Bob Wood Horses For Life

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Bob Wood Horses For Life

A rational discussion of horse centered horsemanship not fragmented separate discipline horsemanship. I am retired from my farm.
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I now offer Pivo remote, real time lessons or assistance with horse training. https://pivo.ai/pages/equestrian-edition

I am available for clinics and pre purchase evaluations in a reasonable distance from York PA USA www.google.com/maps/place/York,+PA/@39.9669403,-76.7659089,13z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m5!3m4!1s0x89c88bc157ae8561:0x1aacfaea5ef213cd!8m2!3d39.

9625984!4d-76.727745

11/10/2024

I like buildings. I went to architecture school. Buildings are perhaps the best measure of cultural change. The left image is the Art Deco Chrysler building in NYC pre-World War 2. The right is the United Nations Building in NYC post-WW2. The perception of beautiful buildings changed after the global experience of a World War along with many other perceptions.

We've recently been through a global pandemic and the resulting perceptual changes in our culture are beginning to be expressed. We are starting to see AI "think" for us, and cars being designed and built with no steering wheels, just as 75 years ago we saw the first elevators without operators. The world is changing and it cannot be stopped.

There has been an election in America. Like it or not, things will change. The course of the nation will be different. Some people are upset and worried while others are jubilant and excited. But neither of these perspectives are likely to play out as people now believe. Change is a wind that blows its own way on everyone.

My first thought is about the horses. How will the coming changes look for them? Will the baroque "architecture" of the Art Deco period now seen in modern dressage change to the minimalist straight line look of the UN building. I would like that.

Will the progressive ideas contained in animal rights and social license survive in the form of the massive expansion of the Horse Protection Act of 1970 that will change the status of horses? I hope not because horses have been bred for thousands of years to work, not to be pets.

Being certain of changes to come is an illusion. We must wait and see. What is certain is that global events like a World War or a global pandemic bring change and change of this kind of scale brings some chaos along with it.

This means we must manage what chaos comes our way and we horsemen and women need to stick together to protect the horses from whatever threats might come. At the same time, chaos brings opportunities. We must look inside change and chaos for opportunities to improve horsemanship. We need to be vigilant in order to find ways to increase, not decrease access to horses.

We can only succeed at this if we work together. Soon there will be a North American Horse Society, a unified voice for horses from the real horse people. Between the US and Canada, there are approximately 2 million horse owners. For reference, the US Equestrian Federation and Equine Canada combined have fewer than 100,000 members. That's 5% of horse owners protecting our and our horse's interests. At best I'd give them a grade of D-.

But now if we join together and gather only 15% or 20% of the people who clean their own stalls and groom and feed their own horses, along with the people who manage to pay their monthly board by giving up something else in their lives, we can cause the changes to be positive for horses. Let's, all of us together, try.

11/09/2024

The two left images are from the Cadre Noir in Saumur, France. The right images are from the Spanish Riding School in Vienna, Austria. These are considered the two finest riding schools in the world. They are centers of authentic horsemanship. There are others. The Portuguese School of Equestrian Art in Lisbon, Portugal and the Royal Andalusian School of Equestrian Art in Jerez de la Frontera, Spain are also top schools.

These training centers are based on centuries old classical principles of horsemanship that have their roots in military riding. What they teach predates contemporary trends and fashion as well as cultural changes like social correctness and commercialization. They teach timeless horsemanship.

It is important that we have these centers for reference points. It is important that people can visit these schools and see horsemanship live and in person. And it is essential that these schools continue to teach students to carry on the principles taught.

Many traditional elements of culture are being abandoned as irrelevant to modern culture. In this context, riding schools like these serve as the keepers of the values and skills of authentic horsemanship. Their values hold the horse in the highest esteem due to their history from when a cavalry rider's life depended on his horse. But there are pressures against these schools.

Schools of horsemanship on this level should be increasing in numbers and quality, not decreasing. They need our protection and support. And what of North America? Where in this part of the world do we have such a school to visit and learn? The Royal Canadian Mounted Police school in Ottawa Canada comes to mind. Where in the US could we find such education?

As we approach the launch of phase one of the North American Horse Society (NAHS), I think these questions are becoming increasingly important. I believe that we need horse centers in North America that aspire to the level of the Spanish Riding School and the Cadre Noir. We need a baseline of horsemanship that people can see and study in order to improve.

