As much as I don't particularly like the cold, it's just part of the life where I live and when you have livestock, things can become more complicated in the cold. When I dream of living somewhere a bit warmer, like Arizona, Tom gently reminds me of the vast amount of lizards I would have to deal with. Well, on second thought...maybe a few months of bitter cold isn't so bad???
Surprisingly, horses ( can vary upon breed as well) can do quite well in colder climates, in fact , I have read numerous articles that they actually acclimate better to cold than to heat. While that may be true, there are a few things that we, as horse owners, have to take heed to assure they are healthy and happy when ol' man winter comes blowing in .
So what do I do? I prepare, and prepare some more. I tend to prefer to be proactive so as not to be caught unaware. Perfect planning prevents mishap...OK... maybe not all the time... but it does provide peace of mind knowing you have done all you can humanly possibly do to prevent trouble with your livestock in the winter. There is nothing worse than dealing with a colicky horse in 20 below with a wind chill factor of -20, especially if you don't have the luxury of a barn, believe me , I have been there.
In a previous post, I talked about our stock tank covers. Making sure that the tank heaters are placed in stock tanks and working properly before the first major storm blows in is one of the prevention measures we take. Some horses won't drink super cold water... and unfortunately they can't get enough hydration from the snow. A horse that won't drink is a recipe for disaster. They , just like people, need to remain well hydrated in order to help their bodies regulate internal temperatures. Installing the tank heaters is a sure way to make sure the water remains at an ambient temp suitable for drinking. The other is making sure we have plenty of hay stored to get us through....peace of mind....knowing that there are weeks when we have to feed alot heavier during the cold winter months.
That brings me to subject of feeding in the bitter cold. Nothing sounds better to me than a hot bowl of oatmeal for breakfast on a cold morning. It turns out, some horse owners follow a bi-weekly or even a more frequent practice of fixing up a hot breakfast cereal mash for their horses as well. While that certainly can’t hurt and your horses likely enjoys his hot mash, it doesn’t go far to keep your horses warm for an extended period of time. And, if your in bitter cold temps, the hot mash freezes rather quickly, sometimes before your horse can get it all down.
Many horse owners also choose to feed extra grain during cold spells in an attempt to help their horses stave off the cold. While extra grain seems logical, feeding more hay will do much more to help your horse keep warm. Here's why:
Grain is composed of starch or carbohydrates which are broken down by digestive enzymes and absorbed as sugars in the small intestine. The resulting increase in blood sugar provides energy for muscle contraction and powers most other body systems. Roughage (hay) on the other hand is composed of more complex carbohydrates that resist enzymatic digestion in the small intestine. These large molecules are passed into the large intestine and become the food for a variety of bacteria and protozoa. Ever stick your hand intro fresh grass clippings that have been setting in a pile for a few hours? Well then you know first hand that heat is a significant by product of fermentation. (hopefully your hay stack hasn’t experienced this as this would create on huge bonfire!) This same process occurs in the colon of your horse. While heat is considered a waste product when feeding a horse that is in work or lactation, it is very beneficial in maintaining body heat during periods of cold weather.
Feeding additional grain will help your horse maintain weight and give him more energy to shiver but feeding extra hay will cause additional heat production from digestion.
You can also opt to help your horse remain warm by adding a blanket. We occasionally blanket if the wind starts howling because even with all the hay they could possibly eat, their bodies can lose that heat more quickly then they can generate. Older horses are also at a higher risk and often times require clothing as they can't always generate the extra layer of body fat needed to stay warm. Overall, mother nature does a fantastic job of making sure horses are equipped to stay warm in winter but since domestic horses don't always have the opportunity to feed in the manner the horses system was designed for (eating through out the day ) we sometimes need to step in and mimick that environment as closely as possible to keep our horses warm, healthy and happy.
So this winter when one of our notorious arctic cold fronts sweeps into the valley, I will be feeding JB a little less of his usual amount of grain, and throw out an extra flake or two of hay.
Thursday, November 6, 2008
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
Back the Arena; Lateral Work; Shoulder-In
Now that the weather is not always going to be conducive to traveling down the road for a conditioning ride, a lot of my time with JB will transition focus to lateral work. As a kid, I was more interested in taking my horse over the fences or galloping at mach chicken speeds between the corn fields any day over practicing what I perceived as “boring” lateral work. Now that I am an adult, I know the value of good lateral work and the benefits my horse and I can both reap from it.
