A thoughtful review on horse people

I wanted to share this, I think Pat summoned it up pretty good!

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http://hoofrecovery.blogspot.com/2009/10/what-good-are-horse-people.html

Sneak peek of my dawning

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Wanted to share this Link

http://www.carolynresnickblog.com

Through my NEW journey to finding myself and repairing my bond with my own mare.
This person was on the DVD I first wrote about.
Take the time and check her out.
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The dawning part 2

I am blessed, I love my work.
I am a barefoot trimmer and BLM gentler. I met a new client almost 2 weeks ago. I get to gentle a Sulpher mustang, who is just amazing.
This past sunday I got a halter on him and gave him leading lessons. This is ONLY the 3rd visit I have had with him. I did not run him in circles until I wore him out and make his brain mush.
I used his natural instincts and his food motivation to get where we are. He loves having his neck rubbed, he goes soft and leans into you. He also loves having his face massaged. We have a very good understanding so far, and we are progressing well.
So why is it that so many people run horses in endless circles? Why is training rushed?
It made me realize more that I have been doing that to my own mare.
RUSH, RUSH, and RUSH.
That is my fault, I see now. I am expecting a lot when I have not work for something.

To be continued. . . .

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Dawning Part 1

The moment it happens, it hits you like a ton of bricks. The moment where you realize the answer has been slapping you in the face.
Last week I started with a new client, to help gentle and trim a beautiful gelding from Sulpher HMA.
When I arrived at the home he was boarded at, I was excited. I have missed those moments when you first bring home a wild one. That thrill and longing. The clean slate they are, with no flaws. Just pure personality and beauty.

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Photo hog

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short Video

Belladonna

A Hope

 

every one has had that feeling before, we as people seem to live for it. Through our most darkest hour, a sliver of hope is all we need to get by.

For 3 years I never had it, I completely lost it and started to wonder IF any thing would ever come back to place!

Last week (school started for the kids) my husband thought it be interesting to see how Belladonna would take to him handling her. Well some know that they have a very fine line of love and hate, to the point the mare at times tries to kill him. Belladonna is what she is, a one person horse that tolerates others to a point.

She tolerated the husband through the 30 mins of his play time but every chance she had she look at me with the look of  "Make him stop"

I realized also part of her issues is that I am protective of her and knew I needed to step back and allow this to happen. She tolerated him well but let him know that she ONLY allowed this because she had a mind too, anything else would of resulted in a big fit throwing baggage welding mare who pulls out all the stops.

He is taking the tack off her but you can see her displeasure of him even touching her.

It been 2 years since she worn a saddle and took to it like we saddle up all the time. BUT I am looking to get a English saddle because of her short back.

Again she shows her displeasure of him making her move, He was trying to ground driver her and she was NOT going for it.

Her look of "Make him stop!" and which would lead to her trying to pull away from him and come to me.

I made the mistake in standing near her and she stopped. Do you see how she tighten up and ready to refuse?

Yet there is hope because all through this she TOLRATED it, with out kicking, pulling or throwing a huge hissy fit that would of ended her trying to kick the living hell out of the husband.

Fear

fear is a ugly emotion that rears it ugly head at any moment. But if Fear has been your partner for the last few years? The signs are there yet you pray and hope you are wrong!

What if the horse you see will never be the horse you want? The horse who is your soul mate yet on another level they are the devil's spawn?

The more I think of it, the more I want to weep. Because the signs are there for Belladonna. There in Black & White with no shades of gray. Yet I don't want to loose hope, but when I see and remember the chaos she has brought, I worry deeply.

Do I feel she is safe? For me, for others no! Is she dangerous, as dangerous as a animal who feels she must shut herself down and fight with whom ever.

I have for years been thinking to send her out to people but I won't. I am afraid she'll kill herself or kill some one else.

I have never had issues with her or felt like I was in danger. She always been my friend and partner. soft and at times she can be stubborn but I have never been injured by her. Never a kick or a step on my toe, she is respectful of where I am at.

