The word "pride' can take on a couple of different meanings depending on it's context. We can have pride in our city, state, and country, we can have school pride, and we can be proud of our children's accomplishments. But pride is also one of the seven deadly sins. Proverbs 16:18 tells us "Pride comes before the fall." Being prideful is considered a flaw of temperament; associated with someone who stubbornly believes themselves to be above others, above scrutiny, above fault. And certainly, if you set yourself up to be above fault, you are setting yourself up for a major fall.
And so now we are told by the NRHA that deposed president Allen Mitchels is filing suit against the association following the judge tampering scandal that began in January. We discussed the situation in "A Tale of Corruption and High Stakes..." and then again in "The First Female President." In a statement on the NRHA website: "On February 2, 2012, Allen Mitchels filed suit against the National Reining Horse Association due to actions taken by its Board of Directors on January 21, 2012. By advice of legal counsel, NRHA will not comment on the specifics of the lawsuit as long as the matter is in litigation." Because no details of the investigation have been made public, there is no way of knowing what evidence the Board of Directors used to make its decision, but it would seem a foregone conclusion that the NRHA made that decision based on legal counsel, lengthy discussion of the rules and bylaws, as well as the good common sense that got them appointed to the BOD in the first place.
They must have found some pretty damning evidence, because they didn't just remove him from office; they removed him from the Teaching Panel and the Judges Committee, took away his judge's card, and gave him a lifetime ban from holding a position of authority in the NRHA. In handing out this harsh sentence, they are making a statement that the NRHA is committed to fair dealings at its competitions, and that the rules will be followed, regardless of position or influence. In administering this decisive removal of Mitchels, and removing him from any involvement in the association, they are also making an attempt to move forward without the hindrances involved in having someone on board who might taint the image of NRHA. Wouldn't it be great if that really was the end of it?
Mr. Mitchels surely thinks he has a case, and probably has a lawyer telling him that he does. But perhaps his pride is motivating him to go after an association that he previously claimed allegiance to. No doubt he is embarrassed, angry, and feels a sense of entitlement to the position that he previously held. But his pride serves no one. If he goes after the association and he loses, he will have incurred a huge legal bill, wasted everyone's time, and he will still be that guy who got thrown out of office. If he manages to win, he will be the guy that wasted association funds on a legal battle, he will potentially decimate an association that doesn't need to lose members and money, and he will STILL have a tarnished reputation. Whatever they found that he did was enough to make them throw the book at him - what can he say that will make his reputation shiny and clean again? Many people that I have talked to have said that Mr. Mitchels was known for this type of behavior, so I have to say, the cat's out of the bag now. Suing the NRHA isn't going to get him judging jobs, it isn't going to put him back in good standing with the membership, and it isn't going to get him his old job back.
Being prideful can drive a person to seek revenge, because they would rather exact vengeance on others than face the fact that they are, in fact, flawed or have made a mistake. It takes courage in accepting your own faults, along with humility and service to others, to overcome pride-fullness. If Mr. Mitchels really wants to clean up his reputation, he should consider taking a humbler course, withdrawing his suit, and accepting responsibility for his actions. That would be the course that would best serve the membership, rather than one that is rooted in proud denial, and threatens the association that just 45 days ago he pledged loyalty to. No one wins when the attitude is, "I'm not going down without a fight...."
Saturday, February 18, 2012
Wednesday, February 8, 2012
Cyber-Bullying in the Horse Industry
Something sad happened recently on Facebook. A very nice woman that I know closed her FB page, saying that she was just sick and tired of all the rumors and mean-spirited comments that get passed around on the social media network. It made me feel bad, as she is a very sweet and kind person, and I enjoyed seeing her updates. I can't be certain, but it could be related to a falling out she recently had over the genetic testing debate. While she would never stoop to point fingers or retaliate with insults, it is clear that she was made to feel bad because of someone's unkind words. There seems to be a lot of that on FB lately. While I personally get a lot out of FB - it is a great way to keep up with my widely scattered friends and family - I have seen that many use it as a way to push an agenda or spread rumors, half-truths and outright lies. There is a certain amount of anonymity to social sites too. People say things on FB that they would never, ever have the guts to say to someone's face, and the fact that they are separated from their audience emboldens many to be truly horrible to their fellow human beings. Even if a person isn't commenting anonymously, the fact that they are typing their comment, rather than speaking it face to face, makes it easier for some to unleash insults, disparage someone, or embarrass them.
According to Wikipedia, cyber-bullying is the use of the internet and related technologies to harm other people, in a deliberate, repeated, and hostile manner. I have seen this in action many times in discussion forums or posted directly to someone's page, whether the subject was abusive training techniques, how well the NRHA is handling the judge tampering scandal, or what should be done about genetic disease. In fact, I began this blog as a response to being bullied. That experience made me realize that there are people out there who don't understand that their words have an affect on others, that they have to power to hurt, to smear, and to vilify. To be sure, some even relish in doing that to others, as if they are lacking any kind of power in their 'real' lives, so they behave like some kind of tyrant on social media sites, just prowling to look for someone to fight with. Many of them would hide when confronted in person; the person who bullied me has never owned up to it, even though I have seen her face to face several times since then.
The more contentious the issue, the more prevalent the bullying. The latest hot topic, genetic testing, is no exception. I have observed cliques of people dog piling someone who asked an innocent or rhetorical question. I have experienced my own words being misconstrued, and have seen others get the same. I have heard the complaints of many people wondering why a certain forum was so hostile. And I have read people's posts that were full of speculation over an 'irresponsible breeder' or a horse that supposedly passed on a deadly gene, even though there was no actual evidence of that. Hearsay hurts more people than just the subject of the hostility; it creates an atmosphere that doesn't allow dissension or discussion. It divides rather than unites. And it can truly hurt people in the horse industry, an industry where a nasty rumor can decimate a stallion's breeding career, cause a trainer to lose customers, instigate lawsuits, keep exhibitors away from competitions and cause hysteria over topics that may not have real bearing in the life of the reader. Cyber-bullying can create real financial loss for the person targeted, as well as the loss of business relationships, friendships or even intimate relationships. It is not to be taken lightly.
