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Dear
Potential
INTENSIVE, riding lessons, or trail rider
participant,
Here at West Gait Equine Learning Center,
near Fruita, Colorado, I have at least fifteen
home grown, naturally gaited Paso-Pleasure
Horses, (Mountain Pleasure over Peruvian Paso),
at various ages and stages of training,
just waiting for you to work with. If you "Come
Ride With Me!" you'll be
getting my personal attention as you learn my
"Horse Handling-Horse Sense" methods of
training. Because I take no more than three
participants at a time, I can custom tailor each
day to meet the needs of my "learners". Typically, however, we
work at training in the mornings, and go trail
riding in the afternoons. I'll teach you how to
catch, halter, tie up, groom, clip, hoof trim,
saddle and tack, as well as ground train and
ride, our beautiful, tractable, easy riding Paso-
Pleasure Horses.
You'll be doing everything "hands on"
yourself, under my close supervision. You
may even help me start some horses under
saddle! After becoming familiar with what I
call "sit-down equitation" and
"synergistic-synchronistic riding",
you'll be riding out on the trail. Our local
desert-canyon country is breathtakingly
beautiful. My goal is to make sure you have a
fun filled, education oriented, safe and
satisfying time.
So, Sign Up - Saddle Up - and Let's Ride!
Don West
"Saddle Up -- Let's
Ride!!!"
Meet Your Learning Leader For Equine Adventure
DON WEST
"I have three major rules when working with
horses:
I don't get hurt, my horse doesn't
get hurt, and I'm having fun!"
--
D. W.
Don
West is a master horseman, speaker/clinician, and
"learning leader for equine adventure". Not just a lecturer or
teacher, he thinks of himself more as an "equine
success coach", specializing in Paso and
naturally gaited horses. Don is an
internationally recognized and respected expert
on basic training for trail riding, backcountry
travel, and low impact horse camping. In his
"Come Ride With ME!" -Training and Trail Riding
program he teaches what he calls "horse
handling-horse sense",
"synergistic-synchronistic riding", and
"sit-down
equitation" . He also does clinics on saddle fit
and low impact horse camping. Don's moto is: "Saddle Up- Let's Ride!"
Don
is the co-owner, product designer, and field
tester for Have Saddle-Will Travel, Inc.
the Innovative Outfitter for people who were
"Born To Ride". He
is
the creator of the Don West "Signature Series"
Training-Trail
Saddles and Tack, "the sit-down saddles with the
fit built in - not added on", Saddle Software Systems, Cordura
saddlebags, packs and accessories, "bringing
backpacking technology to horse packing
equipment", and the Storm Riders Clothes Line,
weather beating outerwear; "classic western
designs in today's hi-tech fabrics".
Don
has a lifelong history with horses, and a deep
love for the out-of-doors. He is a trained and
accomplished experiential educator. His saying,
"A comfortable horse is a happy horse, and a
happy horse makes for a happy rider.", sums up
his straight forward, no-nonsense, easy to
understand approach to basic horsemanship. He
holds a B.S. in Parks and Outdoor Education from
Penn State, and did his masters work in
Counseling at South West College in Santa Fe,
New Mexico. His work with Boston University, the
Colorado Outward Bound School, the Verde Valley
School, Pecos River Learning Center, Four
Corners Center For Experimental Learning, and
other outdoor education programs, personal
growth and enhanced communication seminars, and
horse-handling skills spans over forty years.
Don is an Eagle Scout, and was a U.S. Marine and
Town Marshal in Crested Butte, Colorado, where
he also spent a season as a working cowboy.
Besides horsemanship, in his younger years he taught hiking,
biking, skiing, camping, backpacking,
rock-climbing, mountaineering.
Don is an author, poet, and philosopher. His
articles have appeared regularly in many well-known
horse magazines and equine publications. He is
the author of four books, the award winning
"Have Saddle, Will Travel, Low-Impact Trail
Riding and Horse Camping", "Paca, Paca A Sure
Cure For The Trots (Everything You Wanted To
Know About Peruvian Paso Horses, But Didn't Know
Who To Ask)", and his latest book
"Horse Handling-Horse Sense™: A Practical
Guide for Today's Pleasure-Trail Riders
(especially for naturally gaited horse riders)."
For those who like cowboy poetry he wrote
"Lessons in Life, Love and Learning - Selected
Poems by Don West". Happy trails!
To find out more about the Don West Training-Trail Saddles
and Tack™, Saddle Software Systems™,
or the Storm Riders weather beating outerwear™,
or any of Don’s riding programs,
contact: Have Saddle-Will Travel, PO Box 700,
Fruita, CO
81521. (800)821-3607 or fax:
970-858-7861, or e-mail:
maria@wic.net
"MY PONY AND ME"
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I WAS FILLED
WITH CONFUSION
HAD BAD FEELINGS INSIDE
SO I SADDLED MY PONY
AND I WENT FOR A RIDE
WE COVERED
THE GROUND
LIKE A BIRD ON THE WING
AS THE MILES FELL BEHIND ME
I STARTED TO SING
I SANG TO THE
COYOTES
I SANG TO THE SKY
I SANG TO MY PONY...
AND I STARTED TO CRY
I FELT THE
EMOTIONS
LETTING GO FROM INSIDE
LETTING CARES FALL AWAY
AS AHEAD I DID RIDE
THE TEARS
KEEP ON COMING
TO THE TOP OF THE HILL
WHERE I REINED IN MY PONY
AND SAT THERE... REAL STILL
WE LOOKED OUT
TOGETHER
ON THE COUNTRY BELOW
AS I STROKED HIS LONG MANE
NICE AND EASY AND SLOW
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FROM THE BACK
OF MY PONY
MY PROBLEMS SEEMED FEW
AND I GATHERED THE COURAGE
TO START LIFE ANEW
YES
I RELISHED THE MOMENT
SAT THERE TAKING IT IN
BUILDING STRENGTH FOR THE FUTURE
TO START LIVING AGAIN
AS FINALLY THE SUN PASSED
BEHIND A TALL HILL
THE LONG RAYS OF TWILIGHT
GAVE US BOTH A COLD CHILL
IT WAS TIME TO BE GOING
IT WAS TIME TO MOVE ON
'CAUSE THE TIME IT IS PASSING
AND THE PAST IT IS GONE
SO I CLUCKED TO MY PONY
AND HE MOVED DOWN THE HILL
FATHER TIME WILL NOT LINGER
BUT THE MEMORY WILL
NOW I CHERISH THOSE
MOMENTS
THAT'S THE WAY IT SHOULD BE
MILES OF WILD OPEN COUNTRY
AND MY PONY.... AND ME
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