The Hinny Whisperer

Why not HinnyAdvice.com?

2007-04-17T20:57:00.000-07:00

Last week I was busy dealing with a veterinary emergency here at my place. My situation is really tough because I live out where the veterinarians are few and far between, so most things have to be done self-service style. I had the help and support of a great internet resouce, HorseAdvice.com

HorseAdvice is a subscriber's forum. You pay an annual fee and you have access to not only a wealth of articles on the veterinary subjects, but also on everything equine from training to business law. I am a member of many forums and I think this is probably the best. No one is registered that isn't committed to their equines enough that they wouldn't pony up the subscription fee. This does a lot to filter out the casual opinionated novice and giggly housewife.

The equine veterinarian who seems to head up the forum, is Dr. Robert Oglesby, DVM. There are other professional forum advisors, but he is the only one whose name I recognize. He helped me out with a diagnosis for the problem I was having with my elderly donkey. He referred me to some pertinent literature, and gave me advice on my options. He did it all in a very kind and considerate way.

I got a lot of advice from other forum members. Some of it was spot-on, some of it was judgmental, and some of it was kindly condolences. It all was valuable though in helping me having a broader perspective on the problem, and really thinking through my own values.

I would definitely recommend a subscription to HorseAdvice.com

The Hinny Whisperer approves of Dr. Robert Oglesby, DVM, for:

providing a high quality, well presented, usable information in a very reader-friendly format;
for responding to queries with kindness and compassion;
and for helping me out through a rough spot with my old donkey.

A Rider's Atlas

2007-04-08T20:04:00.000-07:00

If you can read all the way through the Dingos Breakfast Club in a day, well, you have too much time on your hands.

Dr. Nancy Nicholson, associate professor at Miami University (Ohio), created an array of materials on everything from Austalian vacations to the Sowbug Outreach Society. But the gem of her work is the Biomechanical Riding & Dressage:A Rider's Atlas. Professor Nicholson provides the material for an indepth study of horse movement under saddle. Don't try to take it all in during one sitting... just bookmark it and keep coming back for more. Your time will be well spent.

The Hinny Whisperer approves of Dr. Nancy Nicholson for:

not being afraid to be show her sense of humor,
the countless hours it must have taken to produce all the pages, videos, and diagrams on her wonderful website;
her evident appreciation of the horse as a magnificent being.

Kickin' Back Ranch

2007-04-04T08:34:00.000-07:00

Willis and Sharon Lamm have created a vast website full of totally useful information about working with mustangs. The Kickin' Back Ranch website is one of the best and most altruistic horse resources in existence. The Lamm's are motivated by what's good for horses, not what sells.

Bcause of the extensiveness of this website, before I met Willis, I expected him to be a geeky cyberspatial web-rat whose pale fingers were permanently embedded in a keyboard. It turns out that Willis is a handsome, healthy ex-fireman who moves like an athlete. He writes a regular safety column in the Trail Rider magazine and you quickly become aware that if you were having an emergency of any kind, you'd want him on your lifeline. So pondering as to how a man could be so prolific, so engaged, and so committed to horses, I wrote to him about the upcoming Mustang Adoption at the Jicarilla Ranger District here in NM. Willis was going to send some literature to the adoption organizers to hand out with the mustangs, then he gave me a clue as to how he manages his time. He said there were 3,000 unread emails in his mailbox and I was lucky to have got his attention. The man needs a secretary!

So, maybe Willis and Sharon will never know, but the Kickin' Back Ranch gets about 20 gold horseshoes in my book.

This is just a link to the training part of their website and if you start wandering around there, you will quickly discover that it is a vast realm to explore. This is just a beachhead on the KBR continent: KBR Training Information

The Hinny Whisperer approves of Willis and Sharon Lamm for:

their apparent total dedication to the welfare of horses;
providing a mountain of practical information;
and being an inspirational model of passion and committment to the creation of a better world.

Doma India

2007-03-26T23:19:00.000-07:00

Oscar Scarpati Schmid is a great horseman from Argentina. He trains in the ways of the Native South Americans from his country. Because he does not speak English, few people know of him, but Rick Lamb wrote about him in Revolutions in Natural Horsemanship after he met him at the Brazilian Horse Congress. Oscar astounded and confounded Lamb and Lamb wrote of Oscar in his book, but not by name.