Do you have a facility that you would like to advance to this level? Is your farm a potential place where the best teachers and trainers in North America could present their experience and knowledge? We need a Harvard or MIT level school of horsemanship. It is time to start looking.

11/08/2024

One of the consequences of today's discipline isolation has been that many disciplines now have their specific "correct" horse. For example, dressage judges no longer score horses performance on their movements in the context of an individual horse's breed. Judges now measure and score every horse against the "ideal" movement of the Warmblood type. Dressage used to mean "training" for all breeds. There was no single "correct" horse based on one breed type's supposed "ideal" movement.

Dressage competitions, not long ago, included a diverse range of breeds. But now a dressage horse has to be a Warmblood because that breed type is thought to have the exclusive ability to demonstrate "correct" movement above every other breed. I think this concept is absurd. This idea of a "correct horse" for each discipline undermines the idea of the versatile, all-around horse. This has produced many unintended consequences.

It means that every human body type, if they wish to compete in modern dressage, must ride a Warmblood, the only "correct" horse. Whether it be for dressage, reining, or other equestrian pursuits, horse-rider mismatches are now inevitable. If you are a large heavy reining person you must ride a small QH and if you are a tiny dressage person you must ride a large Warmblood.

Before this narrow idea of the "correct horse", riders rode horses that related to how their individual body type fit with a horse's body type to make an effective unified team. Yes, there are breeds that are generally better at a discipline. Thoroughbreds have the speed required in racing, for example, but most equestrian pursuits are not based on only one trait as racing is.

The "correct breed" concept has resulted in changes to equipment and training regimes. These changes are intended to overcome rider-horse body type mismatches. In reining, oversized riders on small horses, doing 30 foot plus slides, means that those small horses begin receiving hock injections as early as 3 or 4 years old. In dressage, small riders must now use very different dressage saddles that allow them to leverage their low body weight to achieve the required hyperflexed bend in the neck for competition. See link below.

The tail is wagging the dog today when it comes to matching horses and riders. Riders now must adapt to a prescribed horse type for a discipline instead of finding a more rational horse-rider match. This ridiculous artificial concept of single correct horse must change if authentic horsemanship is to be reestablished and if reason is to prevail.

*link to post about how and why dressage saddles have changed to overcome rider-horse mismatches -

www.facebook.com/BobWoodHorsesForLife/posts/pfbid029ziRUXRMJtPUTxu8kvPmoWkygycfoek6j1KGTKfNXejdp7BE8S1N95d87vZFjrqkl

11/07/2024

It's difficult to have a business in the horse industry today. So, move your business to the horse community - With the rise of the horse industry, riding students and horse training clients have lost a lot of respect for experienced professionals. This change has made it difficult or impossible to operate a local horse related business except in the few high end equestrian locations.

Today most young people who teach riding or train horses for a living struggle to make a profit. Instead of being treated as professionals, clients see them as service providers, and they expect you to fulfill their every expectation, even when their clients are wrong.

As these changes occurred, I was well established in my career. I was, therefore, less affected by students and clients who came to my farm expecting me to pander to them. I didn't matter if they arrived in a luxury car or a beat up truck. I was looking for committed students. I decided if they were a fit for my farm, not them. Today's young professionals feel they cannot be choosy about their clients in this era of entitled clients and students. But I think it is important for professionals to set the rules.

First, I suggest that people working in the horse business today identify what they do best. Do not attempt to be all things to all people. Let potential clients know that you have a focus. This alone will differentiate you from the common panderers, and having a focus will build your professional reputation. It will also help build your skills more quickly in the kind of work you do best. This is because you won't have the distraction of trying to do everything people ask or expect.

Next, you must require commitment. When people see you as only a service provider, they believe that you are subject to their whims and demands. They will arrive late, miss lessons and demand the impossible from you. I required a ten lesson commitment from students along with a down payment. Clients who sent me a horse or train, were required to make a substantial deposit. When you have these kinds of procedures, people will respect your professionalism. When they are required to act first by paying you a sum, they demonstrate their commitment to your work.

