Just got a big pitch e-mail claiming that "barefoot is best for your horse". I don't know how people claiming to have some intelligence about horses can get so fixated on there being only one answer to every situation. To do so invalidates the claim of having some knowledge about horses. Yes, barefoot can be beneficial to some horses under certain circumstances. But barefoot is not best for your horse unless there are numerous considerations all influencing the same problem at the same time. This "barefoot is best" advocate proves she doesn't know what she is talking about with her claim that horseshoes "were intended to elevate the hoof out of the manure and urine saturated ground where the horse was tied." Why invent horseshoes when you could tie the horse somewhere else? Her second claim is even worse...that the horse was becoming a good war vehicle and that "stomping on the enemy with a metal shoe was more damaging than a bare hoof." That might be true, but hardly a valid reason for nailing an iron shoe to the horse's hoof when the rider was going to stab the enemy through the chest with a lance or lop off his head with a sword. Not going into it all now, but shoeing domesticated horses is more often than not the right thing to do to balance the foot and protect the hoof. Most good farriers or horse shoers today will say "balancing the hoof" is the primary reason to shoe, followed closely by "protecting, correcting, easing pain." Barefoot has its place if you aren't planning on using the horse much and you have turned the horse out into his natural arid habitat, allowing him to walk 50 miles a day for food and water....which, of course, you haven't. Other than that, think about shoes on your horse; first to balance the foot, second to protect. Here's the kicker...the barefoot advocate is selling "protective hoof boots" to put on your barefoot horse when you want to go for a trail ride.

There's power in the stars

It's time to talk about creating a stronger, deeper bond with your horse and training with intelligence instead of intimidation. It's time to recognize, understand, learn and use the power of the stars in training and caring for horses. I'm a firm believer in a supreme power. I believe the universe is an energy force you are a part of, and you can use. I am positive life on earth is not possible without a star...our sun. So we're going to talk about training and caring for horses by understanding their personalities, likes, dislikes, talents and limits. We're going to talk about each horse as an individual and how the energy of the universe influences each horse. We are going to talk about Sun signs, Ascendant signs, planets and houses and how each horse is different and the same all based on the position of the universe at the time and location of the horse's birth. If you think Astrology and Zodiac signs are pseudo-science and bunk, that's fine; no one is going to argue with you or try to convince you otherwise....so read on, and gain a better understanding of communication, adapting and adjusting to traits. I'm going to prove to you that you can train with knowledge and insight instead of punishment and abuse. “Intimidation” is today’s primary system for training horses. Intimidation can be mild, moderate or abusive. It can be called “old-time training,” “natural horsemanship” or “classic dressage.” Argue about what it is and what it is called all you want…it’s an undeniable fact. The proof that it is a fact is confirmed by all the efforts to find a new and more acceptable way of describing horse training. From the earliest writings (Xenophon, if you will) there have been thousands of suggestions that horse training could be gentler, kinder, more caring. Behaviorists want to make horse training scientific and “natural horsemanship” advocates want you to believe it can be done without force by communicating with the horse in the horse’s natural world. (They refuse to recognize there is plenty of force used in the horse’s natural world and that the horse you are dealing with is not in his natural world.) Science has given us new words and concepts to describe what has been done in horse training even before there were behaviorists. The use of “successive approximation” is just the praising for any effort to comply and the repeating and praising and repeating and praising of a cue to elicit a specific response; a new description for a tried and true technique. There is nothing “natural” about a horse carrying a rider or pulling a cart, so there is actually nothing “natural” about “natural horsemanship”. Use of the horse’s natural instincts to aid in getting a specific response is as old as Xenophon. All the same intimidation techniques are use, just with a different name. A whip is no longer a whip (sinister), but is a stick and string (harmless.) There is nothing new or different about natural horsemanship; it just has “marketing appeal.” I’m not advocating “intimidation”; just the opposite: I’m simply saying that we have to recognize it as a fact. It is the principle way of training horses because training starts with getting the horse’s respect. Respect evolves from some kind of fear…minor, perceived, imagined or learned. The horse is a herd animal, always seeking approval of peers and happiest when being praised. The horse wants to remain in the herd. (Isn’t it interesting that those two things are the major objectives of humans within the human herd.) Understanding that, earning the horse’s respect should come from only one kind of fear…the horse’s fear that he will no longer be a part of the herd. If you do that, then you can provide the horse with the feeling of acceptance and the enjoyment of praise. The only possible way to eliminate intimidation from training requires you establish yourself as the horse’s herd leader…the alpha horse if you will. To be the herd leader and gain the respect of one or more horses in your herd, you must do two things: 1. Make the horse feel secure and comfortable believing your will provide protection, and 2. Confront unacceptable behavior. It is in confronting unacceptable behavior that we must be careful to avoid allowing intimidation back into the process. Confrontation is a requirement of learning. You make a request and the horse makes a response. If the response is not the one you wanted, you must confront the mistake immediately…not with intimidating force, but with a “No, that is not the correct response.” The confrontation can be as simple as stopping all movement, or riding through poor or misbehaving efforts. If confrontation is not forthcoming the horse can only conclude the response was acceptable. In training without intimidation, we are going to have to accept several things: 1. The training process will be much slower. (That can be a good thing for many reasons.) 2. We need to set learning goals much lower. If we can accept the smallest degree of improvement as our goal, then the horse will have “successful” training sessions every session. 3. We cannot criticize the horse. If the horse has faults you can’t accept, get a new horse. (Here is one of the first places (understanding the individual horse) to seek guidance from the Zodiac horse. See: www.thezodiachorse.com If the horse accepts you as being his herd leader, then the only fear the horse will have is that he might not be allowed to remain in your herd. If that is his only fear, he’ll work as hard as possible to please you, seeking your approval and basking in your praise. And won’t that beat intimidation?