You would think that for someone who has been riding most of her life, I would have lateral exercises mastered by now. Well, unfortunately, the more I worked on it, the more it seemed to make me question things like my seat aids, leg aid, etc. Thankfully, after working with a dressage instructor who also understands human body mechanics and studying Sylvia Loch’s references, I do have this exercise down. Knowing that my own struggles to understand it and then execute it properly are not unique among riders, I thought it was worthy of a blog. In conversations and various observations of other riders, it seems to be a bump in the road for a lot of folks out there. Usually, the Shoulder-In is one of the first lateral exercises a rider/horse begin working on when starting lateral work. In theory, it’s a relatively simple maneuver.
Before attempting a Shoulder-In, there are a few pre-requisites in order to accomplish this successfully. Those include being able to perform a turn on the forehand, leg yield, spiraling in and out of a circle and the ability to ride your horse in a 10 meter circle without losing balance and tempo. Most of these are pretty basic exercises but crucial to having a solid foundation from which to work from when beginning lateral work. While you don’t have to be perfect in these pre requisites, you and your horse should have these things down reasonably well and as the rider, you should be able to clearly communicate the aids to ask for such things. I would suggest starting on the ground with some of these above mentioned exercises. Lateral work from the ground you ask?? Absolutely! Clinician, Alice Trindle does a great job of explaining some of these. There are various resources out there that you can plug into.
So, what is a shoulder- in and why should it be practiced? And .. why is it important for my endurance horse you might be wondering? Other than the fact that the Shoulder-In is really one of the first exercises needed to open the door to collection, it develops the flexibility within the horse so that they can lift the forehand. If you are ever going to have correct transitions, the shoulder in can be crucial. It also helps strengthen the hind quarters. In endurance horses, I am thinking that last part alone is a fairly important piece, don’t you? When performing the Shoulder –In correctly, the horse has to shift the weight to the hindquarters , which helps to strengthen the back and loins, both of which are required to give the horse the physical capacity to begin lifting his back and travel rounded , stepping deep underneath himself with the hind end.
“My endurance horse doesn’t have to travel rounded because we are covering miles and miles over varied terrain, right?” one might say. Maybe not, but strong back, strong loins?? It seems to be that this could benefit even an endurance horse who has to cover miles and miles carrying a rider over varied terrain. Well developed loins and back certainly would apply.
One of the most important elements of the Shoulder-In that you don’t always hear about is that it while is strengthens the hip, loins, back and lightens the front end, this naturally leads to helping crookedness within a horse. Crookedness within a horse is typically related to the strength the horse has to carry not only himself, but his rider correctly.. It only stands to reason that a horse that is strong and has the correct development might not break down physically as much either.
Since JB is one of the most crooked horses I have ever ridden, I have heavily focused on this. Eventually in time it will help him to develop the strength and muscle in order to become straighter in his travels. Without trying to reinvent the wheel , I will run through the correct aids to ask for a shoulder-In. Keep in mind there are many considerations with asking for the movement, ie: injury to horse, injury to rider, etc. There may be some physical limitations you have to keep in mind. Your horse is not going to get this the first time out.
When you first begin the Shoulder –In, remember not to ask too much from your horse. It is much like a person starting a new exercise. It takes time to build up the strength and flexibility within the muscles and joints to master it. If you have ever taken a Yoga class as a beginner, you can appreciate what I am saying! So, do both yourself and your horse a favor and introduce it slowly. He’ll love you for it later!
The Aids for the Shoulder-In
Seat: While sitting lightly in your saddle, your weight should be slightly shifted to your inside seat bone. Your waist and upper body should be slightly be turned to the inside, following the direction of where your horses shoulders should be. Be careful not to collapse at the waist.
Inside hand: Ask gently for a soft feel or flexion to the inside by massaging or squeezing of your fingers around the inside rein. Your hand should beat at the wither, not away from it or crossing over it.
Outside hand: Use your outside rein to support the horse's shoulder and to maintain the direction of travel , all while keeping a soft feel on your horses mouth and keeping this hand very quiet. Your hand should be placed just to the outside of the wither.
Inside leg: To begin to ask, your inside leg should encourage your horse to move away from your leg pressure; do this by a gently squeeze or nudge at his side just behind the girth. As you and your horse become better at this, you can apply your leg at the girth with gently pressure.
Outside leg: Your outside thigh and knee should remain quietly against the saddle and not any more active than to support the horse's forehand. Keep your toes parallel to the travel of the horse.
When you look at the tracks your horses hooves are making, you should see 3 distinct hoof patterns. Inside hind to outside fore (1), outside hind (2)and inside fore (3).
