A Memorial for Memorial Day

On this Memorial Day, 2008, it's time to take a pause and remember that Freedom isn't free, and there are those who paid the ultimate price so that we may enjoy our lives and enjoy the freedom we have here. My father was one who paid the ultimate price, and this is dedicated to him. Commander Thomas Paul Frank, was an A-7 pilot who made his first flight during war in Korea, and his last flight in the Gulf of Tonkin in Vietnam. He was not shot down by the enemy, though, his enemy was the sea. The salt in the sea, to be exact. You see, his multi-million dollar plane which was launched off carriers on a regular basis, had a nosegear that was made of salt corrosive metal. Over time, the salt ate away the metal on the part of the plane that attaches to the catapault that launches the plane off the carrier. Four planes had been launched into the water before my father's plane. But we were in a war and accidents happen. Then the day arrived for the accident to happen to my father's plane. The plane was launched off the Carrier the Oriskany, and my father's plane was launched at full speed and flipped into the water off the end of the Carrier. His official cause of death was drowning, but it should have been stupidity. There are a lot of dead heros out there whose official cause of death should be stupidity. But they are heros out there who gave their lives so we can live ours free. Whether you agree with the current war or not, take a moment to thank those that give the ultimate price.

When I first came to Fallon for my interview, one of the first things I saw as I was driving into town was an A-7 on a stick in front of the local Chevy dealership. That was a sign to me that I was home. One day at work, I was talking with a patient about how we ended up in Fallon. I told her I wanted to move west to be able to have horses in my back yard, and the plane was one of my signs that I had found the right place. Especially since it was the plane my father was killed in in Vietnam. As it turned out, this patient's husband was in charge of taking the plane down to repaint it, so she said she'd have her husband put my father's name put on the plane. She kept her word, and now as I pass this plane every day on my way to work, I am reminded of the price of my Freedom, and I always thank a vet. WWII Vets are getting fewer and fewer these days and a little thank you can make their day!

Thanks, Dad!

"HORSES TALKING"

From the book, "HORSES TALKING" by Margrit Coates:

"The more we understand that horses mirror out thoughts, fears and self-doubts, problems and behaviour, the easier it is to work at letting go of these issues. The incentive is a better rapport with our horse. The horse also mirrors our healing actions and good intent. "

What Gait is my Gaited Horse Doing?

If you have a gaited horse, you know exactly what I am talking about. If you are lucky enough to have a multi-gaited horse, figuring out what gait the horse is doing when you are in the saddle can be tricky. I have spent the past 8 years trying to understand gait in the gaited horse. It's easy to see the difference between a trot and a pace, but there are several gaits that fall inbetween that spectrum that is difficult to tell the difference until you train your eyes to see the footfall of the individual horse. Starting with still pictures is best, then graduate to video where you can see the gait, then go back and pause to stop the action and see the individual footfalls will help train your eye.

But how do you transfer that knowledge to the saddle? You have to know the gaits, the footfalls, and what the body does, and a big clue from the saddle is the motion of the head. Here is a video I took from Whisper's back when she went back and forth between the Stepping Pace and the Saddle Rack:



Most people who have gaited horses have them for their smooth gait. Frankly, most of these gaited horse owners don't give a damn what their horse is doing as long as it is smooth and doesn't jar their dental work! Then, when the horse falls out of gait, they mistakenly go to a bigger bit, or heavy shoes in front or back to try and get the gait back. How stupid and sad for the horse! Gaited horses change gait depending on the balance point of the rider; therefore, if the rider is too far forward, or more commonly, too far back in the saddle, the horse's gait will change. Hand position of the rider affects the head and neck position of the horse, and that also affects what gait the horse will do.

Gaited horses are becoming more and more popular as baby boomers are getting back into horses and want something smooth to ride. A gaited horse is marketed as being "easy" to ride, but it takes more skill and balance and an independant seat to ride a gaited horse properly. For more information on the different gaits of the gaited horse, go to Amazon.com and order the Bible of Gaited horses: " Easy-Gaited Horses" by the late Lee Ziegler. I was fortunate enough to get an autographed copy of Lee's book before she passed away from Lou Gherig's disease. Lucky for us gaited horse owner's, Lee left a great legacy in her book. It is also lucky for the horse, because she shows how to get gait without all the horrible bits, weighted shoes, etc. Thank you, Lee!

