Willow Grove Ranch

12/19/2024

Sometimes, horses just need more repetitions, more encouragement, more processing, and more confidence before they can take the next step. My job is to listen and respond appropriately. SO proud of Zoey and her step forward in her driving education! It took some more time than "average" but so worth it! She was so quiet and confident her first time in the travois!!!!

12/19/2024

Definitely food for thought

IMPORTANCE OF THE DUNNING-KRUGER EFFECT IN TRAINING

A few years ago, I was watching a well-known trainer teach a clinic. I had hoped to be incognito, but the clinician's partner recognized me somehow and approached to speak to me. During the conversation, they said something like, “I think it is important we all (meaning horse professionals) support each other and try not to be critical.” I just nodded my head because it seemed the right thing to do at that moment. But I disagree.

I worked for a long time as a scientist. Science is never stationary. It is always moving forward. It is always evolving. The thing about science that makes this possible is that as scientists we are always examining and re-examining our work and our work is always being examined and tested by other scientists. Our work is constantly open to scrutiny. There is no political correctness designed to protect a person’s feelings. There is no sense that a person’s work should not be pulled apart and rigorously tested in case somebody gets upset. Part of the contract a scientist makes with the world of science is to accept that other scientists are going to work hard to prove you wrong and then tell the world about it. It happens at grant interviews, it happens at conferences, it happens at laboratory meetings and it happens when you submit a manuscript for publication. It is an important part of the job because without that constant and harsh review process science would grind to a halt – knowledge would grind to a halt. Scientists see this as normal and okay, and even necessary. But many non-scientists, “horse world” people see this as unprofessional, rude, offensive, inappropriate, and even divisive.

I see a big part of my job is to strive to be a better horse person and teacher and to better the knowledge and understanding of people who want to learn from me. If that means I need to explain to my students what I see is wrong with some practices and what changes I would make, then that’s where my priorities lay. I don’t see my job as supporting and protecting the teachings of those I believe are heading in the wrong direction. My job, as I see it, is to be an advocate for the horse, not an advocate for the livelihood of horse professionals whose work I don’t believe in.

However, I want to be clear that a criticism of a principle or method is not a criticism of a person who uses it. Nor is it a suggestion that they are not talented horse people. Most professionals are talented horse people and it would be extremely hard to find any that have no positive merit to their work. However, even the best of the best are not as good as they could be. Most will admit to that.

This brings me to the Dunning-Kruger effect. Dave Dunning and Justin Kruger are American social psychologists and researchers who spent many years establishing a principle that says, “The more incompetent a person is the less incompetent they think they are.” It means that the less we know the less we know we know. But conversely, the more we know the more likely we are to realize how much we don’t know.

One side effect of this is that we are always self-assessing inaccurately. We hide our imperfections from ourselves, so we need experts outside of our sphere to help keep our self-evaluation accurate. Our imperfections prevent us from seeing our imperfections. No matter how smart you are everybody will fall victim to the Dunning Kruger effect because we are all going to have areas of ignorance and incompetents that are outside our ability to see.

Therefore, the people best suited to evaluate and analyze the ideas of expert horse people are other expert horse people. Just like in the science world, other expert scientists evaluate and test the work of other scientists, so too do we need expert horse people to test and evaluate other horse people’s ideas.

It should be encouraged and applauded, not criticized and shrouded with howls of “unprofessionalism”. Professionals like me should welcome scrutiny and public discourse of our ideas and methods. Nobody should hide behind political correctness. To do so runs the risk that horsemanship will stagnate and not evolve beyond what we know now - cheating both horses and people from having the relationship one day (or decade or lifetime) we all hope but never dream could be possible.

I’ll keep taking the hits of scorn and ridicule because Isaac Asimov (science fiction writer and biochemist, 1920 - 1992) once said that great discoveries were not accompanied by words like “Eureka”, but by words like “Hmm, that’s interesting.” That’s why I want all of us to keep evaluating and critically analyzing what we believe we know and what others tell us they believe they know. I want every horse person to experience that moment when their horse does something unexpected and they think to themselves, “Hmm, that’s interesting”.

