enlightened horsemanship through touch

WENDY MURDOCH, an internationally recognized equestrian author, instructor, and clinician for over 23 years, teaches her students how to do what great riders do naturally. Her desire to understand the function of both horse and human, and her love of teaching capitalizes on the most current learning theories in order to show riders how to exceed their own expectations.

Wendy’s studies include an apprenticeship with Sally Swift, as well as extensive training with Linda Tellington-Jones, Dr. Joyce Harman, Jon Zahourek (Anatomy in Clay), and Dr. Hilary Clayton. To help her guide students toward better function, Wendy became a Guild Certified Feldenkrais Practitioner and continues her study with Dr. Feldenkrais’ first assistant, Mia Segal.

Her fascination with the mind/body connection between horse and rider has led her to explore courses outside the equine world and bring that information to her students. Murdoch writes articles for a wide variety of magazines and is a regular contributor to Eclectic Horseman Magazine. She is the author of Simplify Your Riding and creator of the three-part Ride Like a Natural DVD series. For more information, visit www.murdochmethod.com.

NB: This book is on sale at Horse And Rider Books–10% off regular price of $27.95 until July 16th.

Start or end your riding sessions with Wendy Murdoch’s 5-Minute Fixes, and you’ll be amazed how quickly you can replace old habits with new ones, get out of your riding rut, and transform what you can’t do to what you can do–naturally, capably, comfortably, and consistently alongside a happy riding partner–your horse.

Remaining compassionate toward others is an exercise in endurance these days. The Armageddon folks are probably having a field day with the earthquakes, volcanoes, tsunamis and such. There does seem to be a lot going on with Mother Earth. And then there are the personal catastrophes.

Mara and Samsara are cyclical, never-ending. Things are always happening to people. I’ll bet each of us knows someone who has recently suffered some loss, some tragedy, some illness or injury that has changes their lives. And as compassionate, mindful people, we jump to offer comfort, support and maybe even a casserole.

When my daughter became catastrophically ill back in 1996, community support kept me from going over the edge. More than a year of assistance from her school, family friends and neighbors, as well as her father’s work acquaintances buoyed us through the dark days. People gave of their time and hearts to a child and her family in grave danger of death in every way. I am grateful to this day.

When a friend in Virginia finally got her very own horse after 30 years of catch riding and leasing, there was a celebration. She hacked out and showed with well-earned pride and a palpable happiness after so many years. Finally she was able to bond with a horse who was truly hers, and vice versa. It was a match made in heaven. Until suddenly the horse died. She was surrounded by love and support as she worked through the loss and grief.

The thing is, I wonder how it is for her now. She hasn’t gotten a new horse. Many months later, I know she is still grieving. No horse, no equestrian life, still catch-riding. I do not have to wonder how it was for me in the ensuing years after the initial catastrophe with my daughter. It went from dreadful to unimaginably worse, with the added burden of managing it alone.

But as with a string of natural disasters, folks get compassion fatigue. Seeing me exhausted and near the edge of insanity, people would recite to me the (they thought) wise analogy of putting the oxygen mask on yourself before putting it on your child. Then they wandered off to make sure that their golden, healthy children got to soccer practice on time. I didn’t resent them for that, but I did resent the lameness of their unsolicited advice. If they’d taken the time to look (which was awfully hard when protecting themselves from the pain that comes along with compassion overload), they’d have seen that my arms were too tired to lift the oxygen mask.

The initial frenzy of empathy and assistance for Courtney King-Dye has hit its zenith. From personal experience, I envision the downslope. Attention will wander toward personal matters. Because raising your own family, caring for your own horses, doing your own job, are understandably a priority. And then there is the next big disaster. Novelty renews compassion without fatigue.

Let me share with you from my experience this fact: while attention from others wanders, and the initial danger eases, struggle goes on. Reports of Courtney’s continued and seemingly miraculous progress pile up, and we may feel that it’s OK to turn our attention elsewhere. And it is, to a certain degree. Spreading the compassion around never hurts. But remaining mindful of the evolving struggle of others keeps our hearts open.

