Three more months and hopefully we'll be able to look back at 2020 and say "good riddance" and turn forward to a better 2021.
While the Pandemic, lock downs, economic shutdowns, school closures and the ever present masks have impacted most of America, some are better at taking in stride and using the extra time to do something productive. I can't say I've been one of those people. I have squandered time I could have used much better,..and we all know time is that one resource we just can't refill, only learn to use better.
Still, I can't say that the COVID deal has badly impacted me. God has woken me up everyday so far and given me the day. I've done more local clinics; bought a new horse that I'm just tickled about - that's a picture of him up top - his name is Jake. I've seemingly found a working solution to a long standing fungus problem on my #1 horse; and, read a stack of books. The last book being the Essential Martin Black, volume one. I am sorry that all the top hand clinicians schedules have been stymied or at least reduced, including the Randy Rieman clinic I was planning on hosting earlier this year but was derailed due to the china virus. Hopefully 2021 will be a furor of clinics and horsemanship activity.
One man who has not lost stride is songster Dave Stamey. I have a stack of his CD's in my truck and if I have to drive any distance at all, I look forward to listening to him. The COVID lockdown and wild fires have given Dave Stamey some inspiration to create a "porch music" album. This is what Dave say's about his latest song - Porch Music Number 13 'The Next Sound You Hear is Me Leaving,' a little ditty of warning to gentlemen who forget to listen. "We hope you enjoy and will share to all your friends. Once again we are kept inside by wildfire smoke and Covid 19, but at least something is coming out of all of this. Yes, we will begin production of "Porch Music"--the album in just a few weeks...." I'm looking forward to it. And you all can see him perform 'The Next Sound You Hear is Me Leaving' below.
Leading up to the annual Arena Challenge I put on every year, I do several horsemanship clinics for each group of competitors. My intent here is to give them things to work on so when they show up and ride in the Challenge they can perform better. If they perform better maybe they'll reach for more.
The last two clinics were for the Stockhorse Division and the Novice class. I try to make it challenging for the stockhorse competitors having them throw loops from odd angles on the roping dummies and at greater distances than the team ropers are used to. Maybe the hardest throw was throwing a loop to the off side then as you pull your slack, raising it above the horse's head as you move your horse's front end to face up on the dummy. This can't be performed very effectively unless you can move your horse's front end independently of the back end. Pictured below is a rider preparing to make the off side throw.
Perhaps the biggest challenge for the stockhorse competitors and their horses was tracking the Pro Cutter flag. As they move one direction and stop the flag, or stop as the flag stops, then position up for a turn in the opposite direction and track the flag the other direction. Again the ability to bring the front end over setting up for a departure and a trot or canter departure is what is going to allow the horse and rider to stay up with the flag. I'll run the Pro Cutter all the way in one direction then immediately return the other direction requiring the horse and rider to double - an 180 degree turn with forward momentum. Ever see a Gypsy Vanner work and double on a flag? If you haven't heard of Gypsy Vanner horses, look them up on Google. I think they were bred to pull carts for leprechauns or something like that. The picture below is a Gypsy Vanner just beginning to double on the flag.
The last clinic was for Novice Division riders. I had six some to the clinic and while we didn't get to some of the things I wanted to expose them to, we did some make some progress. All but one rider rode with a mechanical hackamore and couple of the rider had less slack than others in their curb chains. This made it that much harder to get softness out of their horses. I think many riders don't know just how sensitive the horse's jawline is, so when the mechanical hackamore is tightened just a little by pulling on the reins, the nose band and the curb chain become a nut cracker on the horse's nose and jaw. Doing a smooth transition from the walk to trot or trot to canter when the mechanical hackamore is putting pressure on the horse is challenging.
Walk to a Trot transition. We worked on a subtle transition, riding on loose rein and getting your horse soft. I spent a lot of time correcting hand position on the reins and what a slack rein feels like. Sometimes the riders would put just a little more pressure on the reins which causes the horse to loose momentum - they just get confused with the lack of a clear signal. Some of this is the rider's preparing for the horse to go faster than than they want. If I'm only working with one rider, sometimes I'll take them to the round pen where a horse going fast is more easily managed.
We worked on the stop. Because too many of the horses move with an elevated head position the stops were not precise and heavy on the front end. An elevated head is aggravated when the rider is puling on their head or mouth. So we spent some time accentuating sitting deep in the seat of the saddle and exaggerating the feet forward and heels down, before ever picking up the reins.
The backup was next. We worked on using the reins as a secondary backup cue. When I could get the riders to stop pulling on their horse's head, the horses were more comfortable and the riders could get a change from their horse stepping with the back end as opposed to pushing with their front end. A couple of riders progressed very well and got their horses to back up with very little rein, instead using their feet to create momentum. The look on the rider's faces when they saw an understanding in their horse is priceless.
Then we worked on turn arounds. Because most of the riders were riding in contact they had the habit of a taunt outside rein on a turnaround with is confusing to the horse and ends up slowing momentum. The Arena Challenge will an 8' turnaround box as well as a task requiring switchback turns around vertical poles, and in order to do those obstacles the riders are going to have to get their horses giving to horizontal flexion and soft in the barrel to get the bend and maintain forward momentum. The Arena Challenge is just over a month away, so we'll see just how progress between now and then everyone makes.
I am putting on our annual Arena Challenge, the 6th year in a row, on 3 October 2020. I'd like to think this event is a little unique in the horse competition world for non-Pro riders as I try to blend different facets of multiple disciplines into an event where Cowboys, Dressage riders, Eventers, Team Ropers, Trail riders and yes even Barrel Racers can compete on an even playing field. Barrel Racers are asked to leave their yippy dogs at home! Okay you barrel racers - no offense. Those comments are meant for a certain barrel racer and I know she'll get a laugh.
It's kind of challenging for a working cowboy to have to cross an arena on a leg yield or move their horse on a shoulders in maneuver. Likewise, when a Dressage competitor has to draw a slicker off the fence and put in on, or, open and close a gate, it may be challenging. Some may find a 8 foot turn around box hard to do on their horse with forward momentum, and yet others crossing a long narrow bridge difficult. A canter departure on a given lead will be easy for some, while others may find backing their horse in a circle is something they may need to practice.
