MASTERY IN THE MAKING

Texas horse trainer Allen Pogue (below) is one of the most highly creative horsemen I have met. Allen reads widely, owns lots of horses that (he tells me) he gets most of his lessons from, and constantly tries out new ideas and techniques. Here he works his crossbred Spanish gelding Navegador on the single pillar and gets spectacular results. Allen builds his own equipment; note the ball-bearing arrangement at the top of the pillar that prevents the line from binding up. He is also the inventor of the ball-whip, a great way to pad the end of a whip so that should it touch the horse, it will neither startle nor hurt him. Buck Brannaman protégé Kathy Rydzyk (above) is another correspondent at my online forum. Here she demonstrates beautiful form in collected trot with her bridle horse Scooter, who has been brought along in “the four reins” but is working off the spade bit alone in this shot. Not every great student cares about competition; the daily practice of ancient traditional forms is deeply satisfying in itself.