My friend Antonio Castro, of Portugal, also met Oscar at that point in time. Equally astounded, but with total dedication to his personal horsetraining education, Antonio went back to South America and spent a month with Oscar, then toured with Oscar when Oscar put on some demonstrations in Spain.

Antonio and I exchange horsetraining stuff, so he sent me Oscar's DVD, which unfortunately was in European format and so could only be watched on a computer or an x-box. Oscar chooses to ride in the peasant style of the indigenous peoples of his country. He trains barefoot. His riding looks a little bit crude, but his horses are so willing and yet docile that it's hard to fathom.

Antonio is trying promote a match between Oscar and any American horse trainer in the style of "The Road to the Horse". I ran into Rick Lamb at Clinton Anderson's Down Under Horsemanship tour and told him I wanted to talk to him about Oscar Scarpati Schmid. Lamb looked surprised that I knew his name. I asked him if what Antonio wanted to do was possible... Lamb said the participants for The Road to the Horse are chosen by their ability to draw a crowd, something that Oscar couldn't do no matter what kind of horseman he is. I told Rick I had Oscar's DVD and he was keenly interested. I asked him to see if he could try and get it on his new TV show, but he looked doubtful about that. The cost of interviewing Oscar would be prohibitive. He wanted to see the DVD, so I said I would loan it to him.

I doubt that I will ever get it back since Rick is a busy guy, too busy to remember to send it back. I have a feeling that if I want to learn something about Oscar's methods, I will have to go to Argentina.

Doma India (Indian Style)

The Hinny Whisperer approves of Oscar Scarpati Schmid for:

teaching deep trust,
for making a show of support for the traditions of indigenous peoples; and
dedicating himself to a true revolution in horsemanship.

My Brethren Whisperer

2007-03-24T13:17:00.000-07:00

I want to gossip about my fellow Whisperers so we might as well start with HorseWhisperer.com's, Frank Bell. Now I know Frank from the WildHorse Workshops and I think he is quite charming. He has very controlled body language which gets the attention and cooperation of almost any horse. Frank is a dyed-in-the-wool horse clinician, trotting about the country selling his time and paraphernalia to people that get a pretty good value for their dollars. He never takes me seriously though because I am always broke. What can I say?

I scraped up enough money to pay for a set of his videos. They were nicely done, but they were poorly reproduced so every one of them did that rolling thing that gives you a headache to watch. I wrote to him about it and he said to try them on a different VCR. Well, it took about a year to get one near a different VCR and, yep, it did the same thing. By then I felt it was pointless to hassle about it. Since I have a little trail-riding / clinic facility developing at my place, I just thought to get even with him, I will just leave them on the library shelf and if anyone comes here and tries to watch them they will be classically conditioned to get a headache when they think of Frank Bell's name. Why even now, my head is starting to pound!

This is regretful because I personally approve of this fellow Whisperer. He is involved with Barbara Wrights work with ESCT which is like a treatment for Post-Traumatic Stess Disorder for horses (I am going to write about her sooner or later). In a horse clinician, you never know if innovation is real or just snake oil, but if ESCT works, it's a very good thing for traumatized horses. I bought Barbara's CD (which didn't work right either, but she replaced it with NO QUESTIONS ASKED!)and have been experimenting with it myself. They are marketing a thing to rhythmically pulse the headstall as a way to calm down the animal. Look for details on his website for the clinic they are doing in Colorado this summer. I'd go, but you know... no dinero.

Another really impressive thing about Frank is his attention and honor to John Sharp, the old Oregon mustanger, who has seen it all and done it all. Frank learned everything he could from John because Frank recognized a treasure trove of knowledge when he saw it. The net result is that Frank brings to the table some insight gleaned from the horseworld as it will never exist again.

Frank must have a soft spot in his heart for mustangs, which is another plus with me. I don't think mustangs are a very lucrative sector of the horse market, but he donates some of his time to the Wildhorse Workshop, helping horses get ready for adoption. The Wildhorse Workshops are a lot of fun, go if you get a chance. If you see Frank there, tell him that the HinnyWhisperer said hello. Don't expect him to smile about it.

Hey, look at at that! I signed up to be a HorseWhisperer affiliate and I get a little commission on sales. Go buy some stuff and sign up for his clinics. You will learn something... ask some deeper questions and you might entice him to talk about the more interesting and esoteric stuff he knows. There is a lot going on in that mind, but he's not going to trot it out for everyday use.

The Hinny Whisperer approves of the HorseWhisperer, Frank Bell for

being mustang-friendly,
studying under a true living legend, and
having effective teaching methods to help people work better with their horses.

Impaction Colic: Risk Factors in Donkeys Pinpointed - TheHorse.com

2007-03-24T08:49:00.000-07:00

Impaction Colic: Risk Factors in Donkeys Pinpointed - TheHorse.com

I thought this article was important enough to donkey owners that it should be posted. Note that donkey mortality from colic is high (more than 60% of the colics terminate in death) and that donkey colic lasts 10 times longer than horse colic (five days vs 12 hours). Sounds like a nightmare to me.

Why Horses don't go on Vacation

2007-03-24T08:53:00.000-07:00

BBC NEWS | UK | England | Hampshire | Hungry horse freed from caravan

This horse was not looking for food... he had maps tucked under his mane. He had a plan.

Imagine A Hinny?

2007-03-23T06:21:00.000-07:00

Allen Pogue is both a cyberspace personality with a couple of Yahoo discussion groups under his reins and a totally out of the ordinary horsetrainer. I posted a video about his training a few days ago, so you might have an idea of what a fantastic trainer he is, but I am telling you now that he is also a really down to earth, nice guy. He has a way of just making you feel good about life.

The website for his training business is: ImagineAHorse.com. He sells some very unique and useful training tools. If you do bridge and target training, his whips with balls on them are fantastic, and if you want a long lash circus ring whip.... well, you can find it there too. I haven't seen the DVDs, being a little underfunded at this point in my life, but the people on the ImagineAHorse training forum rave about them. He has beanbags to teach your horse to sit on, and giant balls with cordura covers that make them the sturdiest horse toy around. You won't find another horse gear store like it anywhere.

If you haven't guessed by now, I should just come out and tell you: The HinnyWhisperer likes to gossip about Horsetrainers! Are you really suprised? ... so with that in mind, Here is what Paul Dufresne has to say about Allen Pogue after I told Paul that Allen was saying nice things about him on his forum:

Haven't had a chat with Allen in a while. I have always liked him even if I wasn't keen on some of the approaches he is always thinking and ready to adapt if something better presents itself. I think this is one of the greatest attributes of a trainer, is to be able to recognize when a change is necessary and also if someone has a worthy idea to STEAL it if it makes it easier for our horses. To do that we have to be humble and keep our egos in check. He also is very creative and puts a lot of thought into preparing for patterns by himself when most would need several helpers. I really do look forward to actually meeting him in person. We have shared a lot of thoughts I would be totally surprised if we didn't get along and have some serious fun playing with horses.

Last year I tried to arrange to get Allen and Paul together for a clinic at my place, but it wasn't to happen. If it had, they would both now be training Hinnys instead of Andalusians.

Here are the links to Allens discussion groups, where I post as HinnyWhisperer:
ImagineAHorse; and
Horse Training, both at Yahoo Groups.

The Hinny Whisperer approves of Allen Pogue for:

devoting a lot of time to helping people through his moderation of public forums on horse training;
being totally practical on a totally out-of-the-ordinary subject;
being positive about horses and people 100% of the time.

The Hinny Whisperer disapproves of Allen Pogue for tempting me to trot out my credit card to buy his cool stuff.

Bridlepath

2007-03-20T21:40:00.000-07:00

Defrost Indoors maintains a beautiful and informative blog called Bridlepath. She picks up all the important horse news on the planet and all the most elegant images and stories. Bridlepath is the best connected of all horse blogs because Defrost Indoors works hard to publicize her work. She isn't limited to horses, but regularly blogs about donkeys and zebras. (Right now there is an interesting blog about donkey milk!) Her blog has a lot of class, something The Hinny Whisperer can appreciate but never quite emulate.

Bridlepath

The Hinny Whisperer approves of Defrost Indoors for:

having a standard of visual elegance;
having her ear close enough to the ground to sense what's going to be important tomorrow;
and not being species centric, but honoring all of the equid genera.

My Favorite Tack Store in the World

2007-03-19T20:18:00.000-07:00

It is a very good thing when your favorite tack store is half a planet away. You save a lot of money that way. I found this one on my endless quest for a perfect saddle.

HUE HOTT

Some guidance might be in order: 1)Sättel means saddle; and the first letters of their product signify the country of origin for the product (ES is Spain).

I have heard that if you call them, they speak perfect English, so I would not be intimidated from arranging the purchase of a saddle from them. THEY ARE THE ONLY SOURCE I HAVE FOUND FOR DONKEY SADDLES. If you know of another source for donkey saddles, please let me know.

If You Have Heard the Penny Drop....

2007-03-19T19:15:00.000-07:00

If you read the comments in the last post, you will know what this post means:

Petrus Bosman's Homo Caballus

2007-03-17T19:51:00.000-07:00

American's are most likely to have noticed Peter Bosman's name associated with the CorrecTOR saddle pad, apparently he endorsed it. I saw his name on the advertisement and it didn't mean a thing to me....... that was before I google upped "Peter Bosman" and found a man living in Spain named Petrus who likes trail riding. If you saw him riding around the Spanish country roads and into the village, you would do a double-take because the horse is saddled, but to control it, he only has a strap around the lower part of its neck that looks for all the world like a big loose fan belt.

Now, here is the thing about Petrus.... I wrote to him and asked him if he wrote a book on his thinking about horsemanship... his website was only enough to whet my appetite for more. Petrus wrote back in the most thoughtful and pleasing manner... ah, the matter of publication from a non-English speaking country.... yes, in the old days that would have stopped a person dead in their tracks as no publisher can think about a book without a promise of 7,000 books in advance sales... but now there is electronic publication and Amazon.com I encouraged him to think about it.

If we are lucky and Petrus ever takes that step into electonic publication, rest assured that we will offer it on the Hinny Whisperer bookstore.

Still talk of books aside, there is a wealth of information on Petrus's pages and any student of the equine would do well to read it several times.

Homo Caballus - Paardrijden volgens HC Choose the English flag.

The Hinny Whisperer approves of Petrus Bosman for

walking his talk with bridless trail-riding;
sharing his well considered philosophy in the interest of improving human/equine relationships;
being an incredibly down to earth guy who writes in a foreign language like he was a long lost friend.

I must say, over the years, I have met some of the nicest humans on the planet by talking to folks involved with humane ways of equine training. It seems that if they have the capacity to respect the horse as a sentient being, they have the capacity and compassion to also take people into their hearts.

Imagine A HinnyWhisper Post

2007-03-17T11:15:00.000-07:00

I am going to write up a blurb on Imagine a Horse, but until then feast your eyes on this.

Lateral Movements & Their Use

2007-03-16T18:16:00.000-07:00

"The difference is the learner perspective I take, and my passion for letting people think, feel and understand, not just do as they are told. Just doing as you are told has no place in our modern humanistic society, whether it be dressage or anything else. To be treated as less than intelligent, is unworthy of any human being. Or horse, for that matter."

Theresa Sandin, Sustainable Dressage. Sustainable Dressage - Collection & Its Evasions - Lateral Movements & Their Use

Is it just my perennial obsession with lateral movement, or is this article by Theresa Sandin exceptionally informative and interesting? I suspect you will like it too.

I drill lateral movements into my equines. They don't feel like its a drill though because I do it with positive reinforcement. The donkeys are the only ones that just don't seem to have a clue -its a new day for them every day where they hope the treats are given freely. One famous donkey trainer, Meredith Hodges, whom you may have seen on TV, gets lateral movement out of her donkeys and it is a beautiful sight to behold. She said it took her several years to train her jack to do shoulders-in.

Theresa makes you understand just how fundamental it is, though. She's apparently reworking some of her pages and you get reconstruction messages, but the one on tack is available and equally informative.

Click here for the Sustainable Dressage homepage

The Hinny Whisperer approves of Theresa Sandin for:

providing many useful and informative graphics to illustrate a hard to grasp topic;
having a clear expository style;
in depth analysis of important issues to all riders;
and encouraging people to think for themselves.

Equine Shapes

2007-03-16T17:41:00.000-07:00

This is a very fine resource. It is possible to add to it if you are knowledgeable in such matters.
Equine conformation - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Hinny Whisperer approves of Wikipedia for:

being a collective effort;
being open to modification;
providing good information.

Zebra Whisperer, Nancy Nunke

2007-03-15T18:28:00.000-07:00

New vocabulary today... I saw the phrase "google up" used to mean look up something on Google. So I google upped "Zebra Training" and found some really exciting websites. They were exciting for me because they seemed to be breaking into new realms of equid training, just five notches on the other side of donkey training. Lots of bridge and target training with positive reinforcement.

Then, I found Spots N Stripes Ranch.com. Check out the Zebra Whisperer's clinic coming up. I would love to go (but I am virtually broke at the moment). I am hoping the universe will decide to send me anyway. Anyone need someone to take their zebra for training???

Interestingly in England there is Zebra Training which is some kind of technique to deal with anti-social homeless people. You can google up on zebras to find out these things or you can just go to Spots N Stripes, where Nancy has links to almost all the other zebra-the-animal webpages. You will note that there is a Zebra forum on her site..... I plan to check it out.

The Hinny Whisperer approves Nancy Nunke for:

Working towards the protection and understanding of a neglected species;

Stimulating interest in bridge and target training;

Providing a community for zebra affectionados.

Speaking of communities and forums, The Hinny Whisperer Forum (not just for Hinny Whisperers) is almost finished. I have a few finishing details like the graphics and limiting a few of the forums to active members, and only letting the lurkers see a fraction of what will be there. You can sign up now and have a say in the final details.

Jim Holland provides words of wisdom at SERA

2007-03-14T21:23:00.000-07:00

SERA - Southeast Endurance Riders Association - Florida, Tennessee, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama To find the good stuff, scroll down the menu to the Training Videos and Training Articles.

Richard T. "Jim" Holland produced some low key instructional pdf files and videos showing some of the things he does with endurance horses to make them tractable. He says that keeping your horse calm through the excitement of a race will help him perform better.

The Hinny Whisperer approves Richard T. "Jim" Holland for:

Placing calmness as a paramount value in his training program;

Providing a high quality set of instructional materials free to the public;

Being willing to kiss his horse on the nose in front of God and everybody.

Something Useful in your Mailbox

2007-03-13T19:01:00.000-07:00

Training Tips Newsletter by Larry Trocha

Larry Trocha might be famous or might not, I don't know much about the cutting horse world, so I really have no idea BUT he puts out one of my favorite training newsletters. It's a meaty training description and there is always something that gets me excited.... Todays newsletter is about proper timing to cue for a stop on the hindquarters. You can read it online at http://www.horsetrainingvideos.com/stride.htm

If you are reluctant to sign up for newsletters, I can attest that Larry doesn't spam you with stuff you don't want and he doesn't pass your address along to someone marketing something else.

I get a lot of email newsletters on horsetraining, and I think this is the best (not counting EveryRider, which is more of a blog subscription).

The HinnyWhisperer approves of Larry Trocha's Training Tips Newsletter for:

Providing valuable information as a free service;

Demystifying reining training in clear and concise language;

Photos that show balance and elegance without force.

Donnie's Donkeys

2007-03-11T15:01:00.000-07:00

This video is an absolute must see. Donnie also has a couple of other videos which can be seen on YouTube

EveryRider: The "Rollkur" Debate

2007-03-10T07:25:00.000-08:00

I subscribe to EveryRider's email updates. It's been a little erratic (normal for a person trying to juggle barn with computer) but Kelly's posts are always worth reading.

This time it's about The "Rollkur" Debate.

Here is my posted comment on the subject:

I am so glad that this world is a long way away from where I live. Can the horse be trained to hyperflex at liberty using positive reinforcement? If so, then maybe it is not so bad, but if the only way to get to it is through methods of avoidance of greater pain, then it is not respectful of the equine.

It reminds me of when I have to ride in the back seat of my jeep and keep my head ducked down to avoid bonking the roof. Yes, it makes my neck sore! Now if it was fashionable to walk around with my head ducked down, would I do it just for style? Me thinks I would not!

The Hinny Whisperer approves EveryRider for:

Taking a stand on a controversial subject.

Documenting the reason for her opinion.

Providing a wealth of resources to help readers form their own opinions

Introduction to This Blog

2007-03-09T21:01:00.000-08:00

I read a lot of horse related websites and equine related materials on the web everyday. I might as well leave a trail behind me.

I might make some enemies doing it, but I intend to tell you exactly what I think about what we find along this journey. If you want me to review your site, well, send me the URL but don't expect me to say nice things just to please you. If you disagree with me, please use the comment box to let me know.