I tried to redo my list and ended up with some of you in multiple groups. Sorry, I will do better next time

Bucket list 35 – 50: Understand the potential uses of sixteen ideas for teaching and learning

We are learning more and more about maladies which devour the human spirit and our mortal bodies. My goal is to help me better understand what I might be able to do to bless the lives of those whom I love and everyone else who suffers from any part of portion of these maladies. If I understand more, I will be able to better conceptualize; then, work toward positive conclusions. My goal is to actuate as many of these concepts as I can possible manage and I will need God’s help and your help.

Bucket list 35 – the use of horses in assisting physically and mentally challenged individuals

May 18, 2014

Last night I was treated to a dream fest that cascaded through my mind like a surround sound cinema. Every single moment of this marvelous knot-hole vision of life reflected times spent with and around horses. The vision was clear and the transposition from dream to potential application was equally clear. The use of horses as an aide in blessing the lives of physically and mentally challenged individuals can be one of the most viable tools in man’s arsenal in paving the way for positive, successful transition to “normalcy” for the millions who might otherwise be trapped in a repeating cycle of limited function and despair. My sister Betty visited us in February and gave us a picture of our dad (Charles Glenn Jacobs) she had taken when she was about fourteen. Dad had a moral (a feed sack) on her nose and F. Glenn, Marie, me on the saddle. I was four. Much of our life has been dedicated to learning and helping others learn.

My mind leads me to believe that there exists almost as many ways to learn and teach as there is people in the world. Horses have played a significant part in my life. Although I have spent relatively little time in activities with horses, the experiences have had a long-lasting, deeply abiding impact on how I think and who I am. The following experiences trend toward a common bond and the calming nature shared by horses as a gift to their human friends. At six years old we were given a horse named red. He was not gilded until he was about a year old so he maintained fierce identity as a male and always wanted control. I remember riding him out to my friend Charlie McCullough’s farm about five miles out of town on the way to Holbrook, Arizona. Charlie and I played the day and when I rode back to Concho Red began to recognize that he was about to get fed, watered and rid of this pesky kid. He also remembered who was in control and ran even faster. The wash just outside town came up; Red went down and I went off the back. Not a good day for a young rider, but a great day for a horse that understood the relationship between man and beast.

On another occasion I was riding Billie, a quarter-horse, Shetland cross that was geared just right for me. He understood who was riding and took great care of me. That was my first cattle drive and one of the cherished moments in my father/son relationship. Another occasion soon after happened just west of town by the Nagle ranch. We were out checking the cattle when a tremendous storm interrupted everything. Dad put Glenn and me in the stuck and continued to ride through the storm calming the cattle and using his horse to encourage cooperation and calm in the herd. At age 17 I was asked to serve as a home teacher to a man who had veered off the spiritual track of life when he was young and become an alcoholic and somewhat of a degenerate bum. His family in Idaho had asked that the Church ward in Scottsdale look out for him and help him find strength. He had given up his bad habits, leased a property on Camelback Road about a mile from Scottsdale Road and set up a horse riding business. His name was Lou Gavoille and my friend Ted Day and I found him to be a genuine friend and teacher, spending significant amounts of time at his place of business. We learned much about him but we learned even more about his relationship with other people and horses. We learned that he loved his fellow men and wanted to serve them. We learned that he knew and had asked that two men, John and John who had spent 42 years in the State Prison at Florence, Arizona be pardoned into his custody and keeping. The lessons and the teaching that stemmed from these experiences molded much of my life. Some activities including work with autistic children exist. I believe there are many, many more ways in which horses can bless the lives of so many.

More to come

God bless you as you work and love and play with those in your family and those in need.

Duane Jacobs, Grandfather, father, brother, uncle, cousin, and friend