You will need well trained, calm lesson horses. Minimally, I recommend having one large easy keeper and one reliable pony to start. You can half lease (horse not available during scheduled lessons but any other time) lesson horses to capable students to help them get more riding time and this will help cover the cost of a lesson horse's keep.

If you have students who can help improve a horse, you can give them lessons on your prospects in training, which increases the number of your lesson horse string. Plus, this teaches a student basic horse training while it generalizes the horse's training to include new and different riders.

My business plan was based on three income streams. Boarding and lessons paid the bills. Training other people's horses generated additional income. But the real profit was in selling horses that I bought and trained or retrained. To succeed at this, you must buy low and sell high. Most of my prospects came from the racetrack or auctions and some from breeders who had too many horses.

The money is in the horses, and you must be a good judge of prospects You must also be able to maximize each horse's potential. Find a mentor or an apprenticeship because you might go broke trying to teach yourself. And do not be afraid to cut your losses. An auction horse can go back to the auction where you might find a better prospect.

Being a riding instructor or horse trainer can be more of a lifestyle than a business. This difference is also the difference between operating in the horse industry or in the horse community. There is a cultural difference. A horse community based business won't make you rich but can support you. I you choose to be strictly a business and part of the horse industry, not the community, you probably will be forced to do things in your operation that you will regret like using training shortcuts, drugging horses and other low quality actions just to make money.

I recommend offering diverse experiences to your students. We played broomstick polo, did moonlight rides, rode drill team and went to a few competitions each year. These kinds of diverse activities teach riders that a horse is a horse and that riding is riding no matter what the discipline. Fox hunting and polo were my primary focuses, but diversity kept my students interested and striving to improve.

Build your own barn culture with high standards of horsemanship. This is what worked for me. It doesn't matter if you rent or own a farm, you can create viable business based on quality. Be authentic. Each of us has something special to offer.

* images, the top three are me giving lessons at my farm. I most often taught while mounted on a green horse that I was training. Bottom images are of applications from lessons learned. me and students fox hunting, drill team and playing broomstick polo.

11/05/2024

Mounting a horse has meaning for the horse. Horses are not vehicles that we mindlessly enter like a car. It is best to think of mounting as you might a handshake or other greeting. Whether it is your first encounter of the day with a familiar horse or first time mounting a horse, we want it to be a clear and pleasant experience. When mounting we want to convey calm competence that builds the horse's confidence in us. Mounting in a disjointed way sets off alarms in a horse that makes them wary of us.

Step one when mounting is to have the horse stand still. If a horse doesn't stand still to be mounted, we must correct the horse (link below). Before mounting we gather up the reins and hold them with a slight tension in our left hand placed on the horse's neck just ahead of the pommel. This way if the horse steps forward as we mount, we can do a light check with the reins to stop the horse's movement. We do not put our left hand on the saddle because one hand must be on the horse in case the saddle slips.

Once the horse is standing still and we have the reins in hand, From the ground or a mounting block, we place our foot in the stirrup. It is wise to slightly face the back of the horse so if the horse steps forward we can more easily stay with them.

With our hands on the neck and on the saddle's cantle, we push our body upward with our foot and pull ourselves up with our arms in one motion. Note in the left image that we place our knee against the horse's barrel at this time so as to not poke our horse in the belly with our toe.

In the center picture we see the rider pause during the mounting process. This is important but many people do not pause. The center rider is stopped and leaning over the center of his horse, which places his weight correctly in balance with his horses. This pause is important because in this moment we might discover that the saddle is loose, the horse objects to the rider's weight or other potential problems. In this position a rider can easily and safely return to the ground if a problem arises. The pause also gives the horse the opportunity to rebalance themself to accommodate the rider's weight.

The right image shows a line of US Cavalry riders mounting in unison. Take a close look and see that the nearest rider has moved his left hand way up the neck, and he has moved his right hand from the neck just ahead of the pommel, where his left hand was before. This change ensures that he can swing his leg over his saddle without incident.

If we have sufficient strength to complete this process with precision and balance, our horse appreciates our ability. How we mount conveys our confidence in our ability to ride well. However, if we are sloppy when we mount and fail to cleanly move from the ground to the saddle, we cause our horse to be anxious about the ride that will follow.

