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HoofPrints Newsletter
February 18, 2012 HORSES Issue
My stupidest horse training mistake, ever
what I learned from this one set me on a whole new path with horses...
Allie saddled trot Last time I revealed my stupidest dog training mistake, ever, involving our Jack Russell Terrier Lucy. If you missed it, you can read about that here.

This one's a doozy; my Arabian mare Allarista was on the receiving end of a desensitizing effort gone very, very wrong. I bought her as a green-broke 3-year-old. I had started and ridden youngsters before, so it was no big deal (so I thought). However, a few years off to have a baby can change a lot about a woman manages dicey situations involving horses. Allie was (is) a good girl. She was started right by her breeder and has excellent ground manners. But she wasn't too sure about her new owner (me) who didn't seem to have her act together.

I quickly realized that I was in over my head, and set about getting some professional help. I hired a "natural" trainer to come and work with us. Things were going grandly. He was confident and had Allie going nicely under saddle again with just a few rides. She liked him, and the sessions were relaxed and productive. Then, one day before mounting up, he happened to flip a rope across her back - it came down and slapped against her offside hind leg. She startled and jumped into him. Nothing terribly dramatic - but a rude invasion of space - certainly not her normal behavior. It offended him, and he set about "sacking her out" with the rope around her hind legs. Nothing violent or hurtful, but she didn't like it, and she was having trouble standing still. He should have left well enough alone and visited that problem another day, but he did not. The situation escalated to the point that she was kicking out violently whenever the rope touched her. To make a long story short, the guy realized he was in over his head and bowed out - leaving me with a mess.

So, after that I was on my own. Just me, Allie, and our nemesis: the rope. I found a soft white cotton lead rope with no hardware. The ends were soft and fringe-y. Everything about it said "harmless" (at least to me). Each night the three of us would head to the round pen for a session of fun. I soon learned that it was completely unproductive to push her past the point where she was uncomfortable - as I couldn't get her back. Once she got a scare, then our soft, fringe-y rope morphed into an evil demon and she responded accordingly. Suffice to say, I had an enormous amount of time invested in convincing her that the rope was harmless and that she was safe with me. Then at night, I'd lie awake in bed replaying that awful kicking incident in my head - praying that I'd never cause/see a reaction like that from her ever again. (In retrospect, I realize this was a very bad thing - continuing to harbor that image in my mind)

Allie with rope Finally, days came where she was mostly unconcerned by the rope - dragging at her feet, touching her body - swinging around her legs. I could drape it across her back and she'd walk quietly with it hanging off both sides. I could loop it around her pastern and pick up her foot with it. We even used a soft black rope to make sure she understood that ALL ropes were OK. She was a real trooper through the whole thing. (Another retrospect: I should not have made this effort a part of every single training session - she was starting to get sick of it - but I couldn't get the awful image of her with her fright out of my mind. I wanted to "fix" that once and for all.)

At some point, the saddle was added to the mix. We'd do a little rope stuff, then saddle up and do some ground/lunge work, and if all went well I'd mount up and ride. But she was never 100% OK with the rope - so I kept revisiting that (read: obsessing) One day, I'd draped our softy-rope-friend across the saddle and had her walk/trot with it while I lunged her. The details of exactly how it happened have left my mind - but something startled her and she jumped. The rope slid off - but then the fringe-y end caught in a buckle on the saddle. I swear it had to be just one thread that caught... This left the full length of the rope dragging. Allie snorted and took off with the rope sailing benignly at her side. "Fine." I thought. "We've spent months getting you used to this. You can just run around until you remember that this thing's not going to hurt you." (insert loud warning buzzer here)

So, after about 400 rounds at a mad gallop, it became clear to me that she was NOT going to remember that the rope was harmless. I was angry and frustrated as I watched all that work vanish as my horse careened around - mortally terrified for her life. I marveled at how strong that damn thread was that was holding it fast. I tried reeling her in (making the circle smaller) so I could grab it, but the tighter the circle was, the harder she scrambled to stay at a dead run. She stumbled and took strides on her front fetlocks/knees frantically fighting to stay ahead of her "predator", as her hind feet stepped on the fronts when she couldn't catch herself fast enough. I was home alone, and to say that the situation was dire is an enormous understatement.

