Ok.  I generally try to remain objective about the different clinicians and field questions tactfully but honestly when asked, but this video came across my desk and I can’t remain silent.  Especially when we have such a great example of horse training in our little Crockett.

Kirk commented last night that he is amazed when each mustang I gentle is so well behaved.  We work with dozens of horses during the week and the ones that are badgered and for lack of a better word, disciplined in to badgering back are many.  Few are the soft, responsive horses that we have in our training pasture or for our own use.

This is a passionate subject for me, so I will try to refrain from pointing fingers, except to say that if I had not witnessed similar behaviors in many of the well known clincians I would not be writing this at all.  But unfortunately, what I know to be fact and what is marketed are two different things.

So thank you Universe for bringing all things to the surface.

Mind you, I grew up in a very religious home and was taught never to cast the first stone.  I never listened to my parents…so let me throw a stone.  View the following link, then cruise back over here to read the rest of what I have to say.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CyF2QqP29DU

In 2006 Kirk and I attended a Parelli event in Manchester, MA.  We also requested an audience with the Parelli’s.  They invited us to their Pagosa Springs Colorado ranch and we met with them in July of 2007. 

By this time we had worked with a number of Parelli horses and Parelli supportive owners that were having very impressive difficulties.  I admired their attempt to create a remedial program but have always had trouble with the idea that horses are to be conditioned to a response and that this response be labeled “Natural”.

Nothing about getting your halter jiggled or having your jaw smacked or your head slapped or your well intentioned effort to show affection thwarted in order to protect your private space has ever seemed “Natural” to me.  It’s offensive and the horses that I work that have been treated this way tell me so.

They view it as an irritation, poor manners and they all become defensive.  Training in this manner will always bring that up.  Training further in this manner, if the horse doesn’t give up, will breed an attack and I’ve seen plenty of horses that have had that primordial instinct arroused.

In a fear based relationship, fear will always dictate the question and the answer.

I prefer to give my horse the benefit of the doubt and believe that a light request breeds a light response, especially when the answer from the horse is followed by a reward. 

The case is complicated and no doubt I will be filleted for even breathing an ounce of disagreement with the Parelli empire, but I am prepared to stand by my work….confidently.

I can do so because I know that I am never going to have to teach a horse to back or respect me by treating it like this horse was treated in this video.

Now, I did some research and there are plenty of supporters of this video and plenty of people who are screaming that this video doesn’t show the entire interaction.

OK.  I am willing to entertain that…for about a millisecond.

Why in the world would anyone want to treat a horse like that?  NO horse could do such harm as to have to listen to a clip smacking it in the jaw.  A horse with a raised head is evading and this one is so disengaged that he is willing to take lots of abuse without reacting.  A sign of benevolence. 

In my research I learned that this horse has a history of abuse and that he is in fact blind in one eye. 

When I learned this I felt a familiar sick knot in the back of my throat. 

Even if the horse is better behaved than he had been, in better flesh from the abuse he’d suffered previously, this treatment does nothing to restore his confidence in the human race that has failed him before.

Working with Mustangs there is one thing I’ve learned.  Respect is everything.  Respect is earned and it is damned easy to loose it!  Working with a horse to help understand THEIR point of view is much more difficult than disciplining a horse to recognize YOUR point of view.  But I still prefer that.

My horses, wild or not learn that I appreciate being a part of their herd.  Not the other way around.

Loving them enough to treat each of them as an individual is what makes it easy to teach a horse to read my requests…sans jerking, pulling, slapping or confusing, unnatural behaviors.

Horses don’t run each other around in circles.  They don’t push each other with sticks and they don’t pinch each other like a rope halter does when it is tugged to get another horse to do its bidding.  Understanding that is why I can have a totally wild horse cooperative and happy to see people.

Horses that are treated in the fashion this video demonstrats often become hard to catch and become vacant from the relationship.

