Recently Published Articles / II

This is the second article I wrote for the online magazine, HORSES FOR LIFE. The first article was in the October 2008 issue. This one was published in the November 2008 issue. Some of the content has already appeared on this blog in the "How It All Began" topic series.


Continuing our story of the Sorraia and Sorraia Mustang horses from last month's issue of Horses For Life, in this article the author shares how she and her husband came to establish the Ravenseyrie Sorraia Mustang Preserve on Manitoulin Island, Ontario, Canada.


"A neigh pierces the air and echoes forever..."

It is like a dream...
or a mythic vision?
Or is it, more rightly, a summons?

An ancient equine neigh - more felt in the breast than heard with the ears...
Shapely, smokey, convex-headed forms, dancing behind closed eyelids...
Has some delusional madness taken me over?

Epochal passings aplenty have not stilled the galloping of Iberia's ancestral horses. Then, and now, their hooves thunder over sensate earth...
I feel their vibrations mingling with my own heart's oscillation, our magnetic fields combining...
--"Come, be with us, dance with us...share our world!"

How could I not join them?

Was it all triggered by the book? Or were there other preparations along the way?

Surely there were.

After a handful of years showing dressage, I had acquired a passion for classical equitation and, leaving the competitive arena, immersed myself in the world of the old masters and the realm of artistic riding. Academic study of haute école - historical, biomechanical, philosophical - developed within me a considerable admiration for Iberian horses.

Always lovingly supporting and encouraging my interests, on the day of the 2004 Winter Solstice my husband, Kevin Droski, took great pleasure in presenting me with a copy of A HISTORY OF THE HORSE: Volume I/The Iberian Horse From Ice Age to Antiquity, by Paulo Gaviao Gonzaga.(This photo was not included in the original article, but I'm taking the liberty to include it here.)

Bibliomaniacally inclined, I have in my library already many special books - some antiquated and filled with period etchings, others more contemporary, swelling with glossy, artistically composed photography - each providing some meaningful element in my studies. It therefore surprised me when Gonzaga's seemingly ordinary book affected me so profoundly. From cover to cover the images of cave paintings and artifacts decorated with equine motifs stimulated a flush of curiously intense emotion. The review of ancestral horses in this book is one of the most concise accounts I had read thus far, and I found myself especially attracted to the Sorraia horses, awakening some dormant seed within me.

Gonzaga's book included a descriptive paragraph written by Ruy d'Andrade, who we learned in last month's article is the Portuguese hippologist credited with saving these Sorraia horses. When I read it, I was deeply moved. Describing these primitive horses' appearance after a long, harsh winter, d'Andrade wrote:

"But after the winter hardships, the months from April to June are easily enough to make them fat and, once more covered by flesh they change completely in appearance, especially the stallions, which in full flesh show a curved neck and, so much changed, they look close-coupled and full of life, moving with a lot of elegance and gracefulness, and become beautiful Andalusian horses that can rival Arabians, as they become fine and swift, full of movement and fire. At such moments they reveal the Iberian form of the highest class of animal, on a smaller scale."

As with all germinations, latent potentialities await the culmination of key conditions which trigger the eruption of life. I had certainly read about the Sorraia before and had an admiration for its primitive form, but it wasn't until just this particular time that I felt the warmth of the sun elicit something out of previously inert soil.

You see, at the time of this book's arrival, Kevin and I were preparing our immigration to Canada, and were exchanging a groomed, limited pastoral setting for an expansive wilderness on a rather remote island in northern Ontario. During a maddening state of limbo awaiting the processing of our applications for permanent residency by Citizenship and Immigration Canada, Kevin and I used this time to scour the internet for information on Manitoulin Island and life in Canada. After receiving Gonzaga's book, I also began to research ancient horses, specifically the Sorraia.

Google led me to the multi-faceted website provided by Hardy Oelke, where I learned more about the plight of the Sorraia and the potential of a surviving genetic resource among rare Spanish Mustangs which possessed the Sorraia phenotype. Sorraia Mustangs, he called them. Looking at the photos, something looked back at me, and I once again heard that piercing, prehistoric neigh. I quickly ordered Hardy's book, BORN SURVIVORS ON THE EVE OF EXTINCTION/Can Iberia's Wild Horse Survive Among America's Mustangs? (Kierdorf)

Expanding upon that which I had learned from Gonzaga's book, BORN SURVIVORS went even further. With his evocatively written vignettes and personal photos describing encounters with wild horses in the American West, Hardy skilfully interspersed constructive research findings and suggestions of how best to conserve and nurture the rare Sorraia Mustang lest its rich genetic resource be lost. Like rain softening the earth after the slumber of winter, Hardy's book became one more element in creating the right conditions for sustaining the awakened seed.