When beginning this, as soon as your horse responds and takes one or two lateral steps, reward him by walking back in a straight line or you can continue around in a 10 meter circle. Remember, it may not be perfect and his tempo may slow to almost a stop, but reward any try he offers in the beginning stages. You will find that in no time at all he can maintain it longer , with greater ease and if you look carefully, he might be smiling!
Other considerations : In beginning lateral work, you may discover other training holes in the process that you have to get squared away before moving on. Yes. With training horses, that is the nature of the beast, revisiting things you thought were fixed up already. It takes time for the horse to develop the muscling and strength and for the rider to get in sync with their horse. It’s like good Jazz music when it all comes together.
Executing this exercise incorrectly can actually be easy to slip into. Asking incorrectly with your aids can result in blocking the exact thing you are trying to accomplish. Always prepare your horse for this exercise so that when you do ask, he does not worry, becoming tense and rushing down the rail with all of his weight on the forehand. Often times, when this occurs, there is an exaggerated use of the inside hand, pulling the horse's head and neck inwards, and throwing the shoulders to the outside, opposite of what you are trying to accomplish. The result? Usually an unhappy horse, heavy on the forehand with locked hindquarters. Yuck!
One aspect of mastering the Shoulder-In that I feel is important to pass along is that this seemingly simple suppling exercise can really go haywire and cause a lot of unnecessary problems if it is not done correctly and carefully. If done correctly, it may take you longer to get there but the other suppling exercises you move onto next will come that much easier and you and your horse will both be that much happier.
So now that summer is officially over and snow is in the forecase, its high time I get back into the arena to start practicing on this lateral work again! Look for the next in the series.. LEG-YIELD
You would think that for someone who has been riding most of her life, I would have lateral exercises mastered by now. Well, unfortunately, the more I worked on it, the more it seemed to make me question things like my seat aids, leg aid, etc. Thankfully, after working with a dressage instructor who also understands human body mechanics and studying Sylvia Loch’s references, I do have this exercise down. Knowing that my own struggles to understand it and then execute it properly are not unique among riders, I thought it was worthy of a blog. In conversations and various observations of other riders, it seems to be a bump in the road for a lot of folks out there. Usually, the Shoulder-In is one of the first lateral exercises a rider/horse begin working on when starting lateral work. In theory, it’s a relatively simple maneuver.
Before attempting a Shoulder-In, there are a few pre-requisites in order to accomplish this successfully. Those include being able to perform a turn on the forehand, leg yield, spiraling in and out of a circle and the ability to ride your horse in a 10 meter circle without losing balance and tempo. Most of these are pretty basic exercises but crucial to having a solid foundation from which to work from when beginning lateral work. While you don’t have to be perfect in these pre requisites, you and your horse should have these things down reasonably well and as the rider, you should be able to clearly communicate the aids to ask for such things. I would suggest starting on the ground with some of these above mentioned exercises. Lateral work from the ground you ask?? Absolutely! Clinician, Alice Trindle does a great job of explaining some of these. There are various resources out there that you can plug into.
So, what is a shoulder- in and why should it be practiced? And .. why is it important for my endurance horse you might be wondering? Other than the fact that the Shoulder-In is really one of the first exercises needed to open the door to collection, it develops the flexibility within the horse so that they can lift the forehand. If you are ever going to have correct transitions, the shoulder in can be crucial. It also helps strengthen the hind quarters. In endurance horses, I am thinking that last part alone is a fairly important piece, don’t you? When performing the Shoulder –In correctly, the horse has to shift the weight to the hindquarters , which helps to strengthen the back and loins, both of which are required to give the horse the physical capacity to begin lifting his back and travel rounded , stepping deep underneath himself with the hind end.
“My endurance horse doesn’t have to travel rounded because we are covering miles and miles over varied terrain, right?” one might say. Maybe not, but strong back, strong loins?? It seems to be that this could benefit even an endurance horse who has to cover miles and miles carrying a rider over varied terrain. Well developed loins and back certainly would apply.
One of the most important elements of the Shoulder-In that you don’t always hear about is that it while is strengthens the hip, loins, back and lightens the front end, this naturally leads to helping crookedness within a horse. Crookedness within a horse is typically related to the strength the horse has to carry not only himself, but his rider correctly.. It only stands to reason that a horse that is strong and has the correct development might not break down physically as much either.
Since JB is one of the most crooked horses I have ever ridden, I have heavily focused on this. Eventually in time it will help him to develop the strength and muscle in order to become straighter in his travels. Without trying to reinvent the wheel , I will run through the correct aids to ask for a shoulder-In. Keep in mind there are many considerations with asking for the movement, ie: injury to horse, injury to rider, etc. There may be some physical limitations you have to keep in mind. Your horse is not going to get this the first time out.
