Great training vid...

This video is from Robert Carlson who competed in the 2008 Extreme Mustang Makeover challenge

I found the video on his blog, and it was soo funny I had to share.

Here Robert is de-sensitising 'Artista' to sudden movements etc. And they sped the video up just for fun :)

Chip 4yo POA Gelding

One of our many success stories!

Chip is a Pony Of America (POA) gelding, standing at a whopping 12.2 hands. He was surrendered in June 2008 with his pasture-mate Dude. Chip came in with a BCS of 2, Dude with a BCS of a 1.5. I would consider them both emaciated. First of all, how do you starve a POA? In my experience they are a very hardy breed, and very easy keepers. His background was a little sketchy, he was surrendered by a woman who claims to have rescued them from a 'crack house' type of situation. She then quickly realized she could not care for them due to lack of resources and facility--a small dirt hotwired paddock in a group of trees was all she had, much to small for three horses. When she tried to reach out to various rescues she was turned away due to lack of space. SAFE collected donations and had Dr. Hannah examine the horses, and a kind hearted person donated a few bales of hay. Eventually the horses were forwarded to me, and having learned to ride on a cute little POA, I decided Chip may be a good prospect for my lesson program.

My first impression of Chip was that he had been handled well in the past. He was easy to catch and load, and didn't bat an eyelash at our first clipper session. He was pretty good with his feet, and he tied and cross tied. Where did this cute little pony fall through the cracks? I started the re-feeding process and he stayed in quarantine for the first few weeks. When I would turn him out in the arena, he would roll and leave a coating of hair and an impression of his skeleton in the dirt. This was both heartbreaking and adorable as he would get up and throw out one good buck--which was about all the energy he had.

It took about three good grooming sessions to get Chip's hair under control. And I began to start the conditioning process to get him ready to start under saddle. After two months of work and a decent foundation, I decided to turn him out to pasture and let him grow up a little. Two months of lush hilly pasture and I had a very handsome almost chunky little pony ready to focus on his education. I put a total of thirty days under saddle on him, and he even got ridden by a few qualified students.

Chip was featured on the Fugly blog just before Christmas which is where his forever home first saw him. I delivered Chip and DID he win the horsey lottery! He is now very healthy and happy and living the life of luxury. I get frequent updates and am told he is doing fantastic!

Set your horse up to win

Why can't our horses win? You cannot force a horse to have a work ethic, anymore than you can force me to give up my Jimmy Choo's.

Imagine if, at your job, your boss never let you 'win'--never cut you slack, never rewarded you for good performance, was always critical and demanding, and spent the bulk of their time pointing out the negatives. Just let that sink in for a moment. You would hate your job, resent your boss, and probably become depressed and act out.

Just as a healthy and productive work environment is bred through positivity and rewarded successes, a healthy and pliable horse is won through positive and fair interaction. Instead of constantly correcting any and all bad behavior, focus on the positive.In other words, set your horse up to 'Win'. That should be your objective. You build a work ethic through success, not domination. A good horse responds to you out of trust and respect--because it wants to, not because it is forced to; because it is a partnership, not a dictatorship. It shouldn't be a struggle for power, it should be a collaboration.

Think of those phrases that were drilled into our heads as students - "you can't let your horse WIN!". Unfortunately, this sets up a false expectation that a horse and rider's relationship is always about a struggle for power, or that your horse would only respect your authority through dominance. This has lead to confusion about being a good leader and partner to your horse. Believing that you dominate through force in order to succeed, the notion is perpetuated that 'beating' your horse into submission is necessary.

This is not the case -- good leadership is about respect. Gaining your horse's obedience through 'dominance' and gaining your horse's obedience through respect are two completely different things. The difference? Fear versus choice. A horse ruled by 'dominance'1 responds out of fear. They may work hard because they fear you, but they're not doing it willingly, and they'll only work as hard as they have to to avoid punishment. This does not necessarily mean they are learning, or learning the right things. Furthermore, this sets your horse up for consistent failure. To understand why this is the case, we need to understand how a horse thinks and responds to positive and negative influences.

Horses are prey animals, and we are predators. We are wired differently so we think and respond differently. A horse is not struggling for dominance, but for survival--that is your horses primary objective: To survive. They need fair, consistent leadership in order to trust you. For a horse, trusting you means they have to willingly hand you their life and choose to work for you. When you handle a horse unfairly or are aggressive for what may seem to them as no reason, they quickly lose all respect and become defensive, concluding that you cannot be trusted and are dangerous; therefore, they should flee and/or protect themselves in order to survive. The last thing going through their head during a fight is "I should hand my life over to this person and 'submit' to them". Only when your horse trusts you will he choose to stay and cooperate in order to learn. If you set your horse up to 'win', it encourages them to choose it and earns trust.

The other difference in the two methods of relating to horses is connection. While you can possibly obtain the behavior you want through fear, you lose connection. If your horse is unable to flee physically- it will certainly flee mentally, resulting in a disconnected response. If your horse does not choose to stay, he will choose to go physically- or mentally. In contrast, respect is something you earn, and you earn respect through trust. You gain your horse's trust by respecting your horse, and by being a fair and consistent leader. Thus, your horse is able to stay connected both physically and mentally because they trust you, and their behavior is of their own choice. It's a 'win-win' situation!

On the flip side, your horse will not respect you if you allow him to just 'walk all over you'. I'm not advocating that you just baby or 'love' your horse through every behavior. The key is fair and consistent discipline, balanced with positive reinforcement. You are your horse's partner, not their drill sergeant. Therefore it is important to choose your battles, as well as putting the bulk of your energy into positive reinforcement, by focusing on what you want out of your horse. If you pick a behavior to work through be prepared to stay consistent with that decision, and keep in mind that you don't need to go overboard to make your point - use as little pressure as possible, but as much as necessary. It is better to make a point and be done with it than it is to nag. Of course, the amount of pressure will depend on the situation. If my horse steps into my space I am not going to 'kill' him, I am going to immediately ask him to take that step back. If my horse bites me I am going to 'kill' him - or make him think I am considering it. Remember that golden three second rule--make your point and that's it--you are not allowed to cause any harm to the horse.

I want my horse to come to class and be ready to focus, and willing to learn. When I pick up that lead rope or rein, I want my horse soft, supple, and relaxed in my hand. I want my horse to be asking me, "what can I do?". I will only achieve this when my horse chooses to submit to me out of respect for my leadership, not because I have bullied him, dominated him, or beat him into submission. I will achieve this through focusing positively on what I want out of my horse, in fairness and consistency. So I encourage you--to get the most out of your horsemanship experience and the most out of your horse, only put energy into what you want. Set your horse up to succeed and you both win.

1. Dominate is used here in the context of brute force and intimidation. Dominance is not achieved correctly through this kind of 'domination'.