Bah Humbug! or Should I say Bah Horsebug?

Yes it is that time of year again!

Time for us to deal with all those family issues that seem to come up this time of year. You know the ones......Uncle Bill got tanked on eggnog and french kissed Santa's elf at the mall and then hurled in Santa's work shop and Grandma got run over by a reindeer etc.

By the time it is all over, I think we all need a drink.

Came upon us so fast.

This past year has flown by!

So what are your plans for this year?

We are going to ad a training blog to the Crescent Moon Cutting Horse website and chronicle the training of our youngsters as well as our oldsters and hope that you all will join us there. We are going to start raising Angus cattle and we are working on a few other little ventures as well.

We also plan to start showing more this year.

For the first time since CNJ and I met, we are not giving each other anything that has to do with horses. Actually, for the first time we are giving each other something. Nothing much!

But there is no way that CNJ's gift last year could ever be topped. Yes I am referring to those beautiful little girls. It is amazing how babies not only change your lives, but they change your very soul.

And I want to take a moment to thank you all for reading a little Ol' Rotten blog and sharing your experiences and knowledge with us. And for those of you that read but do not always post, please let us know that you are here and where you are from. We would love to hear from you.

I know that it is still a little early ( actually June would be early), but I want to wish you all Happy Holidays.

The Sunday/Friday night blog party.........

You all know my story, I have been in the business professionally for over 30 years and have had a pretty good career. By the way, the horse in the picture above is my beloved mare Johnie at cutting practice. Sometimes I am not so sure she takes her job seriously, so because of that I made it look like a cartoon!

I have been showing horses the majority of my life from cutters to jumpers, and almost every discipline in between. And I have finally settled back into the cutters because they are my true passion.

I have shown horses all the way from the Cow Palace in the bay area to Atlanta.

Won some, lost some, made a lot of good friends along the way and have a lot of really good memories.

Though I have a lot of the memories winning classes and doing well at the shows, the best and the most fun memories are of the shows that I did not do so well. Those were the shows where I learned the most and had the most fun.

You always hear people say that they are having the most fun when they are winning, but to be honest with you, I do not know how that can be. It always seemed that when we were having a bad show, we totally cut loose and the pressure was off.

One year at the Astro Dome in Houston, nothing was going right. We forgot to pack a lot of our tack, and it seemed that no one including me nor my clients were into the show at all. We had enough tack to get by on and made it through the show mixing and matching bridles. Somehow I managed to win the junior western pleasure class, but we laughed the whole time. And yes we partied our asses off and none of the other horses placed above 4th. We just took nothing at that show seriously.

So what are your fondest memories of the shows where you may not have done well, but managed to laugh it off, have a great time and keep your sense of humor intact?

They call me 'Plum Puddin'...the story of the wannabe!

Oh yes, to the wannabe horse trainer that lurks out there, this post is for you!

They come and they go, those wannabe horse trainers. They live under the rocks and old dead logs, and wait for their next victim. They talk a good game, but there is something there that you know is not right. Many of them have embedded themselves well into the Natural Horsemanship industry, selling their training appliances to people that seem to fall for the crap!

You have to ask yourself, how much would you pay for common sense?

Do you need an orange whip to train your horse, or do you sometimes need to apply a little tough love?

I have recently had the pleasure of meeting one of these wonderful people. His claim to fame? "I can turn you and your horse into one. I can help your horse with your problems............But first, I need to talk to your horse and find out what he is thinking."

Oh for #%&@%@*!^*@($ Sake!

Get a grip!

In a career that has spanned 3 decades, I have seen so many of this type out there. They have strange mystical names that make you think that they know something about you and your horse, that no other trainer will ever be able to tell. They wear hats the size of their egos and 99% of them wear chaps and spurs. They market products of their own design and tell you that you have to buy them if you want to become a trainer like them. (In case you are wondering, a carrot stick is a vegetable, not an orange whip with a bat on the end of it.)