My objective in this annual event, other than to have a safe event, is to promote horsemanship and the desire to increase one's knowledge and abilities. I use some the same tasks over several years in a row to stress certain performance. One year the rider's were required to dismount, stand in a box and back their horses using just a feel on their reins or get down rope, then drop their reins/lead and walk away to demonstrate their horse ground tying. The next year the same was required and an observer could see who worked on it and who did not. Another task was draping a towel over their horse's head and leading their horse blindfolded, such as taking a horse through the smoke of a fire in a burning barn.
Additionally, the focus on horsemanship is paramount. I try to design each competitive division course as safely doable yet challenge the horse and rider. Each course is a combination of basic, intermediate or advanced maneuvers and obstacles as appropriate to the competitive division.
Common maneuvers and obstacles that have been used in the past and may be used this year include: turn on the hocks; turn on the forehand; backing straight; backing in a serpentine; backing in an L shape; backing in a circle; trot through serpentine cones, move bending through vertical poles; crossing a bridge; go through a cowboy curtain; retrieve ball from bucket and place on cone; open/close a gate; cross a tarp; retrieve and put on a slicker; dismount/remount; ground tying; backing a horse in hand; trailer loading; crossing ground poles; leg yield; shoulders in; transition from slow walk to fast walk; transition from slow trot to faster trot; canter departures on designated lead; simple lead changes; walk to trot transitions; trot departure to a canter transition; side passing straight; side passing in L shape; and side passing with front feet on platform; and blind fold horse and lead on ground to name some that a competitor may see.
In the Stockhorse division rider’s will be required to throw several loops on roping dummies and perform other roping and ranch horse related tasks. Most rider's in this division can throw head shots and heel trap loops - it's their stock in trade for Cowboys and Team Ropers. But I'll ask them to something different as well such as throw a loop to their off side and pivot their horse underneath the loop. Stockhorse competitors may also work their horses on a Pro Cutter flag; Drag a heavy log; throw a loop around a barrel and trot around the barrel feeding out their slack and wrapping it around the barrel; and, trailer load their horse.
We are thankful for the great support in the past from many companies. Notable supporters for this year's Arena Challenge includes Cashel Company and Starr Western Wear. Eclectic Horseman donated a box of magazines. When the awards ceremony has ended with everyone has been fed lunch, competitors have collected awards and prizes much more than their entry fee thanks to all the supporting vendors which I'll list when I post the results in October.
Saturday, July 25, 2020
What day is it? Why it's the National Day of the Cowboy!
Always celebrated on the 4th Saturday in July. While the Coronavirus scare has shut down events across the country - some parts more than others - don't let that hamper your celebration, private or otherwise.
James Owen, in his iconic book, Cowboy Values, points out that we can all share the seven core values of Cowboys as they are not just for the Cowboy, they are for all of us. And the Good Lord knows we can certainly use some of that right now. Courage – Optimism – Self-Reliance – Authenticity – Honor – Duty – Heart.
Anyway, start the day off right by watching Miko Marks Performs "Help" at the 2020 National Cowboy Poetry Gathering.
I received a phone call from Colleen, a lady who had previous called me to order some Functional Tie Rings and we ended up talking for almost an hour on ground training. This time her question was "is it necessary to warm up horses by lunging them before you ride them."
I told Colleen, that the short answer was 'yes' in my opinion, if at all practical and possible. I liken warming up a horse to me getting out of bed in the morning. Long gone are the day's I can swing my legs out, tie on some running shoes and go for a run. These days it takes me one cup of strong coffee and 50 minutes of stretching before I feel I can face my chores.
Warming up, horses or humans, helps get the blood circulating and making the muscles, joints and soft connective tissue more pliable and less prone to injuries. Warming up can also reduce pain. I think horses are no different than humans in this regard. And warming up a horse, if we pay attention, can show us where they are having problems, stiffness, lameness and such. Warming up is not just a physical thing, but again, if we pay attention, a warmup period can help focus on the horse on the handler who becomes a rider shortly thereafter. Can help make for a safer ride.
Lunging, either using a long lead rope or lunge line, or free lunging, what some people call lunging at liberty, is one way to warm up horses, not the only way.
Before we even halter a horse and lead him to where we are going to saddle up, we have to approach the horse. This in and of itself is a opportunity to remind and re-establish leadership with the horse. Once haltered and leading, we can use that to help the horse focus on us - correcting an improper leading position; stopping; backing; having the horse stand when there is no feel in the lead rope; correcting the horse if he becomes distracted. I would just caution not to make a federal offense out of anything, just correct him with as minimum pressure as necessary. All this takes maybe an extra 2 minutes, so there is not really a reason not to do it.
Once I have saddled a horse, some times my warmup on him is just riding at a walk for a bit, stopping and backing, disengaging his front end, moving his front end over, giving me softness in lateral and vertical flexion. Some times, I dismounted nd stretch a horse out. Other times on other horses, who need it and could benefit from it, my warm up may be lunging usually with the lead end of the mecate reins. Any time you are asking something from the horse which is usually be directing his feet - providing you are giving him clear cues - serves the purposes of getting that horse connected to you, so warming up both is a physical and mental benefit to the horse.
Today is the 244th birthday of the United States marked from this Nation's birth on 4 July 1776 at the approval by representatives of the 13 states, in the 2nd Continental Congress, of the Declaration of Independence. Supporting and signing the Declaration was akin to signing your death warrant if the Colonialists were not successful in gaining independence. The Declaration of Independence was a large step towards forming an independent United States.
The declaration was drafted by Thomas Jefferson and edited by a committee headed up by John Adams before being further refined by Congress. It was first printed and disseminated across America. A copy reached the Commander-in-Chief of the Continental Army George Washington who read it to his troops on the 9th July.
While there is a loud minority of people in this country who desire to rewrite, even destroy, the history of this Nation, both good and bad, and recognizing that this Country is not without it's faults, there is no other country of the face of the earth where the people enjoy more freedom and more opportunity. Founding father Benjamin Franklin was asked upon the dissemination of the Declaration of Independence on what type of country the delegates gave the people and Franklin responded, "A Republic, if you can keep it."
In Congress, July 4, 1776.
The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America, When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.--Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.
He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.
He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.
He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.
He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.
He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.
He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected; whereby the Legislative powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.
He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.