How does one deal with cyber-bullies?* First, realize that sometimes there is no point to arguing with someone. If a person puts their CAPS LOCK ON, and begins to use multiple exclamation points to scream their point at you, they probably aren't in their right mind. There is no use screaming back at a crazy person. Second, use only facts to support your argument, rather than throwing back put-downs. While you may be completely correct in your assessment that you are communicating with a narrow-minded, pontificating jerk, in pointing it out to them, you are just fueling their mean-spirited-ness. Don't worry, everyone can see them for what they are by their own words. Let them look that way, and don't stoop to their level. Say less versus more, and if all else fails, just leave the conversation. No one will think you are 'chicken,' they will think you are smart for maintaining control. And if you find that a group you are in is constantly embroiled in arguments, leave the group and seek out a group that fits you better (or start your own). There are page admins out there who don't bother regulating group member's comments, or actually encourage fighting, because they like the notoriety of being 'controversial.' If someone continues to harass you on FB, you can block them, so they no longer have access to you, your page, or your comments. And with a click of the mouse, they can be gone from your cyber life - or at least, you won't be able to see each other anymore.
It may be that someone has harassed you to the point of causing a real loss in your life. You may need to hire an attorney, and document the instances of bullying. Learn how to do a "screen shot" with which you can take a picture of what is on your computer screen, containing comments within a thread that are directed at you. On my computer, the screen shot button is on the top right of the keyboard. Having evidence of bullying incidents is crucial for any prosecution to occur.
Moreover, remember that you have a right to your opinion and a right to ask questions. While some people seem to have a know-it-all air about them, remember that no one is omnipotent, no one is always right, and no one can foretell the future. Part of a bully's strategy is to get you to believe that you are less than them, and that they are some type of authority, when reality is that everyone has something to contribute to the conversation, no matter what the subject.
*If you are a minor, and are being bullied online for any reason, tell an adult, and keep telling adults, until someone listens and helps you deal with it. Please don't despair, and don't take it personally. As you grow into an adult, you will see that some people just like to dump on others because it takes the focus off themselves. It has nothing to do with who you are, or your value as a person, and everything to do with what kind of person they are. I wish you well! :)
According to Wikipedia, cyber-bullying is the use of the internet and related technologies to harm other people, in a deliberate, repeated, and hostile manner. I have seen this in action many times in discussion forums or posted directly to someone's page, whether the subject was abusive training techniques, how well the NRHA is handling the judge tampering scandal, or what should be done about genetic disease. In fact, I began this blog as a response to being bullied. That experience made me realize that there are people out there who don't understand that their words have an affect on others, that they have to power to hurt, to smear, and to vilify. To be sure, some even relish in doing that to others, as if they are lacking any kind of power in their 'real' lives, so they behave like some kind of tyrant on social media sites, just prowling to look for someone to fight with. Many of them would hide when confronted in person; the person who bullied me has never owned up to it, even though I have seen her face to face several times since then.
The more contentious the issue, the more prevalent the bullying. The latest hot topic, genetic testing, is no exception. I have observed cliques of people dog piling someone who asked an innocent or rhetorical question. I have experienced my own words being misconstrued, and have seen others get the same. I have heard the complaints of many people wondering why a certain forum was so hostile. And I have read people's posts that were full of speculation over an 'irresponsible breeder' or a horse that supposedly passed on a deadly gene, even though there was no actual evidence of that. Hearsay hurts more people than just the subject of the hostility; it creates an atmosphere that doesn't allow dissension or discussion. It divides rather than unites. And it can truly hurt people in the horse industry, an industry where a nasty rumor can decimate a stallion's breeding career, cause a trainer to lose customers, instigate lawsuits, keep exhibitors away from competitions and cause hysteria over topics that may not have real bearing in the life of the reader. Cyber-bullying can create real financial loss for the person targeted, as well as the loss of business relationships, friendships or even intimate relationships. It is not to be taken lightly.
How does one deal with cyber-bullies?* First, realize that sometimes there is no point to arguing with someone. If a person puts their CAPS LOCK ON, and begins to use multiple exclamation points to scream their point at you, they probably aren't in their right mind. There is no use screaming back at a crazy person. Second, use only facts to support your argument, rather than throwing back put-downs. While you may be completely correct in your assessment that you are communicating with a narrow-minded, pontificating jerk, in pointing it out to them, you are just fueling their mean-spirited-ness. Don't worry, everyone can see them for what they are by their own words. Let them look that way, and don't stoop to their level. Say less versus more, and if all else fails, just leave the conversation. No one will think you are 'chicken,' they will think you are smart for maintaining control. And if you find that a group you are in is constantly embroiled in arguments, leave the group and seek out a group that fits you better (or start your own). There are page admins out there who don't bother regulating group member's comments, or actually encourage fighting, because they like the notoriety of being 'controversial.' If someone continues to harass you on FB, you can block them, so they no longer have access to you, your page, or your comments. And with a click of the mouse, they can be gone from your cyber life - or at least, you won't be able to see each other anymore.
It may be that someone has harassed you to the point of causing a real loss in your life. You may need to hire an attorney, and document the instances of bullying. Learn how to do a "screen shot" with which you can take a picture of what is on your computer screen, containing comments within a thread that are directed at you. On my computer, the screen shot button is on the top right of the keyboard. Having evidence of bullying incidents is crucial for any prosecution to occur.
