Mark is working with Christina and G’Donya. (Try saying the name in your best Australian accent with “Mate” after it). G’Donya is fine, but Christina is locked up. Christina would like G’Donya to have a longer stride at the walk.
Christina is cueing G’Donya for a longer stride, but when he starts to give it to her she is not releasing the cue. He thinks he’s made the wrong response. She has been cueing with a driving seat, but this is throwing the horse off balance.
“Let’s try just bringing up your energy. You can try this yourself on the ground. Try a slow walk. Take note. Not much is happening. Now try a fast walk. You’re bringing up adrenaline. A lot of things are going on—heart rate, pulse, etc. That’s what we want to use as a cue to your horse. You can be calm and do this. Try to feel his walk.” G’Donya is walking slowly.
Loving Relationship
Jessica adds, “He’s a very responsible citizen. He’s trying to take care of Christina. The more she locks up the more he interprets it as worry. He slows to take care of her. They clearly have a very loving, caring relationship.”
Mark asks for a stop and back with no leg. G’Donya has not backed this way. He is worried and works the bit. “Add a bit of pressure.” He works on it then backs with a slight sidepass. Christina has had a hair of pressure with one leg. She is a little heavy on the right side. She added the right leg first and took it off last.
Another back—this time his nose is bent right. Mark asks her to straighten the nose. She does, and G’Donya backs straight.
Heads Will Fall
He starts abruptly. Christina has given two cues. She asks for a trot but is looking at his head. “We’ll tell you if his head falls off. I’ve only seen it happen once. If it happens, you’ll hear a thud, and he’ll trip.” One slow step—he’s asking if he can go slower. Two slow steps—he’s still asking.
“He’s still asking. He likes you. It doesn’t have to be a big cue. Kiss, that acknowledges that you heard. You’re thinking about what’s going on and why it’s not working. If you’re thinking negatively, that starts a downward spiral. When changes are coming you’ll see a shift in momentum coming from the horse—shoulder, eye, ear, step. You don’t look in one place. You look all over.
“There—you answered two and missed three. Cluck, kiss, leg, lift reins—something has to happen. He’s asking, ‘Is it alright if I slow down?’ You need to answer, ‘I’d appreciate it if you didn’t.’ You’re asking yourself how does this affect my horse? It’s a conversation between you and him.”
Christina works on cueing G’Donya with the reins. “Right now, right now, right now. You’re lifting the reins, but there’s a slight pull on his mouth. You pick up the reins, and his head comes up. If it works that’s okay, but the reins are attached to the bit, and it lifts his head a bit. Try using a kiss and then, if you need to, a little leg.
“Is this trot what you want?”
“I don’t think we’ll get it in the arena.
“If you don’t think you will, you won’t.”
If you are riding with more life and energy, not locked up, you aren’t moving so stiffly that the horse can’t carry you. Loosening up is unlocking yourself and your horse.
“It’s such hard work. I didn’t think it should be so hard.” Mark helps Christina see that she is making it more difficult by moving and pushing. Cluck, kiss, leg—she’s throwing him off balance. She only needs to use a cue. If it is pushing with her seat, she only needs to use it once when she asks.
G’Donya works better outside of the arena because there is not a disconnect. Christina’s energy and connection went away when they entered the arena. It’s not up to the horse. It’s up to the ride. G’Donya is responding to Christina, doing what he has always done.
Lighten Up
Jodi Denning is called into the arena to work with Christina. She asks permission to touch Christina and finds that Christina’s knees are tight. Her lower back is hollowed, and her pelvis is tipped. She asks Christina to drop her stirrups and pull her knees up to her waist. This flattens Christina’s back. Jodi puts a hand on her lower back and asks her to breathe into her hand. While this is happening G’Donya has relaxed and cocked a leg.
The joint in the hip needs to be fluid and open like diapering a baby or a cat on its back. Jodi pulls Christina’s bent leg out and down. Then tries the other leg. Christina’s back is still tight but flat not hollow. Her pelvis is leveled. She has more contact with the saddle and horse. Jodi pushes Christina’s back. She is solid in the saddle. G’Donya is the one who moves to stabilize them.
