Shawna Karrasch

Hey folks! Bodhi and I are still around though I have been very busy with grad school and Bodhi has been busy making new friends and enjoying the mild weather. I have some pictures to share and some news but for now I just wanted to share a horse trainer I just became familar with.

Her name is Shawna Karrasch. Her website is here. She has a background in training marine mammals and now applies the same concepts to horses. Talk about a woman after my own heart.
Her website has some great information about how to incorporate positive reinforcement into your training regime. Have any of you heard of her?

Video of a horse free jumping from the horse's perspective

What is natural horsemanship?

I consider my horsemanship journey to be about discovering what is ethical not what is natural.
Keeping horses in general and riding them especially is the farthest thing from natural no matter what trainer you follow.

Ethical treatment is what has steered me towards positive reinforcement, bitless riding, and why Bodhi does not wear shoes and why he is on pasture board. Not because it is more natural for him but because I am concerned about his welfare and well being.

It seems like every time I look around one of the natural horsemanship trainers is caught doing something unethical-- I am sure I don't need to show anyone these examples, they seem to be talked about to death on other blogs and forums.

My request: Read this take on Natural Horsemanship. They said it more concisely then I ever could. What do you think of what this author has to say?

On the road again

I visited Bodhi on Sunday and the message on the white board read

"horses being moved Feb 27th"

That is still all I have heard from the actual barn manager about the move next weekend.

So I have obviously been busy investigating.

I went to visit the stable where Bodhi is being moved next weekend. Let me paint you a picture. Brand new facility. 60 stall barn. Riding arena the size of the Titanic. The office area has leather sofa's and a fire place. The viewing area has a full kitchen. The bathrooms have hand towels.

The pastures Bodhi is being moved to have no drainage (remember the flooding?) and get this--- no water troughs. Period. I asked the woman working at the time how they are planning on watering the horses that will be in the paddocks and she said "we are buying troughs and we will truck in water". Oh and the horses boarded currently get 6 hours of turn out a day. Without water evidently. Oh geese.

So i went barn shopping.... again....

I looked at 4 new facilities. I picked the farm with the nicest pastures (my number one priority). It is farther than our current digs. It has an indoor. And goats.

Would this weird you out?

I wanted to get the opinion of the masses here.

Scenario:


Bodhi's current farm has flooded in the spring in the past. The manager/owner is predicting it will flood again. I get a call from another boarder for something unrelated and she mentions that the owner is planning on moving the horses the 28th of February to a new farm. You have not gotten a call or email about this (He does not like to call my cell because it is long distance but he has my email).
He is moving the horses to a farm much farther away then the current location. The board will not go up but you have to pay for tack storage and use of arenas (which is currently included in my board). I have never been to this farm so know nothing about the reputation or facilities. The manager currently under contract to care for Bodhi will not be in charge of his care, he will be forwarding my checks directly to this new facility who will be providing all the care.

I feel really funny about this--- Is this normal? What would you think?

Snow bunny

Thank you for all the support and ideas last post! It was great to have support, and it is great to talk to folks who really understand how hard it is to do something like lease a very important horse

I like the idea about giving a few lessons to potential boarders first, so I can share with them things that work really well with Bodhi, and also to make sure the person is a good match. Call me crazy but I am not too worried about him getting "ruined" by someone. I know I do a lot of things differently then other horse trainers, but I think if I pick someone kind for Bodhi, even if they do train differently I think Bodhi is the kind of horse that can handle it. I think it will be good for his development.

Now: why you guys are really here- The ever elusive chunky monkey fluffy feral snow bunny....
click on the photos for up close cuteness...

Would you lease this pony?

Horse for Lease this Summer/Fall

Graduate student studying abroad for the summer and looking for a compatible rider for a 6 year old, 14.2 hand Haflinger gelding. Bodhi has been trained using positive reinforcement, and has been worked slowly and consistently, and as a result has no vices and is a simple and quiet mount. Bodhi would be perfect for anyone wanting to school, trail, and/or attend schooling shows. Price negotiable References required.

· Walk, trot, canter, with the beginnings of flying changes (over ground poles) lateral work, and shortening and lengthening at the trot.

· Started over fences. Green but willing and simple.

· Trail rides alone, and in groups.

· Rides in a snaffle, or bitless bridle. Good for an adult amateur, or intermediate youth

· Great ground manners, lunges, ties, clips, loads- a pleasure to work with.

*How does this look for a lease add? Text? Pictures? I figured I should start early since I am going to be so picky on the selection of a leaser.

Canadians: Where do you look for horse related things online? Where is a good place to post this?

Pictures and questions

Graduate school is seriously limiting my time for blogging (who knew!) and winter is limiting my time for training. I am trying to enjoy the little time I have with Bodhi though, and I hope all the walking we are doing in the snow is keeping him some what conditioned. I have had 2 things on my mind lately and I would love to hear your thoughts:

I have decided I do not need to use a bit right now. Bodhi is bit educated so if he needs to go in one for some reason he is equipped. I feel that teaching him to be balanced, supple, and connected is more interesting without a bit right now. I have been riding him all winter in his side pull I talked about here. My issue is that it puts all the pressure on the top of his nose, and that it slides around. I think I want to try a cross under bridle like Nutural. I rode in one last weekend and he was much easier to bend and turn. My fear is that it will put too much pressure on the poll and under the chin. Has anyone ridden extensively in steady contact in a cross under bridle?

I am going to go to Africa this summer for my master's research. I think I would like to lease Bodhi while I am gone (6 months). I am hoping to lease him to someone who will take him to some shows and give him complementary experiences to what he already has. Knowing what you guys know about him, who should I market him to? What type of rider would be interested in a horse like Bodhi, and what should I work on in the short amount of time I have between the thaw and my departure to make him more marketable?

Also, here are some picture from the fall that were taken by a photographer the barn owner hired to document the new arena that we happen to be in. I was really happy to them because right now he looks like a yak. It is nice to be reminded what lives under all this hair!

This picture had to be blown up because we were in the background. It is signifigant because it caught him in what I call his baby extended trot. I have this photo labeled as "baby's first extension"

This picture is what I would like to think represents our best of 2010, and of him as a five year old.