Huh.

Throughout this blog, I have posted my thoughts about our relationship with horses many times. I'm a big believer in the Predator/Prey dynamic and its uses in training.

This is an excerpt from an April, 2008 post, explaining my basic outlook on how horses view us.

-- I have two eyes placed in the front of my head like a wolf. I can stare at them and create discomfort. I can raise my arms and make myself as big as a bear. I can create movement with these things alone. I can add a swinging rope, a cracking whip aimed at their shoulder or hip.

When I am riding on their backs, my cinches are pulled tight, and their bodies are collected between leg and bit. I know as well as they do that this is as close to the feeling of the wolf pack on their back and nose as they are ever going to get.--

Laying Them Down -- An Issue of Trust

I talked about it again, not too long ago, when I explained why I don't believe in laying horses down.


--I am also the first to admit I use my status as potential predator to train my horses. I like them to look at me as a benevolent dictator. I could eat them, but they're pretty sure I'm not going to. I have never been able to buy into the theory that  horses accept us as a best friend and cohort when we crawl on their backs and wrap our legs around them to ride, like a mountain lion jumping on them to eat them. Or when we put a bit, hackamore or Dr. Goodhorsie's Painless, Bitless, works-with-fairy-dust bridle on their heads to control where they go, like  a wolf latched onto their noses, in order to eat them.

They learn to do what we want, the release of pressure teaches them we probably won't eat them and as time passes friendship happens, only because horses are awesome.--

Flexing regularly will also relax him and boost his submissiveness. 

Lately, I have been thinking about dogs. I'm studying dog training videos, talking to the trainers of dogs that I find likable and easy to be around, and reading like crazy. My primary focus right now is understanding canine body language and behavior and working hard on my dog/human communication.

All of this ties into the way I train my horses and the understanding I have of my communication with them. So I go back to my interactions with horses and how we read each other and compare it to what I'm reading, hearing and watching happen with dogs.

I won't go into the dog part-- I'll save that for a dog post --but my observations and thoughts hit me over the head with a giant baseball bat named EUREKA! regarding horses.

The  primary goal while training (for me anyway) is crystal clear communication. I don't want to muddy the waters in any way, because I hate backing up and clearing up a mess I've created by confusing conversation between the horse and I. Believe me, I've learned my approach by mucking up many a good conversation or explanation and having to go back in to try to clear things up.

When I start a colt, it goes something like this.

1. I can control your direction, speed and movement with my body language -- while you're loose in a pasture, corral, or round pen.
    a. I will give you my signals on foot or horseback.
    b. I will back up my signals with yells and yips, growls and grunts.
    c. I will back those signals up with the slap of a rope or the sting of a whip.
2. I will approach you and touch you anywhere I want.
    a. I will repeat steps a., b., and c. of step 1. as needed.
3. I will halter you.
      a. I will repeat steps a., b., and c. of step 1. as needed.
4. I will saddle you.
    a. I will repeat steps a., b., and c. of step 1. as needed.
5. I will get on your back.
6. I will ride you while controlling your direction, speed and movement.

Yep, ladies and gentlemen, that's what I was paid the big bucks for. Seems pretty simple now that I'm thinking about it.

Anyway, during steps one through five, I still feel strongly that the predator prey relationship is holding strong. From the initial control of free movement to the time I crawl on their back, in a horse's mind, I am making them accept me as a predator who is going to eat them.

"Serious, this will make sense in a little while."

Which explains quite nicely why starting a young horse is filled with all kinds of jumps, spooks, bug eyes and so forth. Nothing I've done so far has said anything besides, "Relax, I'm just going to kill you and eat you."


--They learn to do what we want, the release of pressure teaches them we probably won't eat them and as time passes friendship happens, only because horses are awesome.--

Quick! Come with me!

It's this sentence, right here, where I got the mind jolt. If we're training them correctly, the young horse soon changes their perspective, because we go from predator mode to herd behavior.

I had forgotten we humans are not strictly predators, we are omnivores, beings who survive by adapting to the opportunity at hand. We hunt in packs or alone, we graze and huddle together in herds to stay safe. As humans we change with our environment. Our survival depends on it. 

If we expect our horses to understand our Schizoid behavior, we have to make darn sure each communication makes sense to the horse, not just to us.

The mental transition the colt has to make isn't as big as I thought. It's the acceptance of contact from my weight, my hands and legs as the actions of another horse driving, turning and stopping them.

I said, make a right! Chomp!
Lead change! Spur cue behind the cinch.

Because he can't see me,  because my contact becomes one that urges movement, allows flight, but controls direction, I become a herd member driving him where I need him to go. How does he make this translation? 

Move it!
First lope off.

Because I am clearly communicating forward motion and direction, not death, destruction and mayhem.
There was no other way for him to reach this conclusion until he had me on his back, encouraging forward and guiding him to the left and right. He can now view me, and eventually accept me as a part of his herd. Because of my control, I will become the bell mare and we will become a herd of two.

This is brand new thinking for me. I would love your input on this thought process. Where it's taking me is to think through every step of my colt starting process. Where have I been right? Where I have been creating confusion? 

I'm telling you, the idea of riding my horses like they are being driven and controlled by the herd is really making me think things through. The first being, "Get off his face!"

I hate to admit it, but I can hear the Big K laughing right now.

Sometimes I Just Can't Shut Up

When I first started to write the Mugwump Chronicles I was one fried banana.
I was angry with the entire horse industry. Every single aspect, including myself, was just pissing me off.
I didn't know where I fit in, I just knew what I saw.
The horse market was crashing.
I had no patience for rich people or bleeding hearts.
I was tired of stupid and feeling very judgmental.
There were lots of targets.

It was almost five years ago when I started sorting things out by writing this blog.
I was influenced and inspired by Cathy Atkinson and FHOTD.
Man, she said it like she felt it.
So I did too.

Then, a surprising thing began to happen. The more I wrote, the more I looked, listened and learned. In order to write what I felt was fair, I wanted to make sure I knew the facts behind every opinion I presented. I needed to understand the emotions and reasoning behind acts of cruelty, kindness, training methods and horse ownership.

I became quite the researcher. Then I began looking at my own motivations, which are why you get the horse stories. They are the events that shaped me, as a person and a horse trainer. By telling the stories I began to understand who I am today.

