I went along with Connie and her hubby to a Tom Curtin Natural Horsemanship participation clinic that was being held in our neck of the woods, at Gelinas Farm in Pembroke New Hampshire. I was so excited because I knew it was going to be such a great time and wonderful opportunity to learn more about horses. It was exactly what I had expected it to be and so much more. By the end of the day, I was so overwhelmed by the whole thing that I just could not thank Connie enough for inviting me to tag along with her, her hubby and Gilford.
Tom Curtin’s horsemanship class in session.
At the risk of sounding like a drama queen, I left the clinic feeling empowered!! I felt that not only had I done something that was so much fun, but I also learned a lot, and learning is empowering. If any horse I happen to be around benefits from what I’ve taken away from the Clinic, well, it just can’t help but be good for the both the horse and me. To be with all those other people who feel about horses the way I do made me feel so connected to the horse world even though I don’t own my own horse right now. And this was all so Western, which I love!!! It was an experience like no other.
Gilford going onto the horse trailer, Connie’s hubby leads while she assists.
The day started with loading the handsome Gilford onto the trailer, which was a first for me to observe. Being the good and well-trained horse that he is, he went right in like nobody’s business!
Glendale watches while Gilford gets onto trailer…
It was pretty cool driving down the road with Gilford in tow! (And I must admit to having the thought that anyone who saw us going down the road probably thought that since I was in this truck pulling a horse trailer that the horse was probably mine too!!).
Tom on his reining horse working with a youngster in the roundpen.
This horse had learned it could pull back and break away from its handler, so Tom does some remedial leading work with his lasso formed into a rope halter.
During the morning, we watched some colt starting. Fantastic!! In the afternoon, Gilford and Connie’s hubby did a two-hour training class with Tom and about 12 or so other riders and their horses (the clinic itself lasted 3 days.) I was so captivated by what Tom was doing and saying– and his expertise! Tom and his wife Trina are also just plain nice!! I got the chance to speak a few words with the both of them and they were so approachable and friendly!
Tom in roundpen explaining his principles to fellow horseman.
Tom’s clinic is extremely user friendly… by that I mean he was so clear and precise about what he was saying that even a novice like me was able to follow along and understand exactly what he was explaining. I didn’t leave the clinic thinking “Well, that was very nice, but I don’t have a clue as to what Tom was saying!” That’s why I said I felt empowered because I DID understand him!! He made it easy to understand, and because I understood him, I learned; and because I learned, that day I became just a little bit better at being a horse gal.
I now have Tom Curtin’s website marked as a favorite! I also bought a mug as souvenir and I love it. I think of Connie, her hubby, Gilford and the wonderful and exciting day I had every time I use it!
Up next in my blog, I’m going to introduce you to my friend Nora and her 2 horses– a Morgan mare name Susie and her draft cross, Buttercup. Nora is a NAHRA instructor that I met through my volunteer work at the Therapeutic Equestrian Center. The love Nora has for these two (and all things Equine) is unmistakable. Coming soon so stay tuned and Happy Trails all !!!!!!
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MUCH THANKS TO HORSEGAL FOR PIX AND VIDEOS !!!
Meet Eclyse - the amazing zebra crossing
It looks as if someone tried to give a zebra a respray. . . then ran out of white paint halfway through the job.
But in reality there is no artificial colouring on display here. This amazing but natural coat belongs to Eclyse the zorse. Her father is a zebra, while her mother is a horse. And she’s walking proof of how a child inherits genes from both parents.
Eclyse, a zorse at a safari park in Germany
Eclyse has earnt her stripes as one of the zoo’s main attractions. For while most zebra-horse crossbreeds sport stripes across their entire body, Eclyse only has two such patches, on its face and rear.
The one-year-old zorse was the accidental product of a holiday romance when her mother, Eclipse, was taken from her German safari park home to a ranch in Italy for a brief spell.
There she was able to roam freely with other horses and a number of zebras, including one called Ulysses who took a fancy to her. When Eclipse returned home, she surprised her keepers by giving birth to the baby zorse whose mixed markings betray her colourful parentage.
