What Does Non-Traditional Really Mean?

What do we mean at Soulful Equine when we say “non-traditional”?

Non-traditional according to dictionaries means unconventional… not customary or adhering to accepted standards. But what is our interpretation? First a little background…

There are essentially three groups of people out there.

The first group believes extremely that anything outside the norm can’t be good. They feel that it is an established “norm” for a reason and therefore that is what is best in nearly all situations. The reason it is an accepted standard is because it has been “proven” over time to be best. This is what they have been taught by people with authority and so they hold it to be true.

Then there is the second group of people who believe extremely that anything normal or conventional can’t be good. They believe that it has been established as the norm by the establishment. Now this may be true in some cases. Those powerful and influential people who are part of the establishment have forced their views upon society in such a way that those views are now seen as conventional. This is actually very commonplace today. However, it certainly doesn’t mean that is true all the time. Not every conventional practice has come about that way. Many conventions are accepted standards because they really have been proven over and over to work best.

Then there is the third group. Those people who try to pick and choose what is best from each extreme. Those people who believe that extremism in anything is rarely good. People who realize that there is something of value to be found in each. That is the category that we at Soulful Equine fall in to. We strive for balance and to follow the Hippocratic oath of “first do no harm”. We hope to unite the two sides and help people to see that something of value can be gleaned from each.

Soulful Equine believes that “non-traditional” means “outside the norm”. The vast majority of our beliefs and practices are unconventional, but we always put the well being of the animal above everything else. We believe in and apply the least toxic and least invasive methods first. However, there will be times when those methods have been exhausted. It’s at those times when turning to a more conventional method has value and can help improve the animal’s longevity and quality of life. This doesn’t mean to blindly apply any convention that “works”. It means to always look for the least toxic and least invasive. Period. That’s what it’s always all about here at Soulful Equine… thriving with longevity and quality of life.

We felt that this was an appropriate post to lead into our Frozen With Fear series. Please stay tuned for “Fear” to follow….