When you first begin the Shoulder –In, remember not to ask too much from your horse. It is much like a person starting a new exercise. It takes time to build up the strength and flexibility within the muscles and joints to master it. If you have ever taken a Yoga class as a beginner, you can appreciate what I am saying! So, do both yourself and your horse a favor and introduce it slowly. He’ll love you for it later!
The Aids for the Shoulder-In
Seat: While sitting lightly in your saddle, your weight should be slightly shifted to your inside seat bone. Your waist and upper body should be slightly be turned to the inside, following the direction of where your horses shoulders should be. Be careful not to collapse at the waist.
Inside hand: Ask gently for a soft feel or flexion to the inside by massaging or squeezing of your fingers around the inside rein. Your hand should beat at the wither, not away from it or crossing over it.
Outside hand: Use your outside rein to support the horse's shoulder and to maintain the direction of travel , all while keeping a soft feel on your horses mouth and keeping this hand very quiet. Your hand should be placed just to the outside of the wither.
Inside leg: To begin to ask, your inside leg should encourage your horse to move away from your leg pressure; do this by a gently squeeze or nudge at his side just behind the girth. As you and your horse become better at this, you can apply your leg at the girth with gently pressure.
Outside leg: Your outside thigh and knee should remain quietly against the saddle and not any more active than to support the horse's forehand. Keep your toes parallel to the travel of the horse.
When you look at the tracks your horses hooves are making, you should see 3 distinct hoof patterns. Inside hind to outside fore (1), outside hind (2)and inside fore (3).
When beginning this, as soon as your horse responds and takes one or two lateral steps, reward him by walking back in a straight line or you can continue around in a 10 meter circle. Remember, it may not be perfect and his tempo may slow to almost a stop, but reward any try he offers in the beginning stages. You will find that in no time at all he can maintain it longer , with greater ease and if you look carefully, he might be smiling!
Other considerations : In beginning lateral work, you may discover other training holes in the process that you have to get squared away before moving on. Yes. With training horses, that is the nature of the beast, revisiting things you thought were fixed up already. It takes time for the horse to develop the muscling and strength and for the rider to get in sync with their horse. It’s like good Jazz music when it all comes together.
Executing this exercise incorrectly can actually be easy to slip into. Asking incorrectly with your aids can result in blocking the exact thing you are trying to accomplish. Always prepare your horse for this exercise so that when you do ask, he does not worry, becoming tense and rushing down the rail with all of his weight on the forehand. Often times, when this occurs, there is an exaggerated use of the inside hand, pulling the horse's head and neck inwards, and throwing the shoulders to the outside, opposite of what you are trying to accomplish. The result? Usually an unhappy horse, heavy on the forehand with locked hindquarters. Yuck!
One aspect of mastering the Shoulder-In that I feel is important to pass along is that this seemingly simple suppling exercise can really go haywire and cause a lot of unnecessary problems if it is not done correctly and carefully. If done correctly, it may take you longer to get there but the other suppling exercises you move onto next will come that much easier and you and your horse will both be that much happier.
So now that summer is officially over and snow is in the forecase, its high time I get back into the arena to start practicing on this lateral work again! Look for the next in the series.. LEG-YIELD
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
Thoughts to Ponder:
Anything forced and misunderstood can never be beautiful.
And to quote the words of Simon:
If a dancer was forced to dance by whip and spikes
he would be no more beautiful than a horse
trained under similar conditions.
-Xenophon, 400B.C-
And to quote the words of Simon:
If a dancer was forced to dance by whip and spikes
he would be no more beautiful than a horse
trained under similar conditions.
-Xenophon, 400B.C-
In the Beginning:Natural Matters
Having ridden for the majority of my life and fortunate enough to have parents who provided me with many, many years of good quality riding lessons, I have a lot of stored files in the noggin about horses, riding, equitation, correct aids, you name it. I rode for years with a local Pony Club and then onto a variety of trainers, participated in numerous hunter /jumper shows , 3- day events and also went onto enroll in the riding program in college. I was even fortunate enough to get the opportunity to ride a school master a couple of times.