Hardy's website brought my attention to Sharron Sheikofsky and her partner Dave Reynolds and the horses of Caballos de Destino. Sharron and Dave breed authentic Spanish Mustangs in captivity on their ranch in South Dakota and have been selecting the Iberian form and grulla coloring as one part of their program for decades. Some of these selectively bred horses possess the distinctive phenotype of the Sorraia, and Caballos De Destino happened to be offering a few of them for sale among their other attractive Spanish Mustang youngsters. Here was another potent showering of rain, and soon an idea uncoiled a tentative tendril...

Would not our new property on Manitoulin Island be a wonderful environment to raise these ancestral horses?

Fada and her dam, Belina down at the beach at Ravenseyrie

Kevin didn't hear that prehistoric neigh piercing the air, but he could appreciate that his wife was feeling a part of something mystically potent, and so fell quickly into step with the idea. (Kevin is a very indulgent husband, but also knows that my imaginative tendencies typically enhance our lives without completely depleting our finances.)

Beginning with two fillies obtained from Caballos de Destino, our Ravenseyrie Sorraia Mustang Preserve was quietly founded in July of 2005. [author's note: the story of importing these semi-feral horses to Canada, and learning from them a new way of interacting with, and training horses will be the subject of a future article.]

In the pre-spring chill of 2006, Kevin gave me the financial thumbs up, and I enthusiastically began a search for the appropriate suitor to join Bella and Belina on the island.

Thankfully, Hardy Oelke himself agreed to review any potential stallion candidates because I was still very green in my skill of detecting the Sorraia phenotype within the various grulla and dun colored mustangs. The Sorraia phenotype is much more than primitive coloring as they have distinct conformational characteristics which set them apart from other horses - something we learned about in last month's issue of Horses For Life. My neophyte grasp of these matters was compounded by the difficulty of attempting to determine how well a young colt might mature (something even grey-bearded, experienced breeders find hard to predict) and also because I found something endearing about all the young weanlings and yearlings in the photos being sent my way.

With our finances limited, and because I didn't want to impose a mature stallion on our young fillies, it seemed prudent to narrow our search down to stud colts who were two years or younger. If Caballos de Destino had happened to have a non-related stud colt, I wouldn't have hesitated buying from Lady Sharron Sheikofsky again; however, for our preserve, Hardy thought it best to look for Sorraia types coming from different bloodlines than those represented in Sharron and Dave's herds.

There were many youngsters available from folks who were breeding mustangs in captivity out in the western United States...breeders with names like "Double L Kigers", "Spanish Sage Ranch", "Karisma Kigers and "Circle S Ranch"...each candidate, however, had one or more features that kept him from being the ideal stud colt destined to be the foundation sire of his own Sorraia Mustang Preserve.

I nevertheless kept up my search, knowing that one day "Mr. Right" would present himself.

Imagine my astonishment when Hardy relayed to me that there was a purebred Sorraia yearling colt, born at the Wisentgehege zoological park in Springe, Germany, which might possibly be for sale. This surprise, of course, was accompanied by a loud laugh on my behalf, for surely a purebred Sorraia (with less than 200 of these horses walking the earth world wide) would be far too costly for Kevin and I to consider. Hardy checked into the matter and in a day or two, relayed to us that the zoological park would indeed sell us the colt and the sum they were asking was within our reach.

Great news, right?!!!

Ah, but wait...

...sure we could buy this colt without incurring financial hardship. But flying a horse from Germany to Canada was an extravagance beyond our humble island means. How could I possibly even discuss this with Kevin, knowing that since our immigration we necessarily had to live extremely frugally, especially while much of our disposable income lay tied up in our yet unsold farm back in Michigan?

Of course this was all true...but you just know I had to at least discuss the offer with Kevin.

"NO!" he said, "It's absurd!...Duckie, we cannot do it!"

Yes, he was right. Considering our limited finances and our dedication to focusing on paying off our mortgage on Ravenseyrie - to assume the financial burden of importing a horse from Germany was a ridiculous undertaking.

So, "No" it was...

...besides, having once been a peon at a boarding stable where dressage queens were frequently importing horses from Europe, I knew our manner of living was far removed from the "well-heeled" lifestyles where such things were done.

So, this was impossible for us, right?

I don't remember sulking about it (perhaps Kevin remembers differently) but I do recall lying awake at night ruminating over what a huge contribution we could make to the plight of the endangered Sorraia horse by having a purebred Sorraia as a key player on our Sorraia Mustang Preserve.

While staring at the dark ceiling, listening to the soft slumbering sounds of Kevin next to me, I went over what I had been learning about the attempts to enhance the preservation of the endangered Sorraia horse by consolidating and nurturing the amazing atavistic anomalies in certain North American Mustang horses.

Twice before, Hardy had assisted in the export of purebred Sorraia stud colts from Germany to North America, with the high expectation that these Sorraia stallions would be bred to select mustang mares which exhibited the Sorraia phenotype.