So am I going to just tear into the naturals?

Hell no!

For those people that call themselves trainers out there, just so you know, you really need to have some knowledge of the horses that you are training. One trainer that I have heard of, actually weighs his horses. Most of us can look at a horse and we are able to give a solid estimate of the weight of the animal. This guy has to be a mental midget, or actually he may be brilliant if he has convinced the owner that he should be allowed to stay at the facility where he currently works out of.

Horse shows are a great place to get a glimpse of some of these Wannabe Wonders!

Yes, I call it like a I see it, even at the horse shows. I have made lots of friends that way!

I am amazed that there are so many trainers out there. Hell, everyone is a trainer and they all know everything. These horse show trainers are easy to spot because they all wear spurs and carry crops in their back pockets.

There again, like I have stated many times, there is such an overuse of training aids out there, that I am surprised that the horses do not tip over from the shear weight of the devices that they are forced to wear.

When I was a kid and I worked with the trainer that taught me how to start colts the right way, there was no whispering done, he just simply took his time and read the horse. He told me that the best trainers have the ability to 'read' their horses so they can predict how to best proceed. He uses nothing more than a snaffle bit in the horses mouth. I learned that the best way to start a horse is to let them do the work and you need to learn to just be the passenger and have a little faith in the horse that you are starting. I was never allowed to wear spurs and chaps just got in the way, especially in the heat of the desert. We asked the horse to soften for us and allowed them to make decisions and mistakes before we corrected them.

We have a saying here in Rotten Land, that goes like this........

When you go to a trainers barn, be it a natural trainer or an old school trainer, what happens in the barn may impress you, but what happens behind the barn may depress you!

This is not to imply that all trainers are out there beating their horses, we certainly do not, but keep in mind, when fixing some of the horses problems, it's not always pretty.

Why do horses react the way that they do when they spook?

Recently, I had an old client tell me that her horse has what she calls a violent reaction when he spooks. When I asked her what she meant, she said that her horse likes to take the bit and run and then he starts to buck. She then asked me what my advice would be to fix the problem.

While I hardly consider that to be a violent reaction, I do consider it a problem.

So I will address the spooking problem first.

To address the problem of spooking horses, we must first address the cause of what is making the horse spook. Most of the time, the answer to that question is rather a simple one, the horse was startled by something. For the most part, horses are very similar to us in the fact that when they are surprised they tend to be startled and jump. Not a big deal!

I am sure that a lot of you have heard of teaching a horse to spook in place. Well to be honest with you, there really is not a lot to teaching a horse to do that. The best example that I can come up with, being a relatively new dad, is that when one of my daughters falls down or bumps their heads, they always look at me to see what my reaction is going to be. If I make a big deal out of it, then they are going to let loose and start crying, if I look at them and smile and laugh, they look at me and smile, get up and move on.

The same goes for horses. How many times have you been sitting on your horse and something startled him, so he jumped? All you did was just sit there like nothing happened and all that happened was the horse only had that small little jump. It happens to me all of the time especially on the young horses. I just simply do not react to the situation so the horses reaction was minor. In in effect, I have just taught my horse to spook in place.

So what happened to my old client and her new horse?

I went to go watch her ride the horse. She would start out fine with him, but she was already afraid of him, and she would not let go of the horses face. The entire time that she was on him, she was hanging on his face, so the horse was already uncomfortable. (When a horse is uncomfortable,be it from a poorly fitting saddle or a rider hanging on them, the will look for any excuse to spook.) When the tractor went by the arena, the horse was startled and took off, because the rider clenched up. As soon as the rider clenched up, she became off balance, thus, causing the horse to buck.

Truth was, the horse was not reacting to whatever startled him, he was reacting to the rider!

At that point it became apparent, it was not the horses confidence that was the problem ,it was the riders confidence that was the problem for the horse.