He has obstructed the Administration of Justice, by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary powers.
He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.
He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harrass our people, and eat out their substance.
He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures.
He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil power.
He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:
For Quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:
For protecting them, by a mock Trial, from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:
For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:
For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:
For depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of Trial by Jury:
For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences
For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies:
For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws, and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:
For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.
He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.
He has plundered our seas, ravaged our Coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.
He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.
He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.
He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages, whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.
In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.
Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our Brittish brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which, would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.
We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States; that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.
What has helped me with my horses in the past few years was reminding myself that progress in myself and my horses was an incremental process, sometimes just inches at a time. I call this "two inches of horsemanship".
I really don't remember saying this out loud at least to people, but my horses hear me say it quite a bit, until a few months back when I was helping a client learn to ask her horse to move his feet using the lead rope and she said "Oh I see, just a slight difference".
She was referring to the slight difference in the angle of the lead rope which presents a different feel to the horse. We were asking the horse to moving an inside front leg over to the side and follow that with his outside front foot. When she vocalized her understanding, I said "Yep, just two inches of horsemanship right there."
That two inches can be six inches or can even be time like 10 seconds. It represents a slight change from the horse or handler that makes a difference. It can mean an extra moment of patience - ever heard the term "waiting on the horse?"
That two inches can be taken literally such as what a slight change in my foot placement within the stirrup meant to me when I had a horse who had trouble with lateral movement with forward momentum. He was good at responding when I asked him for lateral movement at the walk or trot to the right, but when asking for lateral movement to the left I was challenged at getting an understanding from him. Until someone way handier than me told me to 'try exaggerating the placement of my outside foot and as the horse gains the understanding, refine your foot-leg clue to a more subtle movement.' So putting my outside leg about two inches further forward gave the horse a better understanding if what I was asking.
Two inches of horsemanship also means just getting a try from your horse and building on that. I can't think of anything that demonstrates that better when teaching a horse to back. In the beginning when we ask the horse to back, when the horse even just shifts his body weight back, we give a release. Then we ask for a step or maybe even just picking a foot up in preparation for placing it backwards. As he responds we ask for more and before you know it he is backing. <br><br>
And yes I do talk to my horses. They are good listeners. My wife sometimes hears me talking to them and asks "who am I talking to?". I always say "just one of my horses". The horses will talk back to you, you just got to be a good listener too.
Conflicting emotions this memorial day. From seeing a country crawling out of an economic and social shut down, to what this Coronavirus means to us long term, to thinking of those who gave all in service to this Nation. Those men and women who answered the call to defend our way of life which is defined by our very freedoms.
I have many friends who died in conflict or died from visible or not so visible wounds received from their service. Some of them stand out as the very best men you could meet. And just like I told a family whose husband and father took his own life from those non-visible wounds, you can lose your mind asking why.
I envy the people who faith is so strong they don't have to ask the why. Instead, they believe they will know the answer in good time. But I still struggle with the unfairness of it all. There has to be some meaning. And if there is a meaning, at least in part has to include that they died so those they left behind could live a life worth their sacrifice.
So I am sorry that better men than me died before me. I'm sorry for the grief of their loved ones and emptiness at their families' supper tables and birthday parties. My way to honor them is to remember the shared memories, but to especially work hard not to squander the time their sacrifice gave me. Are we honoring those who sacrificed their lives for us and our freedoms by living a life that would they would say their sacrifice was worth it? I often fail.
I am going to finish this with a poem written by Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae, a surgeon during World War I, who wrote the famous poem "In Flanders Fields" after one of his friends was killed in Belgium. As they buried his friend in a field grave, wild poppies were beginning to grow between the graves. John McCrae did not make it through the Great War, dying before the end of it. Today, Red Poppies symbolize Memorial Day and honoring those lost.
If you don't know who Dave Stamey is, you ought to get acquainted. He is an accomplished cowboy and musician. I am going to include one of my favorite songs of his (The Circle) at the bottom of this post. While you can download many of his songs via the phone music apps, I prefer to buy his CD's for my truck from Eclectic Horseman.
Dave appears in the excellent documentary "The Gathering" by Vaquero Films and his songs are featured in the Horseman Gazette series by Eclectic Horseman. Anyway, the following is a post Dave wrote on his Facebook page. I was reading it at Supper and had to stop eating otherwise I would have likely choked to death.
How to Write Songs
I have on my desk here a letter sent by Mr. Roscoe Dimmler from Squirrel Foot, Idaho. It appears that Mr. Dimmler lives in a sheep camp up there in the flat part of the state. It’s difficult to make out just what he wants, as the letter looks as if it were scrawled with a sharp stick dipped in charcoal, but in the lines I can read he’s asking about how songs get written, and in particular how I go about writing mine.
He says:
“Dear Mister Stamler, cud you tell me how you rite yer songs. I have seed you many times and herd you, and I think if you can do it probly anybody can.”
The rest of the letter drifts off into a description of how many sheep he runs on his place, and some trouble he’s having with a pesky neighbor. After that it gets smeary and unreadable. As I, proudly, know nothing about sheep, and have never met his neighbor, I can’t help him with those issues, so I will limit myself to his question about songwriting—though I know nothing about that, either.
I wish I did know. I pretend that I do, but that’s just empty posturing, easily seen through. I’ve written and recorded a bunch of them, somewhere around a hundred, I would guess, but that doesn’t mean I know how to do it.
There is a story that Irving Berlin, even in his nineties, would write a song every night before going to bed. Every night. A whole song. Every goddamn night. I imagine him there, sitting at his little desk with a pencil, lamplight shining off his old bald head, humming and scribbling, humming and scribbling.
Churning out these glittering lyrical jewels as easily as swatting a fly, and I kind of hate him for it. It seems wrong to hate the man who wrote “White Christmas,” something you might even go to hell for, but I can’t help myself. Irving wasn’t all that great as a musician, by the way. Allow me to point that out with only a smidgen of snarkiness. He played piano, but just barely. He could play in only one key—I think it was B-flat—and yet there he sat, every night, popping out a finished song before shuffling down the hall to brush his teeth. If he still had any. I’ve heard no stories about his teeth, but that’s not important. Even letting him have a weekend off every now and again, that’s still over three hundred songs a year, just in the evenings, let alone what he might accomplish during daylight hours. Such a massive output almost shames me. I’m lucky if I get ten or fifteen songs in a whole year, and some years it’s as few as five or six.