A Visit with the Dentist

We are lucky in this area to have one of the premier equine dentists available for our horses. Dr. Scott Greene is not only an equine dental specialist, he is also the developer of dental power tools for horses. Dr. Greene says a horse should have his first visit with the equine dentist before he is bitted for the first time, and yearly thereafter. A lot of people don't understand how dental health affects horses and their behavior. From my own experience, I have seen both Whisper and Andi develop aversions to being bridled, so I switched them both to hackamores knowing I needed to get them exams by the dentist. As it turns out, both Andi and Whisper had wolf teeth (1st pre-molars in humans) that needed to be extracted, and in Whisper's case, she had a blind wolf tooth that caused pain when the bit would hit it. A blind wolf tooth is quite rare and happens when the tooth does not erupt thru the gum, but grows along the jaw bone under the gum.

A horse does not chew or chomp it's food like people. In the horse, the lower jaw goes in a circular motion and has the effect of grinding the hay or grass they consume. A horse's TMJ is up near the ear, so any problems chewing their food affects the poll, which affects the entire spine, which affects the horse's behavior in every aspect of it's life. Taking Whisper as an example, she started flinging her head and got almost dangereous when I went to put her bridle on. At first, I thought her browband was a bit tight, so I got a bigger one and I also switched her to a hackamore. I knew something was hurting her, I just didn't know what it was. I have gradually, with patience and clicker training, gotten her cooperative in the bridling process with the hackamore. Dr. Greene suggested I try the bit again in a couple of weeks, but she goes so well in the hackamore, I may just stick to it.

Here is the video I compiled of the dental exams:



There is a very important lesson to be learned here: ALWAYS LISTEN TO YOUR HORSE! I did not know what Whisper's problem was, but there is almost ALWAYS a physical reason a horse does not cooperate with you. Horses are not bad on purpose, they are usually bad because they are in pain.

Cantering Down the Trail

Took a little 10 mile ride with our friends, Sharon and Phinn. Phinn is a 3 day eventing Holsteiner who has huge strides. Poor Whisper has to canter to keep up with his trot, and if Phinn goes into his easy canter, Whisper has to flat out gallop to keep up! We have to watch those gallops, tho, as Whisper's legs got a bit puffy after a long gallop with Phinn last summer. Anyway, here is a video of us cantering a couple miles:



I did have to ask Sharon to slow down a tad to keep Whisper from getting up to her fourth gear, especially since she was getting a bit bucky.

Oh, and don't worry, I will be securing my helmet cam a bit better to my spare helmet so it will not wobble and you will not get motion sickness watching!

Old Dogs and New Tricks

I have finally gotten my mother to come over to the light! She had been having trouble with her Spotted Saddle Horse, Fireman, seeing Quads on the trail. He would get all nervous and upset, so I finally convinced her a bigger bit was not the answer, but clicker training was. I hate the idea of trying to control a horse thru pain, as this may lead to a bolt or even more dangereous behavior. I've been having such good luck with clicker training with my mare, Whisper, I finally convinced my mom to give clicker training a try. We started in the arena with basic target training to a soccer cone to get Fireman to understand that a click is the key to the vending machine. From a soccer cone, mom got him to target the quad sitting turned off in the middle of the arena. After he was targeting the quad turned off, we turned the quad on and got him to target it. After that, mom climbed on board Fireman, and got him to target the quad once again while it was turned off (everything is different when you are on the horse). Then, again, with the quad turn on. End of that session! Fireman paired the quad with treats so well that day that he didn't want to leave it and go home!!

Next session, mom got Fireman saddled up, but we started from the ground. She had been working on the head down cue, which leads to a calm down cue, and I would ride past Fireman on the quad. Luckily, I got videos of that training session.



We did this in our own back yard, in case Fireman had a real hard time and Mom had to get off, she wouldn't have far to walk. Mom has always said she doesn't want to be a horse trainer, but I have finally convinced her that 4 years of being just a passenger on Fireman has led to the "problems" he now has. It is time for her to step up to the plate and become her horse's leader, and I must say, she is doing a very good job. Plus, clicker training has such fast, visable results, she is inspired to continue becoming a horse trainer.

Fireman also has a tendency to jig home the last couple of miles; so, she is using clicker training on the trail and clicking for walking calmly, whoaing, head down, and they are doing fantastic!