Just Incredible!!

This is an old video but definitely a good one. It is a quick video of Nick Skelton jumping a puissance wall (7’6″). I cannot imagine riding up to this jump with the intention of jumping. I hope you enjoy the clip.

Bugs Free Jumping a Line (at Liberty)

This is Bugs first line free jumping at liberty). It is taught through positive reinforcement. Bugs is a green horse who is just learning to jump-both with and without a rider. Jan who is working with me is new to the process as well.

A thought about aids…

You should make your horse responsive to fewer aids, not more. Above all, free the horse from the paralyzing effect of resistance.
–Hans Senn–

Author of those great Quotes: Han Senn Bio

I was asked “Who is this Hans Senn?” I have been posting some of his quotes…because I love them!! So here is a story about the author:

“Riding and competing in Switzerland, Austria, Italy, France and Germany gave Hans a broad exposure of different styles, methods and philosophies.

Hans came to the USA in 1952 where he became active in show jumping, dressage, eventing and fox hunting. He also learned to ride show hunters and competed many years in the Midwest, Florida, Devon and the indoor circuit.

Eventually, Hans started to judge hunters, jumpers, equitation, dressage and became a course designer.

In 1990, he was the coordinator of the Equestrian Events of the Olympic Festival.”

Sadly, Hans passed away a few months (or so) ago.

My Hunter/Jumper trainer and good friend Marcy Gehrke rode with Hans when she was young. She is responsible for getting me hooked on his little book of wisdom. So, I will continue to post his quotes as there are a ton of great ones in there!!

Bugs: A Horse with Big Shoes to Fill!

December, 14, 2010

Bugs is like a big kid.  Bugs has been with me since early last spring.  He is a 7 year old, 16.3 Chestnut appendix quarter horse.  Both his dam and sire were appendix so he has his fair share of thoroughbred in him.  I love this about him, since I have a real affinity for thoroughbreds.  Mint is a thoroughbred you know.   And you know I love my Mint!  Mint has been my shining example of  positive reinforcement.  He has a huge repertoire of behaviors both from the ground and undersaddle.  He embodies On Target Training with his huge heart and  great disposition.  He is a pleasure for anyone to be around and I hear it from people all the time.  He is light and responsive in the saddle, making me feel like a highly effective rider even on my worst day.  This is what I wanted, another Mint!  Of course, this is not how Mint started out.
 
Let’s start with Bugs beginnings… He was in a pasture with very little interaction until he was 4 years old.  That is a long time. There is a window when young horses are very trainable and then there is a time when they are more set in their ways.  Bugs kinda missed that window.  At 4 he was taken from the pasture and it was decided he was going to be a roping horse.  Talk about a square peg in a round hole.  Needless to say this didn’t go so well for Bugs.  I don’t know all of the details but he came away with a scar on his face and a suspicious disposition.
 
My friend Marcy had been around Bugs and saw that he wasn’t going down a good path.  He was off to the horse auction.  She stepped in and took him to her barn, which is a hunter/jumper barn.  This is not something that Marcy had done before.  She was not sure how this would end or where he was going to go, she just felt it in her heart to give him a chance. For the next couple of years he was in a low pressure program and taught the basics.  It was clear to her that he really wanted to please but he still needed a gentle touch.  She had invested too much to just let anyone have him and felt somewhat protective of her charge.
 
This is when I enter the picture.  Due to personal reasons Mint had been turned out for 7 years and I had barely ridden.  Mint was newly out of retirement but he is getting older and I thought it was time to have a new addition, not only for riding but for the positive reinforcement training.  I asked her about buying a horse.  Marcy saw a potentially good fit with me and Bugs.  I dusted off my chaps and showed up at Marcy’s barn to try Bugs.  I wasn’t on him for a minute when he spooked and wheeled.  Poof, I’m on the ground.  Me being newly back in the saddle, my seat wasn’t real solid.  He ended up by the rail, as I went to go get him he was visibly trembling with fear, afraid of the repercussions.
 
At that instant, I knew he was meant for me.  It broke my heart to see him so worried.  I knew I had the tools to help him.  Now, this is not how one should choose their horses. Bugs had been doing great with Jenn, who rides for Marcy.  He felt safe with Jenn and his routine.  This, clearly, did not carry over to me.
 
Marcy, being the voice of reason, wouldn’t let me make a decision until I spent more time with Bugs.  He came to the barn where I was boarding.  He showed me how suspicious he seemed to feel in the new situation.  He broke through two leather halters in two days by pulling back in the cross ties.  I never became disheartened and he began to trust me and even more, to look forward to time with me.  When I would pull up in my truck both of my horses would start whinnying.  I got some riding in but not on a consistent basis.  I knew we were moving to a new barn in October, a really nice barn I might add.  Marcy is the trainer at the new barn and we were getting into a riding/training program together and utilizing the positive reinforcement.  We are both doing great and making great strides.  Bugs is growing up!!
 