Then, my outlook began to change.

Maybe, just maybe, I understood the longing and drive behind rabid rescuers, and overly emotional owners.
Still can't stand people who mix up their own needs with the animals, but I get it.

I might have seen the good things a horse whisperer can accomplish. Even a need for them.
Still think the majority of them are old time Snake Oil Salesmen.

I could see why and how professionals got caught up in abusive practices, or training methods many think are abusive, but are actually getting things get done in a safe and timely manner.
Still know I can't use or condone many of these practices anymore.

I quit judging people with horses by their ability or knowledge. Instead, I began to see and recognize their desire to do right by their horse and an eagerness to learn.
Still lose patience with people who refuse to learn because of a personal need to be right.

 I quit holding people involved with horses to my standard of horsemanship.
Although if you want to know what it is, I'm happy to share.

That last one could be the biggest change of all.
I no longer lose my mind when I see a horse out in pasture with a halter on.
Those stupid fabric saddles? I won't ride in one, but if that's what you like, so be it.
Pasture feet, whatever.
A little thin, a little fat, no longer something I felt the need to weigh in on.
Horse hasn't seen a vet in 10 years? Lucky you.
Helmet on, helmet off, up to you. Unless you're a little kid, riding under my supervision.
How your horse is housed, groomed, equipped, not my business.

You want know why?
Because if the horse didn't look he'd been starved and/or tortured, or have a halter growing into his face, he was way ahead of the game.
If he wasn't on a truck to Mexico, being used to train bait dogs, left to slowly die in a hoarder or breeders back pasture, then he was one lucky bastard.
If he had people who loved him, no matter how ignorant they were, he had more going for him than most of the horses out there.
If nobody died today, there was always tomorrow, maybe they'd learn how to avoid it in the future.
At least the horse had one more day with somebody trying.

I seriously began to see how damaging the atmosphere of the horse world can be. Unwelcoming, critical, unwilling to share vital information without an air of superiority, nurturing the myth of good horse training being magic, jealous and just plain mean. Yep, that's horse people.
Making fun of a horse persons riding ability or lack of knowledge? Not on my blog or in my presence. Ever.
Make fun of somebody who is cruel and abusive and should know better? Always.

I decided to quit playing that game. Because it doesn't help the horses.

Anyway, there's a non-lecturey point to this. I found a CL ad. It made one of my points exactly. I wanted to share it, felt the need to explain it, and ended up seeing I need to revisit a lot of this. Some of it will be down right contradictory to what I've written before. Why? Because I've learned so much in the last five years, who I am as a trainer, and how I see people in the horse community. I'm still working on being Horsaii, guess I will be for the rest of my life, and I want anybody who's trying for the same to feel safe and welcome on the Mugwump Chronicles.

Here's the CL ad I found.

"Coconut is a lovely gelding who is broke to ride, beginner to intermediate rider. Does well with a hackamore. He is well loved, kid friendly, no buck, no bite, and no kick! Does well on trails. Gets along well with donkeys and other horses, prefers not to be alone. Sweet, sweet boy, great with the farrier, loads well, easy to catch! He is 16 years old and 15 hands, beautiful eyes! We are switching to working mules and cannot feed pleasure horses and mules. $600 OBO Must be good home willing and able to care for him!" 

Here's the game.
It's called the "Let's Not Be A-Holes" game.

I marked the reasons I WON"T make fun of this young man in blue.
The things I have a problem with are marked in red.
I could fix every red arrow in this photo in two lessons. That would be $90 to keep him off of Trollville.
On the flip side, if this young man never changes a thing, he will be fine and so will Coconut.
I'll explain the blue.
If you understand my red arrows, then you have to keep quiet.
Shuush! I mean it now!
If you don't know why I marked certain arrows, ask why. Knowledge is good, and getting it from us is pretty painless. Then and only then, I will post my answer in the comments and everybody can join in with info...ONLY.

Blue Arrows Photo 1.
1. Coconut looks mildly annoyed, but kind eyed, and very patient.
2.  His ears are back, listening, ready to comply if his rider actually wants something.
3. The boy  is cute. He likes his horse, his smile is real and I like his hat.
4. Coconut has good weight and muscle tone, especially in his butt, which is hard to keep looking good on an aged horse.
5. The horse is clean. His coat is healthy.

Blue Arrows. Photo 2
1. Coconut likes him.
2. He likes Coconut.

Blue arrows Photo 3.

1. The boy is still, really, really cute.

2. Coconut still feels safe, kind and friendly about the boy. He really likes him.

3. Free feed the old guys in the winter! Yes!

4. Yet another, friendly, happy, healthy horse.

P.S. If you have a problem with the grammar, spelling or writing style of ANYONE who writes on this blog, then please, go here http://www.grammarbitches.blogspot.com/ and have fun. Really. I mean it. I wish you the best. Siyonara. Adios. Au revoir.

Spade Bit Explanations

  “Yes, there are many who use the spade with little or no understanding or appreciation for it. But then, you can kill cockroaches with a violin - yet that is not how the violin might best serve us.

   “The spade bit is not a piece of equipment, it is a philosophy. To use it and use it well an entire school of thought must be sought and explored. For those interested in doing just that; welcome to the journey of a lifetime. A human life can barely encompass all there is to know about the mysteries of the discipline.”

---- Gwynn Turnbull-Weaver

   There’s a good explanation of the spade bit and how it works in here. I’ve also compiled some information from my “cowhorse notes” file, that I thought might help some of you better understand what I do.  This file is chock full some of the questions I had as a cowhorse trainer, that came into play when I decided it was time to retire. I’m sharing some of these too. - Mugs

   Reined Cow Horse is a discipline that evolved from the methods of working cattle in California, with its roots deeply in Spanish traditions. Ranching in other parts of the American West was also influenced by the Spaniards through Mexico, like Texas or New Mexico, but it was in California where the Spanish heritage was kept the longest, and where methods and skills and equipment were developed to new heights. California reinsmen and vaqueros were the apex of mounted herdsmen and their way of training and the results they got were unique and incomparable. Any work not done from the back of their reined cow horse they regarded as below their status. Just when they had reached their highest level of reinsmenship is not known anymore today, maybe in the 18th century, maybe in the 19th century all we know is that by the time the 20th century rolled around, those high-class reinsmen were a thing of the past. Whether the few old-timers that were still around had seen, and ridden with, the best of them, or if what they had come to know was while still very good -- already on the decline, nobody knows. We do know though that the fame of the California reined cow horse lasted well into the 20th century.