The nerve of the guy. I mean, really.
Diane Warren, who has written, I believe, a gazillion songs, most of them hits, and won Grammys and Tonys and Emmys and every other award ever dreamed up, says that she works at songwriting twelve hours a day, every day. She has a room she works in, like a little nest, and she claims it’s never been cleaned. That’s a bit scary, but not as scary as working for twelve hours, no matter what room you find yourself in. I can’t think of anything I’m capable of doing for that long. Once in a while I can run a weed eater for two or three hours, but then I have to quit and drink a Fresca. I’ve never met Ms. Warren, and while I’m sure she’s a very nice lady and I like some of her songs, twelve hours of anything is too much, I don’t care what it is. Twelve hours of trying to write a song will just make you nuts.
Writers like Irving and Diane have their tried and true methods, their routines. It’s called process. Writers talk about their process a lot. It’s what writers do, often instead of actually writing something, when they’re not being petty and resentful of other writer’s successes. They fixate on it, and worry about it, and obsess over it, and brag to their friends how faithful they are to the process, how well it works for them--and fret and fume when the process stops working for them, and must tinker with it and bang on it until the process starts working again. It consumes writers, much the way our medical conditions and digestion consume us when they don’t work properly. You have to trust the process, they say.
The word process indicates a series of actions, all pointed toward a specific goal. To even write a sentence like that makes me tired, and I want to find a dark room somewhere and lie down. I don’t seem to have a process. I have a goal, but no specific actions—not even one, let alone a series of them. What I do is sit around and hope a song arrives sooner or later, and you can’t call that a process because it’s too gradual. Almost glacial. At the end of the week I find I’ve written a total of two lines, neither of which seems to belong to the same song.
All that being said, for those who insist on learning the craft, and sowing discord and tension into your family life, along with financial uncertainty and general depression, here are a few tips I’ve picked up over the years, tricks of the trade I’m happy to pass along:
Always begin your song with “Well. . .” as in, “Well, here I sit,” or, “Well, I ain’t never,” or, “Well, she was a large woman. . .” It’s effective if you can drag it out for several measures, and even more effective if you shout it—the louder the better. This is the equivalent of tapping your baton against the lectern, or clearing your throat, or throwing something, a way to capture your audience’s attention and let them know they’re about to have a song inflicted upon them. If you can’t get their attention they’ll never stop chatting and ordering drinks and smoking cigarettes, and you’ll have to abandon your dream of a life behind the footlights and go back to your dreary job in the toy factory.
Long, smooth vowels are preferred, as opposed to short, sputtery ones. Avoid consonants, if at all possible. Never use words with the letter K in them, or P. “Oooh,” is a fine choice for a vowel, the favorite of many songwriters, and the longer you stretch it out the finer it is. Some songs have nothing but “oooh” in them, though I don’t advise going down that road. It grows tedious and people stop listening, or get the feeling they’ve stumbled into a meditation class. “Oh” is also a good vowel, and can be used interchangeably with “well” to begin a song, as in, “Oh, my my,” and, “Oh, say can you see.” “Ah,” however, is not recommended, as it makes people think there is a doctor with a wooden stick looking at your tonsils.
Use the word “baby” every chance you get. Do not hesitate. Throw it in there willy-nilly, like seasoning in a meatloaf. It can’t be used too often—in fact, every hit song that ever rocketed up the charts contains the word “baby,” as in, “Baby, I miss you,” and, “Baby, come home,” and, “Baby, don’t take the television.” Combine it with one of the longer vowels and you now have the recipe for a million seller, and can start thinking about paving the driveway. “Oooh, baby,” and “Oh, baby,” are timeless lines that echo throughout history. Elizabethan minstrels and troubadours used them, Druids chanted them under the trees, Australian aborigines employed them in their ceremonies, and I believe they can even be found in the Talmud.
It’s a good idea to come up with a melody for your song people can hum, a catchy tune that gets into their heads and stays there for days and drives them crazy, like “The Flintstones,” or, “Gilligan’s Island.” The official songwriting term for such a melody is ear worm, and an ear worm is always a good thing to have. Make sure you get one. I don’t know how. If you can cobble together a rousing chorus that everyone wants to sing along with, that’s another big plus, as long as you avoid making it a singing-in-the-round chorus, such as “Frere Jacques,” or, “Row, Row Your Boat.” This would be a mistake. Round singing has been declared illegal in every nation of the world, except France. They still like it over there, but they also like to eat snails and horse meat.
I’ll bring this discussion to a close with a few frequently asked questions:
Q: What comes first, the words or the music?
A: Yes.
Q: I’ve written a song. What do I do now?
A: I have no idea. Be happy about it, I guess. Some people keep them in a drawer.
Q: What’s the proper way to pitch a song?
A: I’ve found the best way to pitch one is to make sure it’s wadded up into a very tight ball. That way it won’t come uncrumpled and lose velocity on the way to the trash can.
Q: Do you have a list of publishers looking for material?
A: I suppose there are publishers out there looking for new songs, but they certainly haven’t been looking for mine. Maybe you’ll have better luck.
Q: How do I get my songs to Garth Brooks or Snoop Dog?
A: I don’t have a clue.
Q: Should I get an agent?
A: This is not a “should” question. It’s a “can you?” question, and the answer is no. Agents are interested in making money, and as a species they gave up on songwriters early in the last century.
Q: How do I get a record contract?
A: The Columbia Record Company used to have a deal where you paid full price for the first album and got the second one for a penny. You might call them and see if they’re still offering that.
I hope all of this has been of some help. My plan is to stick it into an envelope and send it to Mr. Dimmler and his sheep up there in Idaho, and hope it satisfies them. If any of you have further questions, I suggest they be sent to the estate of Irving Berlin. Or, if you can find an address for Diane Warren, perhaps she can help you. Personally, I intend to get out of this songwriting racket and start playing clawhammer banjo instead. It’s more socially acceptable.
Mañana is the Spanish word meaning tomorrow, such as Hasta mañana- 'Until tomorrow' or commonly interpreted as 'See you tomorrow'. With horses or more appropriately working with horses, it basically means not to push something, but to work on it the next day.