But let some one else handle her and she becomes the spitting fury of hate, she shuts her self off and will actually injure herself to get away from people. She now tolerates my husband to lead her from one pen to the next and to trim her hooves with some show of  fits.

She is in deep trouble yet again

When you hear your husband cussing and the sound of a banging gate, that is not a good sign.

Yet again Belladonna killed the hot fence this time taking no prisoners and taking off 4 adapters with her fury. <laughs>

Husband was standing on the front deck and Belladonna walked up to the fence looked at him and just went for the (not hot) hot fence. ripping it completely off the fence line and stomped the crap out of it.

So when I heard the husband cussing I raced out and saw that he was picking up the hot tape, I guessed what happen.

and right at the gate stood Belladonna the innocent, acting as if nothing had happen.  Again her behavior has changed more this year then in recent years, she becoming more like a donkey then a horse. She has also grown, I use to be able to look over her withers but now her withers come almost to my forehead. People say horses stop growing by 5, well apparently she took a 2 year vacation on the growth bug and now she growing again.

so when does a horse actually stop growing?

Picture Wednesday

Seeing Change

She starting to change, I been seeing it a little bit every day. She starting to seek me out and come to where ever I am. Do you know how exciting this is for me? I am seeing a bit of my old mare I had 3 years ago and I want to scream to the gods that I have made one small step of victory!

My Belladonna is coming, yet I see where she still holds on to her baggage. My husband pointed out how truly temperamental she is on Sunday. I screwed up my shoulder again so I couldn't trim, I had him trim her. To avoid any of her stunts I fed her during the trim, which she such a food hog I swear I could light a fire cracker on her butt and she wouldn't care as long as she can stuff her self silly <laughs>

She starting to do this more often which is one of her favorite things in the world, little things I have noticed. she gives me her head more and pushes every one away.

<stay tuned for more>

using a angle grinder for trimming

 

 

 

THANK YOU LACY FOR FILMING!

Colby, our burro is the demo donkey for this style of trim!

Shameless Plugging for good friends

My good friends and mentors Ginny & Dave Freeman have finally got there 501 going!

Above is their web site, and I ask people who have other blogs please spread the word about them. WE just had a clinic here at home home this past Sunday with the Freeman's showing us how to deal with some foot handling issues. here is the you tube video!

Thank you to Lacy & her friend Shasta who video our little clinic!

What is happening around my neighborhood

7-16-09
If you click the above link, you will visit Nor-cal rescues blog. These horses are only a mile from me. I have at one time worked for the former owner of this place (where the horses are at). I am thinking of contacting NER and seeing if I could offer any help for these local horses. Maybe a brushing or seeing if i can work with the untrainned ones.
One thing is for sure most of the horses that have ever lived there have always been happy go lucky. As a kid i rode by this place more times then I can count, there has always been horses on those land and it will be different once they are gone.

Celtic Proverbs

"An làmb a bheir, 's i a gheibh."

The hand that gives is the hand that gets.

Celtic Proverb

I have had a few people ask me why I have Celtic sayings on my site and pages. The Celtic's were gifted horseman who had a bond with their mounts, ancient world of people who saw meaning in everything. Our hobby farm is in a Celtic name which means wild horse acres, because of my Belladonna. We started focusing more on donkey care and abuse and not so much on horses, even though I owned my mare. That is when I first realized how much I truly enjoyed being around a bunch of wild asses (pun intended) and how a person can gentle and build a bond with them using their own methods and styles. There is no book on ways to gentle and train donkeys because of how different and smart they are. This started to make me think about my mare, how traditional methods had cause us more issues then resolved issues. Why is it okay to be a free spirit in donkey gentling and training but not in wild horses? Why do we have to go by a set of rules? Why must we run them, force and drown them in methods that keep causing more issues then solving?

"Cha chòir an t-each glan a chur uige."

(The willing horse should not be spurred.)