Yes, I know. If you constantly mount poorly, your horse will eventually adapt and accept your low standard of mounting. Horses routinely are forced to deal with our failures like this and they do so graciously. But is that the kind of rider you want to be?

Once in the saddle, it is best to not move off immediately. Allowing a horse to go forward as soon as you butt hits the saddle seat is encouraging a vice. Once in the saddle, pause for a brief moment to allow your horse to rebalance and then move off with a cue. If you follow this pattern, you will always have a positive start to your ride.

* post on teaching your horse to stand still for www.facebook.com/BobWoodHorsesForLife/posts/pfbid0LCJij8SU3GLigcxxFEe5mERN6reHpEuVZKx8V66GWD4e19VtXSCwR4jLwXZTuaqsl

11/04/2024

This post is for horse trainers who have trained 50 or more horses. If you haven't trained a whole lot of horses, I don't think your experience will be very relevant because this topic is something that takes time and many horses to understand. Perhaps questions might be more appropriate than comments for most.

Students of authentic horsemanship understand that equine perception and human perception are very different. The difference begins with the two very unique ranges of vision. Horses can see 360 degrees around themselves with a 3 degree blind spot or net 357 degrees of vision. Humans can see 190 degrees with two 15 degree blind spots or net vision range 175 degrees.

This is a big difference in human versus equine vision, but vision is only a part of the perceptive difference. Equine hearing and smell also exceed human abilities by large margins. However, the biggest perceptive difference is based in how humans are predators and horses are prey. This difference in perception must not be underestimated. It's huge. With this vast difference in how humans experience the physical world compared to horses, it is a wonder that people can train horses at all.

It has been 76 years since I got my first paid job working 2 year olds on a ranch. I lunged them eight hours a day, rain or shine. In the time that followed, I am guessing I've worked well over a thousand horses. From my years of experience, I have a theory about equine perception that is beyond vision and beyond perception of the physical world. My theory is about how horses experience time differently that we do.

I do not believe that horses have an innate sense of time. Whereas humans are obsessed with time. Time colors almost all perception we humans experience. Can we get to the appointment on time? Will our children be born early or late? Am I wasting my time? I wish I could spend more time with, at, or doing X.

Horses don't think about time. As far as I can tell, the only sense of time horses have has been learned from humans. I worked for an obsessive trainer who insisted that all their horses had to be feed at exactly the same time every day. If I was two minutes late feeding, all the horses would be kicking the doors off their stalls. If feeding time is randomize even a little, horses don't do that. Likewise, lesson horses know how long a lesson is. These are examples of horses living human defined lives by the clock. But horses left primarily alone are always in the present moment with no past or future cluttering their minds.

Some might say that horses remember past experiences and that this is evidence that they can and do think in terms of the past. I don't think so. I think that horses store past experiences as data that gets logged in their memory, but it is only data, without feeling or thought, stored just as a computer stores data to be used as decision input for future present moments when triggered. When those triggering moments occur, horses do not think about past data in the ponderous ways humans do. When that triggered moment arrives, the data causes action, not feelings or thoughts. This is my theory because it is what I have observed over decades.

I first started thinking about horses and time after reading Ray Hunt. He said that when training a horse, you cannot start at square one. You must start at square zero before square one. I have been thinking about this for decades. My interpretation is that Ray Hunt saw that horses are always in the moment.

When we start a training session the horse is already present and has been present with us since we got them from their stall or pasture. Horses are present while most of the time we are not. We're thinking about what we plan to do, about what's for dinner, how we were disappointed yesterday about something, and so on. We are rarely in the present and the horse is almost always in the present.

Therefore, I believe Ray Hunt was telling us to be in the present with the horse before we begin to train. I think his advice is to help us not fall behind the horse's process of learning. Infact, it is best to be a little ahead of a horse you are training. The prospect should be curious about what we will do and working to keep up. But if you are behind a horse in training that is already present at square zero in the moment and you playing catchup, you will always struggle as a trainer.

Whatever horses might be doing, they are on the edge between this moment and the next, as seen in the picture below. We try to change horses to make them more to our liking in terms of their perceptions. For example, we don't like the "flighty" way horses can be hyper vigilant. We drug them, stick rubber balls in their ears, try to train away their constantly present perception. We want them on our timeline, but they don't know how. Humans tend to be future focused on "I expect a good ride" because future thinking makes us comfortable. Meanwhile our horse is in a present state of not knowing and being ready for whatever.