Christina puts her feet in the stirrups. Her thigh muscles are longer. Jody drags her hands down Christina’s thigh to give her the feeling of the length. She is lower in the saddle and does not need to clench with her knees. She drags her fingers down the back of Christina’s calf letting her feel the length of her calves. Then she asks Christina to flex her knee out, her ankle in slightly to loosen up.
Next Jody has Christina bob her heels up and down. The movement goes to her hips and stops. Jody wants it to go all the way up. “Just jiggle your foot.” This time she can feel the movement all the way to her shoulders. She has flattened her back. Now Jody rotates her thigh a bit. “Experiment until you find a place in your body that is most secure. Think about making your back longer. Breathe from your abdomen. Your abdomen needs to support you as you ride. Pull your legs up to fill in your back. You want your pelvis level. We’ve dropped your foot about an inch.
“This is all the same stuff Mark and Jessica talked about. Move around. Experiment. Unlock things in your back.”
G’Donya moves out, relaxed, with long strides—the walk Christina wanted they have now achieved.
Jody answers a last question. “Women tend to tip forward on their pelvis. Men tend to rotate back and sit on their pockets. What you want is for the pelvis to be level.”
DR. DAVID SIEMENS
Bio
Dr. David Siemens is a graduate of Palmer College of Chiropractic and is certified in the Zahourek System (a complete knowledge of the equine musculature structure). He is a charter member of the American Veterinary Chiropractic Association. He owns, rides, and drives horses and has a keen desire to help people and animals stay healthy and operate at their peek performance level.
Everything Horse
The American Veterinary Chiropractic Association was founded in 1987 to set standards and assure quality chiropractic care for horses. Everything to do with a horse is art, science, and philosophy. They are not separate. Chiropractic care covers brain, nerve system, muscles, and skeletal structure of the horse.
The skeletal structure supports the horse. Muscles attach to the skeletal structure to create levers. The skeletal structure also offers protection to internal systems. There are compromises. The horse gives up some protection for flexibility. The horse then is vulnerable to trauma and dislocation from poor saddle fit, stress, confinement, trailering.
Just looking at the standing horse will tell us some things just as looking at a sanding car will tell us some things, but moving tells us more. We can look at the horse and the range of motion. Is bone out of place? Is there nerve irritation?
The clues to pain and problems may be: asymmetrical movement, pinning ears at saddling, being cinchy, altered gait, stumbling, touchy back, no impulsion, irritable attitude, colic, digestive problems.
G’Donya
Christina has brought G’Donya for this demonstration. She walks him away from us. We watch his hips. His pelvis is level. He has symmetrical movement. There is a lateral swing to his tail. We watch his length of stride and the way he puts each foot down.
She walks him back toward us. We again watch footfall, placement of foot, length of stride, fluidity of movement, and whether his head is straight. G’Donya has had chiropractic care before.
Some of the forms of riding we do with a horse cause or aggravate problems. All riding is unnatural for the horse. Tension creates problems. There are a number of reasons why an owner may choose to have a chiropractor for his/her horse. Contacting the American Veterinary Chiropractic Association, 309-658-2920, is a way to find a certified equine chiropractor in your area.
On a Barrel
Harry has spent time in a barrel as a rodeo clown. Deb has probably been over a barrel with some of her statements. Dave works on a barrel. Dave is vertically challenged and has been on the short end of many jokes this week. The large blue barrel he mounts with such finesse allows him to work above his patients.
G’Donya takes visible pleasure at the work Dave does on him. Dave is able to move up and down the horse, deft flips of his feet maneuvering the barrel. Those of us who have had need of a good chiropractor appreciate what is happening. Others are skeptical and pepper Dave with questions.
Chiropractic care is a holistic approach to health and performance problems of the horse. It does not take the place of veterinary medicine and surgery but adds another facet of care. It focuses on the health and proper functioning of the spinal column.
