about hunger, or my safety. A roof over my head and parents to love me. God has seen to grant me the same for my children. How blessed am I? I have told my children that if I died tomorrow I would not regret it. I have had everything that I could possibly have asked for in this lifetime or any other.

Yes I have had great sorrows, and great disappointments. My life has not been perfect. But I can be thankful for what I have and have had. But when faced with my mortality, all of a sudden I had a great urgency come over me. A great fear that I had to hurry. That there would be not enough time left. To do one last task.

And that was to share with others the books I have read, the words of the masters of the past and of the present. I think all teachers experience this, this is why there are so many books by so many horsemen out there. They have felt their mortality. They know, that horsemanship is unique in so many ways, and most of all because it crosses national lines and time lines. We have through the centuries passed down from one rider to the horse, from the horse to the next rider, from instructor to rider, from trainer to horse, this incredible thing we call horsemanship. It is a continuous line, we are helped picked up from above from those who have gone before us. And we need that. There is so much to learn that we can't learn it all in one lifetime. The closest we can come is to live through others lifetimes, through the experiences of others.

Horses for Life wants to help, to be your guide, your instructor, your mentor, introducing you to new ideas and concepts. You don't have to agree. But we do challenge you to think.

My online name has been Equestrians Quest... and that is who I am and what my life has been about. On a quest, thirsty to learn, searching looking everywhere to learn, more about these horses that have held me through this lifetime in a passionate hold.

Looking to share both the passions and the experiences and the learnings from many of the instructors today and many of the masters of the past.

Remember the words of Daniel Webster  "Man is a special being, and if left to himself, in an isolated condition, would be one of the weakest creatures; but associated with his kind, he works wonders."

We can do this. We can work wonders together. We have. We will.

Equestrians Quest

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October 2005 • Volume 2 

HORSES FOR LIFE™
Published Monthly

Please note all resources presented are © copyright protected by the original owners and reprinted with permission OR © Copyright Horses For Life™ 2005
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