In six weeks, six months, a year, Courtney King-Dye will still be battling the aftereffects of her accident. If we care, we will be there to help. But but but, you say, humans don’t have that long of an attention span. Sadly, we don’t. Especially when it’s not us that’s the issue. Two years down the road, I could have certainly used a casserole on the rare nights I left my daughter in the hospital for a few hours rest in my own bed and respite from stale sandwiches from a machine. It would have been nice to have some of that early frenzied assistance paced out so that I didn’t have to clean up after dogs who’d been waiting patiently for my return, or find a way to get the grass mowed after a six-week absence. Courtney and her family will face the same dilemmas.

What can we do to remain mindful of her continuing battles? If we don’t know her personally, then the casserole idea is pretty much out, along with offering to mow the grass and walk her dogs, or exercise her horses. But there is an option I can think of, and it’s a simple one. The Courtney King-Dye Medical Fund eBay Store has been very successful. But predictably, numbers are down.

If you have a Twitter or Facebook account, you can easily help by posting about it. The rewards of offering something for sale (service or goods) are great. Watching as your item is bid on is fun, and it feels good to know you will help defray the costs of care that are not covered by insurance. For those in the equestrian/equine business, offering something for sale is excellent PR/advertising. As everyone who is reading this knows, riding horses does not pay. You can also bid on items. The prices are well below retail. Planning ahead for gifts throughout the year will help not only your own awareness of Courtney’s strivings to regain her life, but also of the good fortune of your loved ones.

Currently the store has 12 Troxel Reliance Dressage helmets (that normally retail for $159.95) up for grabs with a minimum bid of only $50. The helmet safety campaign t-shirts are also now available in the store for $22.75. These were designed with a very catchy slogan “Strap One On – Everyone’s Doing It” by single mom and dressage rider Jeri Bryant of CA in order to help support Courtney.

Lendon Gray said yesterday that Courtney is making excellent progress. This is very encouraging, but the road to recovery will be a very long one, with lots of physical therapy and specialized rehab. Run solely by Lyndsey White of SUCCEED for no personal gain, the eBay store aims to hit the $10,000 profit mark before the end of this month. That will go a long way toward helping Courtney in her marathon for recovery.

To contact Lyndsey if you want to offer an item for auction in the eBay store, email Lwhite@freedomhealthllc.com, or call (859) 420-1006. You can also find progress reports on Facebook and Twitter.

No, I am not referring to our beloved Jane of The Literary Horse. This is an exhibit touring public and school libraries pairing photos of today’s horses and riders with quotations from the world’s great books.

Award-winning artist, educator, and photographer Vanessa Wright is passionate about the power, meaning, and beauty of the human-horse connection and the inner awareness and growth that working with (and loving) horses can bring out in us. She says,

The word photography comes from Greek words meaning ‘writing with light.’ So I see myself not as a photographer, but as a storyteller, writing with light about the light that I see in others. I strive to capture and celebrate … the capacity for unnoticed or uncelebrated but absolutely real greatness in every person and every horse.

The exhibit features real horses, real people, real life, and real legend. And it is stunning.

From Achilles receiving his immortal chargers to Don Quixote’s farewell to Rocinante, literature is full of memorable stories and poetry about heroic horses and horse-people. This exhibit, touring public and school libraries, brings those legends to life by pairing up to 100 photos of today’s novice through Olympic horses and horse-people with quotations from the world’s great books.

The real elegance of this project lies in Wright’s ability to draw parallels between the epic past and the mundane present, showing that they are not so far apart.

Though legends may sometimes seem like nothing more than imaginary tales from long ago, they are happening again here. And though their horses may seem impossibly good and brave and splendid, they are living again now. Look closely, and you will see the great heart in both the horse show champion and the shaggy pony in your neighborhood. Look more closely still, and you will see the timeless hero in your neighbor, in your family member, in your friend, and, ultimately, in yourself.

