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Fall 2004 - Newsletter
www.horsewhisperer.com
A FALL GREETING
from
DANCES WITH HORSES
Fall arrived just yesterday, the twelfth of September. I happened to be in my favorite part of the world enjoying the riding, camping, and fishing that Yellowstone has to offer. Four nights and five days of extended summer abruptly ended as the skies turned an angry grey and the north winds brought in the chill of coming winter. My horse, Lakota Breeze, felt exhilarated as we cantered through the endless meadows of dying summer grasses that reached his chest. It was a magical five days of warm sunny days and cold nights so typical of fall.
Fall is absolutely my favorite time of year to ride and work horses. The bugs have abated and the chill in the air has horses as well as humans feeling truly alive and energized. It is important to realize that horses are sometimes supercharged this time of year. The lazy summer temperaments take on a whole new personality as the cool nights and mornings bring our horses back to life. Thorough groundwork is a must this time of year. Take the time it takes to prepare your horses for riding. Working the 7 Steps will have all parties feeling a sense of security when the riding starts. And some extra time performing " Ballet on the Ground" and " Ballet in the Saddle" will ensure a safe and satisfying ride.
If a weather change is predicted or taking place, be extra prudent. Horses sense this long before we do. Horses are great barometers. Listen to them. Some days horses will be telling us loud and clear that it is just not such a great day to go riding. Perhaps better to stick to groundwork and listen to these wise creatures. I've played the game long enough to know the signals.
Make mental or physical notes of the condition of your gear. Heat, sweat, and wear tend to fatigue all horse gear. Instead of dealing with surprises in the spring, make your repairs and purchases in the fall and prepare your gear during the downtime of winter. There is no better feeling than having everything ready when the time comes to ride again.
It is also important to leave our horses in a great place, both physically and mentally. Feeding horses up a bit as we go into winter is a good idea, especially for the hard keepers. Removing their shoes at this time and allowing their feet to spread and toughen is a good idea for most horses. If riding isn't an option in your part of the country there are always plenty of ground exercises that keep us connected to our horses as we improve the places horses may need a little help, which brings me to the main subject of this fall newsletter, namely passive training.
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Passive Training
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Last fall I brought home a yearling mustang named Owahee. Named after the range in Nevada in which he originated, he has proved to be a very interesting project. Having started dozens of wild horses in several hours, I attempted the same with O-wa. He didn't like the idea of anything on his back and still doesn't. He has forced me to slow waaaaaay down and present challenges in a very simple and easy for him to understand manner. He keeps reminding me to take off my watch.
Mustangs are different. They take longer to digest new stimuli. They seem to need time to almost ponder the situation as if to say, " let me think this over for a few minutes, if your don't mind." For me this has been a sobering experience. I admittedly have gotten caught up in the expectation trap. Since I've gotten this done in this amount of time, well it should be the same with all horses. Not so. Instead I've had to reassess my goals and my watch as well. I have found myself thinking hard well into the wee hours on just how to present various situations that will help my horse grow and learn, and sometimes when I'm far from the training area
The first things I set up were designed for O-wa to learn to tolerate movement and noises. He was hyper sensitive to sudden sounds and quick movement. I hung a piece of metal roofing off the metal gate with baling twine. Every time the wind blew there was a loud metallic banging. I hung a string of aluminum cans and several plastic bags next to the water trough and began feeding this young sorrel gelding progressively closer to the scary objects until his head was right underneath the moving plastic and cans. Then these boogers moved right into the water container to the point where O-wa was nosing the cans and plastic aside to drink! This was all done very gradually in an ABC fashion.
As the dry summer dust began to build up around the feeder I decided to place a tarp underneath to keep the hay from contact with the ground. Inadvertently I'd created a great desensitizing tool. Within a couple days the horses were calmly walking all over the tarp hardly taking notice and even standing inside the huge tractor tire on the tarp.
I deliberately made a point of feeding the horses in different locations at differing times. This forced them to actually figure out how to get from one point to the next as quickly as possible, walking all the way around the arena, through the woods over logs, etc. It was fascinating how quickly the wild horse figured this out while the domestics took longer and then began to actually watch O-wa closely to see his direction. They were indeed learning from this young originally wild horse.
The possibilities for passive training are endless. Our imaginations are the only limit to what we are able to create to help our horses learn and develop while we are addressing other tasks or training other horses.
