 Bucksnort's Black Zeb Finally here is a picture of the new horse. His full name is, Bucksnort’s Black Zeb! So we are going to call him Zeb. I know , I know that’s not what his owner called him. Oh well.
Sue, a friend who has helped us put on clinics in the pass, suggested that we have a clinic the first week in Oct. So we are. I put out the invitation to a group of folks I have worked with before and in less then 2 hours the clinic was full. Did not expect that but am very excited. I won’t have had much of a chance to work with Zeb before the clinic so am not sure I will be able to take him but we will see.
Kathy has a couple of really big art shows coming up in the next few weeks and we are perpareing to head out for those. I’m very proud of what she has accomplished with her art and folks really seem to like it. If you would like to check out what she does you can go to www.tenderfootart.com and have a look.
We will be taking Herb’s Man Bars with us to these shows. We told him we would do what we could to help him and his sweetie out. He thanked us in his own special way. He’s pretty proud of the new Cowboy Bug Bar. He says it works about as good as any of that other chemical stuff out there. We have tried it here on the ranch and it sure seems to work. If you want to check out what he is up to you can find him at www.herbsbodyshop.com
Coffee time.
 Day 2 was good for the new horse. I have not decided what to call him yet. Yes, he came with a name, but the great thing about horses is they don’t know what that name is. I get some heat for this stand from time to time, but horses don’t name each other. What horses do understand is a tone, a tone of voice.
Anyway just worked a bit with him in the round pen yesterday, just to make sure I could catch him and I can. What I really like for a horse to do when they first come here is drink water from my hand. Not literally from my hand but from a bucket with me standing there. Why you ask? Good question. Horses can go several days without eating but they can only go a short time without water. They know, instinct, that without water they will die.
Horses, who have trouble getting along with humans, don’t see much value in humans. You may be saying well I feed him I give him a good place to live, I take him to the vet if he needs, and those are all good things that your neighbors will praise you for. But the horse has no concept that you have, and or are, doing them for him. So the same is true when it comes to water. When he goes out to get a drink, the water is always there even if your not. When a horse drinks from your hand, he knows where the water came from and, perhaps for the first time in the horse’s life, you, the human, have value. He learns that without you bring him water or taking him to water, I have done it both ways, he would not survive.
This is not always an easy thing for most people to do. They start to feel sorry for the horse cause he has not had a drink all day. Remember, it’s not cause he has not had a drink all day, it’s because he has refused to drink from your hand all day. Trust me! It won’t take long for him to see the value in you if you wait until he is ready to drink from your hand.
With that, I moved the new horse to his pen and he is now starting to settle in to his routine. He is a handsome boy and I look forward to getting back to start our work..
Coffee time.
 Yep I did it again. I just sold a couple of horses a few months ago and I was not going to get another horse. Did not see the need to feed a mouth that I was not using. Well I got this email, I think I may have told you about it yesterday, from a lady that wanted to sell a horse. What was interesting is she is from Tucson Az. Now that is about 4 hours away from me. Anyway, I took a look at the horse, she had it for sale on the internet. He is a handsome horse and I was thinking if the price is right I could work with him for a few months and then see if I could find him a good home, and yes, make a little money on the deal.
I got to wondering why this person could not find a place for the horse in Az., in her neighbor hood. Then I found out that the horse had bucked her off a few weeks ago and she had, had enough. Kathy and I get lots of horses here because they buck so that was not surprising. I was just wondering why they could not find someone closer to home to help with this problem.
Anyway, I did it. I took possession of him yesterday. I will try to get picture of him today. Am working with him in the round pen to make sure I will be able to catch him when I turn him out in his pen. So far, with just the little bit of work we did yesterday he seems fine. I think he will make a fun project for this winter.
Coffee time.
 Little Emmett Over the weekend I got a chance to see a group called the Mule Tones! They were great and I got a chance to play with them on stage. Brian and Amy use to be our neighbors. They managed a ranch to the west of us and we use to get a lot of chance to pick with them. They have a couple of kids now, and it has been a treat to get to see them grow up. They live in Crow Flat NM now and have a little ranch of their own. Kathy and I could not be more excited for them.
They came over to the house after their concert with the other members of the band, Drew and Jim. We sat around and visited. Talked about music and horses. Amy is a pretty accomplished horsewoman herself and Brian a heck of a hand with a horse and a cow. Kathy and I are looking forward to seeing their new place in the fall.
Emmett, their son, was crawling around and found Wally’s, the dog, dog box. He had a blast with it. Fit him pretty good too. I offered it to Brian if they wanted to take him home in it… just kidding.
Kathy and I have met some wonderful folks thru horses and music. Brian and Amy are a good example of that..
Have some interesting emails yesterday about horses. Have some folks that have a great looking horse they just want to give us. Why you ask? Great question. This horse has been bucking folks off, we seem to get those kind around here. So we are seriously considering it. May use him in some training videos and then see if we can find him a good home. We’ll see.
Another email was from a previous client who has purchased a new horse but is a little unsure and may want some help. May make another good candidate for a video..
But first coffee.
 Wally! Most of you will remember our big dog Wally. Well I don’t know how many times I’ve told him to be careful where he sticks his nose. Well, he didn’t listen. Saturday he came back to the house and I noticed that his face look a little swollen and it was. It kept swelling and you can see the results. I’m not sure what he got into. Could have been a bunch of bees or a rattlesnake. It don’t seem to bother him much other then his head is bigger then it usually is. He is breathing just fine and still has his appetite and a desire to fetch the ball. Kath wants to take him to the vet and she may do that today.