This came to mind as Elizabeth wrote to tell me that her 8 year old TB mare, which she has had for two weeks and hopes to rides in Western dressage, seemingly begins to pick up what she is trying to teach him, vertical and lateral flexion for instance, but as she said the mare soon seems to lose the understanding, gets bracy and regresses in his training.
Well there are lots of reason while horse seemingly starts to understand and perform something then degrade in performance. You can ask too much. You can ask too fast. You can forget to give the horse a release and pause to learn and a lot of other reason I'm sure. In the old days I would try to push the horse through it, rarely if at any time succeeding. It seems that I would get a resentful horse out of it. I really have no idea if a horse can resent something, but I think a horse can certainly get confused and seemingly shut down in willingness or softness. Took me a while, probably much longer than most people, to recognize when to stop. And not just to stop but to move on to something the horse can do - sort of like re-establishing communications between you and him, and his confidence as well.
I have a new horse in, Jake - a dual registered QH - Palomino (he's in the photo above). I learned long ago to re-start any new horse so you can see what he knows and not leave any holes, and to do so quietly because this is the beginning of your relationship with him. Jake was bred and trained for western pleasure and AQHA type events but hadn't been ridden more than a handful of times in the past 5 years. So we had a lot to work on besides spoiled pushiness and avoidance behavior that worked for him in the past. He came right around in 2 days of ground training, picking up the feel of the lead when I wanted him to come forward, backup, stay put-ground tie, or bring his left or right front end over.
In the saddle he was doing well learning to soften when I asked for it. Moving his front end or back end independently when I asked with my legs. Moving on to asking for lateral movement with forward momentum, he initially did good, allowing me to laterally adjust him for bigger circles but then he just stalled, instead slowing and moving his backend out. Asking again a couple times did not bring better results, so we just moved onto something else he was successful at doing.
So my advice to Elizabeth and her mare was to approach it in the mañana view. It's like you are addressing the horse - "It's okay you don't understand what I am asking, or you are not confident in doing it right now. We'll move on to something else and try this again tomorrow, or the day after that."
A couple days later I ask Jake for some lateral movement while trotting a circle and he's expands the circle and does so in much better balance. My job? Quit asking so much.
Sorry to have to inform everyone that the Randy Rieman El Paso Horsemanship Clinic, previously scheduled for 2-3 May 2020, has been cancelled due to the Coronavirus Pandemic. We are being ultra cautious in cancelling the clinic which we think it just the right call given many unknowns, especially how the pandemic environment would look at the beginning of May.
Since many were looking forward to Randy's clinic, I thought I would include a video of Randy and his horse Chewbacca, a really nice travelling Buckskin gelding, from three years ago. This will have to tide you over until we can look at a Fall 2020 date. Regards all.
I received the following questions from a gent concerning cinchas and latigo straps: "I looked at several of your videos and photographs and I am trying to determine how you secure your cinch. I have a hard time with my cinch strap and the belt buckle on the cinch. Also what type of cinch(s) do you prefer or recommend? I used to have a cotton rope traditional cinch but have since went to a neoprene cinch as my saddle keeps slipping. thank you in advance for answering my question. Lawrence."
Hello Lawrence, I am assuming that the problem you mention is finding the right hole in your latigo where the tongue of the buckle can keep the cincha tight enough but not too tight. I haven't used the buckle tongue on a cincha for decades now. I just use a friction tie from the cincha buckle through the saddle D ring to the keeper. In fact, on many of my cincha, I cut the tongue off the cincha buckle. Once I was doing a demo in a indoor arena and one of the ladies got my attention to tell me my cincha latigo was not secured through the buckle tongue. I replied "I cut the tongue off the buckle, I don't ever use it." She looked at me like I was a heathen. Anyway, the pictures below are closeups of the 'cowboy knot' and the fleece cincha buckle.
I am not, by any means, saying that this is a better method. I've ridden with a bunch of people, much better than I'll ever be, and they use the cincha buckle as designed. I was just tired of chasing the right hole to get the right cincha tension. The way I secure the cincha, which I have heard people call a 'cowboy knot', works for me, at least in part, as my saddles fit my horses very well and all of them have at least a little bit of withers to help the saddle stay positioned.
Years ago I used to secure the cincha latigo with a girth knot. I see people do that all the time and its a legitimate way, but for me it place too big of bulk under my leg. The pictures below show that method of securing the cincha.
For the past twenty or more years, I have used mostly fleece lined cinchas unless I was riding someone else horse and equipment. I have a couple Mohair cinchas and felt cinchas, but again I prefer fleece lined. I am just not a fan of neoprene cinchas or saddle pads for that matter. I think they build up heat too much.
You did not mention what type of saddle pad you are using. While you likely can't fix a really poor fitting saddle by using pads and blankets, I think you can make it better and the horse more comfortable. I use CSI pads that are formed for the withers and have vent holes, as well as plastic pressure plates to even out the pressure from the bars of the saddle. The pads are two piece, felt on the bottom and automotive carpet on top. However, there are several different makers of formed pads like 5 Star Equine. I would start by setting the saddle of your horse's back and see how it fits his back conformation, and go from there.
Again this year we were able to get Randy Rieman to come down from Montana to do a Horsemanship clinic. This years clinic will be on Saturday and Sunday, 2-3 May 2020. His current prices are $150 per session which is a bargain in today's clinic costs.
Each day is two separate 3 1/2 hour sessions - one morning and one afternoon. I already have riders signing up to ride one horse on one day then a different horse the next day.
Randy rode with Tom and Bill Dorrance, and Ray Hunt, bringing that sort of approach to horsemanship. I meet and talk to horses owners a lot and it continues to surprise me that so many people have not heard of the Dorrance brothers, Ray Hunt nor all the top clinicians that their teachings have spawned, like Randy, Buck Brannaman, Bryan Neubert, Martin Black and many others. It just seems to me that if you are going to own and ride horses, even just for pleasure, then you would embark on a journey for knowledge which would led you to these gentlemen at some point.
In last years clinic, which was Randy's second visit to the El Paso, Texas - Las Cruces, New Mexico area, I think only one rider knew who Randy Rieman was prior to the first session. The others showed up on faith, and hope, that someone can make them better. Many of these riders were fairly accomplished in their own right - barrel racers, dressage competitors and team ropers.