   The uniqueness of the California reined stock horse was based to a great deal on the training methods, which differed considerably from those east of the Rocky Mountains. The California horses were trained with the rawhide hackamore, then advanced to the bridle, typically a spade bit. The hackamore had its ancestor in the iron Spanish serreta, but is a piece of equipment unique to Spanish America. It consists of a rawhide-braided noseband called bosal, and a mecate, which is a rope made from horse hair that serves as reins and lead rope.

   Traditionally, the reined cow horse was trained with the hackamore until it mastered his job, then gradually advanced to the spade bit, which is a specially designed curb bit the roots of which do not just reach back into Spanish history, but like the hackamore -- even to that of Spain's Moorish rulers. The spade bit's design was developed by California bit makers. It was ridden with rawhide-braided reins, traditionally closed reins attached to a romal, which has a popper at the end and serves as a quirt. These reins have rawhide buttons and were attached to the bit by chains, the buttons giving the reined cow horse a warning, when it feels them slide up on his neck.

The spade bit has a high port in the shape of either a spade or spoon, hence the name. It has a straight bar across the horses tongue, and braces going from the side to the port (spade), and is loosely hinged, not rigid. Its design conforms to the horse's mouth cavity, and it works more as a signal, touching the roof of the horse's mouth with the spade when the reins are lifted. In contrast to what is commonly believed, it is not a severe bit for the reined cow horse when properly designed and used. The ratio of the old-time spade bits was such that it worked less off of curb action and more as a signal bit, that is, the shanks were relatively short.

   The whole bridle -- spade bit, chains, and rawhide reins -- worked as an entity and were carefully balanced. Transition from the hackamore to the spade bit took place over a period of time at first, the horse was just bridled up with the spade bit, but was further ridden with a bosal (the size/diameter of the bosal and mecate used were decreased as the training of the reined cow horse progressed), then gradually, more and more bit reins were used, too, finally less and less bosal reins, until the finished horse was ridden straight up in the bridle . The idea behind this concept was to save a horse's mouth, to never expose it to any pressure, also, to ride a young horse without anything in his mouth as long as he was still changing his teeth. The horse-hair mecate is felt more by the horse than smooth reins, and aids in the training. Generally, the result of a competent and skilled hackamore training is a very light and flashy reined cow horse.

   When about half-way through the last century there was a growing awareness that a great tradition was being lost, it was actually almost too late to really preserve it. Still, if the group of dedicated people that got together in California to found an association for the express purpose of preserving the California stock horse tradition, that was a bright idea and a well-meant effort and could have worked -- if they had listened to, and sought the advice of, the few surviving old-timers who had had first-hand experience during the tail end of the era of the famous California reined cow horse. Those old-timers, with the exception of one, were very reluctant to part with any knowledge, but they were largely ignored anyway.

   Even so, what they had told about the old days would actually have been enough to expose contradictions with what was being outlined. Instead of true preservation, what took over was American show business, the new association was run by Anglo-Americans whose only ambition seems to have been to create a better market for their horse breeding programs and training services, fashioned after the already well-established cutting horse association and futurity.

    The first futurity put on by the California Reined Cow Horse Association in 1970 made it all too obvious that the old ways of the California Reinsmen were not honored: The contest consists of three parts, the herd work, the reined work, and the fence work. The herd work is basically a cutting, which is a Texan thing and never was typical for California. But because riders can use two hands on the reins, and actually are allowed to use the reins, this herd work is destined to be a mediocre cutting at best, if not an inferior one. Reined work and fence work are typical and traditional for the reined cow horse, with the fence work the most exciting (and dangerous) part. The real deviation from traditional California reined horse training though is the fact that this futurity is ridden with that contraption from way east, the snaffle bit, which never had any place in Spanish horsemanship, or old-time Californian horsemanship. It was, most likely, a concession to the inability of the trainers to train a real hackamore horse.

   The California trainer of the early 20th century may have known the snaffle bit by then, but used it with difficult horses only, usually only for a few days. The reined cow horse association's concept of riding young horses with a snaffle bit for a year, then ride him another year in a hackamore, is in no way consistent with traditional California reined horse training, The horses were trained in a hackamore, not with a snaffle bit, and even the hackamore was not used for a complete year, it was used until the horse functioned well, then the transition was made. The old-timers knew when the horse was asking for the bit . They made the switch to the bit before the horse became dull in the hackamore. The snaffle does not make a reined cow horse in the old California tradition. Yet the futurity of the association allegedly created to preserve that tradition became known as the snaffle bit futurity !

   What is even worse is the fact that, after all, this whole new industry did in no way result in a renewed aspiration to produce reined horses, especially hackamore horses, the hackamore being an indispensable part of the traditional way of making a California reined horse. Horses are usually trained with everything available, may be even ridden in the warm-up pen with some type of curb bit, then shown in a hackamore that is not a reined cow horse, certainly not a California hackamore horse. 

   Paradoxically, in the hackamore classes (for four-year-olds) and bridle classes (five years and older), the herd work is not added, only in the futurity, which would already be very strenuous for three-year-olds without the added strain of the herd work. No other event requires so much hard training to be put into young horses as the snaffle bit futurity. Needless to say, quality is compromised, and the reining horse has been outshining the California reined horse by far and for decades as far as the reining qualities are concerned.

   Some reiners now also enter reined cow horse competitions, and were able to raise the bar there at least in regard to the reined work.

   Reined cow horses are judged equally on their reined work and their fence work, nowadays also called cow work. The reined work is basically a reining, but patterns are a little different, and the class is also judged a little different, with less emphasis on slides but more on hard, deep stops. The fence work is what really sets the event apart, and is absolutely thrilling to watch if it is done expertly.

    A single cow is let into the arena, which the reined cow horse is to work one-on-one. First it shows dominance over the cow by controlling it on the short side of the arena, where it usually is let in, which is called boxing . Then the rider will let the cow run down the fence, staying closely behind it and a little to the side. After the cow passed the middle marker, he tries to block the cow with his horse, ideally turning her into the fence, or wall, and forcing her to run in the opposite direction. After thus turning the cow at least once in both directions against the fence, the reined cow horse takes the cow toward the middle of the arena and drives here there in such a way that she describes at least one circle in each direction, which completes the run. Taking the cow down the fence and turning her into it is referred to as fencing , driving her in circles as circling . The judge will blow a whistle to mark the completion of the run.