I don’t want a vacant horse.  I want a horse that is excited to be with me, eager to read my body language so that we can interact and enjoy our time together.

Kirk and I have been working feverishly for several years to bring back the Natural to horsemanship…but because of the Natural Horsemanship empire (the one that supports whacking your horse in the head with snaps, ropes and hands), we are forced to differentiate our work as UnNatural. 

Oh well.  If working my horse and those we train UnNaturally means they work with us in a light and eager fashion, intuitive to our requests and happy to oblige, then I am prepared to write a new book on the subject.  Or film a television show…or both.

Any producers out there who would like to help?

If this video is an indication of something, its an indication that there is a huge need for a paradigm shift in the psychology of the horse world.  My desire is that Kirk and I will be at the head of that charge and instrumental in its occurance.  It’s about time that Natural Horsemanship was given back its rightful title.

For the sake of the horses.

Day 4 and Crockett finally had his hooves done.  I say finally because he was ready last night.  Kirk wasn’t.  He had another committment so Crockett had to wait until tonight.

I posted video and photos on facebook.  For some reason I still cannot get videos or photos to upload.  I’ll keep working on it.  I upgraded my software but even that didn’t help.

Crockett continues to surprise.

Today he took to trying to kick the living daylights out of anyone who entered HIS stall. 

The holding pen environment is stressful.  Food becomes a reason for controversy.  Crockett is not an alpha.  He is a young horse with sensible manners and food is a reason to put up your guard.

We worked past that the first day but other humans in Crockett’s book aren’t aware of our alliance.

I got the phone call today that Crockett had somehow managed to pull the dog fence down from his pen.  We installed that so the little dogs could not enter his pen and potentially be kicked.

He unraveled the fence without putting a scratch on himself and proceeded to try and kick anyone who tried to enter his domain.

Sure enough…when I got home I was greeted by Crockett’s butt.  He’s pretty quick!  A pop to the rump with the halter rope and he figured out that I still meant business.

He mellowed right out and I put the halter on him and as a reward for his change of heart I let him out of the stall to run in the arena. 

He worked out a lot of his frustrations ripping around the arena, took a good dirt bath, tried to eat the farrier equipment, messed up all of the lunge lines hanging on the wall, jumped a jump, chased a cat, and oh….about a 100 other activities and when he was done ran up to me to see what adventure we would have next. 

Pretty cool!  Four days out of the holding pen and my horse wants to play!

He continues to amaze me.  Genuinely the most inquisitive and sensible mustang I’ve ever worked.

After his romp I led him out to the alley and Kirk proceeded to trim his hooves.  Crockett stood with the rope draped over his back.

Mustangs amaze us.

We work with dozens of horses during the week.  These mustangs come from the wild and are processed through the capture and holding pens.  They have every reason to dislike us.  But when they learn to trust, they trust completely and they often behave better right out of the box than horses that are trained.

That leads me to believe that people are the ones who screw up horses.  Badger them enough and they’ll start to give it right back to you.

I haven’t gained control over Crockett’s shoulders, rear, feet, head or neck according to some training methods, yet he moves his body left or right, backward or forward and balances himself perfectly when I ask.  He even finds time to scratch his head on me and look me straight in the eye as if to say, I’m glad you got to know me.  He’s a real love.

We’ve developed a ritual already in our short time together.  He walks up to me and resting his head on my shoulder, asks politely to be scratched on both cheeks.  He obviously missed this grooming ritual during his days in the holding pen.  I’m glad I’m the priviledged one he lets in to take part in this special bonding process.

Wow!  This mustang is easily the most attentive and gently mustang that I’ve ever had the opportunity to work.  He is by nature very kind.  You can see that clearly in the photos posted on my facebook page.

He greets me with a warm wiggle of his muzzle and last night was rewarded by getting his total freedom.

He’s now halter trained and I saddled him last night. 

He had some initial say over my interruption of his socialization with the barn and buddies.  He was very curious about what they all had to share with him.

