Guest Blog

Yesterday, I worked with the Nebraska Horse Trails Committee at our annual fun day. The purpose of this event is to raise funds for horse trails in our state. Held at 3V Stables in Ashland, over 60 people came to participate in the mounted games which this year were geared toward trail challenges. Rather than post a news-type blog about the event, my friend, Annette Griffin (pictured above), gave me persmission to share her recap of the day which she shared with us on our list-serv, Horsetales. It will give you just a taste of how fun the day truly was.

Gorillas should NOT wear BELTS!

By Annette Griffin

After a trip back home to change trailers, Bella and I headed out once again to 3V. We got there during the middle of the first event so we had to scratch from that one. I got her out of the trailer, knocked the dirt, mud and road grime off of her and saddled up. I couldn’t believe how many horses and riders were there and it was a little overwhelming for both of us at first. This was my first ever game day to ride in. I even had to ask HOW to do poles! I’ve watched other people run them before but I never paid attention as to what the proper pattern was. But I digress……..

Our second game was a partner one where we were required to rescue a patient, transport them to our partner who was waiting with a stretcher to take the patient to the hospital….. OK.. Sounds like a real-life situation that could happen on the trail and a good test of rider and horse. WELL….. As I mentioned before, there were a lot of horses and riders and being the last to arrive, I was pretty much one of the last to have a go at rescue. Mary Hanson agreed to be my partner and after some strategizing we decided that Bella and I would pick up the patient and she and Sunny would deliver the stretcher.

Plan in place, I felt good UNTIL I found out that this wasn’t a typical trail experience, it was designed for those trail riders who spend countless hours in the RAINFORESTS OF AFRICA! Our “patient” was big black gorilla with arms the length of my horse trailer and he was wearing a BELT! Why do gorillas wear belts? I’ve never noticed them wearing belts in the zoo or when I’ve seen television programs on Animal Planet, but THIS gorilla was wearing a belt. Bella was going along with the whole idea of being an equine paramedic right up to that point when she spied our patient sitting there on top of a barrel (another strange rainforest sight, I’m sure) waiting for us.

Her eyes got bigger, her head shot up and I think I heard her whisper the rosary! (I personally never knew until that moment that she was Catholic, which could really explain a lot of things about her that have been a mystery up to this point, but that’s another story for another time) But in her best Mother Theresa form, after a few snorts and more prayers from both of us she agreed to enter the city of gorillaville to fetch our patient.

Following the advice of Mary, who told me as we entered the arena, “Hold the gorilla close to you so it won’t spook your horse,” I retrieved the ape and off we went to find our awaiting stretcher. Not a problem at all UNTIL…… we get to the stretcher, Bella sidles up to the stretcher just like I asked and I tried to lower the gorilla down to the stretcher. IT DIDN’T BUDGE!!!! I tried and tried free myself and my horse of this this primate, to no avail. It wouldn’t go!



Finally Bella said she’d had enough and she was going to leave with or without me and that d**n monkey which is when I discovered that the gorilla had looped his belt AND my reins around the horn of my saddle which meant I couldn’t do anything be steer Bella in a small circle so here we are going in circles, gorilla arms flailing, me thinking that I am going to end up on Oprah with a scarf on my face to hide my scars and trying to explain how I came to be disfigured by a gorilla attack of my own choosing.

By now, the crowd is thinking that they’re seeing a freaked out horse and a rider without a clue of how the game is supposed to go so of course, people start to get interested in what’s really going on and someone finally realizes that I’m being ATTACKED BY A STUFFED GORILLA and steps in to rescue the rescuers.

Thankfully the gods heard our prayers and realized the bonds that bound us and I let the exhausted gorilla drop mercilessly onto the stretcher only to discover that his body had flopped lifelessly off the edge of the stretcher and he lay unconscious on the dirt. Bella, who had regained her composure the moment the gorilla was freed from our saddle stood quietly beside the stretcher and practically on top of the gorilla. As I dismount, I hear the announcers in true PETA fashion, “DON’T STEP ON THE GORILLA!” I did my best to put the patient on the stretcher and I thought I had done a good job of it until I see my partner take off and as she rode into the sunset carrying that poor creature, his arm was flopping wildly about as he bounced along.

I’m not positive about this but I am pretty sure that he was waving to me as he rode away but I don’t think it was a fully fingered wave…….