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7th Annual Wild Horse Workshop in Brentwood, California
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I've just returned from yet another amazing week at the wild horse workshop. This is a predictably wonderful week of gentling absolute wild horses, some just fresh off the range. It is a bit like a game of poker. Sometimes you draw a good hand/horse sometimes a difficult one and sometimes a downright scary one that just trembles a the sight of a human anywhere nearby. And some are just outright aggressive and dangerous. These horses have been calling their own shots and running the show in the wild and have no initial interest in cooperating with us.
One such horse had me baffled and after two sessions I was ready for help. As fate would have it, a highly competent trainer from Portugal was attending the workshop and just happened to offer assistance. I welcomed Antonio's help and within an hour he had the horse happily accepting touch in the face and neck areas and was at the beginning stages of leading and understanding the basis of all training, pressure and release. My eyes were glued to this master of equine psychology and body language for that hour, and later in the day as he took on an extremely aggressive checked out herd boss who had attacked an attractive buckskin on impulse that left the buckskin lame until late in the week. This horse was so worked up about being away from his herd and lead position that it took Antonio's skills to help focus this stallion-behaving gelding. Using lead mare gestures and body language he was able with minimal effort to drive the horse at a walk and trot and turn on a dime. Most importantly the horse was focused on him and not his herd.
The next day I was able to beautifully bring along the three-year-old mare that I had worked with earlier. Her transformation was nothing short of a near miracle as she stood quietly accepting touch and happily leading and tying. The aggressive gelding had a dramatically more cooperative attitude and Brent Huyett made huge inroads with him that afternoon
It is such a breath of fresh air to embrace new ideas and approaches and this is the basis for this week of learning. Not only are all the participants learning new gentling techniques, but we as clinicians are all learning from each other and from the participants as well. Had we not endorsed John Sharp's use of the bamboo pole seven years ago thousands of horses and handlers would not have benefited from his years of wisdom. Such is the case with Antonio, the Portuguese master horseman.
And speaking of John Sharp, at 90 years old John was holding court on the sideline and helping most of us through some very sticky situations. His bride Joyce kept the right horses in front of us with perfect timing.
Immediately after the workshop, I conducted a two-day Gentle Solutions clinic in Los Gatos, California at Bear Creek Stables. This wonderful older facility and friendly boarders welcomed my 7 Steps heartily and we accomplished huge strides in those two days. The challenge of the weekend was a 17 hand five-year-old gelding named Steamer who didn't relish loading into the ample two-horse trailer his owner bought just for him. Fredrique was at wit's end with Steamer's dangerous antics, and I admittedly almost met my match. In the hot afternoon sun, it took an hour and a half to load Steamer. At times he completely melted down and was almost unreachable mentally. Once I calmed him and helped him lower his head almost to the ground, he began to act in a rational manner and take baby steps forward. Then it was a matter of keeping him relaxed and focused. Before it was over he would take a step forward with the slightest kiss noise and an ever-so-light tap on the rump. Harder taps sent him flying backwards. It was a true game of finesse and in the end we both win that game.
The next day Fredrique loaded him in a matter of minutes! Voila!! The day after that, in only seconds. Most importantly, Fredrique learned the art of loading and should now be able to help most horses with this vexing issue.
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Our Accredited Instructor Program
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Speaking of Accredited Instructors, our program is literally exploding as trainers throughout the country and world for that matter join our ranks. Our Accredited Instructor Sylvia Scott cast her net into the depths of our following. She encountered an insatiable hunger in horsemen and women of all ages who want to share our Gentle Solutions approach. So many of these equestrians have discovered the power of the 7-SSS and long to spread this wealth of wisdom. To say the least, I am overjoyed, as my dream becomes reality. We literally now have dozens of Accredited Instructor candidates who are perfecting their skills to become teachers of this remarkably effective set of exercises that immediately places the horse and rider on higher ground. Instead of riding in fear, thousands are now riding in confidence by using my 7-SSS. Halleluiah! If you share this passion to spread the good word and teach others how to more effectively communicate with their horses, please contact us.
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The 3-T Test
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Time and again I refer to the Three-T’s and want to expound on this valuable concept. Far too often in our quest for knowledge we take someone’s word as gospel without really scrutinizing just what is taking place. Sometimes this translates into whacking horses in the head with a specialized stick or running horses in mindless circles. This is not what the guru intended hence the first Three-T’s Theory:
- Theory. Always ask yourself what is the theory behind each exercise? Why am I doing this? If you cannot answer that question, don’t do it to the horse or yourself. It’s too easy to grasp just part of something and then try to apply it, only to fail. Think about what you are doing and if it doesn’t make sense don’t do it until you know exactly why.