   Spectators unfamiliar with how the fence work is judged should simply observe whether the whole performance looks like the cow is leading horse and rider, determining the direction where to go, or if the reined cow horse looks like it is in control and dominating the cow.

   Breed associations like the American Quarter Horse Association call this event working cowhorse . There, horses up to the age of five years may be shown in a hackamore or snaffle bit in junior working cowhorse , and older in a bit in senior working cowhorse .

   I learned to train for this event in the “show ring” style. Snaffle bit first, then hackamore, then two-rein, then the bridle. During the time I spent deciding my direction as a horsesman I put Madonna back in her hackamore --she had been in the two-rein for a few months—and started Odin on my “one step at a time” breaking method.

    I had decided I knew nothing about using a hackamore, and Madonna would stay in one until I understood it. Odin would progress at the speed he was meant to, not in a pre-ordained time-frame.

   I also needed to learn to cut, I recognized the herd work we did was stressful, non-thinking, and did nothing to prepare our young horses for cattle work. So I started working with cutters, in their sport, using their rules, studying their art form, except Madonna was in her hackamore.

   Another area I was lacking in was honest cattle work. Everything I knew came from inside an arena. I have been learning to control a cow off horseback. Out in the field, in a feed lot, on the range, every chance I get, I work cows. I focus on reading them, finding the air space (called the bubble) between the cow and my horse, and learning to manipulate it to get what I want.

   As far as the training method goes, I have continued to start my horses with a snaffle bit. I prefer an O-ring, but that’s just me.

    The snaffle gives me shoulder control that I haven’t found within my reach when I start with only a hackamore. I leave the nose and poll alone during this phase, letting my horses learn to carry themselves through placement of their feet.

   Once we move to the hackamore, I increase my work on collection, and find the face and poll get where they need to be easily and naturally. I have found my hackamore horses stay safe and solid in the hackamore for many years this way, and am happy with it.

   So traditional or not, I start with a snaffle. Sometimes sticking with tradition is the same as being stuck in the mud. Being afraid to improve on things can easily be hidden behind the word “tradition.” Or maybe I’m just not that good with a hackamore yet.

    I get a lot of my help and spade bit information from a crazy man, Joe Bruce, who is also a master of the spade bit tradition. Big K told me to suck his brain dry before he dies, because it’s packed with spade bit knowledge that is going to be lost forever. So I’m doing the best I can. Joe tolerates my snaffle bit use because I’m a “girl.” Go figure. He is very pleased with the way I handle a hackamore though.

   I still want to show. My beliefs have changed, I’ll never have another futurity horse, but I can show in a snaffle or hackamore until my horses are six-years-old. This gives me plenty of time to show the horses I train in a way I feel is thorough and fair. Plus it leaves all the fun and none of the pressure.

   The bridle classes will be available to me, and I’m hoping to kick some serious butt on horses that have been trained well and know their job.

   We’ll see.

   I'm not there yet, in my Horsaii journey, but that's what makes it so wonderful, the road never stops. 

Summer Hours

Some of you may have noticed I've been a little erratic lately.

There's a few things involved, one of which is I've been given back my riding time from a life that thought I didn't need so much of it.

So that's what I'm doing. Riding, thinking about riding, training, riding, thinking about training, you get my drift.

When I'm not doing that, I've been writing, just not here.

Odin and Madonna are my only projects, but both are at an exciting part of their life as my horses, at least I feel that way, they aren't quite as impressed.

Odin is ready for some training. He is coming five, a horrifying age if you're a cow horse trainer on a schedule, but luckily for both of us, I'm no longer trapped in that particular game.

This spring, although still short in stature, he's stout, muscled and ready to rock. So now we're learning stuff.

Madonna is getting moved up into the bridle, a spade bit, after being ridden in the hackamore for several years. She didn't necessarily need to be in the hackamore that long, but I did.

I wanted to fully understand what the things were capable of, develop my timing and hand, and have her so soft and ready there was no question of her being able to move up and learn to be a traditional bridle horse.

To my way of thinking, that means she has confidence in me, herself, my expectations, and won't be afraid of the giant wonking hunk of metal I'm hanging in her mouth.

I ran a self imposed test on her in the hackamore last week. She can be ridden in any situation, from the trail, to a gather, to a show in her hackamore. She can change leads on a straight line, half-pass, haunches in, yada yada, that wasn't my question.

I simply rode her on the rail. We loped on a loose rein for a few rounds, just schlumping along, then I asked her, with my legs, to move into the bosal, with her hindquarters mind you--not by dropping her nose--and to collect.

She did. I felt her move forward, then asked for more, she slowed, I asked her to hold her previous speed, she went to it, I asked for more and her shoulders elevated as she broke at the poll and her face became vertical.

All a very lovely drive forward , back to front, into a relaxed rein. I only asked her to carry herself this way for about 10 strides at a time, neither of us are in good enough shape for any more.

She did as I asked, every time I asked, on both leads, without a wobble or impatient twitch.

I've never bumped her nose down, used a martingale, drop nose band, none of the usual stuff those of us in a hurry turn to. She has learned to break at the poll and bring in her nose to balance the forward push of her hindquarters, like a little accordion, because that's what works.

We're ready for the two-rein.

I am very, very excited.

Odin is green as grass, very willing and showing some talent. My training approach has changed so much since K and I went our separate ways, it's going to be a big adventure to see how this goes.

So, I'm a bit distracted.

Where I'm going, for now anyway, is to share this with you guys. Lots of thinking, changes, what ifs, more than likely some massive bone-head errors and observations.

If a story comes, I'll write it, but they're not popping up at the moment, my head's kind of full.

The book club?

I'm revamping it, putting together a reading list, we'll start again in the fall, I'm not reading beyond research right now.

Equine Mindmeld? I think I'm caught up, I love it, and I'll keep participating as I can. There's some good training advice coming in from outside sources and I don't want to miss out on it.

This is a big adventure for me, I hope you guys are ready for a change to the usual format, at least for now.