Guest Blog

You may find it hard to believe, but sometimes I just run out of things to talk about. When Michelle Julian of the Nebraska Humane Society asked if I would be interested in sharing her story about two horses that were cruelty cases and subsequently confiscated by the NHS, I was honored that she thought of Horsetrailriders.com as a place to share her story and enjoy the chance to host a guest's blog.

The story isn't about how the these horses got into the care of the NHS to begin with, but where they have since gone. Thank you, Michelle, for sharing your story with us. ~Tammy

Since January of 2009, the Nebraska Humane Society (NHS) has had over 20 neglected or unwanted horses arrive for care. This year seems very atypical, as we have been called to assist in several horse cruelty cases outside our normal jurisdiction. Whether it is the economy, loss of interest, lack of time, more horse neglect cases have surfaced over the past 3 years that NHS has ever experienced.

Luckily, several have been adopted this year, along with a mare that had been with us for over two years, finally finding a safe home. But alas, a few still lag behind, be it age, breed or education, some just don’t seem to generate much interest.

A few of us a NHS have horses of our own and meet regularly to discuss what we can do to help these horses get adopted. Some of us donate time to work with the animals to attempt to get them more “adoptable”, trying to figure out what makes them tick, what we can do to work them through their troubles and try to figure out what type of owner would be best suited for the particular horse.

Challenging….very challenging is our job, as most people today want a horse they can jump on and ride off into the sunset without understanding what kind of willing partnership that entails!
Being the primary handlers of these “unwanted” horses, we need to find a way to educate the horse in the best way to be able to adapt to their new owners.

About 3 years ago, I was able to ride in my first Peter Campbell clinic in Fremont, Nebraska. It was life changing…..the changes Peter develops in a horse and rider cannot be explained with words, they can only be experienced and understood through riding in it yourself.

In September I contacted Peter’s office and asked if he would be willing to work one of our “adoptees” as a demonstration in the upcoming clinic. Later that day Trina (Peter’s wife) contacted me with an amazing proposition. Peter would donate two clinic spots for myself and a coworker to bring the most troubled “adoptees” to the Foundation Horsemanship portion. I was speechless and amazed at the opportunity Imeera and Halima would have as candidates for the clinic.

The first day proved to be exciting and educational. My filly, Halima was a handful. She was a horse that would not let the farrier near her feet, had little confidence, wouldn’t stand to be tied, always wanting to flee, a highly sensitive horse!

On the second day of the clinic, Peter worked my little filly, I handed him the lead rope and he worked her on horseback from his gelding Reata. It was like a choreographed dance, Peter on his horse doing a canter pirouette while Halima trotted and cantered around them, disengaging her hindquarters and facing him with just a feel and with a slight suggestion she softly changed directions.


Over those 4 mornings both Halima and Imeera changed inside. They truly began to trust the human; you could pick up all four feet, flag them anywhere on their bodies, and they generally enjoyed the human. These young “adoptees” learned to walk and trot around us calmly and with such a light feel to disengage the hindquarters and back with the softest suggestion on the halter. We could jump up and down on their sides as if we were mounting bareback and use the lead rope like a cinch on the girth area. There was so much that was accomplished, but most importantly, it was the inside of the horses that changed. Their mental and emotional states were so soft and willing.

Peter is not a clinician that coddles you and does it for you, nor is he degrading to make you feel as though you’ll never get it. He treats you like the horse…he gets you to try and if you want it bad enough, you’ll work at it. Once Peter sees that try in you appear, he will help you with amazing passion to get you to help your horse on your own. When I thought I was being soft, he would say “softer”, when I figured I wasn’t being firm enough, he would say, “ too firm, ease off”. I changed my approach, and he was right, the horse would change. Sometimes my filly would get worried and I didn’t think I could do what it would take to help her. Peter directed us enough to get a change, encouraged us enough to figure it out for ourselves without doing it for us. It was just as changing for us as it was the horse. Peter had me “get in the trenches” with her and we both came out the other side better.


To have an opportunity to be guided by a true horseman is something we will never forget, what happened over those 4 days changed everything for the horses and us. I think about the clinic and Halima often, realizing that it isn’t about our horses changing; it’s about us changing.

Peter puts it best, “You gotta give something you never gave, to get something you never had.”

Article submitted by Michelle Julian of the Nebraska Humane Society

Nebraska Humane Society: http://www.nehumanesociety.org/
Peter Campbell: http://www.willingpartners.com/