The New Year 2017

Happy New Year!

I hope it is happy and filled with positive upbeat loving people that make you smile and feel good inside.  Having said that, I would like to discuss the choice of words so often in the paper and news feeds today.  Take the word 'feel' for instance, it is important to remember that when we use the word "feel" we are referring to an emotion.  I feel safe, I feel happy, I feel sad, etc.  This word is so misused today that I think English is either being seriously corrupted or all English teachers are out of a job.  The word feel is more often than not to describe an opinion or conclusion about a topic.  An example would be....I feel the current political atmosphere is corrupt and unfair.  How does one feel that?  Perhaps they feel pain, sorrow, or anger due to the atmosphere, but it is impossible to feel corruption and unfairness.  Here is where the word 'think' comes into play!  Or have we forgotten how to think?  We cannot think pain, sorrow, or anger but we can 'think' the current political atmosphere is corrupt, unfair, bizarre, entertaining, etc. When we 'think' about something we are then able to state an opinion about what ever it may be.  We cannot 'feel' it, but we can think it.  We can feel the emotion it may generate, but we cannot think the emotion.  Maybe I should have been an English teacher!!!

So, now that I have expressed my pet peeve of the year, I will return to the purpose of this post.  Happy New Year!  Years ago I was gifted with a program called" The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People".  I was captivated, and began to study Stephen R. Covey's program.  That was over 20 years ago.  I am going to share some of his work here with you.  I hope you will find it as I did to be insightful and inspirational.

January 1
   " If we want to change a situation, we first have to change ourselves.  And to change ourselves effectively, we first have to change our perceptions."   I approach people and situations that include horses from this perspective.  It is usually our perceptions that needs to be examined.  If you can,

Ponder that principal and hopefully you are on a path of discovery and will stay tuned for the next entry.  If you have reached this point, thank you for taking precious time.  Cheers!

No More Surveys!

Not so long ago I received a phone call.  The caller did not identify themselves only asked if we tested for PSSM1.  I was taken off guard, but responded " we have seen no indication that blanket testing would justify." This call came about during a heated internet discussion regarding the need to test each and every gypsy horse in this country.  Mind you, this is not an every day condition for most breeds.  You may want to read the info at the following link before thinking it is" irresponsible" to not test.
http://horsetesting.com/Equine/Genetic_Disease/PSSM.asp

However serious the caller may have been was not evident as she promptly hung up giving me no opportunity to have a discussion.  The group of women who brought this to the table made enough noise that breeders are listing the results on their sale ads and the GVHS registry for Gypsy Vanner Horses has included the test as an option for their members.  Good you say and I agree, but having been breeding GVHs for the past 16 years and seeing no symptoms, I still think it is a far cry from" irresponsible". I would be more concerned for the potential of harm done attempting to produce pretty colors with little regard for proper conformation and typical sweet disposition.

So we might move forward and smooth what ever ill feelings the caller may have, we tested the two 2015 foals for pssm1....negative and negative!  I will post this on our face book pages and tweet the link often .....Just don't bother calling me with anymore surveys!

Is Your Horse Ready to Learn?

Is Your Horse Ready to Learn?

The Importance of Reward by Courtney King Dye reprint from Dressage Training Online

The Importance of Reward by Courtney King Dye

The Importance of Reward, by Courtney King Dye

In beginning the process of writing my articles, I found that I'm always stipulating that a rider reward the horse, so I want to dedicate an entire article to stressing its importance.

If you think about how training must seem to the horse, we're fairly constantly telling him no, that's wrong, more of this, not so much of that. We need to balance that out with, yes, that's right, good effort, you're on the right track, or the horse has no incentive to try. He'll just think, no matter what I do, I can't get it right, so why try? Most horse's want to please--they're rather amazing creatures that way--but I've had a couple who've already written the rider's opinion off as unimportant. With those horses, reward is especially necessary...not little scratches on the neck or small good boys, but huge pats and loud rewards. I often say love him! Make him feel like a star! Like people, it's an extremely rare horse who won't then want to be told he's a star. I remember riding around Lendon's ring on one such horse and her saying to her students, "Courtney's annoying to ride with, but boy do her horses try!"

