April 2007 E-Newsletter
Contents:
• Dear Friends: This month’s letter is from Pat Roberts on watching Monty at Equine Affaire, Ohio April 12-15, 2007
• Ask Monty : What does a foal’s clicking sound mean?
• Monty's Principles for People: Mounting a Journey of Good Will part 2
• Monty’s Challenge: Is my young stallion aggressive?
• Fish & Ride with Monty: June 2007
• Where in the world is Monty on tour next? Click here!
• Upcoming issues
Dear Friends
It was hard to tell who had more fun…..Monty, Craig Cameron or the audience when Craig invited Monty to join him during his scheduled demonstration on Friday the 13th of April at the 2007 Equine Affaire in Columbus, Ohio. Craig’s demonstration was scheduled to be “Fun New Concepts and Patterns to Develop a Handle on the Horse,” one of his presentations at the April event.
The audience was given a rare view of two clinicians who are alike in their thinking and, as it turned out, a couple of ‘stand-up’ comedians. Craig asked Monty to step into the coliseum arena to comment on some of the procedures Craig and his assistant, Steve Lantvit, demonstrated throughout the presentation. They were serious about the work that they do, but the pair had so much fun commenting back and forth that it was a real treat for the audience.
In this particular presentation, Craig placed a series of cones in the arena in an interesting configuration that demonstrated how with the use of the cones it can help riders maneuver their horses in easier and less stressful ways to teach them stops, turn arounds, back ups and even rudimentary lead changes.
Among the hour and one half presentation, Craig also demonstrated to the audience a simple way of stopping down the tendency of the trail or pleasure horse to jig while being ridden. He showed how he would put the offending horse to work while quiet horses were allowed to walk calmly. When Craig asked Monty to tell the audience what his method of fixing this problem was, Monty said. “Same as yours! In fact, we just did a story (July 12, 2006) on my website that proves we are thinking the same way.”
Craig and Monty were the featured clinicians at the four-day affair amongst the 70 plus presenters. Equine Affaire brings to their events the cutting edge of knowledge and technology for horse owners and lovers in order to educate the audiences by giving them the opportunity to observe experts in their respective fields, all under one roof so to speak. Attendees also have the opportunity to visit the many booths that exhibitors bring to the event to show and/or sell their products.
In 2005 Monty honored Craig with the Equitarian Award that is presented each year to the man or a woman who best exemplifies training Western horses in the absence of pain or violence at their annual awards party at their home on Flag Is Up Farms in Solvang, California.
The audience feedback was tremendously positive and afterwards everyone kept asking, “When are Craig and Monty going to have a repeat presentation together? Maybe this is something that will be something that will catch on and can happen at future events such as Equine Affaire and others. Audience feedback can help achieve this with contacting event planners and asking for it to happen. One thing is clear; both clinicians have the same theme. Have fun with your horse because if you aren’t having fun, change it: something’s wrong.
(return to contents)
April 18 , 2007 Question and Answer
Question: We have a new foal, which at six -eight weeks old started clicking his teeth rapidly and repeatedly at an older gelding in the pasture. The foal nosed up to the gelding's nose and started this clicking for close to 10 seconds or more until the gelding squealed at him, when he stopped. I'm sure its a type of schooling, but I'm just curious what it really means. If you could identify it for me, I'd appreciate it; I've not seen a foal do this before, but we're relatively new to breeding and working with young foals. Thanks very much! Laurie Luna
Monty's Answer:
Dear Laurie,
WOW! This is one of the primary center pieces of Equus communication. The scientists have called this action “snapping”. That’s really a bad name for it because it has nothing to do with aggression. When I do my demonstrations, I talk about the four primary gestures: the action of the ear, coming closer to the horseman (smaller circle), licking and chewing, and dropping the head down near the soil.
Licking and chewing in the adult horse is the same as the snapping of the foal. The flight animal is attempting to suggest that he is eating. In the language Equus, this means that he is trying to say that he doesn’t want to fear you. The adult horse in the wild must stop eating when in the presence of a predator. Conversely, if they are eating, they are experiencing a sense of security.
The snapping of the mouth of a foal, is the nearest thing they can enact to depict the act of suckling. The foal will not lick and chew until it has been weaned from the mother’s milk. Until that time, they will tend to remind you that they are just a little baby by acing out the gesture of suckling.
Congratulations on your discovery, you can read a lot more about this in From My Hands to Yours, in the chapter called “The Language of the Horse”.
-Monty
Monty's Principles for People
Mounting a journey of good will [an article presented in three parts]
Youth pastor gives American Indian children a window on the world by teaching them to train wild horses
Story by SUSAN GILL VARDON with reprint permission from the ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
WARM SPRINGS, ORE.