Dave fielded questions on whether one adjustment was sufficient. Depending on the severity of the problem and the length of time the condition has existed it may take several sessions to completely readjust the horse. You will probably begin to see change with the first treatment. Treating one problem may reveal deeper problems and need other treatment. Regular maintenance sessions may be necessary every 1-2 months.
Dave is still working on G’Donya when we have to move on to another session. Time is a human concept best thrown away when working with a horse.
STUART GREENBERG, C.F
FARRIERY
Bio
Stuart Greenberg teaches a popular series of practical horseshoeing courses at Santa Rosa Junior College in Santa Rosa, California. He also has a private practice hallmarked by his wonderful “eye” for structural alignment. He is a member of the Equine Studies Institute.
He treats horses according to the principles of orthopedics. This includes trimming, design, manufacture, and application of horseshoes and other devices. He understands equine anatomy and biomechanics and does not try to artificially alter a horse’s stance or way of going because “corrective shoeing is usually incorrect.”
Recommended Reading
Stuart started with a table full of good reading on equine anatomy and horseshoeing. The Illustrated Atlas of Clinical Equine Anatomy and Common Disorders of the Horse, Vol. 1: Musculoskeletal System and Lameness Disorders, Ronald Riegel, D.V.M. and Susan E. Hakola, B.S., R.N., C.M.I. is a spiralbound lab book with the clearest, best color illustrations and commentary to be found. It is the best and most useful book of its kind.
Scientific Horseshoeing, Professor William Russell, is a reprint of a 1903 textbook for “leveling and balancing the action and gait of horses.
There were other including Principles of Conformation Analysis, Vols. I, II, III, Deb Bennett, Ph.D. Quoting from the entry in our notebooks “The foremost authority on equine anatomy and biomechanics presents the definitive form and function survey of equine anatomy and physiology, and how the conformation relates to movement and performance. The most enlightening book on equine conformation ever written. 96 pp. each volume, paperbound, about $25 for the set.”
The Anatomy of the Hoof
You cannot assess shoeing and balance unless you know the internal structures of the foot. A horse’s front legs are support columns. They support 2/3 of the weight of the horse keeping him from dragging his nose on the ground. The front feet are rounder and larger than the rear feet. Forces on the feet come straight down. The coffin bone is broader and wider in shape.
The rear legs triangulate in structure. There is a rotational aspect to movement. The more triangular the structure, the steeper the angle of the coffin bone. The arch on the sole is greater.
The hoof capsule is specialized hair. It has bundles of tubules that you see as lines running in the hoof wall. Twenty five percent of the composition of these is moisture. Ninety percent of that moisture comes from internal sources—blood, serum, circulation through movement of the horse. That is why keeping a horse in a large turnout aids the health of the hooves. The hoof wall is the primary weight bearing structure of the horse.
The sole is also keritanized, less organized, does not bear as much weight. It is 33% moisture content and protects the coffin bone. It becomes tempered if the horse goes barefoot.
The frog is keritanized and has fat glands for lubrication. It is the consistency of a pink pearl eraser. It has a wide, broad, large portion at the back of the foot. It is very important as a shock absorber. It acts to bear some weight. It acts as a mechanical blood pump and has traction qualities. It should be diminished very little during trimming and shoeing. Trimming should be therapeutic only, cleaning out the commisures, taking out snaggly pieces. Shoeing is structurally intrusive and should be approached with the idea first do no harm and second allow for the greatest protection of the sound structure as possible.
Periopal material, which protects the nail bed and is similar to the cuticle on a human is the fringy-looking material at the top of a hoof. It may be brushed sponged, or softly groomed with a face brush but left intact. It acts as a moisture barrier. It is the transitional material in a hoof and protects the infantile, tender growth from the coronary band. Do not rasp there.
The hoof also has growth or “fever” rings, which are a record of the systemic changes in a hoof. They are like tree rings recording the change in feed and conditions.