First, in the spring of 2000, Erin Grey, a breeder/trainer of mustang horses in Oregon, obtained the yearling stud colt Sovina from Hardy, and after some initial anxiety due to his slow rate of sexual maturity (belated sexual maturity and fertility issues in stallions have been problematic concerns with the highly inbred Sorraias), Sovina sired three colts and one filly out of Sulphur Mustang mares. After a visit to Portugal, however, Erin Grey came away with the impression that the individuals there who were preserving the primitive Sorraia horse were displeased with Hardy Oelke's Sorraia Mustang Studbook (a simple registry to keep track of those mustangs which might serve beneficially in preserving the Sorraia phenotype) and his efforts to encourage breeders to consolidate the Sorraia characteristics by breeding like with like. From that point on, Ms. Grey relayed in the Sulphur Horse Association's forum that she would not breed Sovina to any mustang mares out of respect for the opinion of the breeders she met in Portugal.

The difficulties that arise, and for which Ms. Grey no doubt has cause for concern, is that too many times people who own dun or grulla colored mustangs begin referring to them as Sorraia horses. Even when a mustang horse exhibits identical characteristics of the Sorraia horse, it would be inappropriate and misleading to call it a Sorraia. There have been genetic tests done with mitochrondia DNA which link some mustangs to the Iberian Sorraia, and the existence of the Sorraia phenotype in some mustangs also reflects the survival of these ancestral genetics. The name Sorraia Mustang seems to me to be a good and proper moniker for mustangs which exhibit the Sorraia phenotype, whether a little or a lot. In Hardy's website, devoted to sharing information on the Sorraia Mustang, he writes, "The term 'Sorraia Mustang' was chosen because these horses have a mustang background. The goal is to preserve the Sorraia genes, not to deny their mustang background, or deliberately cover their origin and try 'selling' them as being the same as Portuguese Sorraias. Another aspect is: Portuguese Sorraia people appreciate the Sorraia Mustangs for what they are, and recognize their Sorraia ancestry. They would certainly frown upon anyone declaring their mustangs simply 'Sorraias', and would likely oppose the Sorraia Mustang project if they felt something 'fishy' was going on."

Whatever impressions Erin Grey has regarding the role the Sorraia Mustang may play in the ongoing efforts to preserve the Sorraia horses in Europe, we must counter with the words of one of Ruy d'Andrade's grandsons which Hardy has quoted in his website, along with important quotes from other Portuguese breeders of Sorraia horses who do support the preservation of the Sorraia Mustangs. José Luis d'Andrade states, "The mustangs definitely look as(sic) our Sorraias, which are, as you know, an endangered species. I gladly confirm that these mustangs should be preserved and support your endeavor wholeheartedly, also as president of the Sorraia association. As you know, it was my grandfather, Dr. Ruy d'Andrade, who discovered and rescued the Sorraia horses, and he, too, would be excited about these horses in America."

With the export of another of Hardy Oelke's purebred Sorraia stud colts, Tejo II, it seemed that once again the potential of bringing together the blood of the Portuguese Sorraia with the mustangs of Sorraia type in North America would soon be a reality. Karen Dalke of Wisconsin took delivery of Tejo II in 2001 and has had him in training for dressage, with a few tentative attempts at breeding to her own mustang mares which so far has not resulted in any foals. Tejo is a full brother to Sovina and is an extremely good looking stallion.

With sleep still eluding me and the methodical review of these two situations, it seemed to me that efforts to create a vigorous outcross by mating these Sorraia stallions with mustang mares showing atavistic Sorraia traits had lost momentum. While it is not essential to introduce the blood of a purebred Sorraia into the Sorraia Mustang populace in order to preserve the phenotype among this rare type of mustang, I kept thinking about a statement in Hardy's book, "There would be the possibility to introduce Sorraias from Portugal to America, to take a huge step towards consolidation of the subspecies."

Transported (corrupted?) by that particular ether that impregnates the mind when trapped in the dual agitated states of absolute fatigue and insomnia, I imagined that the good spirit of Dr. Ruy d'Andrade himself had aligned the fates in such a way that Manitoulin Island, in the great country of Canada, was being provided the opportunity to carry the torch, if you will, and participate in something larger than life - what a folly it would be to let such an opportunity pass us by!

The next morning at breakfast, I explained to Kevin all my thoughts from my sleepless night. "Are you sure, Kevin...there is no way?"

We began to study what type of paperwork and financial commitment was required to import a horse from Germany. A lot! But, in reality...not all that much more than what it would cost to have a horse trucked from western U.S. to Manitoulin.

Deciding to put off for a year or more some of the things we had hoped to accomplish on improving the farm, we found that while it would put us very tight, we could actually free up enough cash to be able to pay for flying the colt across the ocean after all.

Hardy immediately put things in motion and the process was soon underway. On August 23, 2006 in the after-10pm darkness, with a calm curiosity, not the least bit unnerved, the purebred Sorraia, sixteen-month-old, Altamiro, stepped into his new world at Ravenseyrie. I loved him immediately.