Wright’s present is represented by folks who are anything but mundane: Clicker Training expert Alexandra Kurland and a unicorn; Kara Barnes and the Chestnut Hill Arabians; Darren Chiacchia and Windfall as Helios and his golden horse; (five-time sidesaddle champion) Rhonda Watts Hettinger and Christian Hettinger (creator of the internations fox-hunting emblem) portraying the love story from Rob Roy; and the University of New Hampshire Therapeutic Riding Program.

Here are just a few of the legends that appear in the program:

Silver Blaze, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
The Song of Finis, Walter de la Mare
The Spectral Horseman, To the Moon (poems), Percy Bysshe Shelley
Strife and Peace, Fredrika Bremer
The Virginian: A Horseman of the Plains, Owen Wister
Wuthering Heights, Emily Bronte
The Mabinogion, trans. Lady Charlotte Schreiber
Phaedra, Jean Baptiste Racine

The schedule of exhibitions has not been updated since February, which is a shame. I also doubt that it will arrive in Hawaii, where inspiration to read in any form is badly needed. Check it out, though. It may come to a library near you, in which case, make a beeline. And then let me know what you thought.

image courtesy www.jhsph.edu/clf/ Center for a Livable Future

Horse and Rider Books’ blog has some excellent suggestions for celebrating the 40th anniversary of Earth Day.

Quoting from Eco-Horsekeeping: Over 100 Over 100 Budget-Friendly Ways You and Your Horse Can Save the Planet by Lucinda Dyer, Horse and Rider Books suggests one category we can all make a difference in (and the one that happens to be my favorite charity recipient): WATER.

∙ Fix anything (faucets, toilets, hoses) that drips. A faucet that drips one drop per second will waste a staggering 2,700 gallons a year.

∙ Make sure all hoses have nozzles that let you adjust the spray and a “trigger” that shuts off the flow of water while you’re conditioning tails or soaping up dirty legs.

∙ Before you turn on that hose, ask yourself, “Does my horse really need a bath or will a good grooming do?”

∙ Find a second use for leftover water in buckets—water plants around the barn, soak hay, or control dust in the round pen.

Here’s another way we can all help: visit Horses for Clean Water and do what you can. With drought popping up all over the U.S., who knows who will be next? When hay was in short short supply in the past few years, it was due to lack of water. It would be awful to contemplate having to give up our horses because of a water shortage. Imagine having to give up your children. No one should have to if we manage our resources mindfully.

I guess it’s worth pointing out that life and spiritual seeking is a journey. You’re not there.

wait for it!!!!!

WILMA.

“He better have ordered the nonfat latte, and no doughnuts! My back is killing me.”

Though Jane made me giggle heartily, as usual. Thanks everybody for participating! I’m cooking up ideas for the next contest’s prize.

Wilma, if you’ll send me your mailing address, I’ll send you a pound of freshly grown and ground premium Kona coffee.

I’ll be announcing the Photo Caption Contest winner tomorrow.

There is still time to enter to win a pound of my friend Doug’s fabulous Kona coffee.

Just when I start to have faith in the intelligence of trainers and horsepeople, a reader question to Julie Goodnight on the category of horse behavior, on her website sets me back.

The questioner relates problems associated with a four-year-old draft mare in training under harness who is respectful to people but aggressive toward a pasturemate gelding.

Generally they get along fine. However, sometimes she just lays into him kicking, biting, running at him and charging him. Sometimes we are in the pasture with them when this behavior is going on. Needless to say, we are a bit nervous about getting caught in the crossfire.

Two questions for you:

1) Some of this is no doubt just normal horse behavior. Is there an underlying training issue though that we should be addressing with our mare?

2) She has never demonstrated any tendency at kicking towards us. We do recognize the risk to our safety when she is acting this way towards the gelding and we happen to be in the way. But is it likely that a horse acting this way with another horse will start getting that kicking tendency with humans?

