No, that isn't a typo because it isn't Houston, Texas but our friend Huston Jenkins in Missouri that we are going to visit. Huston is the man who raised and trained Mouse. The first purpose of the trip is to pick up Mouse's baby (who's now 7 and not such a baby:) and bring him back to Tennessee to live with us. The main purpose of the trip though is just to visit a while with Huston and go riding and learn a ton of stuff about horses (which won't even chip what he knows about them.) He's 85 and still breaking and training horses! He is a wealth of horse knowledge and unlike so many people that we unfortunately meet who deal with horses, especially some trainers, Huston loves horses. He tells me that, in his opinion(which is one I really respect) they are more like human than any other creature and each has its own unique personality. The theory he works under and one that is quite successful is that you have to learn the horse before you can train it and then it just takes patience and calm consistency.
To give you an example, Huston is currently training several horses. One was brought to him totally unbroke and barely in halter and the other was dashing off every time the owner tried to mount. Within two weeks Huston not only had the first horse under saddle and responding beautifully but he had the second standing perfectly still until the rider asked it to move and also parking out (where the horse moves its legs out so that it is closer to the ground) so that the short, heavy rider could mount easily without a block!! And did I mention that he's 85!
The man is amazing and you can expect plenty of photos and I'm sure plenty more stories as soon as I return home.
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