An answer to a post concerning "bargy" horse:
Here's a bit of a hint - its always the "low men on the totem pole" who physically fight for position in the herd. In other words, the leaders will "assume" the position just by their demeanors and the other horses will "choose" that horse for his/her leader. As long as we puny humans continue to "fight" with the horse we place ourselves low, low, low in the hierarchial ranks of the herd. Not where we want to be cause that's where we get hurt. The horse is being bargy because he's learned he CAN be ... that he is higher ranking and he doesn't HAVE to be respectful. It's not about the whip or the bat or the chain or the halter - its about the demeanor and the attitude. BE the lead horse. BE higher ranking. Make yourself BIG and say to him "exCUSE ME! I do NOT like to be pushed around!" and then work on his hind-end a bit (hind end disengagments) until he's soft and compliant with his head down a bit and he's BLINKING ... and, possibly chewing. Then let him relax, think on things for a moment or two and return him to where you first started. Then, assertively ask him to walk WITH you politely. No can do? He's barging again? Repeat the same scenario above. Absolutely NO fighting with him. No shanking, no aggressive attitude or actions ... as the Dog Whisperer would say ..."Calm Assertiveness". If he barges through you again let him run into the end of the rope and stand firm so he'll HAVE to swing his hindend around to face you. Then work your hind end disengagements again. Wait, once again, for the blinking and the head lowering. Then calmly go back to where you started once again and say, "Come on, we'll try this again." Ask him to FOLLOW you back to your original start place. If he gets too close on your heels GET BIG AGAIN and say exCUSE ME! You are TOO CLOSE! and back him up with ASSERTIVENESS; not aggressiveness. Let him think on it for a few then repeat request. It is YOUR ATTITUDE that is going to change his thinking. Not your physical prowess. That does diddly-squat except to challenge him to furher fighting with you. BE his leader. BE assertive. BE calm. BE expectant that he IS going to move and respect you. Take as long as it takes and always approach him with the assertive, leader attitude. Then ... have fun teaching this to his owner! It's not about the horse! --Gwen

Guard Your Heart

OK, so I'm a bit slow and Pollyannish and it ONLY took me 56 years to see something clearly that horses have had a handle on since the beginning of time. It's about TRUST. T-R-U-S-T. Trust.

My Mom used to tell me, "Gwen, stop wearing your heart on your sleeve!" and I'd try, like crazy, to tuck the thing away but never could quite get the hang of it. I'd meet someone new and voila ... the heart came jumping to life on my sleeve once again and usually, only to be bumped and bruised and sometimes scarred for life. With traumatic happenings that tore into my heart, breaking it into more pieces, I'd manage to stuff it back where it belonged but then there it hid, quivering, trembling, waiting for the next round where its called out, once again to wait on my sleeve, only to take on a few punches here and there and maybe another rendering blow. All of my 56 years I've lived like this with this heart of mine. It's funny cause my motto for PENZANCE is, "It's all about what's in your heart and how you use it." and while I can easily translate that with my life with horses, I've never gotten the hang of it with humans.

This morning, while mucking the frozen, round balls of manure left on the virgin white snow I was thinking of a recent violation that occured here at PENZANCE. Somehow, Dorian's 'voice' came piercing into my heart and it was if a lightbulb came on (yeah, yeah .. that ole "light bulb experience") Dorian, clear as a bell said, "Well haven't you learned yet from us? WE don't "automatically" trust anyone. We're prey animals and we CAN'T trust everyone! Those humans around us have to EARN our trust and even when they display all the right "moves", we can still see into their hearts for honesty and maintain our guard. Come on, Gwen. 45 years with horses and you haven't learned to guard your heart - your trust!? Have you learned nothing from us along the way?" Jeepers creepers ... out of the mouths of babes ... errrrr, horses. The truth of the matter he's absolutely RIGHT! Here I've gone along the journey teaching others about horses and their trust and how we have to earn their trust and I haven't even learned the lesson myself.