Mouthy Monday will be back in action as of next week.

Talk soon.

Lay Lady Lay

"Please, we just want to be your friend!"

There was an interesting article in Western Horseman this month about laying horses down.

It was carefully worded so the magazine itself didn't offer an opinion one way or the other.
Smart choice on their part, since this subject is pretty controversial in the horse training biz.

Remember the movie "The Horse Whisperer?" Yeah, me too. Irritated the crap out of me.

Anyway, Robert Redford laid the crazy horse down during his rehabilitation process. It transformed the horse and everything became magical and perfect after that.

This wasn't the first time I had watched a horse brought down as a training tool. It was the first time I had seen it described as anything but total domination of the animal by the trainer.

The first time I saw this done was as part of a last ditch effort to train a human-aggressive horse. I wasn't training it, I was just around while it happened. The horse hadn't killed anybody, but it was a strong possibility for the future. He wasn't responding to standard training and was going to be put down if he didn't get straightened out. FYI - this was a bottle raised orphan foal - now three years old.

The horse had a front leg roped up and was laid down on his side by pulling on said leg with a rope from the off-side. He was then covered with a canvas tarp and left for 4-5 hours. When the trainer came back, uncovered the horse and released him, it seemed to me the horse thought he had come back from the dead. He was dazed, surprised, and very, very confused.

He was also over any and all signs of aggression to people. Dull-eyed and quiet as a Mexican rodeo trained rope horse, he never offered to fight again. He wasn't nervous, spooky, as a matter of fact he was nothing but a biddable service animal. Nothing.

He wasn't friendly either. He had got the message loud and clear, but it sure didn't make him anybody's buddy. He never offered to hurt anybody again, as far as I know, but he never became much of a horse either. He had no try, no interest, no drive. He just did as he was told. The essential, people hating horse was still there, as a matter of fact, it seemed he had been proven right, but now he knew he couldn't win.

This lesson burned into my brain, probably not as much as it did this young horse's, but it gave me something to think about.

I have watched variations of this procedure a few times since and have tried it once. I've never been impressed with the results.

Martin Black and Dr. Stephen Peters have come out with a new book, Evidence Based Horsemanship. I haven't read it yet, although I'm getting the feeling it's my kind of read, so I'll hold back on commenting for now.

It was referenced in the WH article. The point stressed was this is not a training tool for everyone and how the horse has to be set up to choose to lay down.

Here's where I come in.

I don't have a huge bucket of experience to draw from in this area. I don't have much scientific training or reference here either, just my own thoughts and observations.

Horses are prey animals. Given the option, they run from trouble, run from pain, run from potential danger and death. They are wired with ever fiber of their being to get the hell out of Dodge in order to be safe.

I consider picking up their feet, one at a time, to be a huge step forward in the development of trust. If a horse gives me a foot, he is allowing me to hinder his ability to flee. I teach them this by always letting them take the foot back if they need to, but then, in my stubborn, bull dog like way, I take the foot again and again and again until we come to an agreement.

My training approach is completely based on moving forward, not stopping the feet. I think a horse feels safer in motion and therefore I am safer too. It is yet another reason I don't use one rein stops (another day another fuss).

I am also the first to admit I use my status as potential predator to train my horses. I like them to look at me as a benevolent dictator. I could eat them, but they're pretty sure I'm not going to. I have never been able to buy into the theory that  horses accept us as a best friend and cohort when we crawl on their backs and wrap our legs around them to ride, like a mountain lion jumping on them to eat them. Or when we put a bit, hackamore or Dr. Goodhorsie's Painless, Bitless, works-with-fairy-dust bridle on their heads to control where they go, like  a wolf latched onto their noses, in order to eat them.

They learn to do what we want, the release of pressure teaches them we probably won't eat them and as time passes friendship happens, only because horses are awesome.

What is critical to my thinking is that the horse keeps some options in this twisted way of doing things. He always gets to leave. I might still be on his back, I might still be torquing his head here and there but he always gets the comfort of movement to help him along. The hard-wired need to move goes along way to avoiding the other response a horse has, which is fight. I really prefer to avoid that one.

Because I think this way, the idea of taking away any chance a horse has of escaping me or fighting me is repulsive. No horse, on this planet, chooses to lose control of his feet. I just don't believe it. They may accept it because they have learned they have no other options, but I think that's where we head into soul crushing.

If we go there, from an emotional point of view, we have destroyed the very freedom that draws most of us to horses in the first place. From a practical, trainerly way of looking at things, we have taken away the fire that creates a top competitor, or the horse that sucks it up and travels those last few miles.

I have read definitions of the reaction of a horse that is laid down. The horse becomes still, relaxed and calm. The transformation is nothing short of miraculous. This keeps being described as the horse accepting us as non-threatening.

Thing is, I grew up watching Marlin Perkins and Wild Kingdom. I never once heard Marlin say, "Notice the calm, peaceful expression of the antelope being eaten by the hyena. It is clear he has become one with the hyena and they will now enter a life long partnership."

You know why? Because what really was happening with our friend the gazelle was a little thing called
dissociation.

"This is the normal response of the central nervous system when living beings are faced with intense physical harm, fear or terror they are unable to avoid, escape or shield themselves from. In a state of dissociation, animals (including humans) undergo a partial or complete disruption of the normal integration of their conscious and psychological functioning. They can no longer feel physical pain, shed tears, access or express emotions, communicate or interact with others. They become disconnected from their physical bodies and emotions.

 In the wild, when an animal is pursued by a predator, through the length of the chase, the prey is very much engaged in the form. Fully present in its body, it is actively immersed in the flight mechanism aimed at saving its life. Yet, the instant the predator's jaws closes on its throat, the prey's body instantly becomes limp and loose. Dissociation allows the nervous system to shield itself from a level of physical, psychological and/or emotional harm, the intensity of which would be impossible to absorb.

The dissociative state in wildlife and human beings is characteristically recognizable by the dazed, faraway, glassy, disconnected stare we get when our lives, physical safety, emotional well being, or all of the above, have been suddenly, violently altered."

How about that. What do you think is really happening to a horse who has had both flight and fight completely taken away from them? Tied up, completely powerless, getting crawled all over by some human who's petting them all over and cooing "Good pony," in it's ear?

