The Horseman’s Word…Our Ranch and Passion!
With Spring upon us, we cannot help but reflect upon where we have come from and where we are going. Spring is a time for renewal, for new-growth, rejuvenation, new beginnings and a time when passion awakens. With this in mind, we thought we would share a little about a time at the beginning of our journey when we named our ranch. Not only to revisit where we have been, but also so we are reminded and can share where we are going. Our ranch is our greatest passion and we are so proud to share it with all of our students and to provide a place where students can experience incredible opportunities for education, horsemanship development, and community.
When Maureen and I pursued our education with horses, we sought to learn all we could about horses and looked to improve the quality of our time with horses. We wanted to improve our overall skills and advance our education. That is when we were extremely inspired by the Parelli program. The passion it brought to our lives was unprecedented and we wanted the name of our ranch to reflect that passion and the importance of the relationship with the horse that is the foundation of Parelli. This led us to discovering “The Horseman’s Word” and the meaning that it so richly conveys. Its’ meaning symbolizes all that we teach our students and our unwavering passion for building strong relationships, with both humans and horses.
“The Horseman’s Word” was a society of horsemen–“horse-whisperers”–who were known as men who who knew and passed on the secret of quickly developing or training wild horses by bonding with them by earning their trust, rather than using brute force. The Horseman’s Word flourished in the 18th and 19th century and was established in North Eastern Scotland. There were several key phrases that group members used to describe how they built relationships with horses, one of those key phrases included “two in one”. In Scots it’s “twa-in-yin” and is a phrase that was said to hold magic qualities and sum up the idea that horse and man worked together as a unit rather than as master and beast. The idea of two becoming one resonated with us, as that is also the essence of the foundation of the Parelli program – helping horse and rider to build harmony, trust and partnership; human and horse coming together in one relationship.
Today, this idea still inspires us as we continue to create an environment on our ranch that provides many opportunities for anyone wishing to tap into the power of the Parelli Natural Horsemanship program so they can achieve a magic relationship with their horse.