May 9, 2003 A Horse! A Horse! My Kingdom for a Horse

I was watching a National Geographic show on horses recently and realized how important horses were and are to people. King Richard the Third's cry "My horse! My horse! My kingdom for a horse! when he was in trouble on the battlefield is one famous example.

The day after watching the show I looked out of my window in Chisholm's southend and saw someone horse logging on the woodlot across the road from me on Crown Land. Having written an article on horse logging I saw the opportunity for another one on horses in general. I grabbed my camera and headed out to get the story from the horse's mouth, so to speak. The man with the horse was Joe Meyers, a Chisholm resident on his day off getting his allocation of logs for firewood for next year. Joe was too busy to talk much because his Belgian "Skinner" was new at the game and somewhat uncooperative. As we all know you can lead a horse to water but you can't make it drink. I knew that talking to Joe later at his home would be a horse of a different colour so I decided to not flog a dead horse and made an appointment so I would not miss the opportunity. There is no point in shutting the barn door when the horse has got away.

Horselogger Joe Myers on Bear Mountain Road with "Skinner"

In the meantime I decided to look for some other local uses of horses in Chisholm and like the Don Quixote who jumped on his horse and rode off in all four directions at once I started off.

Joe Meyers - Horse logger

When I went to see Joe Meyers I found he works for Westwind Forest Stewardship Inc., a non profit group out of Parry Sound "That orchestrates ecologically sound sustainable forest management". Joe, who works locally for Westwind is one of over some 20 workers that plant, mark, assess, report, train and inspect as required for the industry. For further information log on to wwind@vianet.ca or phone 705-746-6832 - fax 746-6162. Joe has a Belgian mare and foal besides Skinner and uses them on his farm on the Chiswick Line. You can tell he enjoys them.

Bob Bartlett - Farrier

The next day I was visiting my neighbour Chisholm Counciller Cec Reid when Farrier Bob Bartlett arrived to trim the hooves of Cec's mules. I had my camera along and took some photos and talked while he worked. Bob, a former teacher, and now a trained farrier lives in Papineau township but travels for miles around doing his job pretty well full time. He does some Blacksmithing craftwork for sale and does some demonstrations when he has time. To find out more about the business type Farrier into the world wide web and follow the prompts. To contact Bob call 705-744-5839.

Farrier Bob Bartlett trimming "Millie's" hooves

Ellen Krause and Horses for the Handicapped

A couple of days later I dropped in to the Sweet Hope Therapeutic Centre in the Krause Equestrian Centre on Boundary Road between Chisholm and Powassan. Ellen Krause, the Director of the therapeutic riding program told me about the organization's goals and I walked around their impressive new centre and took some photos.

Sweet Hope Therapeutic Centre

The horses, which have been purchased, donated or rescued, provide a variety of opportunities for challenged individuals of all ages. Riding has a remarkably positive effect on their lives. Sweet Hope staff work closely with caregivers to assure that the safest and most medically sound conditions exist.

Sweet Hope is a non profit organization with a volunteer board. Staff are trained in the specifics of their roles. Service Clubs, and individuals provide financial support and there are some fees. No one is left out. Volunteers play an important place in the program and new volunteers are welcome in a variety of jobs around this active program. Donations are greatly appreciated. For further information on riding or on volunteering, call the centre at 724-5519.

As I said, I rode off in four directions and after visiting Joe Meyers, Bob Bartlett and Ellen Krause I had to decide where my fourth look at horses would be. After looking around I realized there were too many equine activities to pick one in this horse conscious community. I saw a team pulling a farmer's wagon, a family out riding, an Amish family on their way to town, horses being trained for competition, an Arabian horse farm, etc. So rather than pick one I'll just celebrate and recognize their dynamic presence and thank them for making country life in Chisholm more animated and interesting.

As the narrator on the National Geographic video on horses said about the millions of horses in the world today 
"For all they have done for us
All that they are
May they all have green pastures
Each and every one"