Even with all of that, I realized after being out on my own, riding and training , that something was missing. For a long time I didn’t know what that missing piece was but being naturally curious I started hunting for an answer. By this time in my equestrian career, I was eastern girl now living in the wild west of Montana. I kept hearing about “natural horsemanship” and “ round pen work” through various avenues. I was familiar enough with working horses in from my days as a groom/assistant trainer for a large scale Arabian farm but it seemed like the buzz about it was different. At first I was leery hearing the catch phrase, “horse whispering” and ‘joining up”. Quite frankly, I thought that the horse “whispering” stuff was a lot of hogwash right from the beginning, before I knew much of anything. Another one that used to be and still is would be the concept of “joining up”. This has been known to send me into a sudden bout of nausea when I hear people talk about it due to the other issues it causes ; like assuming that once a horse has joined up, the horse has now accepted everything and can be ridden. This has manifested itself as dangerous situation in my opinion. Before I get too off track, I do want to say a couple other point that I think are important to point out relative to Natural Horsemanship.
Natural Horsemanship has always been around, going back to the time of Xenophon (430-ca 335 B.C.) He was the father of classical Equitation and wrote the first manual on the riding horse, entitled “The Art of Horsemanship”. He was a horseman of horsemen. He encouraged his pupils to study the the horses “Psyche”. Natural horsemanship is not a new concept.
Less than 15 years ,some very smart American trainers with marketing skills took this concept to new levels and as result, a lot of people made a lot of money in the process. I think that is just fine if people are making money doing something they love but I do believe that horses may have suffered the consequences in the process. With all the buzz out there in the market place about natural horsemanship today, it is difficult to sift through the hype, buzz words, and touchy, feely speak to get to the real core of what it has to offer. In some cases, the marketing hype has reached almost a Pentecostal delivery.I also think that while many Trainers have become household names as a result of this consept, it has also set about a different concept that if your not self labeled as a “natural horsemanship” trainer , you are no good. Let me tell you, many of these natural horsemanship trainers are no better than any other trainer out there.
With that said, in the beginning, my research efforts steered me toward more tangible methods taught by Tom Dorrance, Ray Hunt, Buck Brannaman, and even to some extent, Pat Parelli. It was all very different than everything I was used to, having grown up riding the English discipline. While these new methods didn’t make sense to me right way, I was captivated at what these individuals were accomplishing with their horses and there most certainly wasn’t “whispering” going on (thank god). Any of you who have had the opportunity to attend a Buck clinic knows… there isn’t much “whispering” going on in that mans clinics!! Anyways, I knew two things at this early stage of my odyssey; these horsemen were doing things differently and I wanted to know more about it.
It was a few years later but I finally bit the bullet and attended my first horsemanship clinic with a man named Harry Whitney. It was a 4 day clinic that Tom, whom I was now engaged to, was sponsoring. In fact, Tom knew this clinician well and assured me I would not be sorry. So I wrote a big check and prepared to be educated. I figured he couldn’t be too bad because everything Tom had learned had come from Harry. Besides, from what I had seen of Tom’s skills, he seemed to be getting some nice things done with his horses. When the day of the clinic arrived, I was nervous and feeling totally out of my element. It wasn’t long and I was in the middle of it and having a blast. Finally, this was making a lot of sense. With all the information I was trying to absorb, I didn’t have time to be nervous. Harry is a kind patient teacher willing to slow things down if you don’t understand something. Over the next 3 days, I learned about communicating with horses in a totally different way and it wasn’t whispering or even touchy feely. It was real. I was witnessing real changes in my horse when I paid attention to how I asked, when I asked and understanding the careful balance between timing, feel and rewards. (feel not being the same as “touchy feely” mind you)
Late in the day on the final day of the clinic, most of the clinic participants were loaded up , notebooks firmly clutched with all the new ideas they had gathered at the clinic. Since Tom was actually the clinic sponsor, as he had been for the last several years, he and I stayed behind to clean things up and see Harry off to a proper meal. Things were quieting down and sadly coming to an end.
Enter stage right- Harry and Sandy into the arena. I watched and at first it didn’t seem like too much was happening, just trotting around but then things changed. At that moment, still new to all of this but able to recognize something special, Harry asked Sandy into a canter and began what appeared to be a dance between the two. In simple terms it could have been considered a freestyle reining pattern at a collected canter but this was no regular reining pattern you would see at your typical reined cow horse competition. This was something altogether different, something special happening between horse and rider. My writing could never do justice to what I was witnessing but it was obvious that Harry’s thoughts and intents were clear and Sandy was responding in perfect time. There wasn’t so much as a noticeable tug on a rein, a bump of the leg, a noticeable shift in Harry’s seat, but something was happening between the two. Tom and I watched in awe as Harry performed movements that would make most dressage connoisseurs wet their pants. The amazing part for me was the draped rein. This was a perfect display of beautiful communication, trust and true partnership between horse and rider. Looking back, with hours of clinics and time spent in the round pen now under my belt, I know that there was conversation going on there between Harry and Sandy but it was not heard, it was thought and felt between the two. It was amazing and a moment that has been branded in my mind forever. I knew I wanted what he had and have since focused my energy in acquiring better horsemanship skills by approaching horse training from a different angle. I don’t like to use the buzz words like natural horsemanship because , like so many other things, it gets lost in translation; instead I see it more as a common sense approach refer to it as coming to an clearer understanding of making what I am asking, mean something to a horse.