-Old Gaelic proverb-

This saying is on the front page of my site, it is a saying that I look at every day. What does it mean? Have we as horseman ever thought what some proverbs or old sayings really mean? Do we as people expect too much for all things? I believe one of our faults is we expect way too much over things, we rush through life and when our journey in life is over we wonder what our lives were about? Was it a good life or did we just auto pilot ourselves for the last 20 plus years? WE as people set ourselves with rules and by the book plays and I have played by the book for years with my mare.

I have called different trainers and explained her issues and I have had the same repeat response, she a useless cause. Once they do this and that, you can't help them.

WHAT?

All these trainers have methods that run by methods set by today's way of training. WE FORCE AND MAKE animals to do our bidding and when they don't do what we ask we punish them by breaking them down even more.

THERE LIES THE ISSUE WITH BELLADONNA!

I can force her all I want and guess what, we FIGHT. She isn't a horse that takes abuse, heavy handed ways or forcing.

She will try things if you play with her and ask, turn it into her thought and idea. Yet I have tried all the normal methods that have been recommended to me and we have fought for 3 years, to overcome her baggage which she welds damn good.

Can I force her? Yes, but I will not have the results or the effect I want. I will have a pissed off mare who is not retaining any of our training but if I do it how I have trained my donkeys people tell me what I am doing is dangerous and not truly training her, I am just painting over the issue.

So what is correct and not correct? Why do I need to go by rules and be judged when it been clear fact over thousands of years that different methods were used to gentle horses? Why do I as a person need to follow the horse book of training?

Why can't I have a willing horse that is my partner and we have a bond? Is that a silly fantasy?

What fills the eye fills the heart.
Gaelic: An rud a líonas an tsúil líonann sé an croí.

Another Celtic saying that I dearly love. What we put before ourselves in plain view we love and want. We have dreams because of what we have seen and witness in our lives. My dream is to be able to help horses and donkeys, take away their pain and fears and replace it with peace and happiness. To have a partnership that equals out to both man and animal, a willingness to do and live. I don't want to live as a robot in this life and neither do I want my animals to be robotic either. All animals have personalities, why should we take and break that? It is not okay to verbally and physically break a human this way but it is okay to that to a horse? Many people take horses and break them down and we get to see these beautiful empty shells walking around in circles, on auto pilot. They stumble through life as is because what they have had has now been broken and taken.

If you put a horse out he'll always find grass.
Gaelic: Mar capall agus gheogaigh tú féar.

As horseman's what do we dream to Achieve?

The Past Rant

Belladonna and her sister Bruja in Oct 2004.

Pretty wild huh? This was taken a month after we got our wild ones.

Bubba, one of the wild mustang geldings that had baggage that was deadly.

It took me from Sept. to January to build a safe and sane partnership and that was ripped a part by his org. adopter.

He taught me one thing, you have a 1K horse coming at you to do damage you better learn to scale 6 foot high fences QUICK.

Do I blame him? NO, because he was made into this monster. Any person in a pen would cause him to get upset. If you kept a safe distances you be okay.

But get more into his space and he start to wrinkle his nose and twitch a left ear Not pinning his ears back but twitching a left ear. That fooled me about a handful of times until I learned that was HIS way of telling me he about to come unglued.

But in 4 months we finally built a bond and softness, then he was ripped away. He was the first horse to teach me that one has to always be different in approaches and that not all ways will work.

Tule was a 8 year old mustang gelding who was cold. He had no emotion at all but one. that was his pissed off mode and when a look lbs mini draft comes at you the earth rumbles. Tule org people were good but never finished his training and taught him to hate ropes. Tule loved peppermints and once he realized that myself and husband weren't going to inflict pain he started to be a huggable bear. and that are touches were good things, he also learned to be haltered up like a pro.