Moreover, remember that you have a right to your opinion and a right to ask questions. While some people seem to have a know-it-all air about them, remember that no one is omnipotent, no one is always right, and no one can foretell the future. Part of a bully's strategy is to get you to believe that you are less than them, and that they are some type of authority, when reality is that everyone has something to contribute to the conversation, no matter what the subject.
*If you are a minor, and are being bullied online for any reason, tell an adult, and keep telling adults, until someone listens and helps you deal with it. Please don't despair, and don't take it personally. As you grow into an adult, you will see that some people just like to dump on others because it takes the focus off themselves. It has nothing to do with who you are, or your value as a person, and everything to do with what kind of person they are. I wish you well! :)
Thursday, February 2, 2012
Shopping For Nice Genes
Equine genetic disorders. Nothing gets horse people fired up quicker than a debate on genetic testing, and in recent public social media forums, the topic has been a hot one lately. We have been there before; we've seen HERDA in the Poco Bueno's, SCID in Arabians, HYPP in the Impressive's, JEB in draft horses, and others, so we shouldn't be surprised that this topic has come up yet again, with the call going out demanding mandatory testing of all breeding stock. The nasty culprit this time is GBED, as well OLWS, both of which have become more prevalent in recent years.
Genetic mutations that cause disease and/or birth defects have always been around; DNA is no more a perfect system than any other within a living being. What has changed in modern times is the speed at which these flawed mutations can spread. Prior to the development of artificial insemination and embryo transfer, stallions could only breed so many mares, and mares could only produce so many babies. The odds were much lower that a stallion who was a carrier of a disease gene would meet a mare who happened to be a carrier of the same recessive disease gene and produce an affected foal. Of course, veterinary medicine evolved along with these diseases, so that many years ago, vets might not be able to connect all the dots in tracing a genetic defect, but now they have the capability to know without a doubt what is wrong with an affected foal, and trace the origin of the gene. Another factor that has increased our exposure to genetic diseases is that many modern breeders follow trends in which stallions they choose for their mares. If Stallion X has made a ton of money in the show pen, or has sired horses that have, everyone has to breed their mares to him. This dramatically reduces the number of animals in the gene pool, and accelerates the distribution of diseased genes.
These disorders are pretty horrible. If you have ever seen a horse suffering an HYPP seizure, you know what I mean. When a horse has HERDA, their skin and underlying tissues fall off and cause terrible scars. PSSM sentences the horse to a life of chronic pain and the owner to providing the horse with a special diet to control symptoms. Foals with OLWS, GBED and SCID are doomed from birth, and they have no hope for survival or any quality of life. It would seem a foregone conclusion that we want to avoid these scenarios at all costs. Yet they persist. Why?
To find the answer, you have to look at the problem from both the mare owner's side, and the stallion owner's side.
To find the answer, you have to look at the problem from both the mare owner's side, and the stallion owner's side.
Stallions can produce many more babies than an individual mare can, so a genetic disease is often statistically found faster in a stallion's breeding career than through a mare's, since mares only average a few foals in a lifetime. I think this gives some mare owners a false sense of security. They (wrongly) assume that a stallion owner would know if their stud is a carrier, and they (wrongly) expect that this information would be made public.
I have also heard mare owners state that since she has not produced an affected foal yet, that chances are she won't produce an affected foal next time. This is a fallacy based in ignorance. If you put any two sets of recessive genes into a Punnett square, you will come out with the same odds for every breeding; 25% of the foals will be unaffected, 50% will be carriers, and 25% will be affected foals. Each breeding is statistically independent – each roll of the dice carries the same odds. You could breed two carrier horses to each other twelve times, and you might see 12 unaffected foals, 12 affected foals, or distributions from all three possibilities. If you firmly believe that you will get lucky every time because you got lucky before, I bet the dealers at the craps tables in Vegas love you!
I think many people don't know what resources are available to them for genetic testing, or understand how easy it is to have done. This is fairly new, and since registries and horse associations haven't pushed it – after all, who wants bad publicity – many don't test because it is just too much of a bother to figure out this new-fangled technology and seek out help. However, both the American Quarter Horse Assn.* and the American Paint Horse Assn. have begun to provide kits for people to use, and there are also several private labs that can do the tests quickly. The tests aren't exactly cheap, but certainly compared to the cost of having a dead foal, testing looks pretty inexpensive.
Now, the tricky part....getting stallion owners on the genetic testing bandwagon. I have heard many times that this is a taboo subject, that demanding industry-wide testing will never go over with the heavyweights in the business, and that bringing it up will get you blacklisted from the industry. The source of this resistance is fear. People are naturally afraid of change. Individuals who have reason to believe their stallion is at risk of being a carrier resist that knowledge, fearing the stigma that will be placed on their horse, the loss of income and the smearing of their horses', and their own, reputation. When this fear is put under the hot lights of debate, the result is often a vicious lashing out against the knowledge, and the people responsible to bringing the knowledge to light. Some stallion owners have more to lose than others, and as they say, the bigger they come, the harder they fall.
My response is that the truth always comes out. Stallion owners – wouldn't you rather disclose something like that yourself, where you have control of it and can even spin it in a positive way, since you will look more responsible to the public? Or would it be better to wait, constantly worrying about it, risking the loss, whether it is your foal that dies or a valued customer's, and having the truth get out? What if it is found out that you knew your horse had a problem but you chose not to disclose it, and then are hit with a lawsuit? Won't that have a worse effect on your reputation and your horse's legacy? Willful ignorance makes not only the individual stallion owner look bad, it damages the entire industry. People don't want to be associated with a group that clings so tightly to the all-mighty dollar that they are unable to be ethical.