Randy's clinic format's are such that there is no set format. He helps the horse and rider from where they are at, with what they need. It's problem solving at it's base. The education you can get from being helped, or watching someone with Randy's experience helping someone else, is priceless. A smart person never stops learning and a humble person knows it'll take a lifetime to learn what you want to know. These top shelf clinicians help speed up the learning curve. And as John Lyons told me one time, "People need to do less buying gear and more buying knowledge."
Two moments from last year's clinic are always fresh on my mind. One was a barrel racer who had issues backing her horse and opening gates. Randy helped her and her horse achieve those things, and at the end of the session with tears in her eyes, the rider commented - "this morning my horse was for sale, not anymore!" The second was a dressage rider whose horse does well being ridden in contact, but had the habit of speeding up just a bit - just wouldn't be consistent in keeping the same speed within that gait. Randy rode her horse and showed her how she could make her horse responsible for keeping the same gait and speed, and do so on a looser rein.
Anyway, if anyone is in the commuting area and wants a clinic slot, just get ahold of me. Or if you want to host Randy Rieman at your location, give Randy a call.
My wife and I headed to Alpine, Texas this past Friday to enjoy the Lone Star Cowboy Poetry Gathering being held at Sul Ross University where 30+ well known poetry and music performers would be entertaining. Red Steagall, Randy Rieman, Dale Burson, Trinity Seeley and many others were performing. This is an annual event, previously known as the Texas Cowboy Poetry Gathering, and is held the third Friday and Saturday of February. The big draw to Cowboy poetry and songsters, are performers speaking and singing with a deep feeling for life style they lived to listeners who have experienced much the same, but the verse can be appreciated by anyone.
The Alpine - Fort Davis area is in the heart of West Texas ranching country, including the famous Kokernot O6 ranch. Many good cowboys and good horses were made in this part of the country. The area is a short distance away from Big Bend National Park. A visitor could spend a couple weeks exploring this area including Marfa, just Southwest of Alpine.
A nice surprise for us was listening to and meeting a young guitarist and singer named Andy Hedges from Lubbock, Texas. He performs using nothing other than his voice and his father's old guitar. Many of the older Cowboy poets are placing a lot of faith in Andy Hedges, and rightly so, to carry on the tradition.
Andy's last performance of the early afternoon session was putting music to S. Omar Barker's poem "Into the West". We enjoyed this poem put to song so much we purchased Andy Hedge's Cowboy Songster Volume 2 which has this song and 10 others. It made for an extra pleasant trip traveling Hwy US 90 back to El Paso. I am putting a video presentation of Andy performing this song below so others could enjoy it also. And I don't think anyone would regret buying any of his CD's either.
I receive e-mails when comments are posted on any videos I upload. Rather than answer each individual comment on YouTube, I'm choosing to use this website to answer many of the comments concerning using my Functional Tie Ring (FTR).
About 20 years ago I ran a large public barn, next to a military airbase with lots of activity including dogs, children, vehicles, hay deliveries, horse shoers,....you get the idea. That's where in helping people with their horses I encountered many horses who pulled back, a lot due to unpredictable or controllable activity. There was even a horse who flipped over on the shoeing stand when hard tied to cross ties. So I started using a tie ring that became the FTR with these horses. With many people wanting it, I started offering it commercially. Even then, I made people aware that the FTR isn't designed to replace ground work or train your horse to stand. Your horse has to have learned how to give to pressure.
In a perfect world, the FTR is a solution to what is essentially a non-existent problem......for most horses,..........if sufficient ground work is done. Even then, the most bomb proof horse really isn't. The whole idea is to give the horse the tools and experience to make that spook as benign as it can be. However, most people can't or won't devout the time to establish solid ground training. A horse needs to know where "neutral" is on the lead rope - no feel on the lead at all and he learns that by accepting the changing feel of the lead to be able to move forward and back up. If you extend the ground training, which is really just a logically place to take it, a changing feel of the lead rope can further connect to the horse's feet and you can move his front end over in each direction and even draw his back feet to you. But before I would tie a horse, that horse has to be able to give to pressure.
The comments below were concerning a video where I tied a horse using a Functional Tie Ring and used a flag as a stimulus to spook him so he would pull back. The lead rope I was using starts to feed through the FTR at 15 lbs of pressure (pulling back), even then I didn't like doing this, and only did it once - no rehearsals or retakes, because basically that red roan horse in the video is never used, never tied and he is just living out his days with us after having been left by the owner. He gets handled every day, but not ridden, although years ago I checked him out for the owner and ended up sacking him out to flag, among other things and riding him.
Anyway, Here are some of the comments, both good and bad, and my response:
"I can't get past him even THINKING of doing this without knowing how his horse handles a flag"
I pretty much knew how the horse would react to a flag, but more importantly how I presented it. That's why I used it, and used it only once in this case. Clinton Anderson demonstrates this often (with the Aussie Tie Ring), flagging a horse so the horse spooks and backs away. However, he carries this through many repetitions, each time with the horse reacting less and less.
"What I got from this video is someone teaching his horse to back up while tied. Not something I would want to teach my horse just so a video could be taken."
Teaching that horse to back up while tied, however not hard tied but tied with the FTR, that provides a controlled friction release, was what I was seeking. When a horse is spooked, his head come ups to gain elevation for observation to see the threat - it's akin to our startle reflex. If he is tied and the halter strap behind the poll becomes taunt (putting pressure on his poll) he will panic and pull back harder. With a tie ring, depending upon the diameter of the tie ring and the lead rope used, a horse spooking or backing away will get a greatly reduced presure on his poll. See my response to the comment below where I explain where and how the horse's find the release.
"The cowboy has his timing off. I agree with many others. You stay where you are and keep waving the flag (stimulus) until the horse relaxes.He is releasing the stimulus too soon. "
Actually, the comment about my timing is correct, however my intent was spook the horse into backing so the viewer could watch the relationship between the lead rope and halter and the point of suspension in the horse's feet. While some horses will back in a walk, a spooking horse will generally back at a trot which is a 2 beat footfalls on his diagonals. Momentarily, in between those feet hitting the ground and the next ones pushing off, there is a moment of suspension of the feet and reduced pressure to the horse's poll from the halter. When the horse back's and slows a bit, that reduced pressure is accentuated.