The foal was promptly given a name that is in itself a hybrid of her parents’ names. Now she’s become a major attraction at a safari park at Schloss Holte Stukenbrock, near the German border with Holland, where she has her own enclosure.
Udo Richter, spokesman for the park, said, “You can tell she is a mix just by looking at her. But in temperament she can also exhibit characteristics from each parent.
“She is usually relatively tame like a horse but occasionally shows the fiery temperament of a zebra, leaping around like one.”
Horses and zebras are often crossbred in Africa and are used as trekking animals on Mount Kenya.
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MUCHO THANKS to S.C. for passing this cutie on! and I always thought zebras and horses wouldn’t cross!
_________________ MORE ON ZORSE– reprinted FROM nzherald.co.nz
See LINK there for a VIDEO!
Zebra + horse = zorse Friday June 29, 2007
One-year-old Eclyse the zorse looks as though she has been covered in white paint. Photo / Reuters
It has to be the ultimate zebra crossing.
Eclyse the zorse is striking proof of how an offspring inherits genes from both parents - which in her case was a male zebra and a female horse. The result is shown in her amazing coat which looks like a zebra’s that has been partly covered in white paint.
While most zebra-horse crossbreeds have stripes across their entire body, Eclyse has only two such patches, on her face and rump. The 1-year-old was born after her mother, Eclipse, was taken from her German safari park home to visit a ranch in Italy.
There she was left to roam freely with other horses and a number of zebras. One zebra called Ulysses took a shine to her and there was some horseplay. When she arrived home to Germany, Eclyse’s mother surprised her keepers by giving birth to a baby zorse. Eclyse has become a major attraction at her home safari park at Schloss Holte-Stukenbrock, near the German border with Holland.
Hybrids are an interesting curiosity. The mule is perhaps the most famous cross - a combination between a horse and a donkey - and an animal of economic importance because it is a hard worker.
Hybrids are not easy to create, however. The mating pair’s different number of chromosomes - the “packets” of DNA in each cell - makes a pregnancy hard to achieve. A horse has 64 chromosomes; the zebra has 44. The zorse that results from cross-breeding will have a number of chromosomes that is somewhere in between.
The zorse can only result where the sire is the zebra.
“The smaller number of chromosomes has to be on the male side,” said Lesley Barwise-Munro, a veterinary surgeon in Alnwick, Northumberland, and a spokeswoman for the British Equine Veterinary Association. “If it had been the other way around there would have been no pregnancy. It’s how nature works.”
And hybrids were invariably sterile, she added.
More about Zorses:
Zebras, donkeys, and horses are all members of the family equus –
equines. Meaning Equines can be crossbred to produce hybrids. A horse
with a donkey or a horse with a zebra. making the new hybrid also an
Equine. They are all slightly different in genetic makeup though, horses
have 64 chromosomes, zebra have between 44 and 62 (depending on
species). Zorses can be male or female, but are sterile since their
chromosome count is 63.
Amanda Groff
Taken from astride my arabian mare Willy, these movies are on a local trail ride in Gilford NH. Shown is hubby on our 4 year old named Gilford! We are riding on woods trails in the Belknap mountains.
Lake Winnipesaukee can almost be seen in the distance, down the valley behind us. To our right is Gunstock Mountain.
Me looking down same valley towards the lake, Gunstock to the left of picture.
Nearing Round Pond, young Gilford is very reluctant to approach the water’s edge.
Gilford hasn’t seen large bodies of water before and is unsure what to make of it, also the footing closer to the pond gets soft and feels mushy under his feet. Rather than whip or force a horse who is afraid, we give him plenty of time to check things out and settle himself down. Dad is not trying to force him go forward, rather just encouraging his approach, keeping him from backing up or turning away so that he will face his fears and learn that nothing bad will happen.
Hubby on Gilford beside Round Pond (now we’re in Gilmanton, NH.)
