Our dear friend Tiffany Allie Tankersley passed away recently. Her family and ours share many common interests – horses in particular and helping others in general. She had a great passion for life and it was a shock for all of us that knew and love her. She assisted with the Horse Tales Literacy Project and lived a life that made a difference in schools, natural resources and especially involved one of her strongest desires that she held dear to her heart, helping animals. She will be missed by everyone whose life she touched. The photos above are of her and my father riding one of her farm’s horses, “Al-Marah Luzon”. The great trainer Captain Heyer is also featured on this old Arabian Horse magazine cover.
The story;
“Yep, and I want to tell you a little more about this kind of life. It just might be that horses are goin’ out of fashion.” Henry’s eyes weren’t on Alec but on the oval-shaped hoofs buried in the straw. “Some of the things that have happened to horses might be forgotten with the world movin’ fast like it is.”
A strange, excited note came into the old man’s voice as he asked suddenly, “Did you ever hear of a professional horse-tamer, Alec?”
“Trainer, you mean, Henry? Like you are?”
“No, Tamer.”
“No, then. Lion-tamer, yes. Horse-tamer, no. Did he use a long whip and snap it in a ring?” Alec asked with attempted lightness.
“Sometimes,” Henry answered seriously. “The whip was one of the tools of his trade and occasionally he had good use for it. There was a need for such men just before the turn of the century. The big trouble was that there weren’t enough of them to go around. Most everybody had a horse, y’know. It was about the only way of gettin’ from place to place. Yet few owners knew anything about horses except how to ride or drive ’em. When trouble arose, it was hard on both man and horse. That’s when they started lookin’ around for a horse-tamer.”
Henry paused and Alec said, “They could have called him a trainer. A tamer makes you think of wild animals.”
“Training takes time, Alec, as you know, and these men had no time. They did a job in a matter of hours—a few days at most—and then went on to the next case. Some of the horses, too, were worse than wild animals—vicious, mean horses. Most often, of course, they were the result of bad handling by their owners. But come to think of it, what kind of a job would you and I do on that plane outside? We’re no mechanics and, as I say, so many owners in the old days weren’t horsemen. They just needed a horse to get around. They made mistakes, plenty of ’em—and they suffered for it. So did their horses.”
Alec chewed thoughtfully on a piece of straw. He was beginning to understand what Henry was getting at. He could imagine thousands upon thousands of horses developing bad habits and vices, most of them going from bad to worse because their owners had no professional ability or help. One horse kicked; a second balked; a third pulled against the bit and ran away; a fourth would not stand still to wait or to be shod or to be mounted; another would not back up; still others would bite or rear or throw themselves over backwards or refuse to work. Then again they would be afraid of umbrellas, blankets, carts, wagons, cows, baby carriages or something else. With all this happening in crowded city streets where horses were the sole means of transportation, people could be hurt or killed and property destroyed.
“Were you ever a horse-tamer?” Alec asked Henry.
“No, but my oldest brother was. I watched him at it. He was good.”
“How good?”
“One of the best,” the old man answered, his eyes bright with memories. “Bill was about thirty, I guess, when my father sent me off one summer to live with him. That was back in Pennsylvania. I was just a kid but not too young to learn a trade.… ”
“You mean that horse-taming trade?”
Here’s more -:21st book chapter
Sometimes it seems you need a whip. Not that you want to use it – or do – but the fact that it is there makes the movement go forward without so much resistance. Speak softly. This book was the first time “horse whisperer” was used in a story, years before the film of that name. Anytime Robert Redford wants to talk about it let me know. Take a look, you might learn a few tricks yourself.
Have a great week and Ride On — tim