When I say that a horse should to give to pressure during ground training, he learns this by the handler getting into contact with the lead rope - in other words, the lead rope is taunt - then the horse leans into the lead rope reducing the pressure of the halter on his poll, and you build on this on. When I back one of my horses up from the ground using the feel of the lead rope, when that lead rope goes taunt the horse steps forward one step alleviating that pressure. That is giving to pressure. In the beginning, once you get in contact with the lead rope, the horse will resist. His head will go up. There is where people lose their temper and jerk on the lead rope, just making things worse. If you start with very light contact and when the horse drops his head or nose then give him a release, you are teaching him that when he gives to pressure, he gets the release. Your timing has got to accurate and you build on this.
"very dangerous method I Will never use that EVER."
I hope the only people who use the FTR, or any tie ring for that matter, do their ground work and get the horse giving to pressure first. On a green horse once the lead goes taunt and the horse feels the pressure on the poll, the horse's head goes up increasing that pressure if the lead remains taunt. In an extreme case, some people leading a horse into a trailer will try to hold a horse when he trys to back out. Well, not even the Hulk can hold a lead line and keep a horse from backing away, and once that horse pulls the leads from your hands, his head jerks up and can hit the trailer roof. Some people even put those padded hats on horse's to keep them from hitting their head, when they should just get their horse's more soft and giving, and, broke to lead.
Anybody who has been around horses for a minute has observed, or maybe even did it themselves - as I have did - to my shame - a handler pulling and jerking a lead rope, which causes the horse's to learn to expect something bad when he feels pressure on the poll and then panic. Now, if my horses feel pressure on their poll they will drop their head a bit, or they will lean into the pressure (just a shift in their body weight) both relieving the poll pressure. If those horse's were still alive, I'd formally apologize to them for ever jerking on the lead.
I have had three local clients that told me the same thing: that "they would never use a tie ring'. That stayed true until their horse's spooked while being tied solid at events, one of them being hurt so he couldn't be ridden for a year. They all started using the tie ring. One of them bought seven of them. I have a client that competes at AQHA shows and every time I see her, she thanks me that the FTR she bought years ago. I was just on the phone with yet another client, who called and ordered his third FTR.
"Get a rope the same as you have there; put a Honda in one end; put the lasso around his girth; tie him up to a solid post or rail; give him a good tap on the nose; then watch him grunt when he tightens the rope right up around his girth (just make sure that the rope can readily loosen The pressure comes off); Do that a few times and that’ll stop his farting in church!"
I have had someone tell them they used a method similiar to what is described. I would not be comfortable doing something like that. The whole thing would end up with me being drug across the open desert. I'd be digging cactus spines and goat heads out of my back and butt for weeks.
"EXCELLENT teaching tool - gonna get a double ring asap"
I have had only one FTR returned. A lady bought one for her husband. He said "I don't need it." She sent it back and I refunded her plus the cost of shipping it back to me.
"Thank you for this video. I have several horses but one mare that sits back. The "sitting back" is a serious and dangerous problem. I use the blocker tie ring for saddling but need something more secure for trailer tying. I will be ordering one. Thanks again! "
I have been using the FTR to tie horses to the outside trailer D ring and inside the trailer when hauling. One of the questions I get about using the FTR is that - "if someone uses it for a long period of time, will their horses be un-learned or unable to be hard tied?" No, not in my experience. I reckon that one of my horses has been tied using the FTR for 6 or 7 years, pretty much exclusively, just because it easy to use. When I hard tied him for over 3 hours in a pen with a bunch of recently branded calves, he stayed tied, did not pull back despite all the commotion. I wasn't watching him the whole time, as we had bulls to haul to the next pasture, but I imagine he pulled back a little, a time or two, then step forward to relieve the pressure - after all that's what ground work and the FTR taught him. On another horse that I hard tied...he bent his head down to search the ground and when he brought his head up, the lead rope snagged on something. Feeling the pressure on his poll, he pulled up hard, but then dropped his head to reduce the pressure and waited for me to unhook the lead rope.
"I've got a horse no one on earth can fix. When tied, his eyes get three times normal size, and he shoots back like a Howitzer shell going off. Everything a horse can muster in a thousandth of a second. BAM!!! surprised he hasn't broken his own neck. it is not defiance or he doesn't want to work, it is sheer Terror that he is feeling. he thinks he's going to die horribly Untie him and all the fear of evaporates that moment and it's like nothing ever happened. it just shuts off like a light. I've had him four years and I tack him up just holding the lead rope. He's fine that way. I've tried at length to cure him but nothing will work. "
Had a couple horses like that. If I was to try to help your horse, I would use a halter and lead and while standing in front of him but off line a bit about 10 feet away, I would quietly and slowly take in the slack of the lead rope until it is taunt but not pulling on him. He may pull back. I'd begin again. I'd be looking for a change, however small, and at one point he would shift his weight forward and I would put slack into the lead rope and give him a pause to think about it. I'd start all over again. At some point once you take in the slack of the lead rope the horse's head won't go up or the movement will be reduced. That progress is real evident.
The horses I worked with all got better. This does much more for a horse than just getting him giving to pressure. As you continue a common issue will be the horse starting to buddy up (move to you) before you ask. Then you need to start working on him backing of a feel of the lead rope. On one difficult horse I was working with, rather than throw his head up and try to escape, he lunged forward and knocked me aside - good thing I was not standing directly in front of him, but off to the side a bit. I got him turned as he went past me. Then I started again. He was more of a difficult horse than normal, but in maybe 20 minutes he was giving to the lead, coming forward on and backing off a feel of the lead rope.
"You gonna get somebody hurt. All your doing is teaching him to be scared of your flag."
I used the flag in a manner to get a desired reaction. All my other horses would not give me a reaction of backing away like the little red roan. Regarding flags, another common question I get is - "I see you using a flag but how does the horse know when you want him to move his feet or stand still?" When I use a flag, I am either directing a horses feet to move or asking him to stand and accept the flag for which the movement and noise is scary in the beginning. The difference is the feel of the lead rope, your demeanor and body position relative to the horse. If the lead rope is in neutral (slack in the lead) I am asking the horse to stand. If the horse is moving when I want him to stand, I would maintain the movement of the flag until you get a change from the horse - that is standing, even momentarily, and build on that until he stands and accepts the flag. If you put a feel in the lead rope directing him forward or obliquely, the flag helps drive the horse in the direction.
