Our Rights With Horses

We do not own the rights to a horses body. We never have, and we never will. We do not own the right to push them around, control them, or bully them. We do not have the right to hop on them whenever we please. Horses are free, wild spirits that we will never have the right to break. They are not robots, they are living beings with feelings. They have the right to object and say no to us.

Lilo is nothing less than my best friend and my protector. I did not earn this amazing honor of friendship by pushing or hitting him, or controlling his every move. I earned this honor by treating him as nothing less than what he is to me, a best friend. I have put my whole heart and all of my effort into creating the relationship that we share now. I have done everything that I can to make him feel at his best. To make him feel safe, happy, and healthy. A best friend wouldn't push another best friend around or use forcefulness and coercions to accomplish a selfish task. No, best friends love each other will all of their hearts, they protect each other, and they put each other first, always. Acceptance and understanding are huge keys to a relationship of harmony with a horse. You must see the world from their point of view -- once you can do that, you begin to understand them in ways that you never thought you could.