Is he hearing, "I love you and want to be your best friend," or, "Yum, yum, snack time!"

To my way of thinking the horse gets that peaceful, accepting air about him BECAUSE HE KNOWS HE IS GOING TO DIE. He is preparing himself to be eaten.

When humans come back from this kind of experience they are deeply transformed. War, Tsunami's, earthquakes, they can all cause it.

Even though we have supposedly better tools to reason with than our horses, we don't get over these experiences. It's called PTSD folks, not creating an open line of communication.

At this point in my life I can't imagine doing something like that to a horse or any fellow being on the planet. Unless of course I'm planning to eat them.

On The Other Hand...

I couldn't let you guys think I was going soft, in the head, belly or emotions.
Obviously Becky (Blog of) smelled weakness in the air like a shark on a blood trail, because she sent me this.
She got me good.
I cracked up.
My sarcasm started boiling and I had to admit...some things still absolutely, positively make me wonder how certain kinds of people can find their way out of a paper bag, much less into the land of horses.

Purebred Arabian Mare 

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Date: 2012-03-29, 12:46PM PDT
Reply to: 

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13 years old Chestnut. Purchased when she was three years old. However, a few weeks after purchasing her I had major spine surgery and a second spine surgery two years later. So I've never been able to ride her. She was green broke when we purchased her and has not been ridden in ten years. We lost her stable mate of ten years in July. Because of my spine surgeries I will not get another horse and I know she is lonely for another stable mate and will sell only to someone who has another horse/horses. Must go to a home where Natural Horsemanship is practiced. She needs Natural Horsemanship Training on the ground and in the saddle. Facilities must be approved by owner. I never got papers for her as I did not plan on breeding her nor showing her in Purebred competitions. She and our other Arabian were going to be used for trail riding. Well behaved in the stall, friendly, leads well. Please do not contact us if you do not use and practice Natural Horsemanship Training and Techniques. If interested, please call only between the hours of 9 am to 3:30 pm (CALLS WILL NOT BE EXCEPTED BEFORE OR AFTER THESE HOURS) or send E-mail address via this ad.

This ad is killing me. First off, I think this is a very cute mare.

Now lets get into it.

This is why I have a problem with people committing themselves to the concept of "forever horses."

Life doesn't always work that way.

You cannot tell me this woman didn't know,oh, let's say after her second surgery, she wasn't going to be toodling down the trail on a green broke horse any time soon. I'll bet her doctors shared that information. They do that, those dang doctors. They say stuff like, "You won't be able to ride."
It's part of the doctors code I do believe.

By doing a little bit of simple math (which believe me, is all I'm capable of) about the time the owner came out of her second surgery, this mare was five, at the very most, six-years-old.

She was still plenty young enough to be taken under a new owners wing and turned into a lovely companion.

Instead, she waited 10 frigging years to face the fact she had no business owning the horse.

Now she has a thirteen-year-old mare with some basic ground work and no time under saddle. The mare is living alone after spending most of her life with another horse and is probably not on her best behavior. My guess is her loneliness is making her a total pain in the ass.

Now she is ready to foist her problem onto somebody else.

She is going to cover her guilt for letting this horse down by putting all kinds of conditions on prospective buyers. She needs to prove how much she loves the horse you see.
She loves her so much she's going to insist the next owner behave as much like her as possible. Because that will justify her insistence that she LOVES her horse and NOBODY can possibly love her as much as she does. Which is why she didn't sell her when she had a chance of attracting a good home. Because her horses were her soul mates, her best friends, cuddly wuddly booger bears.

"I know she is lonely for another stable mate and will sell only to someone who has another horse/horses." 
Um, it didn't bother her to keep the horse alone for the past year.




"Must go to a home where Natural Horsemanship is practiced. She needs Natural Horsemanship Training on the ground and in the saddle."

Even though getting her started under saddle wasn't an issue for this woman until the horse was thirteen- years-old. And she's going to dictate how the horse is ridden and trained after she sells her? 

Good thinking, let's limit the buying pool even more than you already have.

"Facilities must be approved by owner."

No problem, just slap up some barb wire and you'll be good to go. I know I said I can live with barb wire. What I can't live with is somebody who uses it telling me she needs to approve my facilities. If I can let go of your barb wire, will I have to get a lecture on my stalls and turn out? You know that's how it will go. She'll need to prove she's not a total idiot by judging someone else's barn space.

" I never got papers for her as I did not plan on breeding her nor showing her in Purebred competitions."

... and never considered, for even a second, that having the horse's papers might help sell her in the future. She didn't need them, so nobody was going to get them.

So yeah. I have to admit, I'm not Miss Sweetness n' Light with every approach to horse ownership. I can't tolerate personal ego replacing a horses needs, or self-justification getting in the way of finding a decent new home for a horse that's between a rock and a hard place through no fault of her own.

I guess, what's really pissing me off is, according to this ad, I am not qualified to own this thirteen-year-old, hasn't been ridden in ten years, anxious, lonely mare. If I did, she would be broke and riding down the trails in a year.Then I, who doesn't think I should be the only owner this horse ever has, would be able to sell her to her next good home. Heck, I'd even sell her to a NHer.  

Keep it up Becky. You keep me on my toes.

Still Thinking, Still Confused

In light of some of our recent Mouthy Monday's, I've been doing some deep thinking about what constitutes good care, bad care, who deserves to own a horse and who doesn't.

There is an awful lot of black and white thinking in the horse world and some of it is spot on.

This is bad.

This is bad too.

So is this.

...and this

We see these things happen and are justifiably horrified. There are more, but you get my point.

Then we get into aspects of horse ownership that I am beginning to see as a gray area.

Is this bad?

What about this?

and last, but definitely, not least, how about this?

I have had a couple of experiences in my life that really make me look at both sides of issues, especially when it comes to horses, so grab a cuppa joe and pull up a chair, Mugs is gonna expound a bit.

There was a dog trainer, Barbara Woodhouse, that fascinated me in the 80's. She got her mannerly dogs to do anything she wanted and rehabbed dogs from the pound in order to find them good homes. Not only did she have quite the way with dogs, but listening to her shrill, "Walkies!" just cracked me up.

There was one point she made that stuck with me forever. She said (rough translation), "The only time a dog is poorly trained is if the owner isn't happy with it's behavior."