Going around the edge of the pond, and an unusually large stand of jack-in-the-pulpits.
Each pink spot is a jack-in-the-pulpit, rare to see so many clumped together!
The trail was exceedingly rocky in places, and at the top were bare flat rocks. Both Gilford and Willy are barefoot but wearing their hoof boots in front.
For RELATED POSTS, search petArtistWithPeaches on:
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Training a horse in a roundpen establishes in the horse’s mind that a human is worthy of their attention and respect. By controlling the horse’s movement through body language, cues and signals and with no physical restraint on the horse, the handler establishes a mindset in the horse that the human is the dominant partner. Because horses have pecking orders among themselves and there is always a herd leader or alpha horse, they understand the concept of a human who is the boss of them; effective training of this concept is done in a roundpen.
You can tell when this yearling horse is paying attention to his handler by watching his ears. Glendale’s inside ear turned towards Emmie indicates he is listening to her. He is aware of her body position relative to him and also how she holds her lunge whip. A raised whip is more active than a lowered whip pointed down or at the ground.
Yearling Glendale responds to Em’s body language and voice by trotting, cantering, and changing directions. Her voice cues help prepare him for driving training, as do voice cues used when we pony him.
With her body slightly behind Glendale and aimed towards his haunches Emmie encourages his active forward movement. She slows him down by being more passive, or blocks his forward movement by approaching his shoulder. Blocking him and changing her whip hands tells him to change his direction of travel. If he resists turning, she moves actively towards his head. If he tries to evade her cues, she insists more actively to correct him.
At end he gets distracted and whinnies to his mom and brother over in their paddock.
Glen is rewarded with a carrot and pats and allowed to approach his handler.
- - - - - - - - For RELATED POSTS, search petArtistWithPeaches on:
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Our former Morgan/Percheron driving and riding mare, 21-year old Abby, has a good life in her new home with our friends Kim and Jack M. Kim bought a Meadowbrook-style horse cart and took up carriage driving, so Abby teaches another family how to drive. She also serves as a hubby-horse for Jack.
Lo and behold, Abby is now carrying their 8 year old daughter Morgan in horse shows and games, and doing quite well thank you. It is always rewarding to hear that a horse you used to own is happy and well treated! (THANKS TO Kim for pictures and stories!)
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NOTE #1 FROM KIM: Abby’s latest incarnation
You would have thought she’d been packing a kid around at a show every weekend for the past 20 years. She was a star! They won reserve champion in the beginner walk/trot division of games.   She ran the poles like a border collie at an agility trial. Spun around in the keyhole race and hit this big “road trot” coming home with Morgan pinging up there like a peanut. She took 4th in pole bending, 2nd in keyhole and she won the barrel racing. There were about 9 other kids in that division. Morgan had a blast.
Abby with young Morgan aboard
I think we’ll take her to Cheshire next weekend. They have a gymkhana Saturday night and the show on Sunday.Â
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Had a barefoot trimmer out to do a “clinic” with our farrier last Monday. It went great. We are now definitely on the right track with their feet.Â
NOTE #2 FROM KIM:
Abby has truly found her calling. She and Morgan kicked walk/trot bootie at the Cheshire gymkhana Saturday night. Swept the division, first in keyhole, poles and barrels.
Had a good day at the regular show today as well. Took 6th in trail out of about 25 kids plus (combined class of all beginner A (her group) beginner walk/trot B and beginner walk/trot/canter kids), 6th in equitation, 5th in pleasure and 3rd in hack out of 10 kids. Not bad, not bad at all.
Looking pretty smug there Morgan!
Can’t you just see them trotting out?
Abby has a fan club now. Everyone just loves her. Kids come up to pet her, parents stop to tell me how wonderful she is. She was great!
Kim
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I’m so pleased with Morgan and the mare! Lovely to see her enjoying what must be easy work for her, i always felt we underutilized Abby in terms of variety of things we did with her. As we got her in Emmie’s last year of living at home, and Em was busy with training her thoroughbred (Moose), she never did school Abby which I would have liked to see. When I rode Abby and when a serious rider got on her I could feel that she knew a lot more than the driving and trail riding we did. And her attitude was always cooperative, she knew her job.
