The Horse Whisperer and Leah

[Vivian Cornwell]

This week our granddaughter, Leah Hammons spent a few days visiting us. We visited several places while she was here. One place we visited was Groveport, OH, where John Rarey, the original Horse Whisperer lived. The high school (where Cindi Cornwell Hammons graduated) has Cruiser as their mascot. I took Leah's picture with Cruiser and John Rarey. We also walked on the site of the Ohio & Erie Canal in Groveport. Groveport is about 5 miles from where we live.

I included a few other pictures from this week also.

The Original Horse Whisperer
John Solomon Rarey (1827 - 1866)

(Exerpt from "The Horse Whisperer" by Nicholas Evans, Delacorte Press, 1995)

There was a man from Groveport, Ohio called John Solomon Rarey, who tamed his first horse at the age of twelve. Word of his gift spread and in 1858 he was summoned to Windsor Castle in England to calm a horse of Queen Victoria. The queen and her entourage watched astonished as Rarey put his hands on the animal and laid it down on the ground before them. Then he lay down beside it and rested his head on its hooves. The queen chuckled with delight and gave Rarey a hundred dollars. He was a modest, quiet man, but now he was famous and the press wanted more. The call went out to find the most ferocious horse in all England.

It was duly found.



He was a stallion by the name of Cruiser, once the fastest racehorse in the land. Now though, according to the account Annie read, he was a "fiend incarnate" and wore an eight-pound iron muzzle to stop him killing too many stableboys. His owners only kept him alive because they wanted to breed from him and to make him safe enough to do this, they planned to blind him.



Against all advice, Rarey let himself into the stable where no one else dared venture and shut the door. He emerged three hours later leading Cruiser, without his muzzle and gentle as a lamb. The owners were so impressed they gave him the horse. Rarey brought him back to Ohio, where Cruiser died on July 6, 1875, outliving his new master by a full nine years.

[Jon Twitchell]

Interestingly enough, my cousin was (one of) the riding double (s) for the female lead in the movie.

[Dennis M. Scott]

Thank you, for sharing that story, and the pictures. Speaking of horses, stables, etc., is the Ohio State Fair running yet? I have very fond memories of a couple summers there.

[Vivian Cornwell]

The Ohio State Fair will be August 2-13 this year, so you have time to plan to be there. Ha.

[Sue Pyles]

Vivian ,
The pictures are wonderful. Who is the "older" tatooed gentleman in the picture with your Granddaughter? :basic05 He is way too cool :basic07
Cindi's daughter looks just like her.
By the way, is she getting "Pay backs" ?
Thanks for sharing all the interesting information.

[Vivian Cornwell]

We had a good week.

[Marg Webb]

Vivian: I just found your pictures and the telling about Cruiser and John Rarey.
Very interesting. Your photography is great.
Do you recall there is a trainer now that trains horses like John Rarey did.
Queen Elizabeth a few years back had him help her with training a difficult horse she had.
This Trainers story is really wonderful.
He could not stand seeing how his Father beat the horses into submission and he left home and some how was able to start training horses. Imagine you have seen him on TV.
Absolutely wonderful Trainer. I believe he is from the west.
Maybe someone reading this might know.

[Vivian Cornwell]

I am glad you enjoyed the story and the pictures of Leah with the Horse Whisperer.

I believe this is the man you were talking about. I found this on the Internet. It is a synopsis of the book, "The Man Who Listens to Horses."

Monty Roberts is a real-life horse whisperer -- an American original whose gentle training methods reveal the depth of communication possible between man and animal. He can take a wild, high-strung horse who has never before been handled and persuade that horse to accept a bridle, saddle, and rider in 30 minutes. His powers may seem like magic, but his amazing 'horse sense' is based on a lifetime of experience. Roberts started riding at the age of two, and at the age of 13 he went alone into the high deserts of Nevada to study mustangs in the wild. What he learned there changed his life forever. In The Man Who Listens to Horses, he tells about his early days as a rodeo rider in California, his violent horse-trainer father, who was unwilling to accept Monty's unconventional training methods, his friendship with James Dean, his struggle to be accepted in the professional horse-training community, and the invitation that changed his life -- to demonstrate his method of "join-up" to the Queen of England. From his groundbreaking work with horses, Roberts has acquired an unprecedented understanding of nonverbal communication, an understanding that applies to human relationships as well. He has shown that between parent and child, employee and employer (he's worked with over 250 corporations, including General Motors, IBM, Disney, and Merrill Lynch), and abuser and abused, there are forms of communication far stronger than the spoken word and that they are accessible to all who will learn to listen.

[Marg Webb]

Thank you so much for the info. about Monty Roberts.
I have been trying his method on my dog.
She is a Jack Russell. Eleven years old. She is responding very well.
It is amusing for she seems to be surprised at herself.
I was was just doing it for fun, to see if she was too old for this, not at all. Haven't put a saddle on her yet:)
Really love animals , but have not been riding for many years. When I was a teen our neighbor had some great riding horses that he allowed me to ride. But that was many years ago.
Thank you again. Why I never hunted on the computer for his name is beyond me. Never thought of it. Well never to old to learn .

[Dana Grant]

Thank you so much for the info. about Monty Roberts.
I have been trying his method on my dog.
She is a Jack Russell. Eleven years old. She is responding very well.
It is amusing for she seems to be surprised at herself.
I was was just doing it for fun, to see if she was too old for this, not at all. Haven't put a saddle on her yet:)
Really love animals , but have not been riding for many years. When I was a teen our neighbor had some great riding horses that he allowed me to ride. But that was many years ago.
Thank you again. Why I never hunted on the computer for his name is beyond me. Never thought of it. Well never to old to learn .


Marg, have you seen the Dog Whisperer???

[Marg Webb]

Marg, have you seen the Dog Whisperer???


No, tell me about it.
Hear I thought I was being very progressive working with Hattie:)

[Dana Grant]

No, tell me about it.
Hear I thought I was being very progressive working with Hattie:)

Check the listings on the National Geographic channel -- His name is Cesar Milan and he has a show called the Dog Whisperer on the National Geographic channel. I have no clue when it is on regularly, but I catch it every once in awhile. He's really got a way with dogs!!! Impressive!

[Vivian Cornwell]

Check the listings on the National Geographic channel -- His name is Cesar Milan and he has a show called the Dog Whisperer on the National Geographic channel. I have no clue when it is on regularly, but I catch it every once in awhile. He's really got a way with dogs!!! Impressive!

Dana and Marg, the show, Dog Whisperer
is on National Geographic regularly on Monday's at 9PM. It also airs: Tuesday, August 15
Friday, August 18. I think it is repeated like that every week.

[Marg Webb]

Dana and Marg, the show, Dog Whisperer
is on National Geographic regularly on Monday's at 9PM. It also airs: Tuesday, August 15
Friday, August 18. I think it is repeated like that every week.


Thanks Vivian. This is great to have friends that are animal's friends too.
I found the National Geo. and all is well.
Information is always welcome on my computer. Always.