He’s very confident and comfortable in his own skin and everywhere he goes he just claims the space as his, though he is very respectful of other organic bodies.  Cats, dogs, people and other horses so far.

That’s pretty cool!

He played with the jolly ball and thought for sure that it was rolling back to take away his hay.  He crested his neck and pinned his ears at it and ready, aim….but didn’t fire.  The ball stopped rolling just inches from his heels.

He is so intelligent that showing him one thing on one side of his body automatically translates to the other side without having to do any prep for the most part.

We are moving along quickly because he can and because he’s ready. 

This past two days we’ve had a full training and trimming schedule so my time with him has been limited to 2-3 hours in the evening.  When our schedule opens up a bit later this week we’ll be able to do more for longer periods of time.

Each session he’s ready for more.  Last night he didn’t want to return to his stall.  He’s ready to roll!

If horses like Crockett were made every day I’d be out of a job.  He’s a mind reader.

Today I wanted to get him even more gentle and have him picking up his feet and putting on a halter.

The halter was easy.  He practically jumped into that.  He’s watched the Barton’s horses coming and going with a great deal of curiosity and as soon as I put on the halter he lipped the front of the stall right where the latch is.  He’s that smart!  And itching to get out of the stall to explore.

He’s not ready for that quite yet.  But he will be tomorrow.  That will be his reward for haltering up the second time.  Tomorrow will be his walk about the farm.  A reward for accepting the halter so easily.  Believe me, they get that.  Put a halter on and start tugging, you’ll get resistance.  Put a halter on and teach them to bend with light (and I mean feather light tugs) and you’ll get flexibility.  Reward that with a mind stimulating adventure and they’ll look to have the halter put on every day!  Believe me, it works.

I am going to step up on my soap box and preach a bit.

Consider this.  Horses loose their baby teeth between 2-5 years of age.  They teeth like human babies.  This makes their jaw and poll sore at times.

If you leave a halter on a horse constantly it is a source of irritation.

They have enough of that trying to shed their teeth.

Put a halter on and leave it on and you will get a horse that does not want to have its head touched.  They get irritated that the halter is causing them to be sore and they do associate the halter with that pain!

Put the halter on, and off, on and off, and on and off….without tugging and you will get a horse that sees the halter as a piece of equipment that gives them the freedom to be with you.  Tug and pull and tug and pull and you will get a horse that tugs, pulls and doesn’t see the halter as a tool to want to be with you.

It’s all in the way the information is presented folks.

So tonight Crockett was haltered and because he LOVES to be scratched on the jaw…because his baby teeth itch, I rewarded him with scratches.  He laid his head over my shoulder and wuffled me and then groomed me back, showing his appreciation. 

Yep.  Halters are good.

Humans picking up your feet is not.

He threw some wicked kick shots at me and even bit me a few times.  Clearly, Crockett wasn’t thrilled about me “biting” his legs.

Horses in the holding pens will often wrestly by nipping and biting one anothers legs.  I think Crockett is skilled at this game.  And he intends to win it.

But with some patience and a little expertise, I let the night end with Crockett allowing me to pick up both of his front hooves.  Then we shared some hay together.

Once he figured out that all I wanted was to hold his hoof, (remember he’s very smart), he started offering them to me.  Politely.

Crockett the crotch rocket is also Crockett the Super Horse!

How cool is that?  Crockett is on his way to being a super athlete! 

Our neighbor, Dr. Dave Barton is an equine and human chiropractor and the only reason we can walk in the morning after trimming 22 horses in one day.  Yes, he’s that good!

Tonight he stopped in to the barn to pay Crockett a visit.

Now let me tell you.  The other day I was talking with Dave’s trainer Jen and holding one of their horses.  I wasn’t aware that Dave had entered the barn.  Louise, their mare began pulling on me.  Gently at first, then more adamantly.