My mother also taught me to be polite and sensitive to others and "put your foot in the other's shoe" which, yes, I treasure those teachings. However, there must be a balance. My husband swings the other way. (No, no, no .. that's not what I mean at all!) ... he, being a Vietnam Veteran, learned how to build walls around his heart that an entire infantry couldn't break through! I and our children and grandchildren have managed to get a good glimpse into the interior of his heart but any breach of trust and zip - that gap where we get a glimpse now and then, closes right up again. Then, we struggle to reopen and crawl inside for just a moment or two again. We've seen the inside, though, and know that its made of gold. It seems such a shame that the glorious glimmer and shine of that gold stays hidden for so long, though. After 35 years of marriage and partnership with this man I know that the gold inside glows only for his family and those who have EARNED the view! Needless to say, between him and me, the balance somehow stays pretty stable. On our own, though, apart from one another, those trust levels swing wildly from side to side and its virtually impossible to stabalize either one of us. But, together we're both golden.

In as much as I sometimes feel that equine blood runs through my own veins I've yet to meet a horse who wears his heart on his sleeve. Horses are, inheritantly, mistrustful and well should they be. Anyone at all could be the next chef and decide to have Equine du Jour as the dinner menu. So, those other horses and humans who THINK they're trustworth will always get the 3rd degree. THE TEST! I always ace the equine test but man, I can't render the test to other humans to save my own heart. It seems there's a little gene inside of me that runs autonomously and instantly says, "Oh! What a nice person!" and only after my heart is torn to shreds will I give up and realize that possibly there really ISN'T the "good" inside the other that I thought there was. It hurts. It makes my heart scream and it assaults my senses like nothing else. It renders my gut to a level where it wildly functions all on its own under no control and my mind just whirls round and round and round trying desperately to figure out "what went wrong".

Dorian asked me today, "Haven't you figured it out yet, Gwen? You haven't been listening very closely." And yet, I thought I WAS doing pretty well at it. But, as I said, back to the last happening I guess my heart can still be fooled unmercifully.

I should KNOW that when a person is ALWAYS happy and ALWAYS with a nice smile or a positive attitude that its not real. Can't be real. Can't be true or honest. Life just doesn't pass things along to us that way. Yes, Life is Good ... but at times its not. We can be, *should* feel grateful for our blessings but as humans we don't always feel that way and our countenance generally display that distaste, that negativity that is weaving with ugly threads into our lives. Now, had I been honestly vigilant then I would have seen that the horses were warning me. I would have seen the caution and the hesitancy of the horse in his or her attitude. But, if I did see it and recognize it for a fleeting moment I tossed the thought away, blaming myself for being paranoid or mistrustful. But, my heart had been dancing on my sleeve for too long and rejoicing in the thought that there really just might be a truly honest and positive human being left in the world. My faith in *humanity* was being restored, or so I thought.

Now, I grew up in the era of a handshake or verbal agreement being as solid and meaningful as the dotting of the i's and the crossing of the t's on a written contract. I should know that if someone prefaces a statement or question with, "well, since we didn't have a written contract" that the volumous, dishonest defecation was about to begin. But, the world has changed and with it, so have humans. I grew up in the era of those who did for others just for the sake of doing for others! This society has become such a self-centered society that the few who do for others just "because" are few and far between. It was displayed to me, quite obviously and "in my face" that there's always an ulterior motive - one that is selfishly motivated. The horses tell us that. The horses see right through into the human heart and KNOW the plans that human has even if the face is smiling. Dorian always knows. He's the master of deception and control issues. He can spot deception from 5 big paddocks away and will simply refuse to be a part of it. He's tall enough to simply "say no" by just raising his head away from the halter and the human is left on tippy toes trying like crazy to reach his face to force it down to a more attainable position (which is impossible). He's smart and oh, so wise. He gives no aggressive fight, he might walk away (and with his long legs he can walk alot faster than any 2-legged human can) ... he simply and quietly says "No. Ummmm, I don't think so. Not today, thank you." He's not mean, he's not reactive, he's not frantic about it. He just raises his head out of reach or turns and walks away. He KNOWS ... How do horses DO that !?!?! How do they KNOW when someone is deceitful and less than honest?