Clearly, the questioner is new to horsekeeping. That’s not a problem. Everyone is new in the beginning. They depend on good, safe advice from those who have experience. One would think that well-known trainers like Goodnight would dispense sensible, time-tested advice on how to deal with such issues. This is the problem: wait until you read what Goodnight suggests as an alternative to learning about horse behavior and how to handle horses on the ground. I wonder if she gets a kickback from the manufacturers of the product she obliquely endorses.

While the behavior you describe could be chalked up to normal herd behavior, some horses can be classified as bullies. These horses are unnecessarily aggressive towards others. In other words, even after dominance has been fully established, they continue to attack other horses around them—seemingly for no good reason other than just to pick on them. If the gelding is not doing anything to deserve these attacks, then I’d say your mare is a bully.
There is one sure-fired method of curing aggressive horses and I have used it a few times for this purpose. It is a shock collar. It straps around the horse’s neck and is operated off a remote control, issuing a mild and brief shock when you push the button on the remote. Shocking her for her two or three times for her unwarranted and dangerous behavior would probably be all it would take to permanently resolve her of the aggressiveness.

The Vicebreaker

It is intended for use with extreme behavior that is harmful to horse, humans and/or property and it is highly effective. I’ve used it for stall and trailer kickers, for aggressive horses and for a tantrum throwing horse, who threw a wall-eyed destructive tantrum any time you’d take his buddy away. In most cases, one or two training sessions resolved the bad behavior; for the tantrum thrower, it took a few more.

Many people are initially turned off by this approach—I suppose thinking it is cruel or too harsh. But in my opinion, in certain circumstances, it is the most humane approach. I know of a horse who has now kicked and killed two horses by kicking them and breaking their legs. Then, take the case of a stall kicker—whose behavior can cause him serious injury and is destructive to property (and may result in him being evicted from a boarding barn). The most common training technique for this vice is to hang “kicking chains” on the horse’s hind legs which wrap him in the legs every time he kicks (and bumps his legs every time he moves). It will discourage him from kicking but you have to leave the chains on forever—not a very nice thing for the horse. Whereas one or two sessions with the shock collar would permanently cure him of stall kicking and prevent him from injury.

I would think it might have even more effects than that. Like shock collars for dogs, this seems to me to be a case of thoughtless overkill. The horse’s sense of touch is very keen. To assault him via this avenue strikes me as cruel and extreme. But maybe I’m being naive. There are situations in which horses can be even more dangerous than the horse the reader describes. This from Stopping Aggression Problems With an Equine Shock Collar from the AAEP Convention, 2004 by Stephanie L. Church:

Veterinary expense, property damage, loss of use of affected horses, and the emotional cost associated with the death of an animal if injured severely during an aggressive act all demand a reliable way to change this behavior in the horse. Kennedy has experienced success in using an equine electronic collar with a number of horses.
Aggressive behavior in horses results in a range of injuries that often must be attended to by a veterinarian, from minor cuts and bruises to career-ending or life-threatening injuries. These injuries are a direct result of being bitten or kicked, or chased through or over a fence.

We have all seen horses that have experienced these injuries. We have all pondered how to prevent them from happening. First step in prevention: veterinary examination to rule out health issues that might contribute to the dangerous behavior. Cryptorchidism, ovarian cysts, pain, conformational issues that negatively affect perception can all cause aggressive behavior. Stop right there if these and more are detected. You know what to do. But what if no possible medical cause is detected? The next step is determining how to stop the undesirable behavior.

Isolate the horse?
Rehome the horse?
Euthanize the horse?

This article says,

some horses are emboldened by a barrier since they know the target horse will be less likely to show retribution since a fence is in the way. Not every horse owner is blessed with dead space between fence lines, and many boarding stables aren’t able to accommodate a horse requiring isolation. Isolation can lead to further behavioral problems. Then we reach our final option, which is to sell the aggressive horse. Many do not want to do this because the horse may be exceptional in every other way–they just have a hard time getting along with others.

What does the research say about the effectiveness of equine shock collars? Do they eliminate aggressive behavior in the short or long term?