Patty, who owns the barn was hosting an elaborate Christmas party the other day at the barn.  This meant trucks and workmen were everywhere.  They were decorating, hanging plastic to tent the barn areas, putting in a dance floor, bar, hanging lights and bringing in a mechanical bull.  This was seemed to be sheer terror for some horses(and rider’s).  But Bugs was totally sensible and calm.  He made me feel really proud.  I think Bugs is a great edition to On Target Training.  We have a lot to learn together but he, like Mint, is showing that love of learning and growing a big heart.  There is a part of me that wanted him to be all done, just like Mint is now, and then I realized what a great journey it is and wondered why it is I always want to hurry.  Bugs will never be just like Mint, but that is fine with me, he is going to be just like Bugs and that is shaping up to be great news.  He is a Blessing and I am ever thankful that he is in my life.  Bugs has a shining future and I look forward to the journey that lies ahead of us.

Fear vs. Punishment – Hans Senn

Your horse learns more from praise than from punishment. Teach your horse to respect and like you, not to fear and mistrust you. Make your horse comfortable and he will make you comfortable.
- Hans Senn

Frozen Carrot Stew (aka: environmental enrichment)

When I was at Sea World we utilized “Environmental Enrichment Devices” to help keep our animals thinking and engaged in constructive activities. Horses who live in stalls are faced with the same challenges.

I’d love to hear your thoughts on this, or have you share your own ideas to keep horses mentally engaged, in the comments!

(please note – the audio goes quiet for a little bit while I’m walking to the barn, but it does come back when I give the frozen treats to the horses!)

Mint: A Horse with Heart

It has been just over a year since Mint came back into my life. This got me to thinking about Mint’s life and the journey that we have taken together. Let’s start at the beginning…

Back in 1994 I went to John and Beezie Madden’s farm in upstate New York to begin training horses utilizing positive reinforcement training. I had learned these techniques during the 10 years I had spent training marine mammals at Sea World. This had not been done with horses and especially at the professional level. It was an exciting time for us. I worked with a number of horses, most of them were competing as high level show jumpers. There were two young horses that didn’t go to shows and ended up getting the most consistent training. These two were essentially my experimentals subjects. They were clean slates who had everything to learn. Mint was one of these horses. To date he holds the title as “The Worst Horse I Ever Worked”. He was such a quitter. He would quit during the target training process. For those of you who don’t know about target training, it is easy and they all love to do it. But not Mint. He seemed to have decided that this was too much effort. The horse in the paddock next to him, who was not part of our training program, would try to reach over the fence to touch the target that Mint wouldn’t touch right in front of his nose. All these years later and I have not met another horse who quits during target training!

Mint had no desire to try or please. He had no heart. When I first started working with horses I would hear how the best horses had “heart”. It was consistently thought of as something that a horse either had or didn’t have and not really something that you could change. I wasn’t familiar with the term “heart” and learned that this referred to a horses desire to please his rider/trainer. It boiled down to his attitude. This, to me, is the MOST important thing in the training process. If a horse learns something but he learns it with a bad attitude, well, it is just not going to end up being the best situation for either me or my horse. He may do what I want but if he has a sour attitude about the behavior then he will probably end up looking for ways to avoid doing it. This usually means bucking, spooking, bolting, rearing, balking, bulging, you get the picture. If Mint was going to be a part of the program, I needed to get him to put forth some effort. I would, and still do, reinforce him when he tries. When I see that things are getting difficult for him I reinforce him quite a bit for even the slightest effort.

Mint came along nicely and soon got up to speed. It still took a while for his personality to fully come out. He was always good but not very demonstrative. It made me happy when he moved past just doing the things I asked of him and began to actually enjoy the things I asked him to do. His “heart” was growing. We went on to a rigorous schedule, touring and doing clinics and expos all over the country. He shipped 60,000 miles in two years. Then in 2002 I went through some very difficult times. The challenges were of a personal nature and the horses were sent to Minnesota to be turned out while I tried to get my life sorted out. Thankfully, I have finaly arrived in a great place, but it took a while. Seven years later Mint was shipped back to California. I was so excited to see him but the behaviorist in me was curious about how much he would recall. Would he remember me? Would he remember his training? Would he be happy to be back? I had seen him one time in all those years. It was amazing to see him when that day finally got here. He seemed to feel the same. When the trailer pulled up he was unloaded into a corral. I gave him a couple minutes to get some water or urinate and then took him to the arena and took off his halter. He stayed right with me and did everything that I asked. He didn’t just do the behaviors, he did them with enthusiasm and zeal. He did them with heart!

People tell me often that Mint is an “exceptional horse”, suggesting that he was “born” with heart. It makes me smile to think back to that young horse who was beyond indifferent, to this horse who has developed heart through the use of positive reinforcement. We have now moved barns a couple times and have finally settled into a new barn where we can continue on our journey together.

The video of Mint’s arrival is available. If you want to see the day he arrived it is on my blog and it is titled “Clicker Trained Horse Remembers”.

Exclusive Training Videos – Mounting

Here’s the introduction to my new video on Mounting – using positive reinforcement to help with horses that are young and new to mounting, or horses that have issues with mounting.

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Horse Tip Daily: Positive and Negative Reinforcement

I just wanted to share this link with everyone. It is Daily training tips for horsemen on a wide range of topics. A lot of good information there! Also the Horse Radio Network has several radio shows…all really interesting. They are going to be broadcasting from the WEG next month. Live broadcasts with interviews and a live audience!! I suggest tuning in!!   This tip addresses the basics of positive and and negative reinforcement. Just click HERE for a link to the training tips!

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