BUT all these horses I no longer have or know where they are at. It bugs me because I want to know how and if they are okay. I made a mistake in 2006 trusting  family members with a verbal agreement on my mustangs and that beyond blew up, to the point they felt that trying to sell them behind my back was the only way. I had only enough money to get Belladonna and Colby back, even though the deal was set in stone and I gave them 2K worth of panels to secure a months boarding and hauling to Montana. My father in-law was suppose to get Bruja and Tule for hunting and if he didn't want them to return them, well they went from him to another relative who made the choice to sell everyone. Do you know how traumatizing that is to have a e-mail in your box with all your horses for sale? I told the person I knew of it because I didn't want a fuss started but that didn't happen. another person found out and send a rude e-mail to them and that went from bad to a living hell. I almost lost every one and I feel still to this day like my world been turned upside down.  I have been wondering for 3 years where Tule, Bruja and Sundance are. who took them and if they are in safe homes.

My poor mare on the day we got transport to get her and Colby was flipped and butt roped and snubbed to a trailer, to get loaded. Colby took 20 minutes to load and I was 1K miles away. This was the first time I saw my burro and mare in 6 months and I am still harassed that I still owe those morons money etc, because they broke the verbal contract.

This was Belladonna late Aug 2006

same date as above

same date as above

Can anyone see the difference in her from this pictures? She cold and stiff, ready to battle.

Belladonna, Tule and Sunny's butt in April 2006

During that bad few months of rain and rain and rain taken on the first day of SUNSHINE!

I was also accused of starving them, do they look starved or abuse?

Tule aka fatt a$$. this one and the one above was taken 2 weeks before we moved to Montana.

Sundance, he looks starved right?

I have always wonder why and  how people can do what has happen to me? How can people justice themselves when they accused a person of abuse and starving?

I was also told all the mustangs I had were Sh$t animals and that I need to off load them and I said no. My horses were fine but Sunny. Who carried the baggage of abuse and scars to prove that he wasn't going to start new for anything.

What made it okay to traumatize me and take my animals away? was it jealousy or greed? These people had their own horses and breeding farm, yet it seems that my mustangs they sold went fast and none of their stock was sold. I have to wonder if greed was it, yet that greed cost me heartache, pain and a mental breakdown for a while.

and still brings tears to my eyes still seeing these pictures. They all are the reason why I started my journey and barefoot trimming, because each of them told me of their time of being mishandled, beat and scared so bad they do a body shake. No animal deserves that, abuse isn't a answer to a problem. Compassion and understanding is the answer.

But compassion in this day and age seems to be a joke to most people. Those two words compassion and horses, are highly frowned on if used with each other.

The heat and a moment

Yes, It has been a bit since I posted. But do to the fact that life has been busy a bit. The heat has been pretty bad up here in the foothills which makes me check and provide water a few times a day to many animals.

Also hosing down Belladonna, who enjoys water time in the heat.

Our time has been filled with nothing, we just been hanging out and enjoying our time. Yesterday I changed pasture areas for the 3 wild ones. I didn't want to fool around with the halter so I garbed my lead rope and just snapped it around her neck. And prayed that she behave, since we have NEVER walked this way. well I was proud she took to it like we done this way a million times. was actually a lot better this way then a halter, hmmm.

I am still reading, it taken me forever BUT I like it. I am usually a book page burner I speed through. But with the books Brandy loan me, I am making it a fact to really take time and read them. To absorb the book into my head, I am enjoying every moment of it.

ON Sunday July 26th 2009 I will be hosting a hoof trimming clinic for people. so much to prep for and do, but I will try to post again soon. (Note to self every other day would be okay)

Goats will be arriving here on Sunday afternoon, 2 big boys that a person was giving away free. So let's see how the critter crew takes to the spotted monsters. Any one want to make a bet that the burro boys will try and kill them? Or the mare may snort and run from them?

Never a dull moment here, something is always happening.

 

 

Baggage

Baggage, can horses carry emotion and physical trauma with them for life? Many think they get over it quickly and just wipe it under the carpet.

But I don't believe so, I think some horses carry the scar of whatever happen to them, for life. Just like personalities some horses can get over things in a blink of a eye, while others carry it around like a blanket.

How does one deal with a horse that carries baggage? My mare carries baggage and a few tricks she learned when she was boarded a few years ago.