Harry’s focus is to look at things from the horse’s perspective. Get inside the horses mind and let the horse think through the things you ask, help him to figure it out because he can, and offer him an opportunity to work with you as partners. They are living, breathing thinking creatures with unique personalities. Harry taught me about the horses mind and that one little piece has made the biggest difference for me in my quest to build a better understanding between myself and my horses. By the end of that first clinic, I was completely energized and my mind was reeling. It was a totally different approach but finally it felt like it was the missing link I had been looking for.
Since that first clinic, I have attended many clinics by various clinicians. I have studied practiced and studied some more. I have watched hours of videos by various teachers, attended numerous seminars, demonstrations and take any other opportunity to broaden my knowledge base. Some of what is out there I like, some of what is out there doesn’t work for me, or I have modified it to work for me and /or my horse. There is always something new to learn with horses. More importantly, I am always amazed at what the horses have been able to teach me over the years.
Unfortunately, what I have learned over the years and continue to learn is not the kind of thing that I could even begin to try to capture in a blog. When it comes to training horses, I don’t believe the cook book methods that are out there work well because every person and every horse is different. You simply have to get out there and start working on this stuff. Sometimes, you have to fail and start over, learning from your mistakes.
I certainly didn’t have it figured out by the end of that first clinic and I certainly don’t have it all figured out now, but maybe through my experiences that I plan to post on this blog, I can pass along something for someone else to learn. It’s been my experience that we are all trying to improve our horse skills in some fashion or another. My hope is that I can share with you some of my own training efforts as I continue to strive to build better relationships with my horses. I don’t prefer to call myself a horse trainer and I don’t even like to use the term of natural horsemanship because of the negative connotations that have associated with it. The way I see it, anyone can go pay their dues, sign up onto a training program with some of the “natural horsemanship” trainers out there, and 10 weeks later, they have a signed certificate that says they are a horse trainer. To me that piece of paper doesn’t mean much. You have to put the time in, a lot of time, I have spent a lifetime of working with horses on many different levels and disciplines. I have put a lot of time into studying and working with horses, working on training methods, etc. but there is always something else to learn.
Now, off to go work Brego and use that homemade flag sponsored by Target stores plastic shopping bags! Sure beats spending $30 bucks for the endorsed option!
Even with all of that, I realized after being out on my own, riding and training , that something was missing. For a long time I didn’t know what that missing piece was but being naturally curious I started hunting for an answer. By this time in my equestrian career, I was eastern girl now living in the wild west of Montana. I kept hearing about “natural horsemanship” and “ round pen work” through various avenues. I was familiar enough with working horses in from my days as a groom/assistant trainer for a large scale Arabian farm but it seemed like the buzz about it was different. At first I was leery hearing the catch phrase, “horse whispering” and ‘joining up”. Quite frankly, I thought that the horse “whispering” stuff was a lot of hogwash right from the beginning, before I knew much of anything. Another one that used to be and still is would be the concept of “joining up”. This has been known to send me into a sudden bout of nausea when I hear people talk about it due to the other issues it causes ; like assuming that once a horse has joined up, the horse has now accepted everything and can be ridden. This has manifested itself as dangerous situation in my opinion. Before I get too off track, I do want to say a couple other point that I think are important to point out relative to Natural Horsemanship.
Natural Horsemanship has always been around, going back to the time of Xenophon (430-ca 335 B.C.) He was the father of classical Equitation and wrote the first manual on the riding horse, entitled “The Art of Horsemanship”. He was a horseman of horsemen. He encouraged his pupils to study the the horses “Psyche”. Natural horsemanship is not a new concept.
Less than 15 years ,some very smart American trainers with marketing skills took this concept to new levels and as result, a lot of people made a lot of money in the process. I think that is just fine if people are making money doing something they love but I do believe that horses may have suffered the consequences in the process. With all the buzz out there in the market place about natural horsemanship today, it is difficult to sift through the hype, buzz words, and touchy, feely speak to get to the real core of what it has to offer. In some cases, the marketing hype has reached almost a Pentecostal delivery.I also think that while many Trainers have become household names as a result of this consept, it has also set about a different concept that if your not self labeled as a “natural horsemanship” trainer , you are no good. Let me tell you, many of these natural horsemanship trainers are no better than any other trainer out there.