Two more charmed acquisitions have been made since then to complete our foundation herd. In April of 2007 a beautiful two year old Kiger Mustang filly, Ciente (an excellent example of Sorraia type) joined the herd, and just this past September we were fortunate to be offered the six year old mare, Sovina's Zorita. You can imagine our excitement at being able to add this half Sorraia/half Sulphur Mustang mare to our Sorraia Mustang Preserve.

Each of these foundation horses, Bella, Belina, Altamiro, Ciente and Zorita provided us with interesting experiences just getting them to the island, and the challenges of integrating them with our two domestic horses and three draft mules, all of whom share 360 acres of varied wilderness - but this article is too long already and we will save these stories for upcoming issues.

Likewise, we will certainly share in a future article the quick development the environment at Ravenseyrie brought out in these young, primitive horses, culminating in three foals born this year! The surprising birth of Animado in April, followed by the filly, Fada in May, and Animado's brother Interessado in August have advanced our efforts here sooner than expected.

It seems when one follows the summons of the ancestral horses, fanciful dreams become a beautiful reality in a very short time.

Photo: 2007 Leslie Town Photography

Lynne Gerard is an author, artist and calligrapher. Her business, Ravenseyrie Studio and Gallery on the Gore Bay waterfront has attracted many tourists visiting Manitoulin Island (Ontario, Canada) and also serves to share information on the Ravenseyrie Sorraia Mustang Preserve founded by her and her husband. Ms. Gerard and her husband Kevin Droski live close to nature with their horses, mules, dogs, cats and geese up on Gore Bay's East Bluff overlooking Lake Huron's famous North Channel.

Recently Published Articles / I

To make up for some lapses in journal entries, I thought I would take this opportunity to share with readers some recent articles I've written. The first article I will be sharing was published in the online magazine HORSES FOR LIFE, a subscription periodical that boasts a readership in forty-three different countries and covers topics from Classical Equitation to Rare Breeds. I was very honored to be asked to write a two part article about the Sorraia horses and our efforts here at the Ravenseyrie Sorraia Mustang Preserve. The editor, Nadja King, was very kind to show interest in these horses and provided me an opportunity to write the articles in ways that most magazines never allow space for. Thank you, again, Nadja, for the "free rein" you allowed me, it was such a pleasure to have no word-length constraints.

Many of you who have been following this blog have already read these articles, for others who do not have a subscription to HORSES FOR LIFE, you might appreciate the opportunity to find out more about the history of the Sorraia. The reprinting of these articles here will not be in the same, attractive "virtual paper" format available on the HORSES FOR LIFE website, but I will paste in the photos and illustrations that were in the original version.

It is cool here and slightly moist. The darkness divides itself, making room for the dancing of a crude oil lamp, its subtle light warmly illuminates the cramped, sacred space. I sit upon a bed of fragrant pine boughs and ready myself for the ceremony.

The venerable crone, adorned with dried seeds, braided horse hair, feathers, hollow bones and polished teeth makes haunting music with each poised movement. "She of the Horse" prepares the sacrament, blesses it and presents it to me on the flat of her ochre stained hand. I gather her offering into my own palm.

The three dried mushrooms seem like strange living creatures as the flickering lamplight flirts with their twisted forms. I look to "She of the Horse" for reassurance, but her eyes are fixed and de-focalized on the wall of the cave...she is softly chanting. I put my trust in the goodness of our intentions and ingest the sacrament, chewing each mushroom with slow deliberation and allowing myself to slightly sway with the rhythm of the chant.

Nothing happens, at first...

And then, as the crone's voice becomes louder and is joined by the chanting of her two male assistants, I feel their hands lift me. I am astonished to realize my legs have no strength of their own! I am carried into a deeper recess of the cave, where the light does not penetrate at all, and yet, strangely, I can see. I am placed upon another bed of pine, but instead of sitting, I am kneeling before a raw umber stained section of cave wall. I feel a bit disoriented and slightly afraid. The smell of yarrow and cannabis sativa wafts out from the small, ritual sensor the crone keeps with her always. It's aroma soothes me. I regard the cave wall before me. There are deep crevices here and there and an evocative relief pattern to the otherwise smooth surface. My skin is being pricked from the inside out by so many unseen thorns, but the sensation is not wholly unpleasant.

I hear the sound of hooves approaching. A neigh pierces the air and echoes forever...

And then...there they are!

The horses!

How can this be?

Elegant forms of several dorsal striped, long-necked horses flow over the cave wall and play out a scene of a carefully executed equine dance, as if for my entertainment. These horses collect exquisitely on their haunches, performing poised leaps, joyful turns and rhythmic "on the spot" maneuvers. Before they dash off into the crevices within the wall, I hear the voice of one of them say, "Come, be with us, dance with us...share our world!"

"She of the Horse" strokes my face and I awaken in the dark, confused. One of the assistants brings forward flickering oil light, and there, painted on the wall are the dancing horses, floating free. They were not there before. Am I dreaming? I reach out to touch them and notice my hands and arms are covered in pigment. I trace a finger across the smoke-coloured croup of one of the horses and look at the crone, questioning.