My rule for my students is to be equally as generous with their rewards as they are strict with their corrections. Most of the time, only really good deserves a reward, but that's if a horse should know what's being asked for. For instance, if a horse knows pirouette canter, the rider should demand perfection, but if the horse is just learning pirouette canter, she needs to reward him for trying, to say, yes, you're on the right track. Then the next time, the horse may try that response more.

In bringing a horse along, reward is important to encourage the horse in the learning process, but it's equally as important with a trained horse. I often talk about respecting the horse, and this is one way a rider shows respect. It's like a boss of a company telling a worker good job...it shows that he appreciates the hard work, and that gives the worker a sense of accomplishment and makes him want to do a good job the next time. In the portion of my book this article stems from, I talk about getting Idy, who was already a proven Grand Prix horse, out of a grouchy faze by rewarding him; he got happy and tried again because he appreciated the appreciation.

One thing that often happens when a rider rewards the horse is that they give everything away and lose the quality of their work. This shouldn't happen. One arm can just reach forward and give a little pat or scratch without loosening the other rein, and when a big reward is needed, the core still remains strong. I normally tell students to pat with the inside hand, which makes the inside rein loose, because I want them to be able to do all work with no inside rein--for the bend to come from the inside leg pushing to the outside rein--but the pat should really come from whichever rein the horse wants to lean on to make him associate carrying himself on that side with reward.

A mistake I often see when I'm teaching is that the reward comes at the wrong time. For instance, the rider gets after the horse for being behind the leg, the  horse bolts forward--which is the correct response to the leg or whip--the rider brings them back, then gives the reward. If done in this way, the horse may think he's being rewarded for coming back when he should be rewarded for the forward response. The reward should be given when the horse is galloping forward. It doesn't matter if he's bucking, picks up the wrong lead, cross-canters or is just generally spazzy, the rider should give him several pats and good boys (within safety) when he's going forward.

A couple things I'm often asked about are 1. is voice ever enough, and 2. should I use sugar cubes. For the first one, voice can be enough if the horse knows the movement he's being asked for very well and he consistently performs it well. It's like the example I gave of the boss of a company telling a worker well done: it just says good job; it's not celebrating how fantastic the horse's efforts were or congratulating him on figuring something out.

As far as sugar cubes, I've only ever used them for two things: to get a horse to stay still at the mounting block or convince him to let me get on, and for piaffe on the ground. For anything on the horse's back, I feel it takes too long to stop, get a cube out and lean over to give it, and as I said above, I think it's important to reward the horse immediately after he's done something special.

The Summer of 2016!

This is the summer of 2016, and it has been really uncomfortable weather wise.  Politically as well, for what it is worth.  We have managed to keep everything moving forward in spite of limited man power.  That said, it has all been women power!

Just an update for now.  CHF Fitzwilly is home after eight months of hard work finding his rhythm. For what ever reasons, and it was quite clearly explained in our Parelli Horsenality report, he needed an every day job. Since David's recover did not allow time for that, he has been working in Kansas and I am happy to say, he is settled and steady as a driving horse should be.

Talbot's Cracker will not be going to the August show with us due to an injury.  He does not like being cooped up but that will have to be his routine for the next week or so. Don't fret too much, he has company in his son, Willy.

Also in the barn are two fillies, CHF Simon's Isabella and CHF Mischa, learning some manners, while being introduced to our driving commands.....such as WHOA!  We are on day two and I must say, Isabella is feisty where as, Mischa is so smart it is scary.  We reached same level of understanding in two days for our feisty one that took Mischa just one.  Will keep you posted on these two.

CHF Hobbs is such a sweet yearling and hopefully our next stallion.  A son of 16 year old Talbot's Sparky, he is brave, curious, willing.......and on and on I could go.  He has been in and out of barn and takes it all in stride...seriously! Love him!

Under saddle now are Mom and Daughter, Producer's Heiress and Lady Teagan.  Thought very different they are both typical of Tom Price's breeding, great to work with and conformationally very spot on.  Too hot recently to continue with heavy work so have returned to pasture till cooler weather returns.

Last but not least, CHF Shady Lady has returned to Chocolate Horse Farm.  Now four years old, a petite lass, Shady is nicknamed Sophie and is a doll to work with.  Though handled very little, she is a super quick study and we have enjoyed getting to know her.

Till the next time, cheerio!

What Does a Horse Need in His Diet?

What Does a Horse Need in His Diet?

FOALinMARE extended trailer