With that said, in the beginning, my research efforts steered me toward more tangible methods taught by Tom Dorrance, Ray Hunt, Buck Brannaman, and even to some extent, Pat Parelli. It was all very different than everything I was used to, having grown up riding the English discipline. While these new methods didn’t make sense to me right way, I was captivated at what these individuals were accomplishing with their horses and there most certainly wasn’t “whispering” going on (thank god). Any of you who have had the opportunity to attend a Buck clinic knows… there isn’t much “whispering” going on in that mans clinics!! Anyways, I knew two things at this early stage of my odyssey; these horsemen were doing things differently and I wanted to know more about it.
It was a few years later but I finally bit the bullet and attended my first horsemanship clinic with a man named Harry Whitney. It was a 4 day clinic that Tom, whom I was now engaged to, was sponsoring. In fact, Tom knew this clinician well and assured me I would not be sorry. So I wrote a big check and prepared to be educated. I figured he couldn’t be too bad because everything Tom had learned had come from Harry. Besides, from what I had seen of Tom’s skills, he seemed to be getting some nice things done with his horses. When the day of the clinic arrived, I was nervous and feeling totally out of my element. It wasn’t long and I was in the middle of it and having a blast. Finally, this was making a lot of sense. With all the information I was trying to absorb, I didn’t have time to be nervous. Harry is a kind patient teacher willing to slow things down if you don’t understand something. Over the next 3 days, I learned about communicating with horses in a totally different way and it wasn’t whispering or even touchy feely. It was real. I was witnessing real changes in my horse when I paid attention to how I asked, when I asked and understanding the careful balance between timing, feel and rewards. (feel not being the same as “touchy feely” mind you)
Late in the day on the final day of the clinic, most of the clinic participants were loaded up , notebooks firmly clutched with all the new ideas they had gathered at the clinic. Since Tom was actually the clinic sponsor, as he had been for the last several years, he and I stayed behind to clean things up and see Harry off to a proper meal. Things were quieting down and sadly coming to an end.
Enter stage right- Harry and Sandy into the arena. I watched and at first it didn’t seem like too much was happening, just trotting around but then things changed. At that moment, still new to all of this but able to recognize something special, Harry asked Sandy into a canter and began what appeared to be a dance between the two. In simple terms it could have been considered a freestyle reining pattern at a collected canter but this was no regular reining pattern you would see at your typical reined cow horse competition. This was something altogether different, something special happening between horse and rider. My writing could never do justice to what I was witnessing but it was obvious that Harry’s thoughts and intents were clear and Sandy was responding in perfect time. There wasn’t so much as a noticeable tug on a rein, a bump of the leg, a noticeable shift in Harry’s seat, but something was happening between the two. Tom and I watched in awe as Harry performed movements that would make most dressage connoisseurs wet their pants. The amazing part for me was the draped rein. This was a perfect display of beautiful communication, trust and true partnership between horse and rider. Looking back, with hours of clinics and time spent in the round pen now under my belt, I know that there was conversation going on there between Harry and Sandy but it was not heard, it was thought and felt between the two. It was amazing and a moment that has been branded in my mind forever. I knew I wanted what he had and have since focused my energy in acquiring better horsemanship skills by approaching horse training from a different angle. I don’t like to use the buzz words like natural horsemanship because , like so many other things, it gets lost in translation; instead I see it more as a common sense approach refer to it as coming to an clearer understanding of making what I am asking, mean something to a horse.
Harry’s focus is to look at things from the horse’s perspective. Get inside the horses mind and let the horse think through the things you ask, help him to figure it out because he can, and offer him an opportunity to work with you as partners. They are living, breathing thinking creatures with unique personalities. Harry taught me about the horses mind and that one little piece has made the biggest difference for me in my quest to build a better understanding between myself and my horses. By the end of that first clinic, I was completely energized and my mind was reeling. It was a totally different approach but finally it felt like it was the missing link I had been looking for.
Since that first clinic, I have attended many clinics by various clinicians. I have studied practiced and studied some more. I have watched hours of videos by various teachers, attended numerous seminars, demonstrations and take any other opportunity to broaden my knowledge base. Some of what is out there I like, some of what is out there doesn’t work for me, or I have modified it to work for me and /or my horse. There is always something new to learn with horses. More importantly, I am always amazed at what the horses have been able to teach me over the years.