Photo: David Dunning (L) and Justin Kruger (R) published their seminal work in 199. Kruger, J; Dunning, D (December 1999). "Unskilled and unaware of it: how difficulties in recognizing one's own incompetence lead to inflated self-assessments". Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. 77 (6): 1121–34.

12/18/2024

Thought this was charming! From the CAA.

12/12/2024

12/10/2024

Absolutely love!

12/10/2024

I see this and understand...but how do we teach while maintaining the horse's well-being? This is the BIG question for me. I can't see tossing people on my dear horses without regard for the horse's comfort, understanding, and respect. Then there is rider safety and education to be considered. I cherish each horse in my care and want to treat them as respectfully as possible. I also realize they are a gift to help me teach because of their education. Where's the balance? How can we do it differently?

It's fascinating that people want to learn how to ride without the understanding that it's the horse that is giving to you as you learn. The horse is bearing the brunt of new rider mistakes and generously continuing to participate.

How valuable would it be to riders to ride horses that are NOT ridden by several other beginners 6-10 times per week? They are ridden 3 times per week by students and 2 times per week by staff.

What would it be worth to riders to ride one on one with an instructor and a school horse that is still engaged and interested in the process?

Is there a desire among students to learn in a loving connection between horse and rider? Where that connection is the rule, not the exception?

It costs more BECAUSE the horse isn't giving 10 lessons per week and staff gets paid to ride the horse well to keep them aligned in their education.

10 lessons @ $50...each lesson horse is earning $500 per week in a regular lesson program. And the horse is used for group lesson of at least 4 so the instructor is earning $200 per hour. This is what the "good business practice" is for making money in the horse world.

But is it good for the horses? Why do they only "last" for so long before they graduate out of being lesson horses?

What would it be worth to ride a horse that does less than half of that workload? In a private setting?

With the same math, each horse here would do 3 lessons per week at $70 earning $210. The lessons are private so the instructor earns...$70. Minus the pay to the staff who rides the horse during the week to realign their education.

So what is it worth?

I believe they can have a "job" while remaining healthy and content. I just haven't figured out how to do that and pay the bills ;)

Other researchers have shown that riding lesson horses have poorer welfare compared to pleasure horses, when comparing incidences of abnormal behaviors , physical injuries, health issues, aggression towards humans, and “depressed-like” postures.

Read more: https://bit.ly/3OMO0AN

12/07/2024

When horse abuse cases come to light, we all get ruffled and angry. All for very good reason. However, the real change is inside of each one of us.

There’s something folks aren’t talking about but should consider. It seems a little thing but it changes everything. I know it well. I have worked very hard to find better ways, changing direction many times…it’s a good thing to do, but it is also exhausting to the extreme. And it doesn’t alleviate stress and mistakes. Bad rides. Bad moments. We are human, and stress can cause a lot of bad behavior. Perhaps unintended, perhaps not. What matters is the continued growth inside yourself (or himself, herself). Why did I have that bad ride? Frustration? Unresolved trauma? PTSD? Because it’s the way I was taught? Because it wins? Because I have to keep up this front of the great winner to keep my clients? The reason matters! That’s where change occurs. Inside. The incredibly difficult inner work of looking at the driving forces inside. The motives, the messages, the trauma, the pain, the sadness, the abandonment, pressure, expectation, fear, arrogance, pride…it’s all in there, creating a storm that pushes behavior over and over without a thought from us.

This is also where the horse exists: at the end of the reins feeling every emotion we deny while we continue allowing it to drive our behavior. So now we have two beings suffering from trauma and horribly negative emotion. Only one can make the change for both and it’s the rider.

None of this excuses the behavior. It is, however, the road to permanent positive change. And it is an unbelievably difficult path. I’m starting to see the light on that path…going to a show simply for the outing with the horse. No pressure because the judges will never know where this horse is on his journey as well as I do. No pressure because the horse struggles in a new environment, the only job at hand is to help him. What the judges and others think is none of my concern if the horse is my first priority.

Sound, horse-friendly, thorough, and appropriate education for the horse and rider is also essential but will go out the window if the rider's emotional and mental state go awry.

12/04/2024

Been saying and teaching this for a few years now….learning About it and being able to recognize the state the horses is in is one part. Then you learn ways to bring the horse to the thinking brain. Then do it in different situations with different circumstances….