I do have a couple of caveats to my arguments for genetic testing. I have heard people say “There oughta be a law...” I do not think this is something that should be legislated by the government. The government has no business in horse genetics, and even a registry doesn't have much legal authority over how people breed their horses. Can they strongly encourage it, and make it easier for people to do? Sure, but I doubt they could require it. Since there are only a small percentage of horses out there that are carriers, and only a percentage of them will mate, and then there is only a 25% chance that the pairing will result in an affected foal, it doesn't make financial sense to require it of everyone. And if registries require one disease to be tested for, shouldn't they require all those diseases that can be tested for to also be included? Where would that end? I have to wonder if required testing by a registry would open them up to some type of lawsuit; after all, simply putting a sticker on a horse's papers does not imply that the registry is then responsible for people's breeding decisions. I am sure that there are people out there who will breed to Stallion X anyway because they believe it won't happen to them. It might better serve the public if more effort was put in to education versus legislation and more rules.
I also do not feel comfortable 'outing' any horses out there. It is completely up to the owner to seek out that information and disclose it. Unless I personally pull hairs out of a horse's tail, send it in and see the results, I do not really know what that horse's genetic make-up is and if I make a supposition without knowing for sure, I am committing slander against that horse and owner. We have to understand that in this business, it pays to spread rumors about your competition, and people who point fingers at others often have their own agenda. I don't want to be part of a witch hunt, I am just advocating for better business ethics that lift up our industry, rather than diminish it. If we have widespread, mandatory testing, it may then become a possibility that there would be pressure to ban those animals that test positive as carriers, and I am not sure that is right. First, it would further shrink the size of the gene pool, perhaps making other disorders more prevalent, and second, it would remove some very successful and popular bloodlines from public use, which does not necessarily push our efforts forward. The object is to control the spread and try to prevent affected foals from being born.
The only way things will change with the current attitude toward genetic testing is if it makes more financial sense to test than to not test. If mare owners feel strongly about this subject, then they should test their mares, and they should breed to stallions that test and disclose. And many will do this! If there is an added benefit to all the fighting going on over this subject, it is that more people will find out the facts about genetic disease. It is my hope that mare owners will educate themselves and that stallion owners will see the changes on the horizon, and become more proactive in their planning. Perhaps if we all did this, we could avoid yet another scandal.....
*I have been told that AQHA has started making genetic tests for all possible diseases available, but I could not find anything on their website referring to an expanded test. Currently, all Quarter Horses seeking registration must be parentage verified through a DNA test, and if the horse is a descendant of the stallion Impressive, the horse must also be tested to establish its HYPP status.
*I have been told that AQHA has started making genetic tests for all possible diseases available, but I could not find anything on their website referring to an expanded test. Currently, all Quarter Horses seeking registration must be parentage verified through a DNA test, and if the horse is a descendant of the stallion Impressive, the horse must also be tested to establish its HYPP status.
Monday, January 30, 2012
The First Female President
The past three weeks have been a tumultuous time for members of the National Reining Horse Association; when I last blogged about the judge tampering scandal, in "A Tale Of Corruption and High Stakes...," the membership had been informed of the allegations, and a flurry of comments on the social media outlets ensued. Some defended the accused, some demanded their heads, and many worried about where the association was headed. While the letters both from the anonymous accusers and the reply from the NRHA board have been published on the NRHA website, the actual hearings were held behind closed doors, as NRHA policy requires, so I do not have any ground-breaking revelations to share as to what went down. But the end result - the deposing of sitting president Allen Mitchells -IS ground-breaking. I cannot recall hearing of any other sitting president of any horse association being thrown out of office due to an ethics violation. This is certainly a black mark on our history, but since I am a perennial optimist, I also see it as a positive. By reacting swiftly, with (relative) transparency, and by handing down a very strong judgement, the NRHA is saying that they stand for what is right. They are enforcing their rules, listening to their membership and seeking out unfairness on every level. I applaud them. I hope this begins a new era of honesty and fairness, which brings me to my next point...
I am so excited that we now have our first female president of the National Reining Horse Association! Congratulations to Beth Himes for making history. No doubt she would rather have gotten the post without all the attached controversy, but it is still fantastic. While women have slowly gained more equality in all areas of life, the top positions in business still elude us. Even in the horse industry, where there are more little girls that ride than little boys, more female non-pros that show, and many excellent breeders who are women, most 'big time' trainers are men, most judges are men, and all association presidents are men. The glass ceiling has been present in the horse industry with the same prevalence that it exists in the rest of our culture. Until now. We can all revel in this moment, because it shows that times are changing, and for the better. It is one less barrier that hasn't been breached, and perhaps will encourage more little girls to participate and dream big.
Bravo, Beth, and good luck. It is often when things fall apart that we begin to grow, and I am confident that out of all this upheaval, we will emerge as a much healthier association. How exciting that a woman will be steering the ship!
I am so excited that we now have our first female president of the National Reining Horse Association! Congratulations to Beth Himes for making history. No doubt she would rather have gotten the post without all the attached controversy, but it is still fantastic. While women have slowly gained more equality in all areas of life, the top positions in business still elude us. Even in the horse industry, where there are more little girls that ride than little boys, more female non-pros that show, and many excellent breeders who are women, most 'big time' trainers are men, most judges are men, and all association presidents are men. The glass ceiling has been present in the horse industry with the same prevalence that it exists in the rest of our culture. Until now. We can all revel in this moment, because it shows that times are changing, and for the better. It is one less barrier that hasn't been breached, and perhaps will encourage more little girls to participate and dream big.
Bravo, Beth, and good luck. It is often when things fall apart that we begin to grow, and I am confident that out of all this upheaval, we will emerge as a much healthier association. How exciting that a woman will be steering the ship!