Now, a certain amount of folks out there are going to ask - "What kind of an idiot really can't stop a horse on the end of a lunge line?" Well, that would be me. And I thought I knew all the tricks. I suppose if I'd yanked and brought her off balance she'd have fallen and that would have stopped her - but at this point I was as scared as she was. Finally, fringe-y demon rope had had enough of the sport and let go. I was left with a horse that could barely stand on tremling legs, panting like I have never seen a horse pant, with pencil-sized streams of sweat running off each fetlock. It's a wonder her heart didn't burst. We were worse than back at square one.

And to the folks that are saying "That horse is crazy." I would like to point out that we have a line of Hedge-apple trees that border our pasture. They're huge trees with thorny branches that just arbitrarily fall off, in spite of our best efforts to keep them trimmed. More than once I have worked to disentangle large, thorny sticks from this mare's tail at night when they come into their stalls. If she can walk around all day with a large thorny stick hitting her back legs and not run herself into a frenzy, then she can surely tolerate a cotton rope. The problem is me. The shocking image of her fright/kicking, held in my mind, is apparently more powerful than all that training. Remember in the movie Ghost Busters - when Dan Akroyd's simple thought of the Stay Puft marshmallow man morphed into a literal monster? It's like that. Thoughts are powerful things. Horses are experts at reading non-verbal communication. I won't go so far as to say Allie could read my thoughts (don't want to get carted off to the nut-house) but I do know she could tell that I was not 100% OK with that rope, either - even if my reason had to do with the fact that I knew SHE wasn't OK...

The horse/human dynamic is truly a biofeedback system with an interesting (albeit potentially dangerous) twist. Thankfully, there are folks like author Linda Kohanov that understand this, and are pioneering efforts to help the rest of us expand our horizons. Read on for more about Linda's ground-breaking books...
The Tao of Equus - The Way of the Horse

the book that sparked a new way of thinking for me   

Linda Kohanov & Rasa
photo �Tony Stromberg
 Author Linda Kohanov (shown here with arabian "muse" Rasa) did one of the bravest things I can think of. She wrote a book about what horses might have to teach us. NOT how we can read them better so we know how to make them do what WE want (by telling them in "their" language). She wrote a book exploring the wisdom that horses can bring to the table for us. And with the study of this idea, Linda had to let go of the notion that the human must be the "boss" of all the interactions. This, of course, goes against everything I was ever taught about handling horses. "You give an inch - they'll take a mile." - "if you're not in charge, then the horse will take over." - "You'd better get that horse to respect you, or he's gonna hurt you!

Here's an excerpt from Linda's preface to The Tao of Equus:

"When I began writing The Tao of Equus in 1995, I felt intensely alone - and more than a little crazy. My horses were awakening something in me, something profound and indescribable. I could see these animals were having a life-changing effect on other people too. It's just that we couldn't talk about our experiences without sounding far too emotional or mystical - and vague.


So we chattered incessantly about the surface of all things equine: tack, breeds, training methods, lameness issues, therapeutic options, conformation, and competition. Over time, many of us became distracted by those details, losing connection to the powerful yet elusive spirit of the horse that drew us to the barn in the first place. As a result, we felt betrayed and frustrated, yet we were unable to describe why without sounding whimsical, unrealistic, and embarrassingly, irrational. How does the average riding student or instructor express, in polite conversation, that she found her soul in the eyes of a horse, only to lose it in the business of training and competing?

My reaction to this dilemma was to ask more questions, and for some odd reason, to strive to answer them: How do horses inspire us, open our hearts, and enliven our souls? Are there training principles that can enhance, rather than suppress this ability? Why would such graceful, regal beings carry our species around the world in the first place, enduring our sometimes violent, sometimes comical moods and infernal shenanigans? Is it because they're lacking significant brain power? Or are they sensitive, highly evolved beings, protecting us, nurturing us, gently guiding us, waiting for us to wake up to the wisdom they so patiently hold?...  Even in the late-1990s it was laughable, if not dangerous, to ask those questions, at least in public..."

Fortunately, the timing was right for Linda's book - and instead of being tarred and feathered (as she feared) her book was selected as one of the Top Ten Religion and Spirituality books of 2001!

Gina's note: Before you pass this off as one of those fluffy, impractical books that doesn't have much in the way to offer for problem solving - think again... the majority of horsemen (and women) have had the occasional horse who just couldn't (wouldn't) "get with the program." The usual solution is to send them on down the road. Imagine my dismay when I was seriously considering sending a second horse down the road when it occurred to me that I might be the one with the problem. (Read about Tessie, the first one here).
To learn more about Linda Kohanov's books, click here.
Do Cavalia's trainers pester their horses for months on end with ropes?