"You have done well here!", she exclaimed. "The ancestral horses allowed you to paint them...this means you have been invited to their world, in flesh and in spirit. They will teach you now, as they have taught those who came before us and as they will teach those who have yet to come."

Above drawing is after a charcoal image in the "Horse's Tail" chamber in cave of Altamira in Northern Spain

I realize I have been looking too long at the Upper Paleolithic artisans' fantastic images, captured in photos and printed in the pages of scholarly books on parietal art. My romantic flight of fancy into the prehistoric world of horses has taken great poetic license with piecing together a possible explanation for the exquisite renderings of equines we see all over European caves dating back as far as 30,000 years ago.

Thirty thousand years ago! Greek mythology pales by comparison!

Whether these Upper Paleolithic people looked upon the horse as a spiritual icon, a means of sustenance or a beast of burden is open to interpretation. What is certain is that the images of these ancestral equines figure prominently in most every area where mankind's first forms of art have been discovered.

How remarkable it is that even now in the 21st Century we can find in our midst horses who exhibit the same characteristics as those portrayed by the sure hands of the first human artisans!

"A neigh pierces the air and echoes forever..."

Researchers continue to quibble over whether wild horses descended from just one ancient type or from more than one type. However it appears that Ebhardt's classification, which divides ancestral horses into four distinct types, is presently accepted as the most probable. While many people are well aware of Przewalski's horse (the wild Mongolian pony) which displays the characteristics of Type II, too few people know about the existence of a carefully preserved specimen of Type III. We find both types of these horses were documented in the artwork created by Upper Paleolithic peoples. For the purposes of this article, we are focusing upon Ancestral Type III.

In his book, A HISTORY OF THE HORSE/Volume I: The Iberian Horse From Ice Age to Antiquity, Paulo Gaviao Gonzaga describes Ebhardt's type III horse form thus:"Type III had a long head with a small narrow forehead and convex profile, a fine delicate muzzle, straight jaw, small teeth, long ears and eyes placed higher on the head, a long neck and clean throatlatch.

"The prominent withers, higher than the rump, reached far on to a medium to long back, long inclined shoulders, narrow chest and body, and sloping croup. Long legs, cannon bones and pasterns ended in oval, medium sized hoofs [sic] with no feathering. These characteristics made him capable of moving with collection, placing the hind legs under the body mass and the nose vertically, the ideal requirements for a good riding horse.

"Probably the dark mane, with intermingled light-coloured hairs at the bottom, was long and lay on the neck, although some sub-types may have had upright manes. The coat was dun or grullo (mouse dun) with a darker face. Type III always had a dorsal black line, and zebra stripes on the legs and very often also on the shoulders." (pp. 30-31)


This description very keenly describes a well known wild horse that dwelled in the southerly realms of the Iberian Peninsula. Prior to the mass agricultural cultivation of the landscape in the region, these horses flourished in the area, along with other wild horses (likely specimens with various combined characteristics of types I, II and III of which the extinct hybrid referred to as the Tarpan is just one example). Our ancestral Type III horse was described in antiquated texts with the name, "zebro", "marismeño, "encebra" and "cebro" depending on which territory of the region they happened to be. There remain, even today, locations in the landscapes of these areas (such as the Vale de Zebro) that retain names inspired by the horses which inhabited these regions in earlier times.

Early human inhabitants would capture horses from these wild roaming herds and used them extensively in daily life and warring raids. However, as local breeds were developed according to the needs and predilections of the people, the ancestral wild horses were soon considered sub-rate and deemed suitable only for use by peasants. The continuous cultivation of the landscape marginalized the dwindling herds of wild horses, forcing them into less hospitable realms in the mountains and forests where they managed to maintain a tenuous existence into the twentieth century.

It was our good fortune that during the last days of this tenacious wild horse a gentleman of great knowledge chanced upon a group of zebros while on a hunting expedition in 1920. Acclaimed Portuguese zoologist, Dr. Ruy d'Andrade, a noted breeder of exquisite Lusitano horses, was so moved by the primitive characteristics of the horses he saw on this fateful hunting trip that several years later he decided to acquire a breeding herd to preserve on his own property. The horses he had originally observed were no longer there, however some of the landowners in the vicinity kept and bred horses, a few of which conformed to the primitive phenotype d'Andrade had so carefully documented from his earlier expedition. From these private owners' herds, the esteemed hippologist was able to select seven mares which displayed the characteristics of the ancient zebro. Using four stallions, also of identical primitive type, d'Andrade was able to establish his preserve and documented a consistently homogeneous offering of offspring.

Purebred Sorraia stallion, Altamiro of the Ravenseyrie Sorraia Mustang Preserve
Manitoulin Island, Ontario, Canada

Dr. d'Andrade gave these horses the name Sorraia, linking them to the river that ran through the "Sesmaria" estate in Coruche where he had first seen them. If not for this gentleman's efforts, and the subsequent dedication of his son and grandsons (and later that of the Portuguese National Stud and a handful of individuals in Germany), the Type III ancestral horse of the Iberian Peninsula would have completely vanished altogether.