A farrier may rasp around the hoof wall to redress environmental wear.
Inside the hoof box are laminations which look like the underside of a mushroom cap. Bonded to the coffin bone are 500-600 sensitive laminae. They look leafy, red, fleshy. There are secondary laminations covering about 8 ½ feet of surface area, providing the digital cushion. The horse is suspended from the inside of the box of the hoof and bears weight on the horny and sensitive laminae.
The coronary band is where the hoof grows.
The white line, which you see, is actually an unpigmented section of the hoof wall. The true white line actually looks gold and waxy and comes out of the laminae. Founder is the pulling apart of the true white line. It will take awhile to see it as the hoof grows out. Stuart works from x-rays when working with a horse with laminitis.
How It Works
When a horse takes a step blood rushes into the sensitive structures. As the hoof lands the coffin bone descends slightly in the box. If it is tightly attached there is a slight deforming of the dorsal surface of the hoof. The rear portion of the hoof expands. The sole is more level acting as a shock absorber and for translation of energy.
The white line is an elastic transition zone. The bridge of the hoof, the area near the apex of the frog, is an expansion zone that moves and flexes without breaking. When the hoof is picked up the tissues fill with blood. When the hoof pushes down the blood is squeezed back up the leg. The hoof acts as a circulation pump. When the hoof lands the coffin bone is cushioned by blood.
The hoof grows at the rate of ¼-3/8” every month. The newer material is more flexible and acts as blood Jordans, blood engorged tissue acting as a shock absorber.
The Role of the Farrier
The farrier trims to keep the bones in proper relationship to everything around them. There is a science to trimming.
If a big correction needs to be made, the farrier may choose to do it in stages to allow the horse’s anatomy to adjust to the changes. The farrier must decide how much material s/he can work with, the age and condition of the horse.
The farrier and owner may decide to shoe only the front hooves. These bear the most weight and take the most concussion. You can leave the back unshod. How much riding do you do? What kind of activities do you engage in with your horse? What is the terrain you will be covering? How does the horse go?
Stuart admitted to doing psychological shoeing, shoeing a horse because the owner needs the shoes.
To assess the horse take an imaginary plumb line from the point of the shoulder, bisect the bones and hoof. From the side the axis from the fetlock joint to the ground should be an unbroken line.
The farrier is not working by degrees but by a matter of relationship. The horse needs a good pastern, hoof axis.
Working with Consideration for the Horse
When picking up the horse’s hoof have the toe in the palm of your hand. This way you can have good leverage and stay out of harm’s way. Be easy on the pickup. Don’t pull the hoof way up or way our. Stay in a line with her.
Stuart rasps first for shape and to get the flares off. Be on the side with the farrier so the horse has a clear space to move into if anything happens.
Stuart does not fill nail holes. This makes a home for bacteria. He trims level with the sole.
D-O-V-E
From our notebooks I pull the answer to the question “What do you think are the things most often missing in appropriate hoof care for our horses?”
D—Daily—as in every day.
O—Observation—means not only to “check” or “look at” but more so to notice or perceive, to pay special attention to—to note and record (on paper or in memory) facts or events, just as if you were doing some scientific study.
V—Vigilance—means staying watchful and alert to any danger or trouble…watchfulness.
E—Exercise—is a regular series of specific movements designed to strengthen some part of the body or some faculty (such as your ability to Observe!). It also implies systematic practice…
Repeated exercise is supremely important to maintaining hoof and foot health…So throw away your unguents and poultices for the most part, and exercise your horse.
NEGLECT in all its implications is, without question, the foremost inciting factor in the great majority of foot ailments presented to me and my colleagues in the horseshoeing profession.
So to answer the question—don’t miss? Be daily observant, vigilant, and provide regular exercise in order to avoid the danger that has not yet come!
It’s Your Horse—You Take the Reins
Both from Stuart’s demonstration and from his material in the notebook this final opinion comes. It concerns whether the veterinarian or the farrier should be the lead team member when a horse is lame, but the answer extends to all areas of our relationship with the horse.
