EARLY YEARS WITH HORSES

Horses have been part of my family for a long time. My mother was a horsewoman, having grown up on a farm worked by horses and learning to ride alongside her mother and four older brothers, in Denmark. As a young child I began with horses along with my two sisters, ranging on horseback over a vast wild territory, one of the last remaining native prairies in the Pacific Northwest of the U.S., the Fort Lewis Reservation. The land seemed made for horses and exploration.

My sisters and I began at Woodbrook Stables, picking up buckets of rocks in exchange for an hour with a horse and a lesson. My mother was given a poorly started thoroughbred mare, Tsunami, and eventually found Stardust, a Welsh-Connemara pony. Stardust was wonderfully good natured, a natural jumper, and an incredible teacher.

Drawn by the wild land and the chance to explore the reservation further my mother, sisters, and I began riding out with the Woodbrook Hunt. The fox was a scent-soaked burlap sack dragged by horseback; there was no hunting or killing involved.

The hunts were testing. Falls, runaways, and explosions were common. I learned what it was like to have a horse take a bit in his teeth and run. Though there were never any fatalities in my 10 years with the hunt, there were serious injuries and close calls.

At age nine my twin sister and I joined the staff of the hunt as whippers-in, assisting the Master of Foxhounds (MFH) with the hounds. Over nine years serving as whippers-in my sister and I learned to pay attention, ride well, and work together with our horses.

On a bitter Pacific Northwest morning, with rain and sleet pelting down, we would saddle our horses under the shelter, mount up, steel ourselves against the weather, and head out with the hounds for 4 to 6 hours. On such days only the hunt staff and the most dedicated riders would turn out.   On a clear day, however, the field might be 100 horses and riders, hauling in from as far away as Oregon and British Columbia. 

Training and exercising the hounds by horseback were ongoing for my sister and I. All other days we could be found working with our own and others’ horses, practicing for the yearly Hunter Trails, learning polo with the Tacoma Polo Club, and exploring the reservation.

In this first intensive decade of my life with horses I observed a lot of good and a lot of hard things, all of which led me toward a deeper inquiry into the nature of horses and horsemanship. Over these years and miles, the question I continually asked my horse was: “How can I stay out of your way and be the partner you would willingly seek out?”. In listening for the response I learned to feel, observe, and think always of the horse.

Along with the horses during these early years I gathered a good deal from a few knowledgeable horsemen/women, and especially from my twin sister, who had a natural feel and understanding of horses and helped me trust my own.

My approach with horses was also greatly influenced by my time working on a remote farm in British Columbia, and beginning to study yoga. After going afield to university to study ecology and philosophy, I returned to this farm; it was there in the early 1990’s that I met the yearling colt who would become my greatest teacher and who would illuminate my path forward with horses.

—Sus