Aussies win RTTH 2012

Let’s see. If you count the two wins of native Australian Clinton Anderson, the three wins of Florida native Chris Cox, who grew up on an island off the coast of Australia, and add in this year’s two Aussie winners, Guy McLean and Dan James, you come up with seven Road to the Horse buckles that have been won by horsemen with ties to Australia. Crikey!

The Aussies of 2012 earned their buckles the hard way. Trailing Team USA at the end of Day One, they suffered a setback when Dan James, scheduled to step back into the round pen at the start of day two, fell ill. While Dan rested and received IV fluids, teammate Guy McLean took the first slot and Dan’s business partner, Dan Steers, advised and assisted from outside the pen. By the second session on day two, Dan James was back in the contest, still not 100% but determined to compete. On day three, the Aussies were the only team to take Tootie Bland’s offer of an extra 30 points each if they would switch horses for the test. Using the saddling pen as a training pen for more than half of the 40 minutes allotted for their tests, each Aussie was able to connect with the horse his teammate had trained and go on to produce a winning performance. The most memorable moment came when Guy McLean coaxed his mount into the optional water obstacle, stood on the horse’s back, cracked two stock whips as fast as machine gun fire, and followed it all up with an emotional bush (cowboy) poem written especially for the occasion.

Jonathan Field and Glenn Stewart of Team Canada got extra points before training began for switching the horses they had each chosen, and they made exceptional progress near the end of the event, but time worked against them in catching the Aussies.

Team USA was the leader at the end of day one, which was actually a bad omen; historically, the person or team who leads after round one does not prevail at Road to the Horse. Team USA faced an additional challenge when Pat Parelli’s colt was scratched for medical reasons after the first day. Per the rules, Pat had to pick a new colt, start over on day two and show up at 5:30 am on day three to get in his second training session. The fatigue factor aside – and it was a factor for all of us at this marathon event – Pat was under the continuous scrutiny of all six judges during that second session, something no other RTTH competitor has ever had to endure.

All in all, Road to the Horse International made a fitting farewell to the Tennessee Miller Coliseum in Murfreesboro, home to seven of the nine Road to the Horse contests thus far. For 2013, the event will be held in the Alltech Arena at Lexington’s Kentucky Horse Park. Tickets are already on sale. Get 'em early.

Other notes: Publisher Darrell Dodds presented the Western Horseman Award to Dr. Robert M. Miller in opening ceremonies on Saturday. Only a handful of other horsemen have received the award, including two other RTTH judges, Bob Moorhouse and Jack Brainard.

This was the first year that judges' scores were posted on the big video screen during the event. Everyone loved the added suspense.

Finally, I'd like to thank my good friend and 2009 RTTH champ, Richard Winters, for assisting me with the hosting of Road to the Horse 2012. I could not have done it without him and I hope he will share the duties with me again next year.

Mistakes

Irish author, James Joyce (1882-1941), noted that, “Mistakes are the portals of discovery.” As horsemen, we can learn a lot from mistakes, both our own and those of others.

A case in point is Pat Parelli’s "Road to the Horse" buckoff, one of many memorable RTTH moments shown in this week’s TV show. For those who don’t know what I’m talking about, Pat failed to properly prepare his colt from both sides before mounting – that’s his analysis of what happened – and the colt bucked him off. It made a good lesson for us all. However, an even more important lesson came after. As we pointed out on TV, Pat got right back to work and had his colt coming along beautifully by the end of the event. He didn’t win – Chris Cox chalked up #3 – but Pat deserves big kudos for how he handled himself in a difficult situation.

Seeing mistakes as learning opportunities is not license to be careless or unprincipled in our actions, but it does put a positive spin on the honest misstep.

By the way, Pat teams with 2010 champ, Craig Cameron, to take on Canadians, Jonathan Field and Glenn Stewart, and Aussies, Dan James and Guy McLean, in the first ever International Road to the Horse. Dates are March 9-11, 2012. Get your tickets early, my friends.

Watch Road to the Horse Retrospective on The Horse Show
Get tickets to Road to the Horse International

Gimmick or Tool?

In horse training, one person’s gimmick is another person’s tool. So before I dismiss a particular technique or device, I want to take a long hard look at it. What problem is being addressed? What principle of behavior modification is being used? How much expertise does it require to be effective? Does it elevate or diminish my relationship with my horse? What does my gut tell me about this approach? As you might guess, I seldom find reason to pronounce something a gimmick. It seems like there is always some redeeming value.
Look at this drawing from the 1896 book, Jesse Beery’s Practical System of Colt Training and Horse Breaking. To cure a horse of pawing, a small block of wood is suspended from the horse’s upper leg. If the horse paws, the block bangs his leg, so the horse punishes himself. Gimmick or tool? Personally, I find this an ingenious tool for helping horses learn to stand quietly. Is it foolproof? Of course not! It would be most effective in a confined space with a quiet horse and it would be inappropriate for an overly reactive or timid horse that might panic. And I would never use this device on a horse that wasn’t being monitored regularly.

This week on radio, Mike Kevil weighs in the subject of gimmicks and tools. Listen.

Report on Road to the Horse 2009

Just got back from RTTH. Great new venue this year with plenty of room for vendors and the 6,000 folks who attended. Thanks to Tootie for the pro sound system and to Craig, Andrew, and Diana for running it so well. The VIP room was awesome, although I didn't get to spend much time there. I think most folks felt it was worth the extra money. Thanks to everyone who stopped by the booth.

It seems to me that the horses were a bit tougher overall this year. John and Tommy ran into significant resistance getting their horses to move out freely. They may have picked up some extra points for degree of difficulty and lost some for how physical they became along the way. Richard's horse appeared to be the easiest, but I suspect he just made it look that way.

The test was 35 minutes this year instead of 25, allowing time for extra training in the open arena before being judged on the required tasks. Tommy and John used the time to good effect and everyone was impressed with how far their horses had come by the end of the event. However, Richard's test also went extremely well, especially when he asked his horse to canter. They were flying around the arena like they'd been doing it for months. For his freestyle, Richard had his colt track a cow. When all was said and done, Richard was named the winner.

There will undoubtedly be people who disagree with the outcome. There always are. Sometimes this is pure partisanship and I can do nothing about that. But sometimes it comes from not understanding how the judging works.

1. There are four equal things judged: round pen session 1, round pen session 2, the rail portion of the test and the obstacle portion of the test. Each is worth 165 points. The freestyle at the end is worth 15 points.
2. The judges' scores are collected after each round. They cannot change a score later.
3. The high and low scores from the judges are discarded and the remaining scores are averaged to get a competitor's score for each category judged. No one judge can determine the outcome.
4. The competitor with the highest score at the end wins

Bottom line, it's not only the end result that matters, but how the trainer got there. The judges are experienced horsemen and they understand what they see, what degree of firmness is necessary, what kinds of choices the trainer makes. Every year the rules are tweaked just a little to make this as fair as possible and always to keep the welfare of the horse the highest priority.

I'll announce the plans for RTTH 2010 here when I know them.
R