Moving the Cheese

I’m about a decade (and 24 million copies) behind in touting a small but powerful book,“Who Moved My Cheese? An Amazing Way to Deal with Change in Your Work and in Your Life,” by Spencer Johnson, MD. John Lyons gave Diana and me a copy many years ago, but in the hubbub or life and meeting deadlines, well, you know what happened. With time to kill on our recent road trip to the World Equestrian Games, we listened to the audio version. Wow.

“Who moved My Cheese?” is a parable that drives home a simple message: Change is inevitable and how individuals react (or fail to react) to it determines their success and happiness. Now, Diana and I were quite pumped after listening to this CD, not because we learned something new but because it validated the way we instinctively approach life. Upon doing a little online research, I discovered plenty of praise for this book and some surprisingly negative (even vicious) criticism. No matter. As far as I’m concerned, this is an intensely practical message, especially in these times of uncertainty and forced change. It offers a new way of looking at change and a strategy for making the most of it. Change is not the enemy. Every change brings with it new possibilities and opportunities to live into new realities. It takes courage and a strong sense of visualization to reinvent oneself in response to changes imposed from the outside. But it’s not rocket science. Neither is it metaphysical claptrap. It’s a way of deliberately creating a happier life. And whether horses are part of your life or not, I wish that for you. You can learn more at whomovedmycheese.com.

Hand-feeding Treats

This is a hot topic and there is no consensus, even among top clinicians and trainers. I once moderated a round table discussion between Monty Roberts, John Lyons, and Pat Parelli at a big horse expo. They seemed to agree on everything until someone asked about hand-feeding treats. Monty said we should never do this, as it was completely unnatural for the horse and dangerous for the human. John said he wanted his horse so broke that even his little grandson could safely do it. And Pat said … wait for it … you can do anything if you have enough savvy.

That’s a big if, which is exactly why many clinicians argue against hand-feeding treats. If your horse does not respect your space, introducing food into the equation is like throwing gasoline on a fire.

How do you get your horse to respect your space? First, you have to claim your space as your own and never, ever allow your horse to enter it uninvited. You must defend your space with whatever amount of energy is required to get the point across. And this is important: you have to be consistent. If crowding into your space is wrong today, it has to be wrong tomorrow and every day after that. There must be a negative instant consequence (a NIC, in Monty Roberts’s words) to that behavior every single time.

Once you have developed this absolute commitment to defending your space and consistently communicated it to your horse, the rest is pretty easy. Training with food rewards is a time-honored tradition with marine animals and circus animals, including horses. Clicker training uses it very successfully and you can, too. It’s effective because food means something to a horse. There is total clarity with food. Food is always good. In fact, Diana recently broke through a genuine impasse in training her horse, Fidla, by introducing food as a reward.

Bottom line, hand-feeding treats to your horse can be done safely and have a positive effect on overall behavior, but it is not a trivial matter. Please do not attempt it until your horse consistently respects your space and you feel completely comfortable around him. Be clear and consistent, and most important, enjoy it! Seeing your horse gobble up something tasty is one of horse ownership’s special little pleasures.

Next time I’ll share the game we play with our horses to reinforce proper behavior with treats. We call it “pretend you don’t want it.”

John Sharp

Years ago, clinician Frank Bell told me about a fine horseman named John Sharp, whose work with wild horses, square pens, and bamboo poles was an inspiration to all who saw it. Recently, Jim Rea, a frequent collaborator of Frank’s, shared more in a radio interview.

“While a round pen makes it easy for a horse to go,” Jim explains, “a square pen makes it easy for him to stop.”

Sharp’s square pen was just 24’ across, about half the diameter of the common 50’ round pen. The pole was 12’ in length, allowing a trainer to stand in the middle and touch the horse no matter where he went. Why bamboo? Bamboo poles have ridges connecting the segments and those ridges are handy for giving the horse a good scratching from a safe distance. It’s all part of Sharp’s novel way of building a foundation of trust.

Mr. Sharp’s square pen had a couple extra sections that came into play once the horse was responding well in the main work area. They formed a chute where the horse could be desensitized to humans touching it from the outside.

John Sharp is best known for his work gentling wild horses, but Jim also tells of Mr. Sharp calming the most troubled horses well into his nineties. Beside Jim and Frank, Sharp’s granddaughter, trainer and mounted shooting champ, Kitty Lauman, carries on his work today, and made an impressive showing with it at the first Extreme Mustang Makeover.

There are many paths to enlightenment for those of us truly committed to the journey. John Sharp offered one of them. Below are some resources if you’d like to learn more.

Listen to Rick’s full interview with Jim Rea
Listen to “Bamboo Pole and Square Pen” featuring Frank Bell (one minute)
Read Frank Bell’s full article on John Sharp’s method

Light Moments at Light Hands

The fourth Light Hands Horsemanship clinic will be hard to beat: Three days of superb horsemanship education at the beautiful Intrepid Farms in Santa Ynez, California, a chance to get up close and personal with a who’s who of presenters (see below), and some surprisingly funny moments.