So, if a St. Bernard sits on the couch and shares a bowl of ice cream with her owner every night and said owner welcomes the interaction, in Woodhouse's view, this is a well trained dog.

It didn't matter what your mother thought, or the local dog expert, or anybody else, as long as you and your dog had a peaceful coexistence, everything else was fluff.

Of course then she went on to share her opinion of a well-trained dog and how to get there with our own dogs.

This hit home with me. Hit hard. It's why I try so hard to tell people who ask my advice and input, this is what I would do.


Not, this is what you should do.

Several years ago I went to our local humane society to adopt a kitten. I was quite taken with a little tortoise shell, but she had a snotty nose and runny eyes.

I was talking to a shelter staff member about it.

"I feel like I should adopt her to give her a chance," I said, "but I'm afraid of the vet bills, and I'd be heart broken if she died."

"Can I be blunt? The staff member asked me.

"Sure."

"Take a look around you. There's at least 30 kittens here. By the end of the week, maybe, if we're lucky, 10% of them will have been adopted. Two thirds of the rest will be euthanized. Then we'll get in 30 more.

Adopt the animal you want. Pick the one that you will care for until it dies of old age. These kittens all need homes and love, doesn't matter if it lives in a house, a barn, a car, or if their owner is rich, poor, smart, dumb, whatever. Only 10% of them are going to get out of here. The healthy ones need a chance as much as the sick ones.

I picked out a sturdy gray Tabby kitten with a white bib and four white paws. Butch and I had 16 good years together.

The Big K and I were talking about horses from our past and the dumb things we did on and to them. As usual, my first horse, Mort, came up.

"I wish I owned him now, at this point in time. He had so much potential and I know how to fix him. It makes me sad."

"If anything had been different between you and Mort you wouldn't be sitting here," K said.

"What do you mean?"

"He gave you the desire to do it right."

I have been on the path of "doing it right" my entire life. It's been a long and winding three steps forward, two steps back ind of deal, but I keep moving forward.

It's the steps back that teach me the most.

If somebody buys a horse and sticks it in the back yard, teaches it to touch a spot with it's nose, or hop over a barrel, and never gets on it, well, if they're happy and the horse is happy, I don't care. Just because I need to ride doesn't mean everybody else has to.

If they teach their horse to bring his nose to their boot and follow them around the pen, but end up with a floppy necked thing that runs them into fences and runs them over to get to the feed bucket, it doesn't bother me, unless it bothers them. Then, if they want my help, I can show them how to fix it.

Because it is easy to fix. If you want to.

When I see a herd of fat and happy horses out on pasture and it's surrounded by barb wire, I'm sorry, I just can't bring myself to call PETA. It's a group of FAT HEALTHY HORSES. I consider them lucky and cared for.

If I come across a horse in a makeshift stall, stuck in somebody's backyard and completely left in the care of a bunch of barefoot kids am I going to demand the horse be removed? Nope. I might get to know the kids and show them, by example, what works best for them and the horse. I will definitely admire the horse for his patience and bomb proof outlook.

When I see a horse being ridden by the snotty little dressage kid, trying to emulate the winners by using her version of rollkur, or the pleasure queen, jogging around endlessly banging on her confused horses mouth and sides, am I going to hate the kid? No. Because these kids are riding and treating their horses as they've been taught. Plus, for the most part, their patient horse may have to tolerate that crap for two to three hours a week, but the rest of the time, they are fed, cared for and left alone.

Maybe the people following these paths want more, or could want more if they were shown a different way. The best way I've found to get people to look at their horses and themselves is by example, not by shaking a righteous finger from a soap box.

By trying to keep this approach I've had to learn to compromise. The approach might be wrong in my book, but there is still a horse with a home, a horse with feed in front of it, a horse who has made it another day.

Don't get me wrong, I still get my back up. Starvation and abuse will send me to the phone. Strident behavior, finger pointing and bullying will still get you kicked out of my barn, but for the most part, I try to accept a lot more than I used to as part of the journey.

Check out these videos. They say a lot about learning to hold back on judgement.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=073msmFIYYo&feature=endscreen&NR=1

http://espn.go.com/espn/e60/story/_/id/7093372/philadelphia-inner-city-students-follow-unusual-path-learn-play-polo-win-national-title

We All Gotta Grow Up Sometime

NO MORE WORD VERIFICATION!!! COMMENT AWAY!


I have to give it up.
I don't want to, it's been an unending source of amusement to me for years.
I'm going to miss it.
Seriously.
I have decided it's time to quit making fun of the Natural Horsemanship movement.
All of it.
Even...Parelli.
It's too bad, because I still have a huge reservoir of jokes waiting in the wings. Sigh.
Recently I have had two events happen which made me reevaluate. I just hate it when that happens.

The first came about when I dropped in to watch a NRCHA event in my area. I was missing my old fellow competitors and friends. I was aching to watch a good fence turn or two. I wanted to size up the locals and see how behind I was falling. So I gathered up my cohort and fellow cowhorse lover Kathy and we went to catch some action.

I was visiting with top Colorado trainer Jill Cook when the name Parelli came up. I did my usual eye roll and snort, which Jill missed. I am really glad she did. Keep in mind, this is a group of horse people who don't discuss Natural Horsemanship, ever. It truly means nothing to them. The techniques are all known to them, usually because the basics are part of every decent trainer's repertoire and are pretty much covered in the first thirty days of training. Or they're techniques not used because of a difference in approach, but not because of ignorance, because of choice.The idea of choosing what is considered colt starting 101 as a way of life is not their deal. Nothing more, nothing less.

"You know, he showed at our xxxx event last year," Jill said.

"What? You mean Parelli?" I was amazed.

"Yep."

"How'd he go?"

"His cutting was amazing, he told me he's been riding with xxx and it's making  huge difference. The rest he hung in on."

"Well good for him, I like hearing about one of these guys getting out and competing."

"Did you know he has an autistic son?" Jill asked me.

"I didn't."

"I loved watching how he and his wife are with him. They have him riding and competing and he does real well. Pat talks to him through an ear piece and walks him through, he does a real fine job. It was great watching how they interact with him. They help as needed but have let him become a real hand. That has to be so hard."

I walked away from the conversation with a full plate. The only Parelli I'm familiar with is the showboater, the man who sells his way as the only way, the man in the ads with a cult type following I just don't understand.