It has been one of the sources of our unhappy period since, it is still there.

When Belladonna came back home in 2006 I couldn't halter her. She see that halter and take off. She is fine if I approach with nothing or a rope. But a halter still sends a nasty vibe through the air and things get sticky from there. In 3 years we have barely improve this issue, we have had no improvement in pulling back when she either scared or throwing a fit. And the issue with strangers has stop improving and starting to go backwards, to the point I worry.

She's a mustang, smart and problem solving BUT she keeps her baggage nice and tight with her. The trust issue with strangers has always been there since I first rescued her, she is wary of new people and will do this dragon snort and I am still waiting to see flames shoot out of her nose.

Last night was a ordeal for applying Eqi-spot, which helps my animals for like 27 days. Better then spray on, but guess what? I did the 2 burros, which one is a shy guy with in 5 minutes. And guess who just blew up and pulled back and acted like the end of the world was happening?

Belladonna made a choice to be a butthead but the whole thing and took 15 minutes to apply the stuff too. WHY? not like this is her first time, but this is her baggage. Halter goes on and she starts flinging her baggage about. It like a little old lady smacking you with her purse, but this purse is being welded by a 800 lbs mare.

Oh I was mad because this shouldn't happen, she grumpy because of flies and should been relived when we applied. Instead I get the fit throwing hissy fit.

Normal ways and traditional methods have not worked, I been trying for 3 years and is one of the reasons why horsemanship has STOPPED!

I asked and read until I am blue in the face and yet she rooted down into her baggage, like a hog in a mud hole.

So here is one of my sources my I am on a new path to find the answers for her and myself. Spiritually I am sinking, and have been feeling lost for a while.

I am unhappy with myself which I reflects into her. Not healthy and probably one of the reasons baggage is still around. I started to read " The Tao Of Equus"

I am just a few pages into this book and love it. I look forward to my new journey and maybe Belladonna and I can loose our baggage in time.

2007 the herd

Doing Nothing

What is doing nothing?

Does it make any sense?

For me doing nothing is just spending time with my animals. I sit around with them, talk, pet and laugh. That might include them being goofy and dragging whatever they can find back to me.

For my mare, our time is important.

we spend time through out the day just being. She grazing and walking and myself going along with her. Yesterday was my first official day of doing nothing, I threw out the ideas of haltering her up.

I did bring a rope, that way I could swish it for flies when we stop under the trees.

Maybe a hour or less we hung out, I follow her and she followed me. The donkeys tried with their might to butt in but soon she was stomping at them and moving them off.

The donkeys were offended that this mare got tired of them, man Colby was heart broken.

For those who are new to me and my herd. I own 2 BLM donkeys and 1 BLM mustang mare. I privately rescue at times and try my best to help unwanted mustangs, burros and domestic donkeys. Belladonna; my mare has issues with other horses. She fights with them all the time until she jumps out of the pen and does her "ha ha ha" dance at them and will not go back in that pen. When I adopted my first burro, she first was afraid. But by the next morning she was mothering the burro, Colby.

From that day on when ever a donkey shows up she goes into fits screaming for them and mothers them. Colby has grown up here kinda ruthless, he thinks he 10 feet tall and bullet proof and will boss any 4 leg around, because Belladonna allows him to act this way.

So when she refuse him yesterday he was shocked, how could this mare of 4 years he known just now cut him off? Belladonna realize that the burros will take me away from her and she fighting it. which is GOOD, because before they could do anything and she just give up.

What does it mean? I am not sure but maybe with her taking some control things will equal out better and right?

I like to also play treasure hunt around the herd, we live on a historical piece of land that at times spits out things like old square nails, pieces of broken pottery, bottles, horseshoes...whatever. So I look every other day for things and if I start to dig, the other 3 will come over and paw.

If I sit and kick my legs around in the dirt (wear pants) they look at me and come on in, I get up and soon they roll.

So on some level I am part of their herd (a small level) which is nice BUT I want to learn and do more.