One study looked at a group of 15 horses that were either aggressive toward a new horse in the pasture, aggressive toward a horse on the opposite side of a fence, or aggressive within an established herd.

About the collar used: The collar rests anywhere behind the throatlatch, and it does not matter where on the neck the receiver is touching the horse.

When you see the horse doing what he shouldn’t, you push the button. Start at the lowest (shock) level–I didn’t count horses that were just posturing with their ears back, I only corrected them when they made an aggressive move toward another horse,” she explained. On the transmitter, which has six levels of intensity, the required levels ranged from 2-5 to stop the aggression, with a mean of 4. One to four stimulations were used on each horse, but most only required two to change their behavior.

Aggressive mares in a pasture responded to stimulation when they were aggressive toward a new mare added to the pasture. Upon the first stimulation, aggressive mares would have instant posture changes. Those mares tended to follow the new mare around for a few minutes, apparently trying to figure out if the new mare was responsible for the shock. After the second shock, the aggressive mares apparently decided to befriend the new mares, seeking to graze next to them and accepting them as part of the group.

he total time before first and last stimulations required to change the behavior ranged from 10 minutes to 2 and a half days. Collars remained on the horses for one week, and aggressive behavior was monitored for a period of 30 days following the initial correction period. None of the horses exhibited aggressive behavior during that interval. The collar was determined to be extremely effective in deterring aggressive behavior.

The authors of the study say that the collar is effective because the correction is instantaneous and concurrent with the undesirable behavior, and invisible. There is no apparent agent of discipline. As such, they say, the collar can be used to deter aggressive behavior against humans, too.

Most issues are not mean horses. Usually it’s a lack of respect, and they know that they can dominate the owner and can avoid a whip. Most know it’s bad, but think they can get away with it. If the client can be consistent in observing the horse, the collar can work well for cribbing and stall walkers as well. These types of behaviors won’t be stopped by one or two sessions of use. However, many cribbers can become collar-wise and any time the horse is likely to crib, the owner needs to be present with the transmitter.

ELECTRONIC COLLAR STUDY RESULTS

Group 1: Pasture Aggression (Six Mares)
Number of times stimulated: 1–4
Time between first and last stimulation: 10 minutes–1.5 hours
Total length of time collar was on horse: 1 week for all horses
Levels used: 3–5
Number of horses that reverted to aggressive behavior in the month after the removal of the collar: 0*

Group 2: Aggression With Barrier (Three Stallions, Two Mares, and One Gelding)
Number of times stimulated: 2–4
Time between first and last stimulation: 15 minutes–2 1/2 days
Total length of time collar was on horse: 1 week for all horses
Levels used: 3–5
Number of horses that reverted to aggressive behavior in the month after the removal of the collar: 0*

Group 3: Paddock Aggression (Two Geldings)
Number of times stimulated: 2–4
Time between first and last stimulation: 1.5–2 days
Total length of time collar was on horse: 1 week for all horses
Levels used: 2–4
Number of horses that reverted to aggressive behavior in the month after the removal of the collar: 0

Group 4: Aggression Associated With Feeding (One Mare)
Number of times stimulated: 4
Time between first and last stimulation: 2 days
Total length of time collar was on horse: 1 week
Levels used: 3–4
Number of horses that reverted to aggressive behavior in the month after the removal of the collar: 0

*Other observations that were made in the pasture and over fence groups were that the results, although long-lasting for that particular neighbor or new horse, did not extend to a new neighbor or additional new horse being introduced and the process had to be repeated.

I honestly believe that the same results can be achieved with less harmful and, if you’ll pardon the pun, shocking means. Training and companionship with humans along with other horses by professionals and well educated owners cannot be replaced by a torture device. If a horse has aggression issues, a lack of “respect” may be the result of many deeper causes. Only with time, patience and inquiry will these issues be discovered and resolved. A shock collar is a cruel bandaid.

I am appalled that Julie Goodnight would hawk such a contraption when her claim to fame is the training of horses. If we can’t trust the trainers who are supposed to teach us how, then who can we trust?