I was a child when I first sat on a horse. It was interesting, but it did not catch on for long. Then as an adult I had the opportunity to travel far and wide within Mongolia and other Asian and Latin-American countries boasting a highly developed equestrian culture, where often the only way to commute besides walking was on horseback. I experienced an alternative way of riding, one that is free i
n style, lacking written rules and judging eyes; a contradiction I have carried with me ever since. These people rode differently, not the way I have been told to. Initially, it was difficult to conceive the difference, but then the picture cleared: in their life horse and riding, like surfing the internet or sitting on a bike for us, were everyday occurrences, not some peculiar whim of the riche nouveau or the subject of sportsmanship. There was no rule book, no mandatory styles, no judgment. No one offered unsolicited advice on how to sit in the saddle; one did not have to spend years in the round-pen before being able to ride overnight to visit a neighboring farm, and if you fell no one was horrified. In these cultures, a four-year old is allowed to accompany his six year old sibling on his own horse, herding the family flock the whole day. The major difference, like in most other aspects was the freedom, the respect towards each other regardless of age, the reasonable and natural attitude of people who live their lives in a nomadic herder community, close to and dependent upon Nature. My main focus of interest while traveling were always aboriginal cultures, ancient lifestyle, nomadic societies and the connection between man and horse. But then my daughter Bejke was born, and a topic called CHILD topped my list of interests. I did not quit traveling, so she was surrounded from infancy on by nature, attachment parenting, non-violent communication and horses. Through her and the example of other kids I would like to present a practical method, where horse riding is possible without frustration, rules or an inferiority complex, where sitting in a saddle liberates your body and soul. When I watch her mingle for hours with a herd of free-range horses far away, without any adult supervision, communicating in a language unknown to me, I keep on asking myself: is it really us, adults, who need to teach a child how to relate to horses, or should it be the other way around?