My mare plays but it usually when she needs to blow steam, she holds it in. I know when she needs a good run and just all out crazy 20 mins of being a horse. But naturally she will play a bit with the donkeys but holds her self back. When I know she ready for me to say "Play time" she strung up tight, she jerky, looking around at things but NOT DOING ANYTHING!

when I gentled her, I taught her that If I was in the pen, calm behavior is a must and only if I ask for other behavior is it okay. So when I play "Chase the mustang" I bend forward and carry my lunge whip behind me. I slowly stalk her and that's when she lowers her head at me and you see the change.

It like dealing with a dog that has issues being alone. she wants to hang out with me and not waste that pen up energy. so it takes me 10 minutes to get her to open up.

By then, she in a full flying gallop, screaming, bucking, rearing. which causes a lot of other animals thinking something's wrong. (I have 2 other neighbors with horses around) and she does a fine job getting the neighborhood thinking that a dragon is around, LOL

But she could be all out running and all I have to do is step into the pen and yell for her and say "easy" and she'll run at me and slow down in 15 feet and by 10 a walk and still respect my space.

Out of everything she respects my space a lot, a point of the finger or a look has her moving away If I think she too close or trying something new.

I have noticed I gotten off track but oh well.

So what is your "doing nothing" with your own horse?

Belladonna April 2008

The Path Of The Horse DVD

http://www.stormymay.com/Path.html

I have found myself for the last few years, completely at a stop with horsemanship. I have come up with so many excuses to Why not complete my beautiful BLM mustang mare, Belladonna. I remember as a child being horse crazy and everything hoses. Just standing there was more then enough. I took riding lessons and read every book I could get my hands on. Soon I wanted more, I have always wanted to learn about things and just go way over the top to learn all I can. I have paid the monthly fees of top horseman's net clubs and thought I found a answer, but soon after I was finding myself just unhappy.

Why?

Every where we look horsemanship is about what we can do to horses, from 3 day events to classical dressage. Fun events all around, yet I was unhappy, with it all.

I went to a event here in my Home town called "Nevada County Rein Storm " http://www.nevadacountyreinstorm.com/ I had my own little space for my Abrasive natural hoof care, something I started studying over 3 years ago and never regretted it. I had some time to look at a few booth and saw Stormy's and was drawn over there. The DVD caught my eye and we traded a few words and I bought it, and off I went to get back to my booth, if people wanted me to explain my style of trimming.

I never got a chance to watch the DVD that night, but early the next day with  a cup of coffee I sat and watched it. I have heard of some of the names on the DVD cover, people who think outside of traditional horseman methods. The DVD was beautiful and really makes a person think and realize things.

For me it made me realize why I been in my downturn and have lost the passion for horses. It made me realize it is not all about running, yanking, tapping, etc.

When I first gentled my mare, I had her in 30 days halter broke and lead trained. And not with traditional ways. I listen to my gut and did things I felt were right for her and I, which made our bond grow stronger. I was happy and excited where I was in 2004 and 2005. But slowly I was told of this or that, or not doing that right or whatever. so I started to get my hands on everything. Natural horsemanship etc. I found myself in 2006 unhappy, I felt like I was stuck in a rut and it was just getting bigger and PLUS my mare and I only did things in training. I pet her etc but we lost our "togetherness" (is that a word?)

every one around could do things and yet I wanted more, I wanted to have something with my mare that is a fantasy. A partnership, a meaning...OUR BOND.

I think people should see this DVD and really think, because watching Stormy's movie really woke me up and made me realize that there are other ways and what I saw on this movie is what I myself want with my own horse and helping other horses.

For those wondering who is all featured on the TPOTH here are the people who Stormy interviewed: Klaus Ferdinand Hempfling, Alexander Nevzorov, Carolyn Resnick, Linda Kohanov, Mark Rashid, and Kim McElroy.

I started this blog because I want to write down my journey to better my bond and make a partnership with my own horse, thinking out of the box. Doing something that some may call worthless or silly. I believe it will better myself and get back what I have lost with my own mare, a bond and understanding.