At our cowhorse event he came quietly. No entourage, no fanfare. He was a family man working and competing in a tough competition. The impression he made among hard core horsemen who for the most part, only vaguely knew who he is, was a good one.

My next eye opener was finally watching the movie "Buck."

The "magic" was as exaggerated as I expected. Goodness, if every colt we dealt with was as rowdy as the ones they portrayed in the movie there would be an awful lot of busted up horse whisperers out there.

Training aside, which was pretty much what I expected, it was the man who got to me. This quiet, gentle man had overcome so much because of horses. His life time of equine study had taken him so far. He had broken the chain of abuse that haunts families like his, saving his own family, his daughter's future family and himself through learning how to train a horse.

The changes he had gone through were identical to my own. So close, it physically hurt me to watch the movie. It definitely cleared up some questions I carry with me about my obsession with, not just training horses, but doing so by understanding their minds. Why I can't stop, why I always try to keep learning, keep moving forward. Every key I find to unlock the next door, well, it unlocks something inside of me too.

I've learned a lot in the last few weeks. I learned the thinking behind training through understanding is what these men share. It's not about the technique, thank goodness because I'm not buying a damn carrot stick or playing a single one of the 7 games, it's about getting to the core of who we are through the mind of a horse and sharing it with other people who want to know too.

So that's it. No more jammin' and slammin' on the horse whisperers. Just not going to do it, no matter how tempted I might be.
The reality is these guys are making a living studying the minds of horses. The rest is just fluff.
I'm sure going to hate letting go of all those Parelli jokes though.

Conformation - Let's All Get Paranoid!

Sorry about the title. I didn't want anybody to think this was yet another blog post about the rights and wrongs of how our horses are put together. There are puh-lenty of those available.

We can find blog posts, articles, books, and chat lines all loaded with tons of advice from lots of people dying to show their prowess at drawing a straight line via Photoshop so I know which horses are crap and which are worthy of our consideration.

There are unending descriptions, using lots of big words about muscles, tendons, angles and bone, proper hoof shape, tail set and the length of the back.

I'm not arguing about the validity of good conformation. It's a fact that the better the build the better the chance of achieving the levels of performance we're looking for. Good conformation helps a horse stay sound, gives us a smoother ride, more loft, less knee, a higher jump or a quicker cut out of the herd.

The thing is, I've had a lot of horses in my life with less than ideal conformation. OK, I'll be honest, none of my horses have had the perfect build. I bought my first horse Mort, because he had a pretty head. It wasn't until after I owned him I found out his feet turned out, his neck was too thin and set too high, he was apple-butted, narrow and I'm sure there was a bunch of other stuff I just don't remember.

I loved Mort like nobody's business and I rode the living tar out of him. I rode him until his shoes fell off and then I rode some more. I didn't know enough to tell when he was foot-sore or that I could kill him with grass clippings. I kicked him out to eat spring grass 24/7 every year after keeping him corralled every winter. Cringing yet? Me too.

The thing is, he was sound his entire life. He never foundered, never limped, never missed a step. He had incredible wind and endurance, was agile and quick. What he wasn't was fast. He didn't outrun many better built quarter horses, but he certainly outlasted them.

My second horse, Oakie, was built the way they "should" be. He had some fancy breeding and I didn't hear the comments about his faults like I did Mort. He developed massive navicular and died when he was eight years old from a reaction to blood thinners.

The next horse was a little mustang we called Belle Star. She was maybe 14 hh in her shoes (if I let her feet get long), weedy, a little ewe-necked, cow-hocked and long backed. She weighed about 850 pounds. She was loaded with heart, packed me through the mountains without complaint or problem, and her crooked little legs caused me no trouble at all.

Annie, one of the best horses ever born, was long backed and had a short, level croup, not what you'd look for in a quarter horse. Plus, SHE WAS LAME. We babied her bad foot, kept her comfortable with glucosamine, but without drugs, and used her with respect. She raised my daughter, taught me tons and there are hundreds of former kids who have loving stories to tell about learning to ride on her.

Sonita had lovely conformation. A little high headed,a little short necked, but everything else was pretty darn good. Her nice short back made her quick on a turn, but didn't help with her stops in any way. I always had to hope her spins and cow work would make up for her 15 foot stops. And then there's the fact she was nuts.

Loki had great legs. She was low-hocked, had nice straight canon bones, great reach and good feet. She was also incredibly long-backed. I mean looooong backed and narrow. Her turn arounds were effected, but she had flawless lead changes, could do lovely, level tempi changes and won a slide stop contest against the Big K with a 30 foot slide. She was a solid cutter and decent down the fence.

Madonna is close to my ideal of a perfect build. Yet she's over the knee, pigeon-toed and  her right front foot is slightly clubbed. She has slightly higher knee action than I like (it adds to her "my pretty pony" look). She is sound and athletic and the best horse I've ever had.

Odin is turning out to be wonderful. Loki is his mom and his dad is also a foundation bred quarter horse. He is showing signs of having his mother's slide stop and his father's elasticity through his turns. His back shorter than Loki's, he's much stouter and has his daddy's pretty head. My foundation bred, nothing fancy, colt may be the most correct horse I've ever owned. Don't disagree with me, I might have to kill you.

My point is correct conformation is not the end all. I learned what to look for from my 4-H hand book when I was 12. I haven't varied much from it since. It was a good handbook.


When I look to buy a horse I have my own way of doing things.

I buy bloodlines for specific tasks.

I'll try different bloodlines if I don't end up with what I want.

I look for basically correct conformation.

I'll try out a horse with faults anyway.

If the horse moves in a way that appeals to me I'll giver her a go, don't care about shoulders or pasterns if the horse feels the way I want.If a horse rides in a way I like, I'll accept many, many conformation faults.

I check stride length, stopping ability and cattiness. If it all feels good I'm on board, conformation be damned.

There are things I won't accept.

Extreme cow hocks. Ewe necks. Severe clubbed feet, or more than one club foot. Stick necks (short, upright, thick), off-set canon bones or narrow-based hind ends.

The rest is up to the horse.

If I had a better trained eye I would have missed many, many good horses.

All that being said, I wouldn't buy without a vet check, unless it's a horse I know, or it comes from a person I trust.