For the record, I don't want anyone buying a Functional Tie Ring unless they have a need for it; are competent enough to use it; have a plan to use it; and, do the required ground work that every horse needs - most of the horses that receive good ground training won't need an FTR or other tie ring.
Safe Journey to everyone.
Going into the New Year with all the promises and good things that it portends, just like the Sun cresting the mountain in the morning, I thought people would like to see more about Curt Pate. Best case it'll bring some inspiration and likely a smile to a person.
Curt Pate is a Montana based Stockman and Horseman. I use both of these terms knowing that they mean different things to different people. Probably one of Curt's callings in life is to impart what he has learned about cattle handling and stewardship through clinics in Canada, Mexico and the United States, sponsored by firms such as the National Cattlemen's Beef Association (NCBA) and Zoetis, a leading animal health company.
Curt hosts a column called the Scoop Loop which you can find on his website, enter your e-mail and receive his articles which I look forward to reading for his wisdom, inspirational words, of course the music.
I had a chance to ride with Curt in Las Cruces, New Mexico at a clinic he was running for New Mexico State University. Even with him riding a borrowed and unfinished horse, watching him demonstrate his concepts for low stress stockmanship, I learned much and took that with me day working for some ranches after that. I look forward to him starting back up his traveling clinics again, after he has his fill of much needed (and well deserved) down time with his wife, Tammy Pate, on their own property.
Tammy Pate, incidentally,.....let me rephrase that as wives' are "never incidental",.....Tammy Pate, an artist in her own right, founded an event called the Art of the Cowgirl. In it's second year, it is being held again at Corona Ranch outside Phoenix, Arizona.
I hope everyone enjoys the short film below on Curt and Tammy Pate, produced by Eric Grant. Happy New Year to all.
Melissa wrote to me about her 10 year gelding who is always spooking and what she could do as he is not getting better at it. I wrote back to her to find out more specifics and she elaborated that her horse is very sensitive to all new things, particularly loud noises, and, vehicles and horses coming into his view. She asked what desensitization methods should she try. It's always hard to give advice on a horse you haven't seen but this is pretty much what we talked about.
It's tough to have an overly sensitive and spooky horse. Sometimes we when we handle those horses we get anxious about their new big spook, expecting it at any moment, and the horse can feed off of our energy, making it more likely for them to expect something to scare them. I can't emphasize this enough - if you think he's going spook, he most surely will.
On desensitization of horses, there are as many different views as their are people. And I'm not really fond of that word to describe what I do, but it's pretty much accepted that desensitizing is exposing the horse to stimuli that would create fear or anxiety in the horse and letting him work through it. I'm also not really happy with the title of this article "Spooky Horse? Teach them to think" because we are not really teaching then to think, just allowing them the time to find another way. Desensitization is not about getting a horse to walk over a ground tarp then having that horse desensitized for all ground tarps in the future, anywhere you go. I like to think that exposing your horse to anything scary is just a opportunity on setting it up for that horse to learn to think before reacting.
It may be correct to say that if something scares a horse, they need more of it not less, but it is also correct to say it's how you go about exposing the horse to that scary thing that'll either help him or make it worse.
The sometimes a human's first instinct when something scares the horse it to take the scary thing away or to remove the horse from that environment. You see this with people flagging a horse where if a person shakes a flag and the horse shies or moves away, the human removes the flag from the equation.
I recently demonstrated this at a clinic I ran a few weeks ago where I had a horse in hand who had never been flagged. I was using a rope halter and a 12 foot lead rope. I stood holding the horse about one foot away from the halter and used my outside hand to shake a flag with a lot of energy. The horse spooked and I stopped shaking the flag. I told the attending riders that all I did was teach the horse that getting away from the flag was the right thing to do.
Then I again started shaking the flag with energy and the horse tried to get away. I kept shaking the flag as we moved around for about 20 seconds ago. I stopped moving the flag while the horse was still trying to get away and once I stopped shaking the flag the horse stopped, but this body position and head set was real obvious that he expected me to start back up again. I told the riders that if I quit now, I would have done nothing to help that horse, instead just reinforced to the horse that trying to get away removes the scary stimulus.
Then I demonstrated what I thought would be a better approach. I gave the horse about 8 feet of slack in the lead rope and started shaking the flag in a slower fashion. The horse was at first stationary but the mental pressure in him built up pretty quick and he started moving away. I kept shaking the flag until the horse had all four feet momentarily stopped, then I immediately quit shaking the flag giving the horse a release as I explained to the riders that once the horse gave me the response I was seeking, all four feet stopped, I gave him a release from that pressure, and most importantly, I am giving him a pause to think about what just occurred, which was his acceptance of the flag. But this is not a conclusion - it is the very beginning.
I started back up again and the horse moved off like just before, but he got stopped quicker than before and was licking his lips. I gave him 10-15 seconds of pause then continued and I gradually took in the slack on the lead rope until I was at the horse's shoulder and was moving the flag with energy off his body and touching the horse on the belly, back, neck and rump with the flag. So the difference was not going from 0-60 in seconds but instead taking the time it took for the horse to accept what you are asking. And if anyone had a stop watch on us they would see that really only maybe 10 minutes had passed. It you can't give your horse 10 minutes then what can you give him?
The exact same philosophy would help Melissa's gelding. If she is riding or leading him past some barrels or trash cans, or plastic bags, or a car, or even a bushel of dead racoons and the horse snorts, shies or backs away, then don't avoid that - instead use that and as much time as necessary to get the horse accepting of it. Just stand with the horse. Within 10-20 seconds or even 2-3 minutes the horse will take a step towards the scary thing - it seems like their curiosity trait just won't let them do otherwise. But the horse will stop again on it's own. But don't ask him to go forward, he likely will on his own accord - when he is comfortable. Repeat and soon the horse is all over the object understanding it's okay, building his confidence. You may have to do this 100 times,...maybe a thousands times on lots of different things, but it'll be worth it.
Something I heard Craig Cameron say 20 years ago sticks with me - he said that our job was to take the fear out of the horse. We can't do so by avoiding everything we think will scare him.
Posts