Now, it is true that some horses will react in a big way to something, and there really is nothing you can do about it but ride it out. At that point you need to be a confident rider, but most of those reactions do not last long.

Just an FYI for you.........

I have lived in the desert my entire life and I have never had a horse spook from a rattle snake. Quite the opposite, horses are curious animals, most of the time they want to investigate where the sound on the rattle is coming from and are bitten on the nose.

Rolkur, it's not just for dressage anymore!

Today, I am going to address Rolkur. I had never heard of it until a few years ago, and I am not sure what the moron who developed the idea was thinking or if they even were. I do know that trainers and breeders alike want to make their mark on the equine world, but this is the wrong way to go about it. I also know that the practice of Rolkur has trickled over into other disciplines like western pleasure, hunter etc, and that is where I want to take this topic.

Lets start with the practice of Rolkur in Dressage horses.

When I look at the above picture, the one thing that stands out immediately to me, is the fact that the horses hind end is in a totally different county that the front end. The horse exhibits absolutely no freedom of movement in the front end thus there is no extension because all of the horses weight it is on the front end. It also looks to me like the horse has no where when they are looking for the release. These are the obvious things that affect the not so obvious things like mechanics of movement and the horses attitude. What you see above, is not Dressage, but rather it is an abomination!

I always want my horses to have some where to go when they work, in other words, there has to be a release, be it in a dressage horse or a cow horse. I never want to hang on a horse in any way shape or form. To me, that shows that the rider in uncomfortable with what they are doing with the horse.

I have seen this practice in the western industry as well, primarily in the Arabian horse industry. At the Scottsdale Arabian show a few years ago, I saw several trainers riding with their horses trussed up like a Christmas turkey. The horses chins were being pulled to the horses chests and they were being forced forward, and when the trainers stopped their horses, they continued to bump their horses faces to keep their horses heads in that Gawd awful position. If the horse moved a step after he was bumped, they were bumped harder. And this was being done by the BNT's that were there. A lot of it was being caused by the over use and abuse of martingales, side reins and draw reins.

But, it was not just the western horses where I saw this, it was also in the hunter arenas as well.

The difference between a soft horse vs. Rolkur, is that with a soft horse, I can bring his chin to his chest when I need to, not because I have to or I am forcing the issue.

Now, lets talk about the horses attitude. This practice does have a lot of adverse effects on the horses attitude. Remember, you can only hang on a horse for so long before that horse decides that he has had enough. And when the horse has had enough and decides to react to what is going on, there may be no warning what so ever. The horse will do whatever it takes to make himself comfortable in what he is doing and there will be nothing you can do to stop it, and there is no telling what the horse reaction will be.

For those of you that believe in the practice of Rolkur, I recommend that you put a bit in your own mouth, have someone pull your chin to your chest while you try to move forward on your hands and knees. Not only will it be tough for you to move, but it will also be harder for you to breathe and your mouth will be incredibly sore.

You all know that I like my horses quiet and soft as I have mentioned that on many occasions, if a horses chin is being forced to his chest, you will get neither!

And just a note, I am not an Arabian horse trainer, and I do not want any Arab owners thinking that I am picking on them. But other than in the Dressage discipline, I have only seen this practice in the Arabian industry, so that is the example I am using.

What to expect from your trainer...... Part 2

So we have covered some of the basics of what you should expect from a trainer, now it is time to discuss what your trainer has to offer you and what you have to offer the trainer. And also what your trainer can expect from you.

1) Make sure that you have a contract with your trainer that outlines what your goals are and what you see yourself being able to do with your horse. That should always be in writing. I have in the past trained a few horses without the benefit of a contract, and the owners were and I were not totally on the same page. You can always amend a contract as the horse progresses.

2) All fees should be explained at the time that the contract is signed. The owner has the right to understand what all the fees are for and the trainer has the right to expect to be paid on time. Remember, when you are late the horse still gets fed and worked. I can not tell you how many times I have gone more than 2 months with out getting paid by an owner. Do not bargain with your trainer to try to get a better rate, we do not make enough money as it is!