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
Seven Invisible Horses
Good morning and Happy Wednesday, dear readers!
Most of my posts have something to teach or something to challenge you. Today I just want to share something beautiful.
I am an art lover and come by it rightly. My mother is an artist, and both of my grandmothers were artists. Every woman in my family practices some form of artistry, whether it is painting, drawing, ceramics, or flower arrangement, and my own outlets have included drawing, pastels, beadwork, and many forms of painting. Given that the horse is my muse in life, my house contains a collection of equine art that covers many styles and forms. While I love and appreciate classical styles, such as oil paintings that are conformation studies, or a watercolor depicting the wide sky of The West and featuring a cowboy and his horse riding into the sunset, I also am attracted to the unexpected. Nothing wakes up my artist's brain like a technicolor horse streaking across a neon sky, a Dali-like horse melting in bronze, or a life-size equine model sculpted entirely of driftwood.
This morning, a friend (Thank you, Kevin!) sent me a link to an extraordinary photo project in which the horse is conjured from bits of clothing. It is called "The Girl With 7 Horses #7" and is featured on the tumblr site, Ulicam. The series is ethereal and imaginative and magical. I hope you enjoy it and that it brings unexpected beauty to your day! Which one is your favorite?
Most of my posts have something to teach or something to challenge you. Today I just want to share something beautiful.
I am an art lover and come by it rightly. My mother is an artist, and both of my grandmothers were artists. Every woman in my family practices some form of artistry, whether it is painting, drawing, ceramics, or flower arrangement, and my own outlets have included drawing, pastels, beadwork, and many forms of painting. Given that the horse is my muse in life, my house contains a collection of equine art that covers many styles and forms. While I love and appreciate classical styles, such as oil paintings that are conformation studies, or a watercolor depicting the wide sky of The West and featuring a cowboy and his horse riding into the sunset, I also am attracted to the unexpected. Nothing wakes up my artist's brain like a technicolor horse streaking across a neon sky, a Dali-like horse melting in bronze, or a life-size equine model sculpted entirely of driftwood.
This morning, a friend (Thank you, Kevin!) sent me a link to an extraordinary photo project in which the horse is conjured from bits of clothing. It is called "The Girl With 7 Horses #7" and is featured on the tumblr site, Ulicam. The series is ethereal and imaginative and magical. I hope you enjoy it and that it brings unexpected beauty to your day! Which one is your favorite?
Friday, January 20, 2012
Standing Up For Laying Down
Have you ever had someone misconstrue your training methods?
Many years ago, I worked as an assistant for a very well-known trainer in a barn that specialized in top-notch Arabian and Half Arabian English horses. Most of the horses that came through the barn were very fancy, athletic show horses destined to win accolades in the show ring. But like in every training barn, there are times that you need to keep the barn full, and you take horses in to training that are more likely to end up as personal riding horses who tote their owners around the ring or the trails on the weekends. That is how we ended up with "Merrylegs." His owners had bred him and had kept him at home. They just wanted to ride him for pleasure, and he needed some tuning up. Much like the pony in the book "Black Beauty," he was short, dappled gray, round and fat like a pony. He was very cute, and even though he had a longer registered name that the owner called him, we began to refer to him as Merrylegs. At first, he was as sweet as the pony in the book too. This horse ended up on my list of charges, so I started by riding him for short periods every day to start getting him in shape - did I mention that he was fat?
Anyway, after a week or two of decent rides he began to display a very dangerous pattern. He didn't want to be caught, he wouldn't move off after you mounted, and he would stop dead while going forward at a trot or canter and refuse to move. (It should be said here that this horse had nothing physically wrong with him, and the tack I was using fit him fine. I was using a very non-punitive plain snaffle.) At first, I would redirect him, asking him to turn off one direction or the other, but he figured that tactic out and would again try to stonewall me. My fellow assistant and the trainer we worked for would make suggestions, but he continued. I tried groundwork with him and had no problems, I tried different bits, and I tried 'getting after him' with my legs (no spurs, I felt this would make it worse) and the small crop I carried. Nothing helped. In fact, the horse began rearing - and rearing BIG. We spoke with the owner, and, oh yeah, he had been giving her similar problems. This was one of my first experiences with the problem of owners spoiling their horses to the point of making them dangerous, but that is a discussion for another blog.
So everyday I would attempt to ride this horse who had zero interest in working, had been spoiled beyond belief and had learned that you could get humans to get off of you by rearing. He could actually walk on his hind legs with me on his back! I hated riding him, and yet, it was my job to at least try to salvage him. It was obvious that eventually the horse was going to fall on me, and it didn't seem like we were getting anywhere by me just trying to stay on all the time. It was finally brought up by the trainer I worked for that it was time to "lay him down*." This was before The Horse Whisperer, before I had seen similar things done by "natural" horsemen, and I was VERY worried. It upset me that this horse reared, but I am a pretty loving person who can't stand the sight of a living being in pain. I did not want this horse to be hurt at my hands. However, it wasn't really up to me, so my trainer put a running W on the horse, and after lunging him in it for a few minutes, she held up one of the horse's front legs, causing him to hop on three legs for a few minutes, and eventually, to lay down in the soft dirt of the arena. At that point, the trainer, myself, and the other asst. took time to sit on him, keeping him on the ground for several minutes, showing him that we controlled him. When we finally let him up, he was unhurt, but not unchanged. His attitude on subsequent rides was much improved; I can't say he was perfect after that, but he definitely had a new-found respect for us. His rearing became less and less of a problem.