“Finally, it is up to YOU as the caretaker of your horse to “do your homework” in researching and finding the appropriately qualified practitioners in your area, who will best serve your needs and those of your horse.
“Ultimately YOU are the primary caregiver of your horse, and YOU have the final say-so in any treatment situation. So use your heart, your intuition, and your common sense as much as your intellect in deciding these issues.
“I will say emphatically that the foremost concern of the veterinarian and the farrier should be the wellbeing of the horse, and if egos and petty tyranny replace teamwork and free-flowing communication at any point, it is YOUR responsibility to either get it worked out or go to the ‘bullpen’ for some replacements.
“You assume the power to get a second, or a third, or a fourth opinion—if need be. Remember—your horse’s life is in your hands!”
LINDA BERTANI
MARKETING
Bio
Linda Bertani formerly worked in the criminal justice system with victims of violent crimes and as a health care administrator. She has a Bachelor’s degree in Pre-law and a Master’s degree in business.
Linda found that whatever her position she was “marketing” a project or a concept. She gained a reputation as a lively public speaker and an excellent trainer. The key to her successes, she says, stems from two basic ingredients: a commitment to creating a beneficial atmosphere for everyone involved in a project, and a belief in development of strong personal relationships.
She and her husband, Vic Thomas, presenter on Adult Education, have a management and marketing consulting company, BTE, Inc.
Linda currently serves as Board President for Ridin’ High, Inc., a local therapeutic riding program. She is also Mark Rashid’s Business Manager and is chief organizer for The Horse Gathering 2000.
How to Be Unforgettable
“Remember that people will forget what you said,
People will forget what you did,
But people will never forget
How you made them feel.”
Unknown Author
Everything You Do Is Marketing
The marketplace “big boys” are not always moral. Linda works with the rest of us.
The horse industry creates $25.3 billion of goods and services with a total impact of $112.1 billion as that circulates through the economy. There are 619,400 people directly employed with a 1.4 million FTE in the United States indirectly employed through this industry. There are 6.9 million horses. The median income for people owning horses is $60,000—14% under $25,000, 38% under $50,000, 64% under $75,000.
If you want information about demographics in your area, go to www.global.com.
If you have a passion that you want to turn into a business, you need to plan and research. You need to take passion and emotion out of your business decisions.
Start Giving It Away
Do not handle the money for your business even if you have to make up another person to shift blame to. As in “Oh, the horse is for my child, and I can’t afford your price. Can I pay this lower amount?”
“I understand that you really want this for your child and that money must be stretched, but, no, my [spouse, business manager, accountant, banker, etc.] will not allow me to sell my [goods or services] for anything less than I have quoted.”
Respond to the emotion of the buyer first, but then hold to your price.
Allocate x amount to give away. This may be in goods, time, services. Give away only that much. As you are starting up a business you may have to bend a bit, but plan year by year or month by month. Have measurable goals.
Goal setting involves a vision, analysis of the vision, and a plan of action. It is difficult to narrow down our visions. We have too many interests. There are too many aspects to consider. This is where we must analyze, understand the market, and discuss our plans with a cynic.
Narrow your plan or interests to three things. Then pick one. Work on it. Work in stages and phases. You will still be able to do the other interests later. Have a plan. Follow the plan. When the plan is completed move on to the next interest.
At the Core
As you expand your opportunities, you will have to make judgment calls. What is changing, and how do these changes effect your plan? Most businesses go out of business because they try to expand too fast. Do well first what you are doing before you expand.
If the core of your business is education, your business will find you.
Self Promotion
Our notebook was full of ideas on how to promote yourself and your business, but Linda pointed out that self-promotion is difficult. Some of the ways to do it are education, show your expertise. Tell stories about your experiences. This promotes yourself in a non-threatening way and gets information out. Donate your talent. Think about what is the best use of you time or energy.