Or, perhaps not!

Altamiro, with Belina and Fada

"A neigh pierces the air and echoes forever..."

Our next great man on the scene is the German author, horse trainer and equine specialist, Hardy Oelke. A long time admirer of the American Paint Appaloosa and Quarter Horse breeds, Oelke had travelled numerous times to the United States to research the origins of these domestic horses. In the 1980's Oelke included in his visits the Bureau of Land Management Wild Horse Ranges where he happened to notice a very curious thing. At the time, while never having seen a Sorraia horse in the flesh, Oelke was nonetheless very familiar with this ancestral equine's precarious flirtations with extinction (even now fewer than 200 Sorraias exist worldwide!) and was therefore stunned with excitement when introduced to the Kiger Mustangs. Here in the rugged North American west, half a world removed from Iberia, roaming as free as in ages gone by was the quintessential Type III ancestral horse! The striking similarities between many of these Kiger mustangs and the Sorraia horses in Portugal heretofore had gone unnoticed and unappreciated by horse folk in the United States. Inspired and energized, Hardy Oelke began a parallel journey that day and soon immersed himself into the historic and scientific study of the Sorraia horse and their phenotypical twins which he came to call Sorraia Mustangs.

Ciente, 2 yr. old Kiger Mustang filly on the Ravenseyrie Sorraia Mustang Preserve

Historic texts tell us the evolution of the horse took place in North America, with unrestricted movement taking place between here and Eurasia when land connections still existed. We've been told, however, that horses in the Americas became extinct along with other large mammals, with a variety of speculations as to the cause.

Most everyone knows that the reintroduction of equus caballos to the New World came by ship across the Atlantic, along with the European explorers and subsequent colonization of the continent. What is less appreciated is that within the intrepid man's own journals we are made aware that the finely bred Spanish chargers Columbus hand picked to accompany him on his 1493 journey were unscrupulously switched with "common nags" (our afore-mentioned zebro, marismeño, encebro so often captured from the wild and forced into serving peasants of the era).

It appears that the primitive ancestral Type III horse, in the form of the Iberian "zebro" was one of the first equines to revisit the Americas. Given these "nags" proved admirably suited to the rigors such an expedition were fraught with, it is likely that among subsequent shipments of horses from Iberia, more zebros travelled in the bellies of great ships in slings alongside their high bred cousins. And so among the melting pot of the many immigrant steeds (French draft, English coach, Spanish destrier and others) who later managed to escape their enslavers and adopt a feral existence, reproducing extensively and migrating north, south, east and west in all of the Northern Hemisphere over several hundred years, we find the atavistic phenotype of the primitive wild horse of the Iberian Peninsula reemerging among the Sulphur Springs, Pryor Mountain and (especially) the Kiger Mustang herds in the western United States.

Referring once again to Gonzaga's work we note, "One important phenomenon verified many times over (with the Mustang and the Sorraia, for example) is that the original 'types' tend to come back when domestic horses escape from man's control and revert to feral status, or even sometimes when selection is abandoned. When this occurs, characteristics resulting from cross-breeding will be eliminated and the animals will revert to the original wild form and from then on will not change again, no matter the number of generations." (ibid, p. 34)


Arrogant man, haughtily disdainful of primitive qualities and always eager to impose his ideas of "improvement" upon nature, repeatedly made an effort to "upgrade" the mustangs - with each well-meaning manipulation representing the personal tastes of those humans living among mustangs during different time periods. This was man's preoccupation when he wasn't attempting to outright exterminate these feral horses altogether in obvious and not so obvious ways (a practice we see going on currently under the "protection" of the U.S. BLM).

While some folks who breed mustangs in captivity have come to prize the primitive coloring of the Type III ancestral horse, they unfortunately make attempts to breed away from certain key conformational features, preferring wider heads, heavier legs and broader croups...many even disdain the noble, aristocratic convex profile, favoring instead the look of an Arabian style head for their mustangs!

Even today, many years after Hardy Oelke published his observations and scientific findings on the link between the Sorraia and some of the North American Mustangs, we find precious little support to nurture the phenomenon nature has played out for us to learn from. This means the future of the Sorraia Mustang - the perfect example of the ancestral Type III horse existing in North America - is even more precarious than that of the Iberian Sorraia in Europe.

That the primitive Type III ancestral horse, tens of thousands of years later, continues to resurface like a fossil pushing up from ancient soil, seems to me like some sort of shamanic magic. Research continues to determine the exact science behind such "magic", but the playful enchantment of the beautiful forms of these horses displayed in cave paintings is more convincing to me than any science. These compelling horses have charmed my very being, enticing me and my husband to give them a place to reappear in the flesh here at Ravenseyrie.

"A neigh pierces the air and echoes forever..."