Eventually, his owner's training money ran out and Merrylegs went home, and I don't know how he behaved when he got there, but this was a real learning moment for me. Prior to this incident, I believed that everyone who layed horses down did so behind their barn, where they might cover the horse with a tarp and beat them into submission. I believed it to be cruel in every instance, yet here was an example where the horse wasn't injured at all, and probably came out of it for the better. Sure, there might have been other ways to train him out of it; riders on one end of the extreme might have done ground work for months to make up for all that his owner didn't teach him about respect, and riders on the other end of the spectrum might have just beat the crap out of him until he figured out that when humans say go, you better go. Neither of these strategies were a good fit for this horse, or myself, so I believe that what we did was somewhere in the middle and the best that we could do in this situation.
Why am I telling you this story? I recently stumbled upon a discussion about habituation and flooding in horse training that became a highly contentious conversation. The people participating in the discussion were very polarized in their views and it reminded me of Merrylegs and how we used a moment of flooding to change his ways. For the sake of this discussion, let's give a quick overview of these terms. Habituation is the desensitization that occurs when the horse experiences an object, sound or behavior over and over again until it no longer reacts to it. Habituation can be achieved through approach and retreat, where a trainer repeatedly shows the horse something and then takes it away, or stops. The action is repeated over and over, increasing the length of time that the 'pressure.' is applied. Habituation can also be achieved through flooding, which is when the stimulus is applied and isn't removed until the horse relents and no longer reacts to it.
Let's take these tactics and apply them to a horse training scenario, such as saddling a horse for the first time. You are trying to achieve habituation, which would be that the horse no longer notices the saddle on its back. If you used approach and retreat, you would show the horse the saddle, let him sniff it, put it away. The next day, you would set it on his back, and put it away, the day after that, you might saddle him and walk him around a minute, and then put it away, until you had progressed to saddling, lunging and riding. If you used flooding, you would saddle the horse and let him 'buck it out' until he gave up, realizing he can't get it off his back. This process might take one session or many. Both approach and retreat as well as flooding can be applied to many different behaviors that we are trying to illicit from our horses, from accepting tack to teaching the horse to set its head.
As you can imagine, some people are very much against flooding, saying that it traps the horse, breaks them down, or scars them psychologically. Others offer that it is sometimes necessary, and when applied properly, can break through to difficult horses. In the discussion that I am referring to, a trainer who specializes in starting racehorses - including problem ones - was villified for laying horses down routinely in his training program. This trainer has posted videos of his methods on youtube, and what I saw him do was not what I would consider cruel or inhumane. There was no beating, kicking, jerking, poking or any behavior that I considered to be punitive. He was not reacting with frustration toward the horse - which is when most cruelty happens, when the human is frustrated because he/she cannot think of anything else to try on the horse to get them to do what he/she wants. In other words, laying a horse down doesn't mean you are seeking to hurt the horse because it won't relent. It can be simply presenting the horse with a choice - you either submit to me, or life will get difficult for you. It reminds me of how a wolf packs behaves; older, dominant wolves will put a pup on the ground, on its back and hold them there, showing the younger who is boss. In the horse-human diad, someone has to be boss, and it should be the human.
Most experienced horse owners and trainers realize that we give our horses this same choice every day from the moment they are born. My foals are not spoiled, rubbed on, kissed and given treats. They are treated like little horses that will eventually become big horses and have the physical power to kill someone. They learn the rules early, and know from Day One that they need to respect their human counterparts and submit to their wishes. But after years and years of meeting horses like Merrylegs, and the owners who made them that way, it is clear that many people out there don't understand how to do this. Nor are all horses bred like mine are; trainability and temperament are of absolute importance in my breeding stock. Does this matter to everyone breeding horses? Not by a long shot, especially within the racing industry. When you are breeding a horse for speed, temperament doesn't figure in as much.
The thought of trying to break a 17 hand fire-breathing Thoroughbred with the intention of teaching him to run as fast as possible makes my blood run cold! And these are not horses that are allowed months and months of gentling and groundwork. If a racehorse is unwilling to get along with his trainer, he has the highest chance of any equine on the planet of being sent to slaughter. Their lives literally depend on someone getting through to them, quickly and without injury. I have to respect someone who has the ability and the willingness to attempt to give these horses the choice. While flooding may not be an appropriate training method for every training problem, such as getting a horse to stay in frame or if a horse is terrified on an object, laying a horse down can be useful in establishing who is the leader for horses with no respect for humans.
Laying a horse down is not part of my training program, in fact, the incident with Merrylegs has been the one and only time in my lifetime of horses that I participated in doing it. I personally am not up for it; I am realistic about my physical abilities and understand that it takes someone with quick and precise reflexes, and physical agility that I don't possess (I have a messed up knee). Attempting it when you aren't quick and sure on your feet is very dangerous for you and the horse. It also takes instant and flexible common sense, lots and lots of experience, and above all, a cool demeanor that resists frustration and punitive reactions. If all of these conditions are met, the horse in question might actually have a chance to have a life, even beyond the race track, or whatever discipline they are being prepared for. In teaching them to submit, you are giving them an opportunity to be useful.
The end message here is that life is many shades of gray, and until we are personally faced with something similar we might not see the intention behind a training method. Most people can recognize abuse when it happens because there is a shift in intention; an abuser is aggressive in a way that affords the horse no way out, and the punishment comes without rhyme or reason. But sometimes strictness has a way of shaping desired behavior that shows the animal clearly what their choices are. Much in the way that juvenile detention bootcamps can shake up a teenage rebel, flooding, specifically laying a horse down, can take a horse that is basically useless and dangerous and allow them a chance at life.
Have you ever laid a horse down?
*Please do not confuse this with teaching a horse to lay down as a trick. When using 'laying down' as a training method, I am referring to a horse that does not want to lay down, or go along with anything that you are trying to teach them. It is the act of forcing them to the ground.
