Welcome
"Adversity brings knowledge, and knowledge wisdom." ~Welsh proverb
This site is devoted to the health and the spirit of the horse, the horse-human bond, and most of all the wisdom revealed and earned from that bond. I am Eleanor Van Natta, freelance publicist and writer, and much of my own personal story can be found within the pages of this site.
Most of what is on these pages are pearls of wisdom gained over the past decade-plus, from my journey with a chronic illness and my relationship with a special horse named Sage Brush Sail Her.
This horse came to me with past trauma and various chronic health issues. Along the journey together, we encountered additional challenges with horse boarding, hoof care, ulcers, and more. For more on this, read About us.
As the site evolves, I will continue to add more articles including those specifically regarding the process of becoming wise - becoming sage - about health. For these mostly human-specific articles, see the Becoming Sage page (not to be confused with the book I am writing of the same name).
For news and updates on Sage, and much more, visit my Sage By Nature blog and follow me on Twitter.
"Writing melds words with pages to breathe life to thoughts; riding blends a person with a horse to breath life into a person." ~ Eleanor Van Natta
A Word About The
"Experts"
I do not profess to be an expert; I am far from that. I leave that job to the horses. Watch, listen to, and know your horse well; there are no better teachers.
My personal opinion
is that
I maintain a healthy respect for, and healthy wariness of, those people who call themselves experts. I have learned to be guided by my horse, my instincts, and a thirst for knowledge.
Furthermore, I have come to view knowledge as more of an evolutionary process than an educational one. This means that I add things to my knowledge base when I learn them instead of staying stuck with ideas that may no longer be working for me or the animals in my care.
Lastly, I know a little bit about a lot of things, but I know a
lot about my
own particular horse - and that is what seems to matter most.
Be
wary of human experts, and don't just follow the flock doing what
everyone else does. When we
keep horses
the way most people have become accustomed to keeping them, it can
very often have
negative impacts on their health and
well-being,
especially their
guts (like colic)
and their
hooves.
Horses can adapt to domestic life, and have done just that, but
often not without some kind of ill-effects.
"I can always tell which is the front end of a horse, but beyond that, my art is not above the ordinary."
~Mark Twain
PLEASE respect the copyright laws; if you like my writing then feel free to link to the pages OR write me and ask for permission to reprint parts of my writing along with giving proper credit back to me.
Disclaimer:
I am not a veterinarian, and I am not suggesting that this site be
used to replace veterinary care; therefore I cannot accept any
liability with respect to any loss or damage caused or allegedly
caused by the information I am providing in this website. I have
provided links to other organizations and suppliers of products that
I think may be of value to those of you on your quest for
information; this does not mean that I recommend every product they
sell or agree with all of their views. As with everything else,
please use your instincts and best judgement.