References--

--Clottes, Jean and Lewis-Williams, David. The Shamans of Prehistory (1996 Harry M. Abrams, Inc. New York)

--Cordeiro, Arsénio Raposo. Lusitano Horse Son of the Wind (1997 Edicoes Inapa, Lisbon)

--Curtis, Gregory. The Cave Painters (2006 Anchor Books, New York)

--Gonzaga, Paulo Gaviao. A History of the Horse (2004 J.A. Allen, London)

--Hancock, Graham. Supernatural (2005 Century, London)

--Leroi-Gourhan, André. The Dawn of European Art (1982 Cambridge University Press, London)

--Oelke, Hardy. Born Survivors on the Eve of Extinction (1997 Kierdorf Verlag, Germany)

--Oelke, Hardy. Sorraia Folheto Informativo, http://www.sorraia.org/

--Oom, d'Andrade and Costa-Ferreira. Stud Book da Raca Sorraia (2004 Associacao Internacional De Criadores Do Cavalo Iberico De Tipo Primitivo-Sorraia)

--Ramos, Pedro A. Saura. The Cave of Altamira (1998 Harry M. Abrams, Inc., New York)

--Ryden, Hope. America's Last Wild Horses (2005 The Lyons Press, Connecticut)

Meaningful Elements to Further the Journey

An autumn view from Ravenseyrie at the "Top of the World" meditation spot

Today's entry contains an assortment of photos taken in the last week, which I will be interspersing between written text discussing meaningful elements which have furthered my friendship with horses.

My journey of relations with horses began as a young girl and a neighbor's pony named Prince (though this entry is not the place to go into lengthy details of my history with horses), I should relay there are rich layers of ignorance, love, fear and wee seeds of understanding that fold in on themselves from those first breath exchanges with an equine until now. I once worked as an exercise girl for Arabian racehorses, trained and showed in dressage, left competition to devote myself to artistic equitation and the study of Francois Baucher's life and "legacy of lightness" and became enraptured by the primitive Sorraia horse and the lure of learning from horses not in a man-made environment, but within a semi-wild setting--which is my present reality.

Our lovely herd of Sorraia/Sorraia Mustangs at Ravenseyrie

I want to share with the readers of Journal of Ravenseyrie some information on current influences in my life and offer links for those of you who might want to explore these "places" yourselves.

A California woman by name of Stormy May has had a journey with horses that shares many similarities with mine. Stormy is also a gifted filmmaker and was motivated to make a documentary that shares her journey with the world. It's an incredibly moving film and contains insightful interviews with well known names in the horse world, Mark Rashid, Carolyn Resnick, Linda Kohanov, Alexander Nevzorov, Kim McElroy and Klaus Ferdinand Hempfling.

On her website we find this synopsis of her dvd THE PATH OF THE HORSE:

>>>A horse trainer gives up her career to travel the world, searching for people who might unlock the secret of how to move to the next level of understanding with horses. What she finds is simple but is she willing to pay the price to take the path less traveled? This inspirational documentary explores the future of horse-human relationships and ultimately all human relationships. As our culture evolves from domination over nature into a partnership, we see this change being reflected in the work that people are doing with horses. This is a story of visionaries, of men and women who have made it their life's work to develop and reveal their innermost thoughts and feelings through achievement of a synergistic balance with the horse's own elegant naturalness. Horses have a gift to share; teaching us how to develop community, leadership, trust, and love within our own families through a connection that goes beyond words. The Path of the Horse takes an honest look at what we're doing with horses today and asks, "Is this the world we want to create?"<<<

Stormy's film is being distributed worldwide and having a dramatic effect on all those who are pursuing deeper relations with horses. You can view a trailer from the film and order a copy of the dvd at Stormy's website by following this link:

http://www.stormymay.com/

Zorita grazes in a favorite section of the prairie grass, while Altamiro dozes nearby

Next I'd like to bring up the work of a German woman named Imke Spilker. I was introduced to her amazing work by my friend Kris McCormack. Kris has just recently translated Imke's book SELBSTBEWUSSTE PFERDE into English and it will be published in the spring of 2009 by Trafalgar Square under the title, EMPOWERED HORSES. This book is a must have for all who are desiring to learn from horses and develop mutual friendships with them. We are incredibly fortunate that Kris put such great effort into bringing Imke's words to English readers and that Trafalgar Square has the good sense to publish this ground-breaking book.

From the English section of Imke's website, Kris offers us a quick review of EMPOWERED HORSES, along with a charming photo of her horse, Khemo, demonstrating his affection for the book.

>>>Horses who have the say? Friendship instead of dominance? How does that work? In this book, communicative horses consciously and confidently assume the lead roles...and show you how being together with such horses can look.

The old edition (in German) of "Selbstbewußte Pferde" published by Kosmos Verlag, is out of print. You will find some remainder copies here.
The new edition, with a different design and layout is published by animal-learn and can be purchased wherever books are sold.