Comparative neurobiology of horse and human.

Horses and humans are both mammals.
Our brains may not be the same size, but they are almost identical in their structure and function.

Why can our brains look so similar but our behaviours and sensitivity to the world look so different?

The area in the picture highlighted is the prefrontal cortex or the (PFC). Its job in humans, horses, dogs, dolphins, elephants, cats, mice, rats, all mammals, and even birds is to carry out "higher executive functions" such as:

🧠 problem solving
🧠 decision making
🧠 reasoning
🧠 risk assessment
🧠 forward planning
🧠 impulse control
🧠 intention

Obviously, these executive functions are more advanced in humans than in other species of mammals, but this part of the brain plays a pivotal role in higher levels of learning beyond primal behaviours and learning survival skills.

So why aren't we seeing these higher executive functioning skills and behaviours in horses as much as what we see them in dogs, dolphins, elephants and even birds?

Ultimately it comes down to safety!

The latest neuroscience research suggests that when the brain feels unsafe it causes the body to produce stress response hormones and these stress response hormones cause the PFC to go "offline".
This means that subcortical regions of the brain (deeper parts of the brain) such as the primal brain (AKA limbic system, survival brain, flight/fight brain) completely take over to increase the chances of survival.

Feeling unsafe causes the feeling of fear and it is fear that gets this party started.

So behaviours come from two areas:

1. The PFC, carrying out problem solving skills, reasoning, impulse control, forward planning etc. that may be interpreted as "obedience" and "partnership".

2. The primal brain, carrying out reactive survival behaviours. This brain does NOT carry out impulse control, forward planning, problem solving, etc. It just reacts to the world. This brain heavily relies on patterns and consistency. This brain will cause freeze/flight/fight behaviours such as shutting down, bolting, biting, rearing, bucking, kicking, barging, etc.

Which brain is the domesticated horse spending most of it's time in?
It's primal brain!

This is why we don't get to see their full intellectual and cognitive potential because most of the time, domesticated horses are perceiving their world in a fearful way to some degree.

We can help our horses with this!

Feeling fearful is the OPPOSITE to feeling calm.
If we want to help our horses access their PFC then we MUST do whatever it takes to help them feel calm.

☝️ ONLY when a brain feels calm can it slow down enough to develop TRUE confidence. Only when the brain feels confident will it access TRUE cognition (PFC).

☝️ We first need to understand that when we get "bad behaviour" from our horses, it's not intentional or naughty or rude. What you are seeing is either a horse that is just reacting to the fear they feel or they are carrying out their "coping mechanism" in response to their anticipation of feeling fear.

☝️ Try to remove expectations that your horse should "know better".
"Knowing better" implies that all behaviours are coming from the PFC and there should be some impulse control and reasoning. Unless your horse feels calm, they can't access the PFC to "know better".

THIS STARTS WITH YOU!!!

You need to be consciously aware if YOU feel calm first. If you feel calm, your horse will have a better chance at feeling calm. Expecting them to feel calm when you don't is unfair.

The best way to create calmness is to intentionally be SLOW!!!
SLOW EVERYTHING you do down.
SLOW your movement down.
SLOW your talking down.
SLOW your walking down.
SLOW your breathing down.
SLOW your horse down.
If you feel too slow, then you're going slow enough.

Calmness is slow, not fast.

This will help you and your horse to connect and feel safe together.
When the brain feels stressed, the stress response hormones cause the body to speed up.

Stress = speed

We can reverse engineer this process and create a calm mind through slow intentional movement and a relaxed posture.

The by-product of a calm brain is confidence and cognition (PFC access).

Happy brain training 🧠
Charlotte 😊

Photo: Credit: Adult horse (equine) brain, sagittal section. Michael Frank, Royal Veterinary College. Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0)

12/03/2024

I never tire of the hoar frost. We got it once ina while in Boise but not nearly as much as we do out in this low spot in the Payette river valley.

12/02/2024

At least I get this. When I was in Switzerland auditing a course with Philippe Karl, the working student who was supposed to rake the arena didn't show so I did it. Things need doing. So do it. It's part of character, motivation, humility, and understanding that nothing is "too menial" to be worth doing well.