Many years ago, I worked as an assistant for a very well-known trainer in a barn that specialized in top-notch Arabian and Half Arabian English horses. Most of the horses that came through the barn were very fancy, athletic show horses destined to win accolades in the show ring. But like in every training barn, there are times that you need to keep the barn full, and you take horses in to training that are more likely to end up as personal riding horses who tote their owners around the ring or the trails on the weekends. That is how we ended up with "Merrylegs." His owners had bred him and had kept him at home. They just wanted to ride him for pleasure, and he needed some tuning up. Much like the pony in the book "Black Beauty," he was short, dappled gray, round and fat like a pony. He was very cute, and even though he had a longer registered name that the owner called him, we began to refer to him as Merrylegs. At first, he was as sweet as the pony in the book too. This horse ended up on my list of charges, so I started by riding him for short periods every day to start getting him in shape - did I mention that he was fat?
Anyway, after a week or two of decent rides he began to display a very dangerous pattern. He didn't want to be caught, he wouldn't move off after you mounted, and he would stop dead while going forward at a trot or canter and refuse to move. (It should be said here that this horse had nothing physically wrong with him, and the tack I was using fit him fine. I was using a very non-punitive plain snaffle.) At first, I would redirect him, asking him to turn off one direction or the other, but he figured that tactic out and would again try to stonewall me. My fellow assistant and the trainer we worked for would make suggestions, but he continued. I tried groundwork with him and had no problems, I tried different bits, and I tried 'getting after him' with my legs (no spurs, I felt this would make it worse) and the small crop I carried. Nothing helped. In fact, the horse began rearing - and rearing BIG. We spoke with the owner, and, oh yeah, he had been giving her similar problems. This was one of my first experiences with the problem of owners spoiling their horses to the point of making them dangerous, but that is a discussion for another blog.
So everyday I would attempt to ride this horse who had zero interest in working, had been spoiled beyond belief and had learned that you could get humans to get off of you by rearing. He could actually walk on his hind legs with me on his back! I hated riding him, and yet, it was my job to at least try to salvage him. It was obvious that eventually the horse was going to fall on me, and it didn't seem like we were getting anywhere by me just trying to stay on all the time. It was finally brought up by the trainer I worked for that it was time to "lay him down*." This was before The Horse Whisperer, before I had seen similar things done by "natural" horsemen, and I was VERY worried. It upset me that this horse reared, but I am a pretty loving person who can't stand the sight of a living being in pain. I did not want this horse to be hurt at my hands. However, it wasn't really up to me, so my trainer put a running W on the horse, and after lunging him in it for a few minutes, she held up one of the horse's front legs, causing him to hop on three legs for a few minutes, and eventually, to lay down in the soft dirt of the arena. At that point, the trainer, myself, and the other asst. took time to sit on him, keeping him on the ground for several minutes, showing him that we controlled him. When we finally let him up, he was unhurt, but not unchanged. His attitude on subsequent rides was much improved; I can't say he was perfect after that, but he definitely had a new-found respect for us. His rearing became less and less of a problem.
Eventually, his owner's training money ran out and Merrylegs went home, and I don't know how he behaved when he got there, but this was a real learning moment for me. Prior to this incident, I believed that everyone who layed horses down did so behind their barn, where they might cover the horse with a tarp and beat them into submission. I believed it to be cruel in every instance, yet here was an example where the horse wasn't injured at all, and probably came out of it for the better. Sure, there might have been other ways to train him out of it; riders on one end of the extreme might have done ground work for months to make up for all that his owner didn't teach him about respect, and riders on the other end of the spectrum might have just beat the crap out of him until he figured out that when humans say go, you better go. Neither of these strategies were a good fit for this horse, or myself, so I believe that what we did was somewhere in the middle and the best that we could do in this situation.
Why am I telling you this story? I recently stumbled upon a discussion about habituation and flooding in horse training that became a highly contentious conversation. The people participating in the discussion were very polarized in their views and it reminded me of Merrylegs and how we used a moment of flooding to change his ways. For the sake of this discussion, let's give a quick overview of these terms. Habituation is the desensitization that occurs when the horse experiences an object, sound or behavior over and over again until it no longer reacts to it. Habituation can be achieved through approach and retreat, where a trainer repeatedly shows the horse something and then takes it away, or stops. The action is repeated over and over, increasing the length of time that the 'pressure.' is applied. Habituation can also be achieved through flooding, which is when the stimulus is applied and isn't removed until the horse relents and no longer reacts to it.
Let's take these tactics and apply them to a horse training scenario, such as saddling a horse for the first time. You are trying to achieve habituation, which would be that the horse no longer notices the saddle on its back. If you used approach and retreat, you would show the horse the saddle, let him sniff it, put it away. The next day, you would set it on his back, and put it away, the day after that, you might saddle him and walk him around a minute, and then put it away, until you had progressed to saddling, lunging and riding. If you used flooding, you would saddle the horse and let him 'buck it out' until he gave up, realizing he can't get it off his back. This process might take one session or many. Both approach and retreat as well as flooding can be applied to many different behaviors that we are trying to illicit from our horses, from accepting tack to teaching the horse to set its head.
As you can imagine, some people are very much against flooding, saying that it traps the horse, breaks them down, or scars them psychologically. Others offer that it is sometimes necessary, and when applied properly, can break through to difficult horses. In the discussion that I am referring to, a trainer who specializes in starting racehorses - including problem ones - was villified for laying horses down routinely in his training program. This trainer has posted videos of his methods on youtube, and what I saw him do was not what I would consider cruel or inhumane. There was no beating, kicking, jerking, poking or any behavior that I considered to be punitive. He was not reacting with frustration toward the horse - which is when most cruelty happens, when the human is frustrated because he/she cannot think of anything else to try on the horse to get them to do what he/she wants. In other words, laying a horse down doesn't mean you are seeking to hurt the horse because it won't relent. It can be simply presenting the horse with a choice - you either submit to me, or life will get difficult for you. It reminds me of how a wolf packs behaves; older, dominant wolves will put a pup on the ground, on its back and hold them there, showing the younger who is boss. In the horse-human diad, someone has to be boss, and it should be the human.