PS. If Abby can be successfully barefoot, it can be done with most any horse. For the six years we owned her, she always wore shoes in summer and wore at least 2 shoes (fronts) all winter too, with borium studs. In summer she frequently threw a shoe from stepping on herself and because her hoof walls were crumbly and not strong enough to hold nails well. She often had to have epoxy filler put into her hoof where chunks had broken off. Though I kept my other horses barefoot all winter, with Abby I was afraid she’d wear her hooves down to nubs (though always sound for us, she has dropped soles in front from a “laminitic episode” before we got her.)
Well when Kim took her a year and a half ago, she put her barefoot and has kept up with proper trimming. There is a lot of peastone and somewhat larger gravel in Kim’s turnout areas, and lots of hill-climbing to keep Abby fit, so she trimmed down a LOT. After 9 months I could see a huge improvement in Abby’s feet when we borrowed her for a while. The soles were thicker and tough and her hoof walls were solid. Now it sounds like her hooves are in even better shape!
So there’s a testament to natural barefoot hoof care!
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There are many famous horse trainers and they all have developed their own unique methods. Everyone has the image of cowboys in the old days breaking the bucking bronco, but in recent years the trend has moved towards more natural training methods which are comfortable and understandable to the horse, as opposed to being painful and causing fear. Natural methods are our attempts to speak to horses in their own language. Please see my Horse training disclaimer
Ute Lehmann, horse in harmony.
Monty Roberts demonstrates some spooky colt gentling.
Anyone can learn and practice natural horse training and horsemanship. It simply takes love of horses. It takes sensible judgment and good horse sense. Mostly it means being TUNED IN to horses, having a constant awareness of what is going on with them, being a good observer. It helps if you keep your horses living with you at home, but that’s certainly not a requirement; it just allows you to observe horses’ behaviors with each other more frequently and thus learn from them more quickly.
Tom Curtin in one of his horsemanship clinics, demonstrates his horse’s level of response to the rider. (That’s Hubby on our own Gilford, black horse in foreground– and yes, he SHOULD be wearing a helmet but he’s hard to train.)
Learning from horses is an ongoing process; keeping horses is a way of life, at least at its best it SHOULD be. You will observe how horses establish their pecking order among themselves. You will see how subtle their interactions with each other can be to maintain their social status and wellbeing. Knowing their spot on the horse herd totem pole makes each horse feel secure. Your task as a natural horse owner and trainer is to become like a horse, by understanding how a horse thinks and reacts and communicates.
arabian mare in free training
You will make yourself the herd leader and be dominant over the horses you work with, not by intimidating but in a natural way which the horses can relate to. You will be speaking their language, and they will be confident and enjoy your company because you make them feel secure and they know where they stand with you.
One aim of roundpen work is to improve the horse’s attentiveness.
I needn’t go into training procedures here– just read various trainers’ books and go watch different ones working with horses whenever you can. Try out what you learn, continue with what works and feels best for you. This horsemanship stuff is a PROCESS, not specific methods or tricks. It’s a way of thinking and being with horses, and it becomes part of you, second nature. It will always be evolving; you will never stop learning.
Pat Parelli-style liberty training– plus a cat!
In point of fact, you are teaching your horse something EVERY TIME YOU ARE WITH HIM. You may think you’re just feeding him or just going for a fun ride; but the horse is a keen observer of YOU and his behavior is shaped by whatever you do, or DON’T do.
There are some basic principles you will find in common between all the natural horse training methods.
RESPECT:
As dominant herd leader, you insist that your personal space be respected. The horse is not allowed to put his face or his feet or body into your personal space, unless you invite him. However, as dominant herd leader, you may go into the horse’s space and touch him whenever you choose. This is communication which the horse understands.
