"Abby Hunt Spade Bit" - Rick Lamb
with Richard Shrake
in
Equipment
It looked like a medieval torture device but Abby Hunt's famous spade bit allowed for very subtle communication.
By our modern standards some of the curb bits of the past seem rather barbaric. Consider the famous Abby Hunt spade bit. Attached t
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o the port or rise in the mouthpiece was a spade, a spoon-like piece of metal which rested between the horse's tongue and the roof of his mouth. Show horse trainer Richard Shrake.
"That port now became what we call a pre-signal. And before the chin strap would actually tighten up, that port would kind of bump the soft palette of the mouth and warn him that you're about to pull on the rein. So this horse that maybe took a little tug before now is so light, all you needed to do is squeeze your fingers just like you'd squeeze a washcloth."
The thing to remember about any bit is that it is only as gentle or cruel as the rider attached to it.
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"Abuse Excuse" - Rick Lamb
with Clinton Anderson
in
Training
You've just bought a new horse and find out he was abused by the previous owner. What do you do?
What one person sees as a legitimate training technique, someone else may see as abusing a horse. So even defining abuse is problematic. Trainer Cl
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inton Anderson often encounters what you might call the abuse excuse.
"When you take all this emotional baggage with you to the arena, every time your horse does something silly or something you don't want, you say, 'Ah, well he's got a good reason to act like that because he was abused.' So when I get an owner like that, I say, 'Hey, you're in luck! You just bought the horse from me today. You don't know any history. You don't know anything about it. Start moving on.' And as soon as the owner treats it like that, you'd be amazed at the improvement they make."
Think about how horses treat each other. If a new horse joins the herd, the other horses expect him to behave appropriately today. They really don't care what happened before.
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"Acceptable Try" - Rick Lamb
with Clinton Anderson
in
Training
We're told in training horses to find and reward the slightest try, but sometimes the slightest try isn't enough.
When you ask something of a horse, you want an honest try from him, one that is the best he has to offer at that moment. If this
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is something new to him, you will accept a fairly clumsy attempt as long as it is in the general direction you want to go. But next time, you expect more. The teacher's definition of an acceptable try changes as the student learns. Clinician Clinton Anderson.
A kid that's learning how to spell in grade one, if he spells some things wrong, you're not going to make a big deal about it, are you? You're going to accept that he's tried to get his name correct and so forth. If that kid's in grade three now and he can't spell his name correctly, you're going to take that quite a bit more seriously, aren't you? Because you expect more of him.
You should expect more from your horse every day, too. You're not really asking him to try harder; you're asking him to build, with the same effort, on what he already knows.
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"Accepting Horse for Training" - Rick Lamb
with Al Dunning
in
Training
The most successful horse trainers today can pick and choose the horses they work with. So what do they look for?
In the competitive world of showing horses, a trainer's reputation and livelihood depend on winning events. He has a limited amoun
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t of time for training, so he has to be very careful about which horses he accepts. Al Dunning, trainer of world champion reining, cutting and cow horses, talks about the selection criteria he uses.
"You want one that's bred impeccably, that's beautiful, that has the right stout conformation that can do these events, because these are all real physical events. And then I want a horse that has some intelligence, too. Because the most beautiful horse, the most perfectly bred, you never can tell. There might be two things you can't tell right off, and that's the heart and the mind."
Of course, in timed events, including racing, a horse's background, beauty and brains aren't nearly as important.
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"Adhesive Seat" - Rick Lamb
with Charles Dekunffy
in
Riding
Not to get too personal, but how's your seat? You'll need a good one if you want to ride horses well.
Seats come in all sizes and shapes but that doesn't really matter when you're riding a horse. What's important is how your tush sticks to the
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saddle. In riding, your seat and legs should meld with the horse; your torso, arms and head should float, as if independent, above him. Dressage instructor Charles deKunffy says a good seat will make all of the riding aids more effective.
"Once that rider has an adhesive seat that travels on the directional wave of the horse's oscillating back, the adhesive seat that doesn't sit on the horse, but inside the horse's movement, that rider has no difficulty with any of the aids."
With an independent, adhesive seat, riding looks nearly effortless. Without it, riding can look a lot like work.
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adhesive seat, charles dekunffy, balance, equitation, saddle, riding
"Aggressive Horse" - Rick Lamb
with Gawani Pony boy
in
Behavior
What does an aggressive horse have in common with a terrorist? Just being nice to them won't change their behavior.