I think that Wally illustrates the importance of not sticking our nose where it don’t belong. At least that’s what I’m taking away from this. There is a fine line between helping someone with their horse and using their horse and the opportunity to help them with it into a probing exercise. I see trainer and especially clinicians use a persons horse to show them what a terrible person they are. You know, “your horse is like this because you are like this”. In some cases that may be true but making someone cry or feel bad about “who” they are because you think it will help the horse is BS. Most people I have worked with, already know the problem with their horse is “them” and in the process of working with me, they start to see what they need to do to be a better leader. That in turn helps them become a better owner, a better friend, a better mother, father the list goes on. Not that that’s all it's going to take to be a better person. My job is not to make you a better person. My job is to help you with your horse. Being a better person is up to you, not me. You having a better horse is up to me, and you.
This is my rant. I don’t like it when people pay good money to get help only to have the clinician stick his nose in to one's private business. They need to be careful. They may end up like Wally.
Coffee time.
 I know it’s early but you can sure feel fall in the air here at the ranch. It was 58 degrees when I got up and it was sure nice.
Kathy is off to a quilting retreat this weekend. She is learning new techniques to apply to her quilt art. Looking forward to seeing what she comes home with.
Things are pretty slow around these parts. I don’t have any outside horses, which I planned. I needed a little time to get some other things finished up around here. So that’s all good. Have been doing some road work the past couple of days and will finish up that today.
We got an email from the folks that were here from overseas the other day. Susan, that’s her name, had attended a workshop where they used horses and a round pen to help managers and folks with responsibility, to understand what it means to be a leader and how to get along with the people you care for. Kathy and I have often thought that horses are a great teaching tool for such lessons in business and in life for that matter. We are going to be looking for opportunities to provide that kind of education to folks. Will be exciting if we can make it happen.
Stay safe out there with your horses. If there is anything we can do to be of help I hope you will send us an email or call..
Coffee time.
 I got a nice note from Ray. The fella that is from Italy. Thought I would share it with you. I hope I get to see Ray some where down the trail. He was a nice
guy and a good songwriter.
Coffee time
Hey Mackie, the connection you have with horses is unbelievable! Crazy how you managed to flip my feelings towards them in just a couple of seconds. What I loved is how your starting point is a deep understanding and respect for what goes on in their brain. What I've always noticed everywhere else is how men tend to work animals taking as a starting point their weaknesses and and not their needs. A whole new approach - totally new to me. I've learned a lot in just a few minutes. Will be forever grateful! Hope to see you soon! Peace. Ray
 The Band! Kathy and I had a pretty nice weekend. We got to do some pickin on Friday and met some nice folks that we had never played with before. Al, Randy and Ray. They are from way south Texas. We arranged to meet them the next afternoon to pick some more after we had lunch. We were standing around on the street in Hillsboro, NM when we got to talking about horses. We wound up going out to the ranch so they could see the horses and work with them a bit.
Ray is from Italy and had only had really bad experiences with horses in the past so I had him get in the round pen with me. I got one of our more spirited horses Soros, and we started to do a few things. Ray was really scared of the horses. Now Ray is a big guy, you would not expect that, or at least I didn’t. He spent as much times as he could and then I asked Randy if she would like to try. She was eager. She has been around horses a lot, but had never had the chance to actually work a horse. She figured it out right away and had a blast.
Then Ray asked if he could try again. I had him work the horse by himself. He was blown away by how much the horse could and would respond to his body language. He really started to see the value of the work and how it was helping HIM, more then the horse. I heard it said that the outside of a horse is good for the inside of a man. I believe that.
We are still working on getting ready for the shows that Kathy has for her art coming up. I will try to continue the blog while we are gone..
Coffee time.
 working with cody Perhaps you have found yourself in this place where you need help with your horse or you want to learn more about horsemanship, but you don’t want to get burned or get you or your horse hurt. How do you know where to go? How do you pick a trainer or a clinician that is right for you?
Some of you may be saying, what difference does it make? And for some it makes no difference. But for many, it does.
Lots of people will look at the lay of the land and decide based on what everyone else is doing, and there is nothing wrong with that as long as you don’t mind going along with the masses. I have met and talked with folks who have taken that path to finding someone to work with. I have heard stories, more then one, of a very popular clinician in this country, who brow beats his students to the point that he makes some of them cry. I don’t get that! Why, why in the world, would a trainer/clinician ever feel the need to make his client/customers, cry.
But how do you know? How in the world can you pick, find, a trainer/clinician that will really help you? Some, trainers/clinicians, will point to their accomplishments. I know of one, who has won hundreds, literally hundreds of trophies in many different discipline’s over 40+ years as a trainer. As a matter of fact when I talked to him he used the example of a mechanic who has been certified and a shade tree mechanic. He explained that the one with the certification is the one he would take his car to. I could see his point, but I have gotten screwed more times by the guy that is certified then I ever have by the guy who loves what he does, the shade tree mechanic.
So how do you know? The same way you pick your mechanic, plumber or electrician. You ask your friends. Find people that have worked with the trainer in the past. Ask them how they feel about him or her. Watch their horses and if you like what they do ask them if they did it themselves or did they have help. Talk to the trainer. Good trainers will tell you the truth, weather you want to hear it or not, cause they want the best for YOU and your horse. Most trainer/clinicians will have testimonials on their website. Ask the trainer if you can contact these folks and visit with them about their experience with him or her. If he says no, then look some where else.
Listen to your neighbors and friends. They probably want to help you too. If you are not making any progress with the trainer your with, it could be it’s time to move on.
There are good people out there, trying to help folks with their horses. These people may not have a TV show, they may have never written a book or put out a dvd, but that does not mean they don’t know what their doing. You may not have to travel half way across the country to find someone to help you with your horse, if you will just look around a bit..
Coffee time.
Working with Kai
 The Cowboy Bug Bar?
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