Eitan showed us how he’ll wear his cowboy hat if he performs at the Spanish Riding School. Jack reprised the story of how he and his pals were introduced to electricity in the 1930s. (Sorry, can’t go into details here.) Bob sang a few long-lost verses of “Strawberry Roan” and Lester told of how a pesky journalist got his comeuppance with a Shetland Pony. Monty talked about letting a great racehorse, Alleged, slip through his fingers, and Sheila recounted meeting Tom Dorrance during his formative years.

The past has long hinted at the potential that exists for Light Hands. This was the break-out year. The program, the organization, the location, the vendors, and especially the audience. All were exceptional. Special thanks go out to Tom Spalding (presenting sponsor), Art Perry (owner of Intrepid Farms), and most of all, the tireless Debbie Beth-Halachmy.

One word of advice: get tickets for 2011 early. They will sell out. Dates are May 19-22.

LHH 2010 Clinicians and Speakers: Dr. Robert M. Miller, Jon Ensign, Lester Buckley, Eitan Beth-Halachmy, Jack Brainard, Richard Winters, Monty Roberts, Sheila Varian, Ernie Morris, and Petrina Day Mitchum. Hosted by Rick Lamb.

Backing helps

When things get squirrelly on my computer, I automatically reboot. It may not fix every problem, but it fixes most of them, and that saves me time and frustration. Backing my horse is similar to rebooting my computer. It gets us unstuck and reloaded for a fresh start.

Backing is the closest thing to a “silver bullet” that exists in horse training. It helps from the ground and it helps from the saddle. It helps in dealing with problems and in preventing them in the first place.

Why, you may ask? Best as I can figure, backing puts a horse in a unique frame of mind. It’s not as natural for him as going forward so he must think about placement of his feet. It’s a submissive act that reminds him of his standing. Most important, it puts him out of position to take flight. That makes him feel vulnerable. Whatever was on his mind before you asked him to back up is suddenly not so important.

When you get a horse to back on your command, you are demonstrating that you know what matters in his world and that you just might be qualified to be leader for the day.

Teaching a horse to back is surprisingly easy if you don’t get greedy. When you first request it, you must be satisfied with him just shifting his weight back and instantly reward him with relief of pressure, a reassuring stroke, and a kind word. Then, give him a moment to think about it and ask again. This time you will expect him to do more, but only a little more, perhaps shifting his weight and lifting one foot. Again, relief, reward and rest. In this fashion, where clear, consistent cueing is coupled with instant positive consequences, a horse learns incrementally to back from the ground or the saddle.

Helpful hint: Always back any horse a few steps before you mount him and, at the first sign of trouble, stop him and put him in reverse. Request, relief, reward, rest. Then it’s on to the business of the day.

Rick

Success with horses

A couple weeks ago I was shooting at a ranch in Colorado and rode four naturally trained (and barefoot) Tennessee Walking Horses – two mares, a gelding, and the stallion pictured here – before lunch. It was a blast. Each was a little different, which meant I had to be a little different rider with each one. It got me to thinking about the trainers who ride ten horses or more every day. Or the colt starters who have a few thousand starts to their credit. No wonder they are so good at what they do. At one time, I was certain that quantity was necessary on the road to success with horses. Now I realize that’s not true. There are countless examples of superb horsemen who’ve focused on quality instead, taking a small number of special horses to new heights. Then there’s the rest of us. We won’t be starting 10,000 colts, winning world championships, or giving command performances for royalty. Still, we are achieving success with horses in our own ways. We are allowing them to change our lives, to add quality, to create purpose, to make us better as people. Along the way, we are finding joy and satisfaction. If that isn’t success, I don’t know what is.

“In the beginning, you play with horses because it’s fun. It’s a pleasant diversion. Then you find that it feels good in a deeper and more lasting way than many other recreational past-times. You may love riding motorcycles, but your Harley doesn’t nicker at you in the morning. There is something very special about horses that makes you want to do better with and for them.”

The Revolution in Horsemanship and What it Means to Mankind
by Robert M. Miller, D.V.M. and Rick Lamb

Craig's Day

If you count the predecessor to Road to the Horse, Craig Cameron has competed in this World Championship of Colt Starting four times. 2010 is the year he'll remember best.

He picked horse number 10, a scruffy-looking palomino with a thicker-than-usual winter coat. Craig admitted that he didn't really have a reason for his choice. "You never know what you've got until you get in the pen," he said.

What he got was a tough colt, as stand-offish as they come, who refused to look at Craig for the first hour. Nothing Craig tried seemed to work. He seemed to be running out of ideas, and that's probably when the tide turned for him.

The strategy that seems to work best at RTTH is simple: Let the horse set the pace. Work on the relationship first and the training second, even when time is running short and 5,000 people are watching your every move. Whatever you do, don't scare the horse.

When Craig plugged into this plan, things started getting better. Come time to ride, Craig abandoned the snaffle bit he'd gotten the horse to accept in favor of a rope halter and rope reins.

The test went well - not great - but that counts for relatively little in the judging anyway. What counts most is what happens in the training pens. The judges - and this year the audience, who registered their votes with text messaging - liked what they saw there and gave Craig the nod. The sixty-year-old Texas cowboy has a way of lighting up a room with his smile. This time, the smile came with a few tears. In a life chock-full of memorable days, I suspect this one will always be special.

Rick