Whatever form it takes, aggression in a horse is a dangerous and unacceptable behavior. Horse trainer GaWaNi Pony Boy recommend
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s looking at aggression as a real estate problem.
"The horse that's being aggressive towards you is saying, 'This is my space. I let you in it up until now, but now it's time for you to get out. So get out of my space already!' It becomes a question of who owns this land. And through some exercises we try to teach the horse that we are more qualified to own this property than they are and that we have rights to this property and they don't until we share it with them."
Using a language of gestures and body positioning that horses understand, the handler establishes himself as the dominant individual. It is only from this position of power that respect can be obtained and aggression can be curbed.
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"AI for Thoroughbreds" - Rick Lamb
with Karen Berk
in
Breeds
They're born and bred to be the best running machines on earth, but some say Thoroughbreds could be better.
Thoroughbred owners want to breed their mares to the best stallions available. Yet because they're not allowed to use artificial insemi
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nation, it's logistically difficult and expensive to access new blood. They lose the proven benefits of hybrid vigor, and they wear out the good stallions they do have. Reproduction expert Karen Berk.
"When I watch a stallion being bred six days a week, three times a day, to the point where his libido goes 'I don't want to do this anymore,' I look at it as almost a humane issue. I have the utmost respect for the Thoroughbred industry, but this would definitely simplify the workload."
Equine transport companies and others that benefit from the current ban on artificial insemination will undoubtedly continue to fight its acceptance for Thoroughbreds.
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"Aikido for Horsemen" - Rick Lamb
with GaWaNi Pony Boy
in
Riding
Martial arts are not only for fighting. They are complimentary to many pursuits, including riding horses. I'm Rick Lamb and this is The Horse Show Minute.
In the movies, Samurai warriors gallop into battle with swords slashing. Modern life has
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little use for battlefield horsemanship, but the enhanced mind/body connection that all martial arts pursue has direct application to riding and even to falling off a horse. Native American horseman GaWaNi Pony Boy.
"My falling that I teach comes directly from Aikido. Centering my energy came directly from that. Learning how to take my energy and move it down into my center rather than up in my shoulders. It helps for balance primarily."
Originating in Japan in the 1940s, Aikido is similar to the ancient Chinese martial art of Tai Chi in that both are considered internal or spiritual programs concerned with balance, harmony, and self improvement. The study of either is beneficial to riders.
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"Aiming of Belly Button" - Rick Lamb
with Chris Irwin
in
Training
For greater success in working your horse in a round pen, become aware of where you're aiming your belly button.
Imagine the place on a horse's body where the girth strap rides. Physical or psychological pressure applied in front of the girthli
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ne opposes the forward movement of the horse; pressure applied behind supports it. As Canadian clinician Chris Irwin explains, the place you are applying pressure is determined not by where you stand, but by your angle to the horse. In other words, where your belly button is aimed.
"Physically, we might have our body located behind the girth of the horse, thinking we're tapping into the horse's herding impulse. But if when that horse looks at us it sees that that belly button is aimed at the head, which nine times out of ten with people it is, that horse does not associate our movement with pushing. That horse associates our movement with capturing, and that's a fundamentally different message."
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aiming of belly button, Chris Irwin, round pen, roundpen, training, trainers, driving, capturing, psychology, pressure, center point, girth
"Alfalfa vs. Grass" - Rick Lamb
in
Care
Nearly all horses prefer alfalfa hay to grass hay, but that doesn't mean you should give them a steady diet of it.
Alfalfa, or lucerne, is a perennial legume, in the same family as clover and various bean plants. Alfalfa hay is a good source o
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f energy and protein, but not fiber. Too much alfalfa can cause hyperactivity, obesity, and even colic in horses. Australian clinician Wrangler Jayne Glenn.
"Alfalfa is like chocolate. I limit my alfalfa to less than twenty percent of their overall diet. They're best off with grass hay, just regular cut pasture hay. They just take a bit and go away and come back as they need it. It's like giving a child vegetables."
Grass hay, with its high fiber content and abrasiveness on the teeth, is better for the digestive and dental health of horses. It also allows a horse to eat longer, which is good for his mental health.
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"Alternative Therapies" - Rick Lamb
with Dr. Linda Schultz
in
Anecdotes
In Western countries, they are known as alternative therapies and some are useful in surprising ways when horses are sick. I'm Rick Lamb and this is The Horse Show Minute.
