FOLLOWING THE TRAIL
OF THE PAINTED PONIES

BY ELSIE WALKER

Several years ago, when my friend
JoAnn lived in New Jersey, we used
to go horse backing riding after work
on Fridays. We’d drive out to a ranch
and spend an hour (and sometimes
more) on horseback. There are many
happy and humorous memories
associated with those days (like the
time I slipped under the horse
because I was looking at a handsome
cowpoke instead of watching what
I was doing).

A few Christmases back, JoAnn, who now lives in Missouri, sent me a ceramic horse.
However, it was not a figurine replica of a horse you’d see in the stable; it was an artistic
masterpiece. There was symbolism and a story to be told in the red and green apples
that adorned it. The tag said it was, “Apple-oosa” and explained that its patriotic story
was of basic Americana — simple things like apple pie. I decided to investigate further
as this appeared to be one of a collectible series. Looking online, I found a stable of
gorgeous horses, adorned with artwork that drew you into them as though each had a
tale to tell. These are the horses of the Trail of Painted Ponies.

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By ELSIE WALKER

Can you imagine taking a course and finding out that one of the teachers is a horse? At
the Kaleidoscope Learning Circle in Birch Run, Michigan, horses take an active part in
human learning, becoming facilitators for programs in Leadership Training, Team
Building, and Human Development. It’s called Equine Assisted Learning (EAL). This is a
relatively new field and
Tracy Weber, Ph.D., who runs Kaleidoscope, is one of those that helped coin the term.

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CLICK CLICK, THE POWER OF POSITIVE TRAINING

By VERA LAWLOR

Watch out Monty Roberts, there comes Pamela
Dennison the horse clicker.
This isn’t the traditional click-of-the-tongue to
get a horse to move forward. This clicker is the
same little device that’s become so popular in
the world of positive motivation training for dogs.

Dennison, owner of the Positive Motivation Dog
Training school in Blairstown, recently added
Positive Motivation Horse Training to her
repertoire. Her career with dogs began in 1992
when she followed the traditional punishment-
based methods. She switched to positive
motivation training in 1996 after watching a
documentary on Ted Turner, the former vice
president of Sea World, clicker training killer
whales.

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RESCUING HORSES AT RISK

By ROBERT GRAYSON

If you were a horse who wanted to be in show business, and could express your
occupational preference to your human companion, à la Mr. Ed, there’s a good chance
you’d be bringing home a hefty Hollywood paycheck.

After humans, the greatest number of jobs for extras in movies and television go to
horses. You might not get top billing. You might have to spend your entire career
appearing in stampedes or corral scenes. You might be cast to stand around on a
dusty, Western street, outside a saloon. Or you could be one of those horses the good
guys saddle up when they form a posse to track down some tough hombres.

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LEARNING STRAIGHT FROM THE SOURCE
Focusing On The Horses
A SECOND CHANCE AT LOVE & LIFE
By ELSIE WALKER

During the week, George Brodey works in Freehold and on the weekends flies home to
Florida. He doesn’t seem to mind the lengthy commute, however, since his work is his
passion: horses. Brodey is executive director of the non-profit Standardbred Retirement
Foundation (SRF).

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FOR SOME HORSES, RETIREMENT IS JUST THE BEGINNING
By VERA LAWLOR

Picasso was only three-years-old when he began his job helping to teach adults and
children how to ride at Watchung stables. The Paint, who is fondly recalled for his love of
trails and jumping, served students for 22 years before being retired to Tate’s Way Farm
in Flemington, New Jersey.

“He was our first retiree and we just lost him recently after spending four-and-a half
wonderful years resting,” said Nancy Scileppi, an officer of the Watchung Stable Auxiliary
that established the School Horses of Watchung Retirement Program in 2002.

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By VERA LAWLOR

Bill Finley had come to the horse
auction in New Holland in search of a
story. “The plan was I would buy a
slaughter-bound horse, saving it from
an early exit, then research the animal’s
life,” recalled Finley of that day in the
late Nineties when he worked as a
sports writer for The New York Daily
News.

He chose a seven-year-old chestnut
gelding who was lame in the left front
leg and had been purchased by a “killer
buyer,” a middleman who would sell
the horse to the slaughterhouse. Finley
offered the buyer more money than he
would get from the slaughterhouse
(about $600 at that time) and it was a
done deal.


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BUT OF COURSE: HORSES IN FILM
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