Just then, Dave entered the arena.  Louise about fell over herself trying to get to him.

That’s the way horses see Dave.  They love him.

It was no different for Crockett.

He’s been out of the holding pen a mere 48 hours and he’s gentle enough that Dave was able to manipulate and palpate all his sore spots. 

His hooves are horribly long and it’s showing up in his withers, neck, poll and pelvis.

But twenty minutes with Dave and ol’ Crockett was falling all over himself to be friends with Dave.

If I’m not careful, he might end up liking Dave more than me…hee hee hee  That would be OK.  Dave’s worthy.

Dave, by the way, and his wife, Katie Barton, are also the neighbors who have given Crockett his wonderful home.

We have a great place, 200 acres with a little old farm house and some shelter, but no secured areas for wild mustangs….yet.  So I owe a great deal to Dave and Katie.  You’ll be hearing more about them later.  They are absolutely fabulous people and I am certain that one of the reasons Crockett is adjusting so fast is because their barn is the type of barn that if angels could be heard singing you would hear them there.  It’s full of light, laughter, positive attitudes and deleriously happy horses.

Crockett couldn’t be in a better place.  All of the horses have told him what a wonderful place Barton’s barn is and this evening when I came to visit him he didn’t have a care in the world.  He’s munched down about 3 bales of hay already and he took a nice long nap in his deeply bedded stall.  Yep, life’s good for the little mustang that could.

Watching my Extreme Mustang Makeover horse run down the chute yesterday, Kirk said, “he looks like a crotch rocket!”

Sure enough, his little legs were pumping with some action you usually see in hackney’s.

“Cool!” I thought.  He has really great movement!

Light on his feet, they barely touched as he raced down the loading chute into the trailer.

Our trailer is an aluminum stock trailer and if a horse is heavy on their feet, you can hear it when they step into the trailer.

He sailed.  And barely a bang.

Crotch rocket.  I should say.

We have tossed around names all this month and Kirk and his brother Glenn have given me suggestions everywhere from Dewberry (couble blech) to Tanner (blech) to Belvadere (????).  They weren’t much help.  So I resorted to baby name books, horse web sites with names…Bold and the Beautiful….what are these people thinking?

Then I resorted to threatening to do a naming contest.

But as soon as we saw our little crotch rocket….Kirk had a light bulb moment.

“Maybe we should name him “Crockett the Crotch Rocket!”

Boys.

Crockett.  I rolled it around in my head and liked it!

Still, I decided to sleep on it. 

This morning, I started using.  He seems to like it.  He looked me straight on as soon as I said it and came up to lip me in his customary, friendly fashion.  He’s quite the socialite.

So, just as ShoGun and Lucy were christened, the name just fits.  So his name shall be Crockett.

I don’t know why but I cannot get photos to upload!  Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t.  Keeps me humble.  I am too tired to figure out what magic words I have to say to get the photos uploaded tonight, so if you want to see photos of my new extreme mustang makeover horse, go to my facebook page.

Some are posted there via my phone.

See?  I’m not all technostupid!

He’s arrived!!!  All 14 hands of him.  The sorrel gelding from Jackson Mountains Nevada is tucked into his stall (Thank you Dave and Katie Barton for opening your facilities for me!) for the night and I couldn’t be happier. 

When he ran down the chute at the Canon City holding pen I noticed his animated action and got excited.  He’s little but he’s big, if you know what I mean.

I told him tonight that until a name can be selected that I am going to call him Big Man.  He’s got that kind of personality.

The Universe answered my plea.  I have a horse in the barn that is smart, gentle, talented and solid.  He has the classic build of a mustang.  A noble head, low croup. nicely conformed femurs, pasterns and ample cannon bones.  He is going to be one comfortable ride.  And he’s brave!