The horse in the photo is Khemo -- a horse who set much in motion: human beings, books, ideas. Khemo died in May, 2008. He lived in the USA and is responsible for the fact that an English language edition of the book will be available in March, 2009. We have his initiative to thank for the fact that very soon the Communicative Horses will have their say all over the world. “Empowered Horses” -- “The book that every horse would give his rider!”. (photo of Khemo taken by Kristina McCormack)<<<

The primitive, yet noble and aristocratic profile of our Sorraia stallion, Altamiro

>>>"When you begin to see through the eyes of horses you enter another world.
In this world, laws more ancient than ours are in effect. Existence is clear and uncomplicated.
Every step into this world let us sense more deeply, breathe more freely..."

(from: Selbstbewusste Pferde, Imke Spilker)<<<

Altamiro follows Zorita on a purposeful striding across the grasslands

>>>"The entire world of horses today is influenced, controlled, or ruled by the two-legged ones, or so it seems. But there is a small community of empowered horses and their friends that is putting up resistance to human domination ...
It is a project that belongs to the horses where there is no domination or “dressage,” where no one “whispers” or screams, no one whips or intimidates. Here human beings learn how to listen to their horses and come into a conversation with them."

(from Imke's Communicative Horses website)<<<

The link to Imke Spilker's Communicative Horses (English version) website can be followed here:

http://www.kommunikativepferde.de/welcome-en-561.html

Two thoughtful ladies came to Ravenseyrie this past Sunday for a visit with the herd. My friend, Nancy, lives on Manitoulin Island, too, and is learning more about horse/human relationships with her three handsome Canadian Horse geldings. Nancy's friend, Ann, was visiting our fair island and treating herself to exploring new places over the Canadian Thanksgiving holiday.

Nancy plays with Animado and his favorite toy, a useful fly whisk

Ann takes the lovely Ciente's photo, while I take a photo of both of them

Ann, not accustomed to either horses or mules, establishes a good feeling with Doll

Nancy, Interessado and Animado discuss important matters, perhaps world peace?

Now I wish to introduce readers to a fantastic, beautifully crafted online magazine called, HORSES FOR LIFE. I have my friend, Annemiek Stuart, from the Netherlands to thank for bringing this fine publication to my attention. I wish I had know about this magazine years ago--it does such a comprehensive job of exploring philosophical, scientific and day to day "mechanics" of living with and training horses. I have not found such a meaningful equestrian magazine available in English since the old days of Ivan Bezugloff's DRESSAGE & CT monthly magazine.

There is so much material here! Incredible photos and moving video coupled with excellent articles make it an incredible deal for subscribers. I am still exploring the "back issues", having just scratched the surface of all the interesting articles available. The editor, Nadja King is a deep thinker, with immense feel for horses. Her efforts with this magazine will propel humans to a higher level of relations with horses and a greater awareness of things we do with our horses and how it affects them.

A few selections the September editorial "What Comes First?" in Horses For Life:

>>>Ahead of success we choose the horse. And we know that we are not alone. There is a huge movement afoot. One where people no longer think competition deserves every effort no matter the cost to the horse. Winning is not important. Fame is not important. Success at all costs is not important.

>>>The look in the horses' eyes at the end of the day is the only measure of success that any of us needs. We accept our responsibility to take the time to read and learn to ensure that we continue to grow and learn, so that we continue to do better by the only judge who in the end truly matters. The horse.

>>>Our mission: to be the voice of the horse. To stand up for the horse. Out of respect, love and duty, because of the gifts the horses have given to us. Our mission is to use information and education, to create awareness and change in the equestrian world. We are not breed specific nor discipline specific, believing that every horse is unique and special and quite capable of wondrous things.<<<

It should also like to make it known that in the upcoming October issue of HORSES FOR LIFE will appear an article by yours truly, discussing the Sorraia and Sorraia Mustang horses.

You can follow the link to HORSES FOR LIFE here:

http://horsesforlife.com/

Already an impressive figure, here we have Altamiro and Ciente's colt, Interessado

Before I close, I should also mention that for a those who are not as interested in going into the horses' natural world to learn from them, but prefer a more "civilized", human controlled setting, I can find none better for combining stunning visuals with haute école (trained and exhibited completely free of bits, bridles and reins) than the beautifully appointed manége of Alexander Nevzorov. Alexander and his wife, Lydia, are definitely rancorously opinionated, controversial figures and espouse a very elitist doctrine, yet their devotion to the horse is admirable and worth exploring.

The link to Alexander Nezorov's website can be followed here:
http://www.hauteecole.ru/en/

The author enjoys the October afternoon warmth and the companionship of young Interessado

I don't know what it is about my attempts to put this day's journal entry together that is causing the blogger program to malfunction...but it seems to be struggling with changes of font style and placement--so please accept my apologies if the body of the entry doesn't flow as well as it typically does. (After first publishing this today, I see too, that the links with the text of this entry aren't "catching" as they should. You will have to copy and paste them into a separate page of your browser to travel to these places--or click on them in the sidebar.)