Midwest Horse Fair

By Shary

Friday, April 14th, my husband and I went to the Midwest Horse Fair. Here are some observations:

Curt Pate

Curt was scheduled for a one hour session called "Starting Your Colt." He was also scheduled later in the day for a two-hour "Colt Starting" demo. In his first hour, he basically introduced himself to the colt, worked on some leading and basic ground work, and talked about his basic philosophies. He was quite direct about his thoughts that horses should not be stalled 23 hours a day, and that if your boarding situation and time constraints don't allow a better situation than that, that you probably shouldn't be a horse owner at this time. He stressed that your relationship with your horse is paramount. He also said that there are many "right" ways to train your horse. He commented that meeting Michael Richardson (see below) was very eye-opening to him. He used to think that there was one way to lead a horse. Curt's a very tall, lanky guy, and uses his height and movement to back a horse away from him. Michael noted that that doesn't work for him (he's in a wheelchair) and so he has to anticipate the horse before he does that. Tuning into your horse, knowing what he's going to do before he does it, is very important.

Shawna Karrasch

Shawna's demo was probably the most interesting of the day. She worked at Sea World for 10 years, and married a Grand Prix rider. They call their business "On Target Training." It's clicker training, using a target for an aid. She demonstrated horse tricks (shaking head yes and no, bowing, crossing legs, smiling, and other things that she said had no practical use) and really cool things like training your horse to load in the trailer by himself. She's very articulate in describing the process for the training.

Dave Seay

Dave talked about the energy in our horse, and how we are greatly responsible for that. Horses want to be left alone, and the greatest reward/reinforcement we can give them is to leave them alone. He asks for energy in his horse, then turns away. The horse remembers that the energy caused the release. Dave demonstrated some ground work, talked about recognizing the smallest try, then demonstrated some under saddle riding bridleless. His horse Toto was remarkably light and responsive. He demonstrated spins, backs, sliding stops, transitions-- all bridleless. He also noted the importance of desensitizing your horse to flags and the lead rope flipping over his head while riding with a halter.

Michael Richardson

The transitions in these demos were amazing. From Shawna with positive reinforcement, to Dave with the biggest reward is leaving your horse alone and a very strong use of his legs in riding, to Michael Richardson, who can't use his legs. Michael was in a car accident and does not have the use of his legs. He rode horses before his accident, and was not predicted to survive, let alone ride again. He was riding a 4 year old that he started as a two year old. He has a contraption that straps him into the saddle and supports his back.  He has feeling in his pelvis, and is gaining more with more riding.

Michael talked about the relationship that you have with your horse, and how that makes everything possible. Your attitude and outlook can make all the difference. Michael rode with a halter and reins snapped to either side, but later took off those reins and rode bridleless. He used two dressage whips occasionally as his "legs." He would lightly touch them on his horse's chest to aid in a stop. He talked about how important it is to understand your horse's balance and where his feet are, and to move with your horse's movements. He walked, trotted, cantered, sidepassed. He truly was an inspiration for what is possible.

Eitan Beth-Halachmy

Eitan had an hour demo that conflicted with Curt Pate's, so we missed it. He rode in the evening program with his horse, Holiday Cornpadre. They were very impressive. I know there have been some comments on the Horseman List that weren't all positive about his methods, but since I hadn't heard of them, I didn't pay much attention, rd be curious as to what those comments were, since his horse seemed to be having a ball and doing amazing things. I thought the two of them were quite impressive.

Etc.

We also had fun watching the Midwest Shooters, the 4-H Drill team competition and the 4-H speed show, and some various driving demos. I wish we'd had another day to take in more!