Horses are different than humans in more ways than we are similar. I believe that these differences scare or worry most people. Nothing takes us out of the present moment quicker that fear. I'd say that it is impossible to train a horse properly if the trainer is experiencing fear. Anthropomorphized false ideas of the horse do not remove fear. Instead, we must learn how to become more comfortable with equine perception. This is possible, but it takes time.

11/01/2024

End of life - Not long ago horsemanship meant personally having the ability to help bring a horse into this world and the knowledge to properly end a horse's life when the time came. This skill has almost completely disappeared. Today ending a horse's life has been transferred to the Vet. Like so many of the other disappearing elements of traditional horsemanship, leaving the end of life process to the Vet is driven by an increase in emotionality and anthropomorphism by so many of today's horse owners.

Death is a universal experience. People, horses, dogs, plants all die. When it is our turn, it is our responsibility to deal with it. Burying a parent, a loved one or ending our horse's life does come around to us. This is getting more difficult because science keeps extending life, creating the illusion that death won't come, but the responsibility for our horse's end of life remains. "I don't want to think about it. Call the Vet" is today's way of denying the end of life reality.

This dynamic sets up an immediate conflict of interest for Vets. When you ask a Vet to end your horse's life, they will have one less client. If they employ all the science at their disposal to extend a horse's life, their bottom line grows. Most Vets I have known are smart, responsible individuals who want to do the right thing. But faced with today's typical horse owners, they are forced into a position more like dealing with someone's child than their livestock. I think it is insensitive and unfair to place 100% of this burden of when to end your horse's life on your Vet.

Vets have a distinct occupational smell that horses smell from far away. It comes from disinfectants, pharmaceuticals, etc. That Vet smell makes many horses nervous based on their prior experiences of injections, tubes, poking and prodding, associated with Vet care. Additionally, many Vets today are in a hurry as they confront the increasing challenge of making a mobile service business work in today's economy. I am therefore questioning if having the Vet end your horse's life is as ideal as many horse owners today believe.

For me and other lifelong horsemen and women, the best way to end a horse's life is to construct a peaceful, unsuspecting end that respects a horse's life and their service. Having played polo for many years, I knew polo players who owned many horses over their careers. They all had six horses for each season. I played 25 seasons. Many players retire and keep their "best ponies" until their end out of respect and wonderful memories.

A lot of experienced horse people do not like the tension of a typical Vet euthanasia after owning many horses and having put several down. Because my farm was a fun place full of kids, and because some of my polo friends did not have the heart themselves, I took care of the end of life of some of their cherished horses.

Friends would ask me to end the lives of long loved horses when the time came. They knew my young students would love their horse when it arrived at my farm, and that their horse would be comfortable and happy to the end. Often, when an old, retired polo horse came to my farm, they would give very young students their first ride on a real horse, not a small pony. Being ridden again by a lightweight kid makes a horse feel young and useful again.

"When the time came" the owner would drop off their horse for a week to a month. There was a place on the farm in the woods, by a quiet stream, with enough sun to grow some nice grass. I would walk the retired horse, sent to me for a better end, to this peaceful spot everyday for exercise and a treat. I'd remove the lead and allow the horse to freely graze and get a drink from the creek.

On a day when the weather was nice, I'd walk the horse to that quiet place by the creek as usual carrying a small caliber gun. I'd carefully draw the "X" on their forehead with something unthreatening, chalk for dark horses, charcoal for light. It is important to draw the "X" very carefully, no matter how many times you've done it, because the horse brain is so small, and you do not want to miss. It is important to draw the lines as shown in the image below, from the top of the ears to the top of the eyes, to get the correct center of the "X". Then, very carefully I'd raise my gun barrel to the center of the "X" (note the angle of the arrow in the diagram) and put a bullet through the intersection into the brain.

