Midwest Horse Fair, Madison, Wisconsin

by Denise

I was surprised to see a posting on the list about the fair...hmmm, someone must live close to have that typed and sent in. For me it's a 5 + hour drive. =( (thus the fanny fatique) My time there was not so dedicated to the clinicians. --( I did not see Curt Pate at all, but I did see Dave Seay, the paraplegic Mike, and Shawna. Not full clinic times, but enough to get something out of it.

I was impressed with Mike Richardson, but not surprised. (his clinic was unity education) He has a special saddle with a back on it and he was strapped/buckled into the saddle. He spent time explaining how he uses the dressage whips to 'steer' the horse around and the horse was very responsive to him. And, his horse was no small horse either. But very quiet and attentive to him. Mike would just gently tap the horse's shoulders to go forward or backward, or turn..cue spots. To me it showed how people can cue the horse to do whatever they ask in a different than the 'norm' way. For those stuck on using the bit for the responses, this should place a new understanding of 'cue' building.

I think the 'cue' imagination part of me was inspired during this whole ordeal with all the clinicians. For each clinician to teach a horse to do things in an entirely different way shows the versatility in teaching.

Dave Seay didn't get my respects at first. He was showing how to work on cueing your horse and his horse would take a step forward and he'd slam those spurred heels into that horses sides a few times because the horse was walking off. That part kinda made me want to not pay full attention to Dave. I did watch how he worked the horse to move his quarters, go forward, change gaits, and stop. Yes, he did use leg (near invisible cues) but then he showed how to develop softness with the bit. Now that I paid attention to and disregarded the spur in the sides thing. (I wonder, if that horse was so in tuned to his seat and legs, why didn't he use his seat or legs to stop the horse from forward movement? where was that 'cue' to stand? Why didn't he use a cue to stop the movement instead of slamming that horses sides?...just me grumbling and questioning his motives here. I also feel that the young horses have a more difficult time staying still for any length of time and that needs time to work on and patience to do so, with rewards for the time they do stand still. He also could have redirected the horse's energy to turning him around and asking for him to stand again.) On Sunday, it was rainy and cool out and the footing conditions of the round pen wasn't the best so Dave and Curt got together to work in the arena. In the arena they had a 3 yr old imported Hafiinger stallion, that didn't have much handling. This boy was very disrespectful and full of himself. He'd trot around the round pen snaking his head and turning his hind and bucking at Dave. Of all the clinicians working horses, this is where I think Dave had shined. He'd keep that stud going in one direction, not asking for any special pace, just moving in one direction. He'd drive one eye and only worked until he saw a small change, then he'd walk away. This stud caught on fairly quick to advancing quietly to Dave, but he'd have second thoughts when Dave started to work his quarters and he'd return to his 'disrespectful' preservation mode. He wasn't an easy horse for Dave to work with. I didn't see the whole process here, but I did return later to see that stud standing still as he was getting his first saddling.

Shawna Kararasch did clicker training and it was very interesting to watch that young horse respond to her...and try to do things on his own searching for work to get that reward. Since the trailer loading thing was what was worked on the previous day (I wasn't at the fair then) that is what this colt kept trying to do...he'd just load himself and wait.., she had to start rewarding him for returning to her.. The session I watched she was working on getting him to stay quietly beside her then tarp work. That colt was eager to step onto that tarp,..no fear. Watching her helped me with learning how to incorporate that clicker (which I haven't done so far... I've just been using the reward system) I watched her timing and how she asked the horse for things...which it seemed the horse just knew each time something was to be done and kinda did almost on his own. And, she did the target/leading exercise that I found helpful with the babies here and teaching Coalby to lead better. =)

I attended a session of Asia Voight, animal communicator. She talked about her experiences, but also had us all relate experiences when we just thought' something and our horse responded. Her session was good for learning 'focus' in working with your horse. That focus communicates more than we realize it does! There is a great 'spiritual' aspect of working with your horse. She referred to lots of different horse trainers (PareIli, Lyons, etc) and how she tried different things to get her horse to respond and what was lacking was her listening to her horse! I feel this was a great session to attend and well worth it's time.

I mistakenly attended another session that I did learn things in. (Wisconsin time and our time are an hour apart and I didn't pay attention to the real time in looking at my watch..ugh!) Anyway, it was on responsible owner. M.J. Wylie spoke about things we have to consider for legalities relating to horse ownership. Things that related to our environment. Soil nitrate composition and run off was on where you pasture your horses, manure management, and fertilizing with manure. Also she discussed disposal of carcasses and how that relates to legal issues/environmental issues. She advocated slaughter houses and that even though laws were passed in California against slaughter, those horses that do go to slaughter go a greater distance with conditions that are far worse and no control. The impact of whether a horse is considered as livestock or companion animal makes several changes down the line of laws how horses are handled and things that you must think of are the ramifications of endorsing a law/voting.

I also attended a session by C.J. Gilbert on accupressure and alternative therapies including aroma therapy, chiropractor, massage, and energy. I like to dabble a bit in this stuff so I feel I got lots of info out of this session.

At first I was interested in watching Eitan Beth Halanchmy. I enjoyed his demo in the coliseum, but wasn't as interested in his clinic. Their performance was great, but way too short. =)

In-between sessions I watched breed demos in the coliseum (wonderful, and educational of the breeds), surfed the hundreds of vendors (and spent way too much money =)) and toured the barns. I wanted to especially watch the drill team competition. I was disappointed in the drill teams this year. I think last year was much better. I guess I didn't like the music they used as it didn't seem to coordinate well with their routines, IMO. And, I missed the reining competition. They didn't include thatin this years activities. =( There are just way too many things going on at this fair to really get to see it all in 2 1/2 - 3 days! I did notice that they got a better variety of foodvendors and more of them and that they changed the hours so things aren't shut down at 5 pm, but go on much later. Also, they are having more clinicians. Those that I didn't see were Richard Shrake, Curt Pate and GiGi Baily. There were lots of sessions going on concurrently and many that I didn't get to see at all. Lots of educational stuff!

Anyone who lives within driving distance of this fair, it is definately worth you time and $$$ to attend! But, do plan on as much time as you can there. You will never see it all and you will want to see more once you get there!