ATTENTION:
When you are with your horse, his job is to pay attention to you and to be aware of you. Your job is to make yourself, and all humans by inference, worthy of his attention, by doing whatever it takes to get it and to maintain it. But don’t expect his attention if you don’t give him yours.
CONSISTENCY:
You are fair and consistent with your instructions and your corrections. If he wanders around when you asked him to stop and stand still, and you’re too busy talking to someone to notice or correct him for moving around, he has learned that it’s OK to move around sometimes. If your horse nudges you with her head and sometimes you yell at her and sometimes you scratch her, don’t be too surprised when she knocks you over with her head.
FIRMNESS:
Either you are in charge, or the horse is in charge. He is happiest when he KNOWS EXACTLY who is in charge, at all times, so do not waver or waffle. You’re not doing him any favors by being nice, ie. overly gentle or timid, when firmness is required; he understands firmness to mean you know what’s best for him, and it gives him confidence. He will trust you when you are consistent and fair.
KINDNESS:
You never abuse your horse physically or mentally, or respond to him in anger or with an attitude of punishment. To a horse, anger is aggression; when they are fearful they cannot learn. Or rather, they DO learn… they learn to mistrust, and to act defensively.
Emmie shows yearling Glendale how to move his haunches away from pressure without crowding his shoulder into her space.
So how do you get the best out of your horse?
PRIMARY GOAL 1.– CONTROLLING THE MIND:
As stated above, maintaining the respect and attention of the horse is the key to training. Insisting on his attention must be ongoing whenever you are around him.
PRIMARY GOAL 2.– CONTROLLING THE FEET:
Control of where the horse places his feet is control of the horse. Being solid underneath himself is very important to the horse. Having his mind connected to his feet is very important to you.
PRIMARY TOOL 1.– PRESSURE AND RELEASE:
Pressure– and release of pressure– is the most basic tool of horse training. The pressure may be physical or it may be mental or verbal, or often all of the above. Release of pressure is the horse’s reward and tells him he did the right thing, therefore your timing of the release of pressure is critical to the horse’s learning.
PRIMARY TOOL 2.– PRAISE AND REWARD:
The horse definitely understands praise and wants to make you happy. Limit how often you dole out treats, don’t let him become pushy and demanding of them or trying to get them out of your pockets, but treating after a job well done or as special reward is quite effective.
PRIMARY TOOL 3.– SIMPLE STEPS:
One step at a time is the rule in all training. Return to previously-learned steps when you run into confusion. Set the horse up for success, so it’s EASY for him to do the thing you want, and DIFFICULT to do the incorrect thing. You are the brains in this partnership. The horse is rarely “being bad” he is merely confused, frustrated, or reacting out of fear or discomfort. It is your job to make it clearer to him exactly what you want, and to help him figure it out and feel secure.
EXAMPLE: To train ground driving, first I get him to understand moving in front of me while I walk behind. Next I show him how to stop from rein pressure, and we practice stops and starts. Next I get him moving in a straight line walking in front of me. Next I start asking him to turn left from rein pressure. Next I start asking him to turn right. If he gets confused, ie. balky or jittery or tangled up in lines and worried at any of these steps, I start over again at square one and remind him of what he learned, and PRAISE him for a good job rather than scold him for misunderstanding.
A WORD ABOUT EARLY LEARNING:
You don’t want a foal doing anything around you or in his early life that you would not allow a fullgrown horse to do. When he weighs 1000 pounds he won’t know the difference! And don’t think he’s too young to learn because he’s just a baby. Watch momma mare and the other horses teach him their rules and see how much and how quickly he learns every day. A foal is curious and is a regular sponge for knowledge!
Trust in your horse will be rewarded; empathizing with your horse’s view of the world will make you an effective trainer and rider and a better horseperson.
regular people doing wonderful things with their horses by gaining their trust!
Noteworthy Natural Horse Trainers:
Monty Roberts
Clinton Anderson Tom Curtin
Ute Lehmann
Pat Parelli
Linda Tellington Jones
Lynn Palm
John Lyons
Gawanii Pony Boy (below)