"Ahhhhhh, Gwen! You still have much to learn from us!" soothes Dorian. "Try to tuck your heart away for a few moments long enough to listen and not argue with us. We know because our lives depend on that knowing. We know because our hearts are big and even though we are very forgiving we don't ever forget. That's how we live. That's how we stay alive. Listen, Gwen. Shut your piehole and watch us. Listen to us. Look inside our hearts and feel the beat of honesty and truth. There is still much to learn."

What Do I Do When My Horse ... ~!?!?!??!~

What Do I Do When My Horse ... ~!?!?!??!~

Rears, lunges, pushes through me, nips, won't stop, won't pick up hooves, doesn't listen, etc. etc. etc.

While rearing and lunging and kicking out are dangerous behaviors and shouldn't be tackled by the inexperienced, pushy, nippy, bargy, won't do this, won't do that ... those are things that can be "discussed" with your horse in a easy, non-forceful or hurtful manner BUT (there's always a "but", isn't there?) it means something or someone needs to change and guess what? It ain't the horse! All of the mentioned and more "disrespectful" behaviors from the horse are simply behaviors from the horse! They aren't "wrong" behaviors or "bad" behaviors. They're simply your horse's way of trying to tell you something and that "something" is ... you're not his leader.

Leadership isn't just a set of mechanical cues. Leadership is an attitude. Leadership is a state of being; a state of thinking and feeling. The "air" of leadership is one that can be felt strongly by both horse and human even though it cannot be seen or tangibly felt. Leadership IS. Why is leadership so important to establish when working or playing with horses? Because horses are hard-wired to HAVE to have a leader. That means, if the human is not the leader then the horse HAS to be the leader. So you see, its not about the horse being mean or stupid or dumb. It's about YOU and how you're thinking and how you're carrying yourself and what sort of "essence" you're emitting to your horse.

There's one simple way to become your horse's leader and thats to change your thinking. Change your thinking from "training" your horse to TEACHING your horse. That puts a whole different light on the topic and one that will change your demeanor and the energy you transmit to your horse. While many horses must "test" on a regular basis of just who really is the leader, that's OK ... that's part of how they function. Much like dealing with children, one wouldn't "train" a child to read by repetition, one teaches a child to read, step-by-step. Starting at the beginning with "A". In addition to this, if the child gets frustrated or upset a good teacher is not going to punish the child for not understanding but, instead, will try to change things in order to make the lesson easier for the child to understand. All the while, encouraging the child to relax, breath and try again.

When we change our thinking from "training" our horses to "teaching" our horses we become good leaders. Encouraging, enlightening, correcting, helping - with patience, a smile and an attitude that tells the student, "You CAN do this! Yes! You're getting it! See?" All of these things are positive energy and will reap positive results. Because there are no negative threatening energies the "student" will respond with the same positive attitude of willingness and courage.

Horses can't change their hardwiring; people can change their thinking, their mannerisms, their communication skills. Once you change your thinking from being "victimized" by the horse or from being "the boss" to being an encouraging teacher of the horse, you'll start to see changes in your horse's responses to you. Be a good TEACHER for your horse and forget about being the 'trainer'. Stop thinking in terms of the horse being "wrong" to that of the horse not understanding what you're asking. Ask, don't tell and be willing to break the "ask" down into the smallest chunks of steps that the HORSE needs - not what you think he outta understand. Then encourage the horse. Give the horse time and most of all ... if it ain't working then make a change! Don't forget to reward the small accomplishments, the "tries" in your encouragement to the next step. Become your horse's teacher.

Why Horses Learn the Wrong Thing by Andy Curry

Why Horses Learn
The Wrong Thing


There's an old saying that goes:


'If you want to know the value
of a 1/100th of a second, just
ask a Silver Medalist'


Timing.

Timing is critical in horse training
too.

Mess up your timing and you horse
may learn the wrong thing.

You see, because a horse learns from
the release, the release must be timed with what you're asking your horse to do.

If you ask Mr. Horse to step his back
leg in front of his other back leg as he disen- gages, then when he does it...


'Quit Asking'

Take off the pressure of asking him
to move immediately.

When he moves, just chill out for few
moments. Leave him alone and let him process what just happened.

That gets him thinkin'.

What is he thinking about?

In his own little horsey way he's kinda askin' himself, 'What did I do to get him to leave me alone?'