Part 2 continued from last week
WILD LIFE
Buller is no stranger to the Swallows Day Parade, with its Wild West spirit and spotlight on horses. He's attended several for years during visits to his wife's grandmother in Dana Point.
But it was after last year's parade that he got a brainstorm. Why not work with the reservation kids to train the wild horses -- with the parade as the incentive?
And why not hold a horse auction to introduce the Orange County equestrian community to some newly tamed members of the reservation's wild herds?
Most important for Buller, the trip is giving the kids a glimpse at life away from the reservation, which is home to about 4,000 members of the Warm Springs, Wasco and Paiute tribes. Alcoholism and drug abuse, poverty and broken homes are common.
The reservation was named the most dangerous place in Oregon for youths by The Oregonian newspaper in Portland last year.
Some of Buller's riders have never ventured off the reservation, where mountain pine forests change to high desert and jagged rimrock cliffs.
But this weekend they pitched tents at Caspers Wilderness Park, dined with firefighters at San Juan Capistrano Fire Station No. 7 and dug their toes in the sand at a beach party in Laguna.
"They're seeing guys who work out in nature -- guys who train horses and make big bucks, park rangers who are government workers and stay outside and ride horses," said Buller, youth pastor at the United Methodist Church in Madras, Ore., a town of 5,000 near the reservation.
"They're seeing the possibilities. The whole world will blow open for them."
HORSES AND KIDS
About 3,000 wild horses roam the reservation's open range. To many residents, they're disposable -- food for mountain lions or a commodity to be sold at $100 a head to the meat market.
Two horses at Saturday's auction, Sweet, a yellow paint mustang, and Try, a tri-colored paint mustang, were rescued by Buller last year from being sold for meat. Another six he's rescued are penned outside his two-story log cabin in Madras.
Now he's teaching the kids that they're not disposable.
"These beautiful kids have a passion for horses but need a little bit of help in connecting the pieces to give them hope and joy," he said. "Until you have a way to play on the reservation, it's a big prison, a big fence to keep you away from the world."
The trick, he says, is in helping them understand one another.
On a Saturday afternoon a week before the parade, 17-year-old Jordan Caldera watched warily as Buller prepared to put the reins on Miho, a wild-eyed appaloosa.
"He's probably the meanest horse," said Caldera, an inexperienced rider.
"No, he's just insecure," Buller said, as he slowly approached Miho, looking him straight in the eye. "He needs to learn confidence from you. He can do anything."
FINDING GOD
Career-wise, Buller has been all over the map. It was a way to escape his destiny.
His great-grandfather, grandfather and father were all Methodist ministers. And that's a path the outdoorsman and adventurer swore he'd never take.
Instead, the Minnesota native hopscotched between school and odd jobs, working with abused children, getting a law degree, teaching high school and negotiating real-estate loans.
Then the near death of his young son, Garan, from a severe intestinal infection jolted him into change. At the time, he and his wife, Meg, were living in the Tetons, and it took them an hour and a half to get Garan to a hospital.
Buller approached the ministry in his own way. Not unlike how his great-grandfather, Frank Planticow, had as a circuit-riding preacher.
"Back then, Methodists would go where no one else would go," he said. "I want to bring us back to going where the people need us."
Accompanied by Meg and sons Harrison, 12, and Garan, 4, he enrolled in seminary school in Salem, Ore., and accepted the youth pastor job.
Church leaders gave him a $30,000 grant for his after-school horseback-riding program. He also visits and assists about 20 families on the reservation, and is adding more to the list.
"There are barriers, and he is breaking them down," said Ruth Ann Hopps, a church member and retired librarian at Madras High School, where reservation students make up about a third of the student body. "He found a niche that's unique."
Buller had plenty of skeptics on the reservation. To them, he was simply the latest white guy riding into town to thump the Bible at them.
He proved them wrong.
"I've never seen a white person take to our people with open arms before without judging us," said Reona Trimble, a mother of two and foster mother of five, including Jordan.
Part 3 to be continued next week April 25, 2007
(return to contents)
A Chance to Fish & Ride with Monty
June 2007
Last year, Monty and I were given a 50th anniversary gift from our children’s families. It was an extraordinary experience and a dream of a vacation, our first in many years. We enjoyed our time at Clearwater Lodge on the Pitt River so much that while there an idea was born. How wonderful it would be in 2007 share this adventure with friends and call it a Fish & Ride Adventure.