It was also very satisfying to know that I added a little bit to the quality of the experience for everyone.

More on the German phrase that says “riding is only learned by sweeping.”

I remember an example of this one night, about 40 years ago, when I was spending a month at Walter Christensen’s dressage training stable, Stal Tasdorf, in Tasdorf, Germany. (photo of Walter teaching)

Walter’s main barn had a cobblestone type of floor, hard to keep clean because of all the indentations, and in various corners were funny little Hansel and Gretel type brooms, straight handles with what looked like a bunch of twigs wired to one end.

Everyone had left, all the working students, all the riders, and here was the master, then coach of the Swedish Olympic dressage team, vigorously giving the aisle one last cleanup before turning out the lights.

In the great scheme of things, why would it matter one iota whether the aisle was immaculate? Early next morning, when all the horses were being fed, hay and straw would get spilled all around, and who was going to see that floor in the middle of the night?

But that’s not the point, is it? And for those who do see the point, they probably would have been at one end of the broom. And for those who can’t grasp why it mattered to Walter, they’d have left it as it was.

To what extent can pride in a way of doing things be taught? Because that’s what’s at play here, I think.

And pride in one detail spills over into pride about other details, until it creates a mindset, a way of being. Or not---And in that way, sweeping teaches riding, tenuous as the connection might seem.

12/01/2024

Had a comment that accused me of calling horses names when I referred to them as "big hairy toddlers." I thought I'd give a clearer explanation.

I am speaking about the comparison of horses, which has been scientifically compared to the intellectual capacity of a toddler. Horses are very teachable, very malleable, and very clever. But we cannot expect more from them than they can do.

People do this much too often. They expect patience from horses that haven't had a chance to learn patience. Like a toddler learns patience. Horses do not come with patience pre-installed. It is pointless to be frustrated with a horse for a lack of patience when someone hasn't taken the time to teach it to them.

We can say the same for learning to tolerate the frustration that can accompany learning. It is my job to keep frustration as low as possible, but the horse can still feel frustrated when I'm trying to teach them something new. Same as toddlers.

We can say the same for resolving a fear response. Horses and toddlers both need reassurance and guidance to learn the pathway out of fear to confidence again.

Everything we teach the horse needs to be presented at a level they can process well and comfortably. The best comparison science has come up with is about 3 years old. Google it yourself. Therefore, our teaching needs appropriate expectations for the horse/toddler to learn confidently.

Expecting horses to learn like adult humans is inappropriate and unfair. It causes stress. I see this reaction a lot. A LOT.

How stressed would a toddler be if you asked him to write an essay? Very stressed! Ask him instead to learn his letters. Help him to succeed. Then, build on it. That's what I'm saying.

Toddlers are amazing and can learn a ton! But not like adults learn.

Emotional age is also a consideration. I see most horses hovering between toddler and a first grader on emotional intelligence or being able to know and adjust their emotions. Horses struggle to resolve emotional states on their own if anxious, impatient, or confused. They can learn, like a child does, as they are taken through the process repeatedly being supported along the way.

With time and good teaching, horses can become the wise old horse of the farm. They learn all the goings on and all the sights and sounds. Nothing seems to bother them. Some never reach this stage, regardless of their physical age.

Horses learn the pathway to being at ease within their educational sessions. For some, it is not hard. Others have anxiety (or fear, hyperawareness, hypersensitivity, mistrust, etc) rising up from time to time (usually in specific situations) throughout their lives.

Just like us.

12/01/2024

This horse is and always has been amazing! Retired due to a nagging mystery suspensory (that comes and goes), I just have to get him out from time to time and ride or drive him!

11/30/2024

Winning may not be the most accurate barometer for beneficial education and contentment for the horse.

11/29/2024

So, I hear folks say they need a noseband to somehow balance or center the bit in the horse's mouth. As a kid I was taught to put on a cavesson if the horse argued in the bit, opened their mouth to "avoid" the bit, pulled, or dropped the contact.

I have to disagree with all of it. I back up my argument by riding one of my horses in a bit without a cavesson.

And without a headstall.

For me, Cooperative Contact is the ultimate proof of the education of the hand and the mouth. The horse and the rider are so clearly understood by one anoth...