Some approaches to health and healing don't lend themselves to testing
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in the conventional scientific way. Yet, anecdotal evidence – the experiences of real people in the real world – suggests that these alternative therapies have value. This sometimes puts equine veterinarians, who are men and women of science, in an awkward position. Dr. Linda Schultz handles it this way:
Since we don't know if the therapy is doing something, if an owner wants to do that, and no studies that I know of have shown that that's harmful to a horse, I'll say, "Sure."
And if it's helping their God-given ability to heal, I'm all for it. Many times owners need things to do.
The term alternative therapy applies to everything from acupuncture and chiropractic to magnetic, light, and even aroma therapy. Its diversity has made gaining general acceptance that much more difficult.
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alternative therapies, Dr. Linda Schultz, health, healing, anecdotal evidence, veterinarians, science, scientific method, acupuncture, chiropractic, magnetic therapy, light therapy, aroma therapy
"Anger, Fear, Impatience" - Rick Lamb
in
Training
There are three human emotions most of us feel every day that will sabotage communication with a horse.
It's normal to feel angry when a horse misbehaves, afraid when you think you're in danger, or impatient when training takes longer than exp
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ected. But in every case, responding emotionally makes the situation worse. Since we can't simply turn off our emotions, Dr. Robert Miller offers this suggestion.
"We have to discipline ourselves that when that occurs – not if, because it will occur - we're human beings, we're going to get angry sometimes, we're going to be afraid sometimes, and we're going to be impatient sometimes. And what you do is stop right there and walk away from that horse, because you have lost the ability to communicate with a horse when you are impatient or angry or afraid."
Walking away may require swallowing your pride. But that's one more emotion you can't allow to rule you.
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anger, fear, impatience, Dr. Robert Miller, trainer, training, horsemanship, riding, behavior, attitude, safety, injury
"Anxious Horse" - Rick Lamb
with GaWaNi Pony Boy
in
Behavior
Horses can feel anxiety just like we do. The difference is, it's programmed into their brains to keep them alive.
Horses are naturally afraid, suspicious and prone to panic, like most prey animals. If they weren't built that way, the species wo
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uldn't have survived. Unfortunately, all this anxiety lying so near the surface makes them do things like rearing, bolting or bucking, which put us in real danger. Native American trainer and author GaWaNi Pony Boy.
I have found that the most effective solution to the anxious horse is becoming more important than everything else on the face of the earth and when you earn that status, the anxiety goes away because they feel confident near you, rather than confident near the barn or the other horses or whatever it is that makes them feel confident.
Horses are comforted by being in a herd, because the leader of the herd is watching out for them. You need to be that leader with your horse.
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anxious horse, GaWaNi Pony Boy, training, behavior, rearing, bucking, bolting, leadership
"Approach and Retreat" - Rick Lamb
with Clinton Anderson
in
Training
Want to get your horse to accept something that scares him? One good method is approach and retreat.
The approach and retreat technique works well for desensitizing horses to many different kinds of things. The theory is simple. Find the amount
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of stimulus the horse will accept and gradually increase it. Sometimes this means just getting it closer to him. The trick is knowing when to back off, or retreat. Clinton Anderson talks about approach and retreat with electric clippers.
"If I think he's going to get frightened in five seconds, I'm going to take the clippers away in three seconds. I always retreat on my terms. Now, if I missed it and let's say I do a little bit of clipping and he gets upset, I'm just going to hold the clippers there and have them vibrate against him until he relaxes. Then I'll retreat them. I'm not cutting there, but I still have those clippers at exactly the same spot rubbing the blade against him."
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"Arabian Market Crash" - Rick Lamb
with David Johnson
in
Breeds
In the late eighties, owners and breeders of Arabian horses were making a fortune. Then the magic carpet ride ended.
It was income tax reform that torpedoed the Arabian industry. New laws leveled tax shelters and eliminated the incentive for
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investors. Exorbitantly priced show horses were suddenly worth pennies on the dollar. Equine appraiser David Johnson explains why.
"In the Arabian market, they had focused on what I call the feed 'em and lead 'em type of class, where you have this expensive Arab, and you have your trainer lead him into the halter ring. And the reason people bought these is because they had a lot of extra bucks to spend and they would brag about it at bridge club. The horses couldn't do anything."
