In this Saturday Issue:
1. “Nebraska Girl”
2. “Toothpicks and 75 Million Mistakes”
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1. “Nebraska Girl”
I ran across something in my desk the other day that brought a smile
and thought I’d share it with you. Here’s what’s it about:
My oldest daughter (I have 5 kids) is now 28 and married. She loves
horses, handles them very well and really likes trail riding. She
was brought up around farm animals and has raised calves, pigs,
chickens, lambs, etc.
She doesn’t get near as much time to do that now as she’d like. She
has her MBA in music and teaches both instrumental and vocal music
at the high school level really excels there. She loves to teach.
She is a blonde, blue-eyed native Nebraska gal. While petit, she
can throw hay and carry a 50 LB feed sack as good as most guys.
My wife’s grandfather lived to be 2 days short of 102 and was active
and strong to the very last breath. A few years ago when he was 97
and visiting us, he was talking to her and joking with her.
For decades he’s been writing poems and has privately published
his books of poems. So – he wrote a poem about my daughter
and naturally called it:
“Nebraska Girl”
A girl I once knew
Had two eyes of blue
For her age she
Was quite mature.
If some one should ask ya
She came from Nebraska
And all the of the
Cow men-knew-her.
Read that last line again and you’ll understand that we raise a
few cattle around here.
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2. “Toothpicks and 75 Million Mistakes”
Andy Curry brings this report….
Did you know you can make 75 million
toothpicks from a cord of wood?
That’s a L-O-T of toothpicks!
Did you also know you could make 75
million mistakes with a horse if you don’t know what you’re doing?
75 million?
Well…maybe not.
But you CAN make a lot mistakes…dangerous ones…
if you aren’t informed.
That’s one of the BIG reasons we do
what do here.
We want you informed.
Take Sam Burrell for instance.
When he and I did an interview, he
revealed his philosophy and thinking about horses.
When you know what a trainer’s philosophy is, you begin
to understand how and why he gets the results he does.
That’s why I ask ’em that question.
Sam’s philosophy is:
“Be as kind as possible
be forgiving as necessary.
Be looking for the
success or slightest try.
Get the horse to enjoy
working with you instead
of working for you.
Always be
training for tomorrow”
As you can see, Sam’s philosophy
isn’t explained in just one sentence.
His philosophy has very serious implications.
First, “be as kind as possible and
forgiving as necessary.”
Being kind with the horse is paramount
because you can set out to teach him to be mean
without meaning too.
And when he’s not doing something you
want, “be forgiving as necessary.”
If he messes up, there’s no need to
kick and scream on him. That’ll just make things worse.
But also, if he argues with you then
you gotta be firm and be the leader by demanding and
getting what you ask if at all possible.
When you get it, that’s the end of it.
You don’t hold a grudge and think, “Stupid horse…
who does he think he is?!!”
When you win, you win. That’s the end
of it.
And that goes right into part 2 of Sam’s
philosophy: Be looking for the success or the slightest try.”
Why?
Think of it like this.
You’re a teacher.
You have a very timid student.
You ask him what 5×5 is.
He just looks at you.
Again…you ask, “What is 5×5?”
He looks down…afraid to answer
because he’s not sure.
Thankfully, you have patience.
So you ask again.
“What’s 5×5?”
Unsure and desperate to not look a
fool he barely whispers the answer as he looks down
to the ground again and says,…
“….twenty f-i-v-e???”
“What?”, you ask. “What did you say?”
Again, with zero confidence the child
whispers, “…twenty f-i-v-e ??”
You ask, “Did you say twenty five?”
He looks up at you with those big
glassy eyes and cautiously nods his head “yes”.
“THAT’s RIGHT!!!”, you blurt.
Eureka! The boy got it!!!!!!!!
If you as the teacher had not sought out
the slightest try or success,…do you think you
would’ve gotten more tries from him?
Had that child been badgered, what would
his chances at success in education have been?
That’s the thing with horses.
You gotta look for that try…that success.
A try is every bit as good as a success.
The success will follow.
But if the horse is trying and you’re not
allowing that try to count…Mr. Horse may stop
trying or worse…fight with you.
And that’s a fight you WILL NOT win!
Sam’s part 3 of his philosophy is: Get
the horse to enjoy working with you, not for you.
Yeah…he may be just an animal, but he’s
an emotional being that’s easily upset.
Again, an upset horse is not an easy-to-
-work-with horse or a safe horse.
I can tell you there are people who’d
argue with me and say, “You’re being ridiculous.
You gotta get that horse doing what you want
and there lots of times you have to get ugly
with him.”
Although you can get a horse doing what
you want by brute and force, we’ve found that only
the person who works with that horse can ride him
safely – at least…that’s my experience.
But a horse that’s chosen to do the work
you ask of him and does it in agreement with you
is a safer, more partnership-oriented horse.
Pretty cool stuff when you think about
it, eh?
You can see more of what Sam reveals by
clicking on the following:
Lastly, Sam said “Always be training
for tomorrow.”
What does that mean?
It means quit your horse when he’s
done what you set out to do.
Yeah, you can ride him around and
just enjoy riding him after he’s done what
you ask…but stop the teaching already.
At least, stop the drilling of asking
for it again, and again, and again.
Always have your horse in the frame of
mind to be ready for you tomorrow.
Don’t get him “dreading” to be with you.
Get him wanting to be with you.
And as Sam says, “Quit him on a good
note and try the horse again tomorrow and you’d
swear he was up all night studying how to do
what you asked of him.”
Sam Burrell Training DVD
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Ok… That’s it for this Saturday.
Enjoy your weekend! Stay safe around your horses.
Charlie
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