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Technique. Once you do understand why you are doing something with your horse, then you need to effectively communicate it. And just how is this done? More importantly, what is the best way to accomplish this? In many cases we jump from A to N instead of an ABC approach that will make perfect sense to the horse. Baby-steps make so much more sense to every single horse you will ever encounter. Don’t hesitate to break the how down into a very specific set of exercises that leads to success for you and your horse. And whenever you get into trouble, back off and think about how you can make it more obvious to your student, be it equine or human. This is the true art of teaching.
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Timing. Now that you’ve mastered the why and how, it’s time to focus on improving your timing. Everyone’s timing to begin is poor, slow, and ineffective. It goes with the territory. In my clinics we begin with the twine game simply to improve each person’s release timing. If your timing is slow, so will be the horse’s reaction. If your timing is crisp and quick, so will be your horse’s. We predictably improve our students’ timing in our clinics by a thousand times in a matter of just a few minutes. Work on it. Your timing cannot ever get too good. Practicing with a friend first, before practicing with your horse, will speed you along there.
Next quarterly newsletter we’ll break down another of my favorite concepts: V-Thinking. Briefly, the bottom of the V is thought the top: extreme pressure. You can use this concept for every single communication with your horse, both to teach the positive and stop the negative behaviors.
We will also perfect a diagram on Natural Horsemanship and share it with you. This whole concept is a bit fuzzy to so many horsemen. Instead of being in the gray zone with this revolution in horsemanship, we’ll make it clearly black and white.
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Clinics And Demos
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November
and early December will
find me doing demonstrations and clinics in England and France. And there is a
good possibility of planting some seeds in Germany.
December
11-12 - Two-day Gentle
Solutions Clinic in Clayton, Alabama at the Barbour County Farm Center.
April 23-24,
2005 - Two-day Gentle
Solutions Clinic at Westwood Farms, 2033 Meander Run Road, Locust Dale, VA
22948. Owner: Stephanie Clatterbuck
For in-depth clinic information or to organize your
own private or public clinic access the link at: Clinic
&
Event Schedule |
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New Products and Packages
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We have been combining logical video titles into packages that make a whole lot of sense and are sold at a discount to the purchaser. The " plus" packages all include my foundation work " Discover the Horse You Never Knew" which focuses completely on the 7-Step Safety System. This logical set of exercises sets the stage for success in all horse/human endeavors and is absolutely the place to start with all horses. We now offer
We are adding a few new tack items and a new video to our product line. Adding to our Mastery Series tack are several headstall/rein options:
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¾” harness leather headstall, stainless full-cheek snaffle bit, and black yacht reins with water loops.
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¾” harness leather headstall, stainless full-cheek snaffle bit, and 22’ black yacht mecate with slobber straps. This mecate set-up is ideal for leading and tying horses thereby avoiding the need for a halter when out trail riding.
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22’ yacht mecate with leather popper
We are now offering a custom belly rope to address the pullback issue. This item is only sold along with our “Solving 7 Common Horse Problems” video that specifically addresses this dangerous behavior. If you have a horse that pulls back when tied consider this option.
Our long-awaited newest video, “Pole Gentling the Wild Horse,” is now available in VHS and DVD. This is actual footage of a yearling mustang that in the beginning is literally self-destructing into the side of the pen. Watch this well-explained transformation as this horse evolves to leading quietly and in the end standing tied to the side of the pen. This work is a compilation of Frank and John Sharp’s techniques and contains exclusive interviews with both Frank and John. This one-hour piece will be available for $39.95 VHS. The interviews add about thirty minutes to this masterpiece. We believe this is absolutely the most effective, gentle and expedient method for gentling all untouched horses, domestic or wild.
And finally, we have a Dances With Horses Spirit Cap. Our brilliantly colored Spirit Horse logo is on the front. “Gentle Solutions” is on the back along with horsewhisperer.com. This very attractive high quality unisex hat is khaki with navy under the brim and is priced at $16.95. Adjustable headband. One size fits all.
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| That’s the way it is in September at Dances With Horses. We hope this finds you all well and enjoying your various riding endeavors wherever you are. |
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Happy Trails from Frank Bell and Dances With Horses!
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Copyright 2004, Dances With Horses Inc.
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