Probably not. But if you watch the show (or DVD) you will marvel     

Cavalia book page at all the varying (potentially scary) scenes with funky backgrounds, lights on the floor, manufactured fog, etc, etc that the horses are performing in. And these are not automatons who've been desensitized (deadened) to their entire surroundings, these are playful, engaged participants in the act.
The famed Cavalia show - a fabulous live production of a troupe of acrobats, dancers, 30+ horses and riders, was borne out of the discovery that having just one horse in an act was enough to divert the audience's attention from the "real" stars. Rather than chafe at this fact, talented and innovative directors and performers crafted a production that CENTERED AROUND THE HORSES. A logistically insurmountable task that has proven to be wildly successful. Shown here is Frederic Pignon, with the formerly incorrigible stallion Templado. Templado's fiery nature, once appropriately inspired, made him the star of the show. For more information about Cavalia, books & DVDs go here.
Heck - they already knew 2300 years ago that running the legs off

a horse would not cause him to calm down...      

Art of Horsemanship And if you're thinking that our society (with the "natural horsemanship" thing being all the rage) now is pretty enlightened when it comes to caring for and training horses, you might want to pick up a copy of Xenophon's ART OF HORSEMANSHIP. Written about 2300 years ago, it's full of information and ideas that will make you wonder how we ever managed to forget all this wisdom. Of particular interest to BAREFOOT trimming enthusiasts is his section on horsekeeping regarding care of the hooves.

And for the gang who thinks that tiring a horse out in a round pen is a good way to get him to come around to a better way of thinking; "If anybody expects to calm such a horse down by tiring him out with riding swiftly and far, his supposition is just the reverse of the truth..."
To see this and our other carefully selected books on training, click here.

Recap - From the last newsletter
Here's what we talked about last time:
Horse Woman Sweatshirt Still cleaning (ware)house - HALF PRICE items here
Unwanted Thoroughbred gets cushy retirement because of a single photo here
Glass Heart Keepsake locket here
Tribute to my Valentine here
HoofPrints Catalog Spring Edition
available here
Download a copy RIGHT NOW here
Heavy Stainless Horse Hoof Openers here
New book: Care & Rehabilitation of the Equine Foot here
FARRIERS: Folks are Watching You - explanation here

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Rob shoeing RockyABOUT THE COMPANY AND THIS NEWSLETTER
Farriers Greeting Cards was started by Gina Keesling in 1986 (in a very small way) to provide helpful promotional materials for farrier husband Rob. This newsletter is emailed to subscribers a few times a month, depending on how often I have something to share. Watch for special sales, interesting stories, uplifting quotes and more.


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This week's quote is by Howard Thurman:

"Don't ask yourself what the world needs; ask yourself what makes you come alive.  And then go and do that.

Because what the world needs is people who have come alive."

 

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Thanks everyone, for reading!
Gina Keesling, owner 

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Viral marketing... it sounds bad, doesn't it?
You can ask my husband - a frequent topic around here is that of forwarded emails - and the psychology behind them - just WHAT prompts people to decide; "I am going to send this to everyone I know!".

We receive a lot of them. Some are pretty good, and others are dumb. Dumb in a myriad of ways...  Alarmist email rumors that have been around forever - that folks keep sending "just in case it's true" Pictures of someone's butt (or worse) - don't even get me started about the firecracker butt - but at least that one was timely when it showed up around July 4. Christian messages that are uplifting - until you get to the end and you're threatened "if you're not ashamed that you love Jesus, forward this - if you are, then delete." Pictures of cute puppies and kittens (awww)

I enjoy writing these newsletters - and sharing all this stuff with you all. But the fact is, it's also a way to help us stay connected with customers and sell products during the time between catalog mailings (which is only once a year) So I really, really like it when someone new stumbles upon the newsletter and is excited to "discover" our company and the products we offer.

In all my efforts to make the newsletter interesting and forward-worthy - it never occurred to me to JUST ASK you all to send it! Duh. Sometimes the obvious is elusive, I guess. So here goes - my request to ask you to forward our email newsletter to your horsey friends.  All we ask is that you please be judicious and only send to folks who might be interested. Otherwise we are no better than the "firecracker butt". Click to get started. (please note - using this form does NOT subscribe anyone to our list - it is a one-time only forward)