Promotional materials need to be kept simple. This is your image. Keep it clear.
In designing a business card pick four fonts. Use only two. Put these also on your letterhead. Possibly create tee shirts for your business. Use a street address. P.O. boxes seem transitory.
Promote your horse-related business by giving your farrier flyers to pass out. If you have a web site, keep the focus educational. Change it periodically. Have a guest book on the web page, which you can use to develop a mailing list.
She who tooteth not her own horn,
Her horn does not get tooted.
HARRY WHITNEY
How Do You Get a Horse Okay?
This is a question from the auditors. Harry explains, “It’s not so much what we do as what we miss. We want the horse’s brain and feet in the same place. The rider needs to help the horse achieve that. Know what you’re going to ask. Know when the horse has achieved it. Tell the horse when s/he has done it right.”
About lunging—“I’ve seen people work a horse on the end of the line. They’re mindlessly going around without paying attention to what the horse is saying.”
Harry is on Turbo. He has a carriage whip with plastic strings. Turbo is circling. Peanut has been racing around the pen for 15-20 minutes before Harry entered the pen. He races a bit more then settles.
Harry dismounts and strokes Peanut. For a time Peanut’s attention wanders then comes back to Harry.
Harry wants to get the horse to a place where he feels confident with what he did, good within. Harry is lunging him on a short rope. Peanut’s attention is focused outside. Harry kisses. Peanut returns his attention to Harry.
Harry asks Peanut to back. There is a brace. He sets it up so that there’s not much pressure, and Peanut gives him a straight back.
Turbo’s Night Adventures
Turbo is not as calm as the day before. Harry explains that Turbo has been letting himself out at night. He has a harem of Mark’s two mares. He’s exhibiting some studish characteristics and thinks the second gelding in the pen is unnecessary.
Harry has been working with Peanut who gets softer and lowers his head. When Harry makes the circle tighter Peanut tenses and raises his head. When Harry asks him to go to the left his tension increases. Harry continues to ask him to bend, to turn on his haunches, to move, and Peanut is moving with fluid grace.
Turbo has sidled back to the middle to give Harry help. He is sent back to his corner—difficult in a round pen, but Turbo stakes out a small section of fence and keeps an eye on Harry and Peanut’s progress.
When Harry asks Peanut to move off he addresses his midsection where his feet will be when he is riding. When he asks Peanut to change directions he raises one hand to ask for a change in the hindquarters as a hand would ask if riding. He takes off pressure when Peanut attempts the right answer.
Saddled
Mandy has saddled Peanut about fifty times. The hoof wall is the primary weight bearing structure of the horse. “Boy, he’s probably sick of being saddled.” Harry takes out some saddle blankets and rubs Peanut. When the blankets are quietly raised to place over the back Peanut tenses.
“Don’t make a flag. It’s a useful tool in the right hands, and a dangerous tool in the wrong hands. Flags can traumatize or be a useful tool.”
Harry now places the flag in front of Peanut. He resists, braces as he sniffs. Harry is preparing him for future times and other strange objects. He asks him to move feeling that he takes more in when his feet are moving. He is troubled standing with the flag above him, but as his feet move his head drops. He is feeling better.
Harry turns him. Now he is more troubled. He jumps out and doesn’t feel good with the flag on the right side. Harry brings it up over his eye. Peanut tries to push the flag out of the way. “We’ll just work on both sides and help him where he needs help. We’ll do more work on the side he doesn’t feel good on.”
Horses are one-sided even at birth. We can help equalize that by working on both sides, giving more attention to the side he doesn’t feel good on. Peanut is not looking better when the flag is over his head. He is more balanced but wants to crowd Harry a little. Harry is getting nice turns from him. Peanut focuses on the flag and follows it through a turn.
Harry then works with a saddle blanket over Peanut’s back, under his belly, over his hindquarters. Peanut is much nicer. Now Harry picks up the saddle. Peanuts head raises. Harry keeps the saddle held high. Peanut moves off, returns. The saddle is on. Peanut moves. It bothers him. Harry lets him move his feet. When he stops Harry moves the saddle for a better seat and encourages him to move his feet if he needs to.