Most experienced horse owners and trainers realize that we give our horses this same choice every day from the moment they are born. My foals are not spoiled, rubbed on, kissed and given treats. They are treated like little horses that will eventually become big horses and have the physical power to kill someone. They learn the rules early, and know from Day One that they need to respect their human counterparts and submit to their wishes. But after years and years of meeting horses like Merrylegs, and the owners who made them that way, it is clear that many people out there don't understand how to do this. Nor are all horses bred like mine are; trainability and temperament are of absolute importance in my breeding stock. Does this matter to everyone breeding horses? Not by a long shot, especially within the racing industry. When you are breeding a horse for speed, temperament doesn't figure in as much.
The thought of trying to break a 17 hand fire-breathing Thoroughbred with the intention of teaching him to run as fast as possible makes my blood run cold! And these are not horses that are allowed months and months of gentling and groundwork. If a racehorse is unwilling to get along with his trainer, he has the highest chance of any equine on the planet of being sent to slaughter. Their lives literally depend on someone getting through to them, quickly and without injury. I have to respect someone who has the ability and the willingness to attempt to give these horses the choice. While flooding may not be an appropriate training method for every training problem, such as getting a horse to stay in frame or if a horse is terrified on an object, laying a horse down can be useful in establishing who is the leader for horses with no respect for humans.
Laying a horse down is not part of my training program, in fact, the incident with Merrylegs has been the one and only time in my lifetime of horses that I participated in doing it. I personally am not up for it; I am realistic about my physical abilities and understand that it takes someone with quick and precise reflexes, and physical agility that I don't possess (I have a messed up knee). Attempting it when you aren't quick and sure on your feet is very dangerous for you and the horse. It also takes instant and flexible common sense, lots and lots of experience, and above all, a cool demeanor that resists frustration and punitive reactions. If all of these conditions are met, the horse in question might actually have a chance to have a life, even beyond the race track, or whatever discipline they are being prepared for. In teaching them to submit, you are giving them an opportunity to be useful.
The end message here is that life is many shades of gray, and until we are personally faced with something similar we might not see the intention behind a training method. Most people can recognize abuse when it happens because there is a shift in intention; an abuser is aggressive in a way that affords the horse no way out, and the punishment comes without rhyme or reason. But sometimes strictness has a way of shaping desired behavior that shows the animal clearly what their choices are. Much in the way that juvenile detention bootcamps can shake up a teenage rebel, flooding, specifically laying a horse down, can take a horse that is basically useless and dangerous and allow them a chance at life.
Have you ever laid a horse down?
*Please do not confuse this with teaching a horse to lay down as a trick. When using 'laying down' as a training method, I am referring to a horse that does not want to lay down, or go along with anything that you are trying to teach them. It is the act of forcing them to the ground.
Monday, January 16, 2012
The Future Awaits....
Breeding horses is a lot like trying to predict the future. You have to anticipate what the economy will do, what the horse industry is going to do, what bloodlines are going to be most marketable, and be able to satisfy both the need to have stock on hand in the future and the need to keep a balanced budget now. It takes such a long time between the moment you decide to breed a mare to the point of having a saleable animal from that pairing that it is imperative that breeders be excellent planners and budgeters.
I haven't had any new foals at my farm in several years. I have sold embryos from my best mare, but I haven't bred any of my other broodmares because I felt that the market was poor, and I couldn't reconcile the amount of money that I would have to put into a baby to get it to sale time with the prices that nice horses were going for. But I see that things are changing, both for myself and for the industry as a whole. I see that there is some renewed enthusiasm in performance horse sports, and some indications that our economy is slowly recovering. It is really a buyer's market, for both horse sales and stud fees, and I see more opportunities for people to invest in performance horses at reasonable prices. For myself, years of careful orchestration of my mare's embryo career has started to pay off, and I am hoping that I will be able to do some investing of my own this year. If all goes as we hope, the spring of 2013 will see some foals running around in my pasture.
Never before have these decisions weighed so heavily on me. Predicting the future isn't easy. All the 'what ifs' are enough to make a person crazy! So I battle the anxiety by doing my homework, running the numbers, studying the pedigrees, making the phone calls and arming myself with as much information as I can. And after that, I just close my eyes and envision those pretty babies....and my anxiety turns to excitement! Yay! It's breeding season!!
I haven't had any new foals at my farm in several years. I have sold embryos from my best mare, but I haven't bred any of my other broodmares because I felt that the market was poor, and I couldn't reconcile the amount of money that I would have to put into a baby to get it to sale time with the prices that nice horses were going for. But I see that things are changing, both for myself and for the industry as a whole. I see that there is some renewed enthusiasm in performance horse sports, and some indications that our economy is slowly recovering. It is really a buyer's market, for both horse sales and stud fees, and I see more opportunities for people to invest in performance horses at reasonable prices. For myself, years of careful orchestration of my mare's embryo career has started to pay off, and I am hoping that I will be able to do some investing of my own this year. If all goes as we hope, the spring of 2013 will see some foals running around in my pasture.
Never before have these decisions weighed so heavily on me. Predicting the future isn't easy. All the 'what ifs' are enough to make a person crazy! So I battle the anxiety by doing my homework, running the numbers, studying the pedigrees, making the phone calls and arming myself with as much information as I can. And after that, I just close my eyes and envision those pretty babies....and my anxiety turns to excitement! Yay! It's breeding season!!
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