The Arabian industry survived, and today, as with all breeds, there are still individual horses valued at astronomical amounts. Generally speaking, these are horses that can do something.
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Arabian market crash, David Johnson, showing, show horses, halter horses, income tax reform, Arabians, Arabs, tax shelters
"Are Horses Smart?" - Rick Lamb
with Pat Parelli
in
Behavior
We all know that horses can be trained to do amazing things, but just how smart are they?
The ability to analyze, to visualize, to reason. These are essential components in the intelligence of humans, but they're not of any great use to horses
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. Horses need a different kind of mental function, as natural horsemanship teacher Pat Parelli explains.
People ask me all the time, Are horses smart?' They're very smart. From eohippus millions of years ago, they have evolved by being observant to predators, places, changes, and things, and that's how they're smart. They're smart about surviving. The problem is, that is what frustrates us about the horse.
Fortunately, we humans have the intellectual tools to empathize with the horse, to imagine what the world would be like from his point of view. When we do that, we begin to understand what horse sense is all about.
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"Artificial Insemination" - Rick Lamb
with Karen Berk
in
Breeds
Artificial Insemination is now accepted by most breeds and a good stallion can make a very lucrative business.
Natural though it may be, pasture breeding of horses is a very hit-and-miss business. The breeding barn is safer and more efficient,
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but thirty to forty mares per season is still about the most a stallion can breed with live cover. Then there's artificial insemination. Consultant Karen Berk.
"The highest number I've ever done, it was on a seventeen year-old stallion. We synchronized the entire barn of mares. One collection – very highly concentrated, very high motility – and we bred twenty-nine mares in a forty-eight hour period. Twenty-eight mares got pregnant."
A top show horse may have a stud fee of ten thousand dollars, making it possible to gross more than a quarter million dollars from one semen collection. Not bad for an afternoon's work.
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"Asking Questions" - Rick Lamb
with Sharon Smith
in
Breeds
When it comes to buying a horse, you need to be as nosy as a busybody neighbor to get the kind of horse you want.
Who, what, where, when, and why. You should have a barrage of these kinds of questions ready whenever you consider buying a horse
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, regardless of its age or intended use. Author Sharon Smith counsels people on buying horses for retraining. She offers this advice.
"Owners vary in how much they'll tell you, but assuming that they'll be honest, just ask everything you can think of about how the horse is trained, how he behaves, what he does. And perhaps there, if you're looking specifically to retrain, you may get some ideas about the background he has and the likelihood that his characteristics will suit what you hope to do with him."
Remember, the only dumb question is the one you don't ask! And remember to get that pre-purchase exam from a reputable equine vet. The questions you ask the vet could be the most important of all.
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"Assertive, Non-threatening Leader" - Rick Lamb
in
Training
A partner or a leader. What is the better role for you to play with your horse? The ideal has elements of both.
Every serious horseman is searching for the same thing in his relationship with his horse: The respect afforded a leader and the tr
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ust afforded a partner. Canadian clinician, equine behaviorist, and corporate trainer Chris Irwin puts it this way.
"When we're working with the horse, we're trying to establish ourselves as an assertive, but non-threatening leader, to find that perfect bond with your horse where you are the one leading the dance, but it's not forced. It's not coerced. You've truly developed a willing partnership with the horse."
Taken to the workplace, this is a good model for an effective manager: Someone who has the assertiveness to lead convincingly without threat or intimidation and with empathy for those he leads. How many bosses like that have you had?
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"Automatic Response to Cue" - Rick Lamb
with John Lyons
in
Training
Do you wish your horse was a robot? Of course not. But wouldn't it be nice if he sometimes acted a bit like one? I'm Rick Lamb and this is The Horse Show Minute.
The training system of John Lyons revolves around teaching the horse a cue for ea
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ch desired behavior. John wants the horse's response to be the same regardless of distractions around him. He likens it to the way we shake hands.
You may have something on your mind, they reach their hand out and you automatically reach your hand for theirs. That's what I want the horse to do when I'm riding him or working with him. I want him to be so focused on what I'm asking and his response to the cue so automatic that that overrides the balloon coming at him or the ball or the car or any other distraction.
Of course, the horse can't do this unless you are giving him cues. So especially when there are lots of distractions around, you need to be giving your horse a steady stream of guidance, a steady stream of cues.
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