INTRODUCTION AND DEDICATION

      He was my "ONCE IN A LIFETIME HORSE".  For a quarter of a century in my life, he was my most constant, loyal and loving friend and companion. (A border collie named Sam would be tied for this recognition, had it not been for his much shorter life span.  And, the three of us were an extraordinary team, during the years of Sam's life.)

      I realize, now, that I never really owned, Natam (although, at first, I THOUGHT I did), not in the sense that most "horse people" consider their horses to be owned, which mainly is to serve their pleasure.  Instead, Natam eventually became my true partner, in every good sense of what a partner should be.  He literally saved my life on several occasions, most noteably during the 1980s, when we rode the trails of the Wissahickon Valley in Philadelphia's famous and rather huge Fairmount Park.  During this time, Natam often was described by several local riders as "the best horse in the park", as he assisted the Philadelphia Mounted Police in rounding up lawbreakers, promoted park conservation by performing during Christmastime as "Snow", the personal mount of a visiting Santa Claus (me), and became a carriage driving horse, once outperforming a (something like) fourtenn years in a row national morgan carriage driving champion, in that horse's best and favorite show class.

      When he was standing in the isle of a barn, being groomed, he nearly always slouched terribly and generally stood with his head held low with his neck crooked, so that his whole body appeared to be out of alignment.  He looked every bit like a worn out plug.  But, the instant he went into motion, even on a reserved single step forward, his tail shot nearly straight up and everything about him became in-line and animated.  As one Philadelphia mounted policeman described it, "He carries that tail like a flag."  And, you can see how Natam looked in motion, back in those days, in a video clip (linked to also at bottom of this page) taken of him being turned out in his home pasture in 1988.

      Natam was a LOYAL partner, to the point of overlooking my initial ignorance about horses and my repeated neglect of his feelings, physical well being and comfort.  In many ways, then, and for many years, I unknowingly returned his friendship and kindnesses by being a really lousy partner.  My only excuse is that Natam was the first horse I had ever known; and I was "green" and didn't know any better.  I hadn't yet learned to mistrust the advice of most long trm horse owners who, in reality, treat their horses quite terribly and disrespectfully, as if they OWNED them.  In my case, I was taking, without question, advice from some of the most experienced, most generally respected and most successful (in terms of show ring accomplishments) horse owners and professionals in the various communities where we lived, during nearly all of Natam's lifetime.  And Natam continually was paying a painful and serious price for my misplaced confidence and trust in these others, even to the point of having his lifetime shortened.

      Unfortunately, the most widely available literature available during most of that lifetime, had little or nothing to do with so called natural horsemanship or natural horsekeeping.  And, I had not yet discovered that there are so many horse owners, calling themselves horse lovers, who really don't love their horse(s) anywhere nearly as much as they love their own personal images of being in the supposedly prestigious ranks of horse owners.

      As a result of my ignorance, as well as a preoccupation with my career in television news broadcasting at the time, Natam often was forced to work through physical pain, which he covered up, remarkably well, without anyone else's noticing it at the time.  And, he kept piling up unseen physical scars, that later were to take their final tolls.

      The quotation that comes to my mind goes something like this:  "Of all sad words to tongue and Pen, the saddest are these, 'It might have been'."  And, if I could only go back again to those early 1970s, armed with the knowledge I have acquired only during the past years of this new, 21st century, I could make Natam's life so much more healthy, comfortable and enjoyable, than his having had to manage on what little reward I did give to him, during his actual years - as my "ONCE IN A LIFETIME HORSE".

     For reasons that should become still more obvious during the continuation of Natam's Story, the "Living with Horses" web site is dedicated in his memory.

(PS:  Natam's name is pronounced NEIGH'-tam ...

  with NEIGH, as in sleigh  ...   and tam, as in Sam.)

Go To:  NEXT page  - or - TOP of this page

or - Return to "LIVING WITH HORSES" Home Page

or-  VIEW NATAM TURNOUT VIDEO