You know what that's called?

That's called 'Getting your horse to
give you the right answer.'

And you don't stop the pressure unless
and until he gives you the right answer.

Because if he doesn't give you the
answer you want, yet you release the pressure, he will learn the wrong answer.

And that, my friend, is often why horses don't learn the right thing to do.

This is a basic yet very powerful horse training principle.

Linda Braddy, one of our SuperStars of
Horse Training trainers teaches this (and lots of other cool stuff) in her video. You can see more about it by clicking on the following:

http://www.SuperStarsOfHorseTraining.com/Braddy

She goes on to teach that you must have it clear in your mind what you want from your horse.

It's at this point you do NOT want to
be wishy washy about what you're asking from him.

Thus, if you want him moviong his feet, then specifically 'how' do you want him to move his feet?

See it in your mind and then get him to do it.

And don't stop asking unless and until he gives you the right answer.

Adios for today.


Sincerely,

Andy Curry

I Came to Give Life

“I came to give life – life in all its fullness.” -- John 10:10

“An ordinary night with ordinary sheep and ordinary shepherds. And were it not for a God who loves to hook an ‘extra’ on the front of the ordinary, the night would have gone unnoticed. The sheep would have been forgotten, and the shepherds would have slept the night away.

But God dances amidst the common. And that night he did a waltz … The night was ordinary no more. “ From “Everyday Blessings” by Max Lucado

An ordinary night with ordinary sheep … an ordinary day with ordinary horses. But God dances amidst the common. And, so he does, also, among the horses. All we need to do is but watch and listen closely with pure heart and no intentions. Just watch. Smell. Listen. Feel. I believe that horses are God’s special creatures. He chose them to carry warriors to battle. He chose an ass to carry His son. He’s chosen a white horse upon which His son will return to the world. What wisdom lies beneath the brows of these animals? What can they tell us and teach us? What secrets do they hold directly from the dance with God? I CAN teach you, said Dorian. I CAN share secrets with you if you but take the time to wholly listen to me … to God. God gives many gifts to humans but He also bestows them upon the Horse. The Gift of love; the gift of life .. the JOY in life. The fullness in life and the full knowledge of our Savior’s being. Though we be in mortal bodies just as you our spirits soar high and wide and with love and gentleness. We love much and forgive quickly. How much more than that can we teach? With that comes much wisdom, much knowledge and the capabilities to soar with us. Yes, God dances amidst the common. Listen closely to the music of your heart so you, also, will dance amidst us and with God.

QUESTIONS ON FEEDING THE HORSE

A respone I wrote in response to a question about how to feed the horse. Thought there might be some of my readers who would benefit:

BASIC GUIDELINES for feeding light horses:

Feed 2 - 2 1/2# of TOTAL FEED per every 100# of live weight. This is per day. So, for a 1000# horse he/she would need a minimum of 20# of food a day. The BASE of this, if not ALL of it should be FORAGE ... hay, grass, weeds, brush, bark, herbs etc. Simple. 20# of Timothy Grass hay will give that horse approx. 16,000 calories a day minimum. If Alfalfa hay then it will be closer to 20,000 calories a day. A 1000# horse at maintenance will need at least 15,000 calories just to maintain weight. If more calories are needed then either increase the intake of forage, add some fat (vegetable oil) or start adding a little bit of high fat, low sugar/carb grain. To this diet, in order to make sure adequate vitamins and minerals are taken in, add an organic multivitamin and free choice minerals and salts. That plus fresh water at all times *should* be enough for the horse to maintain - GENERALLY SPEAKING for an adult, healthy light horse. A horse in light work will need upwards of 18,000 - 20,000 calories a day; a horse in medium work will need 20,000 - 25,000 or more calories.

That being said - every horse is individual and every horse will have different needs one from another. This is just a base guideline from which to formulate. The BEST way is to feed as much organic as possible so you know that the horse is getting the nutrients needed. Processed, chemicalized, etc. feeds lose their viability of nutrients the more they are processed (even tho they may be "enhanced" with added vits. and minerals).

DANCES with HORSES with Klaus Hempfling

Phenomenal example of two blended hearts and minds: