Click on the photo to make it larger! Photos from Pagosa Springs and around the country of Mangalarga Marchadors associated with Summerwind.
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Category Archives: SW News
Training – Words for Success
“The difference between the right word and the almost right word is the difference between lightning and lightning bug.” Mark Twain
Tom Dorrance and Ray Hunt were master horse trainers and communicators. They advocated to “set the horse up for success”, “to let the horse learn it” and “to feel and listen to the horse.” We have found our own master trainer here in Arizona in Ned Leigh of Ned Leigh, Equine Focus. It is with Ned that I learned how important the words we use are in the setting up of this kind of environment.
All of Ned’s work comes with the horse in mind. Knowing that there many be many answers the horse will choose during training. The try is important. The repetition and clarity of the request is what will cause over time for the horse to choose the RIGHT answer, the one you intended. From the horse’s point of view, all the responses are valid. Ned’s words to the trainers are always horse-focused. And what a difference it makes – in your head and in the horse’s head!
Here are 5 examples of the words that help create the mind-set for success.
1. “Help your horse”
What a difference in mindset! This is almost revolutionary – 180 degrees from “you have to win”, “correct your horse”, “make him obey”. If your horse is a partner, a member of the family, you’ll want to help him succeed, not get frustrated because he isn’t getting it as fast as you want.
2. “Your horse is confused”
Related to number 1 above, but what a great way to think of it. Instead of “You (the trainer) are doing it wrong”, again the focus is on the horse. Now you need to learn how to make your request easier or clearer to him. There must be 10 ways to request a backup. Maybe more. Anyone will do as long as both you and your horse understand what is being requested.
3. “Wait. Give the horse a chance to make the decision.”
Let your horse try. Let your horse discover the right answer through the process of elimination. Just keep asking in a consistent and clear manner and reward the right answer. No need to escalate or rush. Take a deep breath and instead, watch him think. You might learn something about how your horse learns.
4. “Watch for the muscle movement to release.”
Timing is everything in the reward for doing the right thing. The earlier the release, the softer the horse. When you ask the horse to move, before the horse actually moves its feet, the muscles respond. If we build our release, the reward on the muscle movement, you are rewarding the correct thought and that speeds up the horse’s understanding.
5. “Use the backup command to establish your boundary”
The horse is a gregarious and social animal. That’s what we want too, someone to love and spend time with. However, establishing a boundary establishes your relationship with the horse with you as the leader. It is the responsibility of the person to control their horse’s approach to the boundary and if they cross into it without permission, it is the person’s fault. The horse should not be punished for the person’s failure to control the boundary.
Often Ned’s teaching is broken down into at least 3 steps. This gives the horse a clear, repeatable pattern. And it helps the trainer become clearer in his/her request and less hurried. The horse is “set up for success”. It will learn the request, the sequence and the right response.
The horse can choose to respond (and that’s the desired response) on the first step. This teaching makes for a soft, willing partner. Isn’t that what we all want?
This is training from the horse’s point of view. This is training for UNDERSTANDING.
Any training with the mindset of MAKING your horse do something is totally NOT what I want for my horses.
If you are using words that don’t describe your thoughts and actions from the horse’s point of view, see if you can change them. See if that makes a difference in yourself and your horse. I’d love to hear back from you.
All the photos below in the gallery from the clinics are Mangalarga Marchadors from Summerwind during a Ned Leigh Clinics. All happy horses and happy people! Photo credit to Lynn Kelley, Leticia Ribeiro and Laura Patterson Rosa. Click on any of the gallery photos to make it larger or read the captions!
For more information on Ned Leigh Equine Focus or Summerwind Marchadors: Ned Leigh Equine Focus Website or Summerwind Marchadors Website
All the photos are Mangalarga Marchadors from Summerwind during a Ned Leigh Clinics. Photo credit to Lynn Kelley, Leticia Ribeiro and Laura Patterson Rosa. For more information on Ned Leigh Equine Focus or Summerwind Marchadors:
Ned Leigh Equine Focus Website
“Contrary to popular belief, horses do not get bored with basic work. If the rider (trainer) request exact responses, paying close attention to detail and quality, neither the horse nor rider will have time to get bored, rather a true sense of accomplishment will be gained.” Erik F. Herbermann.
ABCCMM Inspection August 11, 2015
Dr. Kate Moura da Costa Barcelos is coming from Brazil! She will be in Canada for an Equine Convention and ABCCMM Inspection. It’s the first ever held in Canada! Very historic. During her stay in the west, she will fly to inspect 2 of our Marchador horses in Colorado.
Jewel do Summerwind will get a foal inspection. During this inspection, the foal is microchipped, whorls and markings are noted and the foal will be provisionally registered in Brazil if there are no disqualifying or heritable defects.
Isabelle do Great Lakes will be inspected under saddle and in hand for conformation, temperament and gait. If she gets enough points in each category, she will be permanently registered in Brazil and her foal expected in October, then will also be eligible to be double registered in Brazil.
Summerwind is committed to the quality and diversity of the Marchador breed here and we think the Brazilian inspection process is a great tradition to uphold.
For more information on the ABCCMM inspection process, you can click on this link to read more about it.
May and June Photos!
Click on the photo to make it larger! Photos from Pagosa Springs and around the country of Mangalarga Marchadors associated with Summerwind.
Get involved! Get invested!
Call us crazy. Own half a horse? Yes, that is the new path we have entered when we agreed to purchase 50% of Cacacha de Tres Coracoes, a yearling filly in May of 2014. It’s an international agreement as the mare will stay in Brazil with owner Ronaldo Ribeiro Tavares of Haras Tres Coracoes.
This co-ownership concept is very common in Brazil. At horse auctions similar to Thoroughbred sales here in the U.S., often one owner will sell 25% to 50% of a breeding animal. That gives the co-owner the right to products (either semen or embryos) every other year. The co-owners share the costs and hope like all investments – to make money! The horse market is lucrative in Brazil with horses still being an integral part of society and a status symbol as well.
Even though she is young, we believed she had the potential to win at a national level in Brazil, making her products more desirable and expensive. We are taking the chance and investing in a young mare now to get the best price point. If we had waited and Cachaca does win at the Nacionals, we could probably not afford to buy half – or it might not be offered for sale. Our belief was verified in July 2014 when her half-sister won Champion Mare in the Marcha Gait and Champion of Champions at the National Show.
Cachaca is the daughter of Fator da Cavaru Reta, a top, sought after palomino Marchador stallion in Brazil. After visiting the farm of Tres Coracoes, we were impressed by the breeder’s thoughtfulness in breeding, and his care for his animals. The training staff were kind to the horses. Plus, we like the name! (Cachaca is a Brazilian rum.)
The benefits of the sharing ownership concept:
- The investors now have more of a pool of money to promote and campaign their horse and to advertise the horse to make more money from the offspring.
- As an investor, you could get rights to products or offspring if that is something you desire.
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Photo Shoot Sunday with Tamara Gooch! Me with Artemis! If you love horses, but cannot keep a horse of your own, the investment allows you to share the spotlight, participate in all of the fun events, but not worry about the day-to-day care and feeding of the horse. Think of the partners in California Chrome, the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness, the ultimate experience for both of them.
- In the Marchador breed (and perhaps others as well), you are sponsoring a new breed that is making history in its march to go global. You are contributing to history. You are MAKING history.
The downside, of course, is that you may not make any return, either in the short-term or ever. But that is the nature of investments. You can protect yourself by doing the research on the market and on the horses, and picking a partner that is proven and successful already.
Interested in getting started with the Marchador breed? We would love to help you explore this co-ownership option or other options to help us out with starting up the breed. We have plenty of ideas!