“He’s been saddled fifty times and has been very uncomfortable—brave lady.”
Peanut is now noticing the saddle. Harry pets him with it. The next time on is better. Harry pets the other side. Peanut is more troubled. He moves. Harry goes with him and puts the saddle on. Back to the other side. Harry puts the saddle on backwards, and Peanut is fine with that. Harry returns to the other side, and Peanut wants nothing to do with the saddle.
The goal would be to have the horse able to stand still, but for now he doesn’t have to stand still. He has been saddle and is still troubled, so Harry lets him move. Peanut has a cinchy reaction as Harry is saddling him.
“If you have a horse in the cross ties and he’s fussing and pawing, his brain is not between the cross ties. If you want to test that, just slip over and untie both cross ties. See how long he keeps pawing and stays there. You want his brain and heart with you.”
“Harry, how often and how long do you tie a horse?”
“Once or twice a year is too often if the horse’s mind and heart are not with you.”
Dealing with Fear
Harry has been lunging Peanut. He is okay with support. Now Harry turns Peanut loose. He trots twice around the pen and explodes. The saddle blanket slips loose. Peanut slows to a trot. He is calmer, but his mind is not with Harry.
“If we saddle a horse for the first time before the horse is ready, he carries tension that says this doesn’t feel good. He’ll carry that for some time into the future. If he’s standing but struggling even a little bit, it will carry over to the next time. When the horse gets to a good spot that’s the time to quit, take off the saddle. Rub the horse down. Maybe do a little work on the lead.
“I couldn’t help this horse with the halter off. I got in front to change his direction and get the horse’s mind back. I tried to divert him so that he could find the soft spot in the storm.”
Harry halters Peanut and moves him. He’s okay but mentally checked out then he stops with nothing distracting him, realizes his saddle is still on, comes unglued, and bucks. Harry keeps out of the way but helps him as best Peanut lets him. Turbo is offering to leave the area.
Harry pulls off the saddle. It is tight in the shoulders. Peanut has a spot on his right that is hard, tight. “If a horse is not mentally ready to be saddled, saddling can be a trauma. If he is ready with a mental lack of tightness, it allows a physical lack of tightness.”
Harry asks him to move his feet. Harry is at Peanut’s withers and stays with him. He dig, scratches, strokes and brings about a huge change in Peanut. You can address either the physical or the mental to address the other.
We want to foster an ability to think or turn to the human for help. We need to be present, so that the horse doesn’t feel we’ve gotten him in trouble. In trouble you give the horse help.
Mark adds, “Conduct yourself in a way that the horse feels you can be trusted, knows you’re trying to help him. Get the horse to trust your judgment.”
Harry continues stroking Peanut. When Harry moves Peanut follows.
Recapping
Mark goes on, “The last time he bucked he was looking to Harry for help. That’s the softness in the storm. He got quieter and quieter. He brought this trouble with him. He didn’t know where to look in the past. ‘I need to get through this day, so I’ll just come apart here.’ He’s bothered, not about the saddle, but about life. He’s beginning to trust Harry. This is a critical juncture where Harry has to keep trust.”
“The quality of what we do is what carries over. If he’s confident inside, it will be easier to face the whole world. So they’re started, so they go.”
BANQUET
This is an evening set aside for socializing and fun. Some of us who are staying out of town come dressed as we were. Others are in elegant Western fashions. We talk horse, clinicians, The Horse Gathering in southern drawls, Scottish accents, western twangs, clipped Eastern.
Good food, stories, laughter, Jeff Abbas leading the festivities, songs, spoofs--if you get a chance, ask Mark to tell you the pig story. It’s best told if his son Tyler is there as straight man. To top off the evening there were the Elktones, the band Mark plays in, and among us are some excellent two-steppers and ballroom dancers. All this, and it is only the middle of the week.
