Congrats to Bev and Kit taking 3rd in the ACTHA ride and Donna got a birthday present from Smokie with 1st!!! Way to go!

DWI - Larry Fitzgerald, wide receiver for the AZ Cardinals football read, is a leader of the team. His preparation, study, tenacity and intent are a marker for all. He's a teacher to the other players. He gives DWI tickets to his teammates. What's it mean? A team-mate may get one for not hustling, not giving their all, not trying and various other transgressions. These are DON'T WANT IT tickets. Would you be getting one from your horse... or a horseman for your horsemanship?

I went to the Dressage Summit in Florida two weeks ago. Christoph Hess, head of the German FN (Federacion Nacional), Walter Zettl, Charles de Kunffy, the Parellis and more. Working on how to incorporate Natural Horsemanship into competitive and/or classical dressage. I'm actually hopeful! I think it will take a long time, but at least if the bigs in the industry are promoting this approach, there will be trickle down. I was so encouraged to watch and listen to what they had to say. What was sad to find out was the bad intentions of the local dressage community. Seems two factions fight for power there and sabotage each others events. A boycott of the sponsors???? How could this be so? Trying to shut down the summit in any way they could? How could this be so? The fire marshal denying use of the bleachers two weeks in a row on different events? Why?  

I often say that if computer people were like horse people we'd still have main frames the size of a city block. I thought -- you can't get any bigger than Hess and Zettl, so surely this will change the world. My hope persists. 

I've got a post on my blog about my experiences, observations and my WOW! moment. I seized it, yes I did! As in: my conversation with Christoph Hess --just the two of us! Will be posting more on other experiences next time. I had a short chat with Walter Zettl, too. 

That video!
El Gaucho: Domador 

 I happened upon this and was going to click off of it as it was dreadful to watch, but what kept me watching was the quality of the videography. There's an 8 minute version and a short 4 minute one. I started watching the videography and wondering what the heck? It was really good videography. The close-up shots and zooming and landscape shots, the music. Turns out it's part of a movie.
I was going to write about it and had to watch it again to decide what to write and I just can't. I will say this: The man actually has a good feel about the horse. His touch, when he touches it, is tender and knowing to a degree. I think he was taught that that is how to 'break' horses and it is. If he knew a different way, I think he would be a good horseman. 

So, maybe later, maybe not. For those of you that watched it, feel free to email me with your thoughts.  

I doing a demo on March 2nd. One of the segments is "Worst Horse in the Neighborhood". Seems they have a bucker several people have flown off of. Hope it goes well :D. If you don't get the next newsletter, it didn't. I'm joking... I hope.  

SAVE THE DATE: May 4 -- I'm doing a Demo @ Fire Horse Ranch -- "Working with The Problem Horse". These are always a hoot, be there! Details to follow. 

As luck would have it, someone wrote to me about the segment on the 2 hour test video I put out last month where I'm working Monty on the really short but slack rope asking for the TW gait. She thought it was a bit long and as she didn't have a gaited horse didn't really apply to her.

I'm paraphrasing there, but that's the gist.

When I was choosing the footage for this, I was aware of the length of time it took (less than 5 minutes) to get what I wanted from Monty's movement: softness and feel, and understanding of the request. I was also aware that some folks might get bored or wonder why I kept at it. And THAT is the reason that I left it as it is. Because THAT'S how you get Exceptional from your horse and yourself. In my opinion, in that segment, at that time and place, he was CAPABLE of performing EXACTLY the speed, foot fall (because it doesn't matter that I was asking for a TW gait, it could have been a trot, canter/lope or walk) bend and softness, forward movement and level headed thinking that I was going for. And if I hadn't kept asking, saying "That's not it, could you try a bit more," I would have been settling for the WRONG thing. How could he possibly know what I want if I don't work to get him there so I can reward him for doing it. I'm not going to get a DWI! 

This is where people think that they'll get it later. But, all that does is take them a lot longer to get a good result with their horse. That segment didn't take 5 minutes, yet folks are in a hurry to get on to something else and don't expect the Exceptional result that will improve their horsemanship and their horse's understanding of how precise the person is going to be. If a horse doesn't have to be precise on a person's account they won't be. But, they sure will on their own ex. - your four square inches of real estate (your toes) when they step on your foot. They can be very precise!!!

The horse learns that their person will not bother taking a few minutes to get it right and he's RIGHT!!! Then, the person ends up schooling forever on more days with nominal results because they never say "THIS! JUST LIKE THIS!"   

"The greater danger for most of us lies not in setting our aim too high and falling short, but in setting our aim too low and achieving our mark."

-- Michelangelo

And notice that the asking signals from me keep getting smaller and smaller. Always seeing if I can get more with less. Many times we teach ourselves and our horse a signal and the desired response. Well, after the horse knows it--don't do it like that any more. DO LESS! 

When you learn to take a few minutes to get it right (or however long it takes) without your frustration level or emotional level rising, you will be AMAZED at how quickly your horse and you will conquer the other obstacles that pop up in the training of both of you.

When my daughter was in 3rd grade I talked with her teacher over a math paper she had brought home. One of the problems wasn't marked wrong even though the answer was wrong. I wanted to know why. The teacher explained that it wasn't important whether the answer was right or wrong as long as the student understood the process. My stomach acids are roiling just writing that. If the answer isn't right, there is a problem with the process! If the kid behind the counter at the fast food restaurant gives me the wrong change because he thinks he's following a process instead of having the right answer... I'M NOT GOING TO BE HAPPY!

I'm sure you'll notice that my helpfulness to the horse in the video never diminishes. I just keep saying, "That's not it; try again."

Now I could go on forever on this because it's the root of Exceptional Horsemanship. But, ponder what it means to be mediocre instead of Exceptional. It isn't easy or more people would do it. It is easy to be mediocre though. But then, it's mediocre. Which are you?

"You are the way you are because that's the way you want to be. If you really wanted to be any different, you would be in the process of changing right now."       -- Fred Smith 

There's a difference between technique and techniques!!!  

        

• "You get out of the horse what you put in - the way you put it in." - Ray Hunt