How long ago is relative to how old we are. To a baby, yesterday seems so long ago. A 24-year-old may think they have “forever” before them, hoping the past stays in the past. As a 70-year-old, I believe that my “runway” is short, and I often reflect on the past, as I did last week attending my father-in-law’s funeral.

Relative to me, one or two hundred years ago doesn’t seem that long ago. My 50 years of working with horses give me many reference points; how they were cared for has dramatically changed. The opportunity to reflect came several times as I drove home through the massive humanity of the Bronx, NY, the rural mountains of Virginia, and the reconnection with a client who told me her experiences as a child living with limited resources in the woods outside San Francisco.

This podcast is a collection of my thoughts in an attempt to tell all horse owners and caregivers to stop pushing our horses into the future. The past has worked well, and what we are doing with them today hasn’t.

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