Within minutes of loading down the chute he settled into the trailer, content that life was about to bring him the adventure he’s been dreaming about.  He rode quietly and he even let me pet his butt without crouching or cringing.  He regarded me with is big brown eyes softly as if to tell me that we were already friends.  He even came to eat hay out of my hand.  He stopped shy of letting me just pop a halter on him, preferring to make me be patient.

He tried to undo the snap on the gate.  He also tried to undo the chains on the panels.  Then he looked up and down every inch of his run and picked up the halter I had laid on the ground and tossed it around.  “New toy!” he seemed to say.  Amazing.  Only in our family for 5 minutes and he already figured out that latches on gates can be tested…fortunately I had put a clip on it, and that panels are chained together but possible to alter…silly humans.

Within minutes of unloading him he had explored the stall and run, drank, pooped and eaten.  Not an ounce of fright in him.  He’s curious, in charge of his neighborhood and very very mannerly.  I crowded him once just to see what he would do and he calmly looked at me as if to say, “Must you really be so rude?”

Then he let out a soft whinny, calling to the horses across the aisle. 

Is it possible to fall in love so fast?!

He stood well while I approached him, only hesitating a couple of minutes before cocking his leg, relaxing and letting me know I was worthy to pet him.  Oh it was sweet!  He wuffled me and stood at first nervously, then relaxed and licked his lips, swallowed and sighed.

He unloaded at 4:30 p.m.  By 6:30 he was brushed all over, including his head and his legs.  He stood quietly, almost asleep.  Hand gentle and that was with neighbors coming over to ooooh and ahhhhh, the stable hand crusing in and out with the 4-wheeler and horses, banging and clanging as he fed and cleaned, and with Kirk and his brother standing over us filming the entire event!!!  Amazing again!

I’ve worked hundreds of mustangs.  He is by far the best and gentlest horse I’ve ever worked!  A heady experience after ShoGun. 

I love ShoGun dearly but he made me work for every inch of our relationship.  ShoGun is an insecure omega.  Training him for his extreme mustang makeover event was….well….and event in itself.  But he’s my boy and I love him dearly, lips, teeth and all.

This horse is Omega but with all the right qualities.  He isn’t insecure at all but he also isn’t alpha.  He is a social butterfly that has manners and loves to be rubbed and massaged.  He took to that right away. 

His hooves are a mess, but with Kirk’s brilliance and farrier expertise, that will be remedied immediately.

We have about 75 pounds to put on him but that will be a done deal by  next month.

This horse is the kind of horse that is going to be loved by everyone and able to be ridden by anyone.  He’s got that wise old look in a 3 1/2 year old frame.  Big, wise Man…I’ll whisper to him tomorrow.  But then I’ve got to find him his real name. 

This morning I woke at 3:30 a.m.  The dogs wakened me.  I didn’t go to sleep until well after midnight so I was looking forward to a good nights sleep…at least until 5:30 a.m., the time I had my alarm set for. 

Sometimes the dogs sleep through the night and other nights, like last night, they bother me three or four times begging to go outside so they can carry on.  Sometimes it is a hard judgement call if they really need to go out to go to the bathroom or if they just want to nag at the local wildlife.

This morning they wanted to nag.

I couldn’t go back to sleep though.  I was so excited about picking up my new Extreme Mustang Makeover horse that I couldn’t stand it.   I logged on to my computer and counted down on facebook.  Pathetic.

Last week Kirk brought home baby ducks.  Yesterday we rode Chatfield State Park and the horse I’ve been working on for a month finally had her breakthrough.  She started out bucking, bolting and shying, terrified I would reprimand her like her last owner had.

Between that accomplishment and petting baby ducks and getting a new horse my life is very very full.

Perhaps I should say that my emotions are very very full.  Sometimes you just have to say….”I love my life!”

Today was one of those days.

I thought I had better get updated on the technological tools that I have at my disposal.  Having had a good babysitter in my web programmer for so long, I haven’t educated myself but with the possibility of not having her services any longer, I had better get cracking on learning how to post stuff!  Here’s my fist attempt.