Unfortunately, what I have learned over the years and continue to learn is not the kind of thing that I could even begin to try to capture in a blog. When it comes to training horses, I don’t believe the cook book methods that are out there work well because every person and every horse is different. You simply have to get out there and start working on this stuff. Sometimes, you have to fail and start over, learning from your mistakes.
I certainly didn’t have it figured out by the end of that first clinic and I certainly don’t have it all figured out now, but maybe through my experiences that I plan to post on this blog, I can pass along something for someone else to learn. It’s been my experience that we are all trying to improve our horse skills in some fashion or another. My hope is that I can share with you some of my own training efforts as I continue to strive to build better relationships with my horses. I don’t prefer to call myself a horse trainer and I don’t even like to use the term of natural horsemanship because of the negative connotations that have associated with it. The way I see it, anyone can go pay their dues, sign up onto a training program with some of the “natural horsemanship” trainers out there, and 10 weeks later, they have a signed certificate that says they are a horse trainer. To me that piece of paper doesn’t mean much. You have to put the time in, a lot of time, I have spent a lifetime of working with horses on many different levels and disciplines. I have put a lot of time into studying and working with horses, working on training methods, etc. but there is always something else to learn.
Now, off to go work Brego and use that homemade flag sponsored by Target stores plastic shopping bags! Sure beats spending $30 bucks for the endorsed option!
Sunday, November 2, 2008
Well, It Ain't Pretty..............
But it's efficient... So what is it?? Well, it's Tom's latest and greatest money saver for one, and the newest item of concern for the horses ...it's a insulated box that encloses the stock tank. In winter time in Montana, everyone pretty much uses some kind of stock tank heater. Since we happen to live in one of the windiest parts of the Flathead Valley, we find that the tank heaters , even running full on, can't always keep up. You can literally watch your pennies rising with the steam coming off of the tanks. Besides, with the latest buzz of conserving energy and all, we're just trying to do our part. Turns out , it saves alot of those pennies too.
We have built these boxes before out of a myriad of materials we scrapped together, but they never really held up well to the abuse of the horses using them as a chew toy. This time, we got smart and took our window and door cutouts from our SIPS panel home to use as the box structure. The walls of our home are made out of these panels which consist of 6 inch foam, sandwhiched between OSB. HIGHLY EFFICIENT! Tom then covered all corners with drip edgeand caulked all remaing rough edges. The lid is also built out these panels and is coevered in metal roofing material we had laying around. For safety , he took careful measures to cover the sharp edges here as well. Nothing a can of calking can't take care of. Once all of this is done , before you screw on the lid, you can drop the emty tank into it's new home. In our case, the tank is setting up on small cement bricks that were placed on previoulsy leveled ground. You could put another panel on the ground and set the tank on that, but would first have to use something to waterproof the OSB board so it does not absorb ground moisture. Using the ground panel would minimize heat loss and optimize efficiency but being that we are late getting this contructed, we opted to forego this project until next year.
The end result ? Your water tank heater doesn't need to work so hard to keep the water above freezing and therefore, doesn't run up the electric bill as bad. The benefit of using these SIPS panel cutouts is that they will help to hold the heat in for a longer period of time.
As a note: Anyone who uses water tank heaters for thier stock should take caution and install what is called a GFI, or Ground Fault Interuptor, along with a good ground. Otherwise, your livestock could recieve electrical shocks. I would suggest you have a qualified electrician install it for proper use.
Birthday Wishes
While it comes bittersweet, (another year older,,ugghh) today is my birthday or as I like to say my 4th annivarsary of my 29th birthday! If I had one birthday wish it would be for turning time back, so that I can once again feel the warth of the summer sun on my face as I cruise down the gravel road on JB, chasing the sunset on the last few miles before heading home. I love the fall season, don't get me wrong, but I hate what it means. It means many long nights spent in darkness, staring out the window overlooking the paddocks, waiting for spring to arrive. Riding in Northwest Montana during the winter is not for the faint of heart. most times the wind is howling here so badly it takes a small army to get hay fed out. Feeding in the dark twice a day and frozen fingers and toes. Soon, there will be those stormy nights that are bound to occur where Tom and I drag outselves out of the warm blankets to go out into the cold and throw extra hay to keep the fires going in the horses belly during cold windy weather.
So , if I can't go back in time maybe my wish will be for a speedy winter! Here's to birthday wishes , and hoping they really do come true!
So , if I can't go back in time maybe my wish will be for a speedy winter! Here's to birthday wishes , and hoping they really do come true!
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