3)If your horse has a bad habit that he has picked up at home tell your trainer, it is nothing to be embarrassed about. Hell, our horses have bad habits, after all they are horses and it is to be expected. I hate when a client sends me a horse that has a habit such as bucking or rearing and when it happens here, they always say the same thing....."He never did that at home".

4) Trainers are not miracle workers, that is to say, do not expect too much to soon. If you are shopping around for a trainer, do not let him/her give you time lines. In this business there are no guarantees. We simply can not guarantee how long your horse will be with us and we simply can not guarantee that your horse will win in the horse show ring. Never tell your trainer that he/she better win because his job depends on it. I had that happen at a show one time and I told the client that they better find a way to get the horse home from the show because I would not tolerate that kind of attitude. Needless to say the horse won all 2 of his classes and places 2nd in the third class and won the championship

5) Let your trainer chose the shows that he/she feels would be best for you and your horse should you chose that you want to show.

6) If your trainer offers lessons as part of your contract, then take them, personally I prefer that a client take a pro-active part in the training of their horses. I want them to be involved, that way when we are at a show or the horse goes home, then the owner can continue to work the horse with some success.

7) Communicate with your trainer if there is something that you do not like, we are not mind readers just like we are not miracle workers.

8) Have realistic ideas of what your horse is capable of......let him show you what his talents are and take it from there. There is nothing that is worse than a horse that develops bad habits because he is miserable in his job.

9) If you are looking to purchase a horse with the help of your trainer, then listen to what they have to say. Do not waste the trainers time by telling your him/her that you want one type of horse and then you go off in a completely different direction and purchase something else. We prefer that you let us help you so we can find a horse that fits you!

Trainers are here to help you, so let them.

What can and should you really expect from your trainer?

I get a lot of inquiries regarding training, and many of the potential clients want to know how long it will take me to train a horse for them, be it for trail or the horse show ring. This will be a series that will be done in a few parts.

When told that I am not sure how long it will take, then some of these clients look else where for a trainer that will tell them what they want to hear. While I realize that some of them want to budget for training, there are others that want me to be train a horse that is going to win for them in a designated amount of time that they seem to think is realistic.

There are several factors that I take into consideration before I take a horse into the barn.

1) The general conditioning of the horse when they arrive. I always tell a client that I can start to train the horse if he is conditioned properly before he shows up. I do understand that some owners do not have a facility that they can work out of so I always offer them a lower conditioning rate for the first month. Also I have to mention here that what I may consider proper conditioning, may not be what the owner considers to be proper. So before the horse is brought into the barn, I will provide the owner with a conditioning schedule, that is providing they have the facilities to work the horse.

2) What kind of behavior does the horse exhibit when he arrives. I personally like to give them a week of light work so that they can start to settle into a general routine. There have been many horses that have come my way that took longer to settle in and exhibited some bad habits that had to be dealt with before we consider putting that horse to serious work.

3) Is the horse a mare, stallion or gelding. We have a saying here, when a stallion comes into the barn on Thursday, his brain will arrive on Monday.(Sometimes his mind just gets lost in the mail!)

4) Am I starting this horse under saddle, if so there again conditioning is important. If the horse is here to be started and is in good condition, then I will be on that horse at the end of the first week after he settles in. If the horse is not conditioned, them there will be a 30 day conditioning period.

5) If the horse is here to be trained to go into the show ring, then a lot depends on the horses mentality when they get here. If they are not mature enough to handle the training required to go into the show ring, then we will take it a lot slower.

I have always been a firm believer in moving at the horses pace and not the owners, and I make this very clear from the beginning. If the horse is not happy then no one is going to be happy.

I have had owners in the past offer to pay me more to achieve their goals, but it is not really up to me how fast we proceed.