A horse put down in this manner feels nothing. There is no pre-stress. They experience nothing unusual to disturb the peace in the moment, and they collapse to the ground like a sack of potatoes in their last second. Once on the ground, there is some postmortem body tremor, particularly in the legs. When I first taught an apprentice how to do this and the tremor began, she freaked out. It can feel like an eternity until the tremors end but it really is brief. Then, I'd go get the tractor and remove the remains to a place where arriving students for the day could not see. The kids knew why the old horse had come and I simply told them that the horse's time had gone.

Here in Pennsylvania, we have "professional" Amish castraters. They do cows, goats, horses, sheep, etc. and they are extremely good at it. They use no medications, but rather a twitch and a razor sharp scapple. I prefer these castraters to any Vet's because it's all they do, and they do it so well. It is getting more difficult, if you are not Amish, to hire them because they fear prosecution from authorities for "practicing medicine". But like the non-Vet euthanasia experience, done right is less stressful.

Perhaps a better solution to these kinds of processes like death and castration should be handled more like equine dentists. Maybe these specialists should be licensed as specialists after a proper test. We'd see fewer infections in castrations because the tranquilizers used slow blood flow, and blood flow is the best defense against infection. Likewise, I think there should be a license for specialists in euthanasia because this way to end a horse's life is better for the horse. Plus, these licensed support professionals would free up Vets' time for more challenging work.

The picture of the soldier below is from a scene in the movie "In Pursuit of Honor", a pretty realistic and accurate docudrama about the last days of the US Cavalry. In one scene, a Cavalryman has to put down his much loved horse. His process is quite accurate.

10/31/2024

I write about the changes in the horse world all the time. From my perspective we are losing more good and useful things than we are getting new good things. Take boots for example. The boots in the center picture are my Double H packer boots all cleaned and oiled. I looked to see if Double H still makes them and they don't, but an Ebay search turned up several used pairs in very serviceable condition at good prices. Plus there are a couple other brands that still make packer boots.

Why packer boots? I spent my days training horses, giving lessons and running a horse farm. I was on and off horses all day long. I was either comfortable in my boots on a horse in one type of boot or comfortable on the ground with another type. I was never comfortable in one boot type doing both. A friend said I needed packer boots. I didn't know what they were, having never been involved with pack horses or mules.

It turned out that packer boots are perfect for the kind of work I did. Packers are regularly on and off their horses or mules. They dismount to check and re-tie loads. They have to dismount to lead the pack train over tricky passages. Packer boots are designed to be equally comfortable riding and walking. Since I trained horses into my 60s, I also liked how much support they provide to my worn and injured lower legs. I like how I can lace them to give me the optimum comfort and precise support all the way up the boot to the top.

Given all the benefits, like they also keep your feet dry when wading through water, and no negatives that come to mind, I wonder why packer boots are fading away. If you have a life like mine, you might want to give packer boots a try.

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Videos

The video is about passive rein contact. Before I get into that let's talk about reins, one of the first things a riding student learns to use. The common belief about reins is that they are the "steering wheel" for the horse. Also, because reins are connected to the bit, many believe that reins are used to stop a horse. Both these assumptions are incorrect from a fundamental horsemanship perspective. Bits are not brakes and like reins, both are intended as tools to achieve optimum balance in the context of the ultimate goal of riding, which is unity of balance and movement between horse and rider. How then do we "steer" a horse? Answer, by bending their spine beginning in the center with our seat and legs. This maintains balance while yanking a rein throws them off balance. This is small "d"ressage, the kind used to train cavalry recruits. When a cavalryman rode in battle, it was their horsemanship that kept him alive. We should all ride as if it is our horsemanship keeps us safe. "Self carriage" is a dressage term. It means the horse carries itself in an optimally moving balance. Self carriage was a handy thing to encourage in a war horse so that when the rider was thrusting his sword through an enemy, it didn't upset their horse's balance. I teach horses from their first ride with a bit to find self carriage using passive rein contact. This, by the way, is one of the most fun things you can do with a horse, especially a young horse that is learning to carry a bit in their mouth. The principle of passive contact is that the horse carries the weight of your hands, which tends to be for an average person between 2 and 3 pounds or 1 to 1.5 kilograms. The trick of it is to relax your arms from your shoulders to your fingers, such that your arms hang softly from your shoulders with only the muscles in your fingers flexed to hold the reins. This can be more difficult than one might think for some riders. My sense is that this is challenging for riders who were ta