Because of forestry regulations we can only ride out with ten horses at a time, therefore we will be splitting into groups to ride with Monty. Each group will have a trail guide or horse wrangler. We envision riding out with Monty in the morning; stop, possibly to fish for a period of time and then having a picnic lunch nearby on the trail. For those interested, guides can be available to coach fly fishing along the trail in the beautiful streams and rivers. Monty loves to share his casting tips too!
Our daughter, Laurel made contact with one of the fishing guides from the Lodge who has rental horses available for guests who aren’t able to bring a horse. The greatest asset of this area is that there are all sorts of activities available in a setting that can only be described as magnificent.
For those that don’t wish to ride, there is fishing, river rafting, golfing, antique shopping and the area cries out to the artistic inspiration for painters. For those interested in painting or sculpting, artists will be available during the day to do one or two art sessions as arranged. We will also take a trip to Burney for antiquing and/or sight seeing if there is an interest on the part of attendees.
We were there in the middle of June and the fishing, climate and everything about Clearwater Lodge was beyond our wildest expectations. The accommodations and the food prepared by an expert chef were outstanding. Building on our impromptu idea, we tried to pick dates in 2007 that might coincide with classes from Monty’s academy for those who come from long distances.
We have arranged the following schedule. Arrival is Wednesday evening, June 27 through breakfast Sunday morning, July 1. The lodge is located in northeastern California between Burney and Fall River Mills. The lodge lies between Mount Shasta and Mount
Lassen. You can go to their website which is www.clearwaterlodge.com to get further information about the lodge and location. The one catch about this adventure that we can only take the first 20 double or single occupancies that sign up, as the lodge has a limited amount of available rooms.
Most of the available 20 are double rooms, but they also have an annex building as well. That’s where our grandsons, Matt and Adam stayed last June. On the premises are large two and three-bedroom cabins within walking distance from the lodge and possibly something like that could be worked out with Dick Gellen, owner/manager of Clearwater Lodge.
The following is a breakdown of what the actual costs will be:
Single occupancy person: $3,050
Lodge, includes food and room for 4 nights
Breakfast, lunch and dinner
One day riding for one
Double occupancy: $4,100
Lodge, including food and room for 4 nights
Breakfast, lunch and dinner
One day riding for two
Double occupancy: $3,950
Lodge, including food and room for 4 nights
Breakfast, lunch and dinner
One day riding for one
Additional costs:
Full-day rate for fishing guides are $350 for one or two anglers, a third angler is $75. A full day begins at 8 a.m. and goes until dark. This includes lunch and soft drinks.
Half-day rates are $300 for one or two anglers, and a third angler is $50. Morning half days start at 8 a.m. and ends early afternoon. Afternoon half-day rates start after lunch at the lodge and end at dark.
Evening fishing sessions are $150 for one or two anglers, and $50 for an additional angler. Evening fishing sessions start at 7 p.m. and end at dark.
Rates are available for golfing and/or golfing and fishing days, as well as white-water rafting. Just call 530.335.5500 and speak with Dick Gellen, www.clearwaterlodge.com.
Please feel free to call write or email recently how many are interested and what your special interest will be. You can reach Laurel at hotstable@aol.com or telephone 831.682.1121 and me at patr@montyroberts.com or telephone 805.688.4382/688.3368.
Thanks in advance. I am looking forward to a great response to a very special adventure with Monty.
Warm regards,
Pat Roberts
NEW FEATURE!
Monty’s Challenge: Next Week’s Question to Answer
I have a young stallion, 2 years old. When I worked free with him he suddenly attacked me. He had never done this before. Somebody told me that stallions can already attack you when you look them in the eyes to long and don't read his language correct. Is this true or do I have a aggressive horse?
Test yourself!
I want all of my students to learn to be better trainers than me! Test yourself each week as I challenge you to answer the question from below by writing to newsletter@montyroberts.com. I mean this. Sit down and write an answer. Don't wait for my answer next week.
If you have been reading my Weekly Questions and Answers for the last six months, you should be in a position to do this.
Why should you bother? Because it will help you focus. There is probably a comparable question in your life that needs answering – or will be. If you can gain insight into how to go about answering a practical question that is loosely related to your problem, this exercise will help you answer your nagging question.Then read my answer. Then read my other answers at this link: Ask Monty. The closest answer to mine each week will be awarded a DVD but more importantly you will learn! That's good for you! That's good for horses!
-Monty
(return to contents)
Look for these upcoming issues!
• Monty’s Special Clinic (a once-per-year opportunity in August)
• Fish N Ride with Monty: June 2007. Click here.
• Monty’s special story of a misunderstood horse in Finland
• Monty’s Principles: The Whisperer and other “Systems”s
(return to contents) |
