
Fairy Tales Do Come True
"The greatest location for him, Karen, is the feedlot - he's as well far gone he's so scrambled that he's not coming back". A trainer's comments seven many years ago, following he watched while I tried in vain to stop my then 10 year old gelding, Lukas. "Downward transitions" had been accomplished by veering towards a solid barrier and hanging on for dear life. He had become more and more unmanageable and risky with each and every successive day. I had purchased him as a green project horse from a hunter barn, in which he wasn't fitting in with the amateur system. Prior to that he had been in a back yard, neglected and malnourished. His racing profession many years prior to had been short and unmemorable - three races with 3 back-of-the-pack finishes and 2 bowed tendons.
I have usually loved Dressage (a sort of English riding) and felt that it was the most sophisticated of all the disciplines and had planned to show him in the lower levels. Making use of the Classical Teaching Scale had enhanced all of my previous horses, but Lukas was the exception: Half-halt? Forget it! Bend? Bucking is much better? A bit of collection? No way! Just hand walking him, we had been beset with invisible monsters that even followed him into his own stall! 1 especially disappointing day, soon after I had been unable to even give him away as a pasture pet and he was sulking in a far corner, it occurred to me that we necessary some sort of "bridge" - a way to connect in amongst the problematic present and my cherished Dressage targets. I made the decision to fall back on my trick coaching encounter as a way to try to bond and establish an understanding with Lukas. This playful interactive way of relating with animals had lengthy been a way for me to improve learning and make a horse a lot more desirable for adoption. But, could it also become a way to assist Lukas reach his potential, I wondered?
So, the journey began - face tricks getting the simplest and simplest, the smile was attempted initial. Obtaining been a psychiatric nurse for 25 many years, I use a combination of behavior modification tactics, my personal specialized version of clicker teaching and a wide variety of bits and pieces from every little thing to circus to cowboy, Spanish Riding School to Sea Globe. Kindness and liberty coaching are the foundation of my system - constructive reinforcement along with brief, pleasant lessons offer the most advantageous benefits for both trainer and trainee. But to even begin, I initial essential to get his focus: I used round pen liberty work to build his concentrate and concentration. In the course of this time, I also began to link rewards (praise, petting, small carrot bits) with acceptable responses and as Lukas' skills improved, I was in a position to generate longer "chains" of behaviors.
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I began to notice a definite shift in Lukas' attitude - I was getting greeted now with a loud whinny when he heard my automobile door shut as I arrived at the stables. Our lessons had now turn out to be games that he initiated with a content eagerness and ceaseless enthusiasm. The smile had been discovered within days and I had been adding new tricks weekly to his ever-expanding repertoire. His spookiness had disappeared prolonged ago as his trust, self-confidence and concentrate had enhanced. And his underneath-saddle perform? Through our playing he had "discovered to understand", and had turn into a joy to ride.
About this time, I started to wonder just how a lot Lukas really could understand and occurred to choose up the book, "Stunning Jim Essential" - a fascinating story about a horse who lived at the turn of the century. Jim is regarded as to be the most intelligent horse that has ever lived - his IQ was estimated to be equal to that of a 5th grader's! So, I started to incorporate distinct perceptual tasks into our play-times just to see what would occur. And, now, the rest is historical past, as they say.
To date, Lukas' talents contain: smiling nodding yes shaking his head no, kissing (dry and wet - for the young at heart) posing yawning catching fetching the "blindfold" crossing his front legs acting lame obeissance (curtsy) waving going to a mark pedestal perform Spanish walk (to the front and back) jambet passage bowing laying down and letting me sit on him placing his feet all together playing hide and seek staying and coming rearing pushing a barrel spelling (5 letter words) counting (up to 5) identifying shapes (horse, butterfly, square, heart and star) and discriminating among 3 colors (he chooses his green one particular). In addition, he has grasped the ideas of spatial relationships, proportion, identical/diverse and absentness.
His story has been picked up globally on NBC CBS ABC CNN HLN Equisearch, EquineVIP, RFD-Radio, and Pet Life Radio amongst many others. Also, The Related Press released a characteristic article on him. He has been included in several newspapers, magazine articles and forums, Yahoo and Google have listed him beneath "The World's Smartest Horse", and he is currently becoming studied by The Human-Equine Alliance for Learning (HEAL). Lukas has been appointed the official "Spokeshorse" for TROTT- a group that finds residences for ex-racehorses. In addition, he is the poster-boy for the California Thoroughbred Breeders' Association - an organization dedicated to Thoroughbred awareness ownership.
What is following for Lukas?, I'm usually asked. We strategy to carry on to display other folks the pleased benefits of variety training and how smart and great horses are. Lukas' new book is offered on Lulu as an e-book or a print version: "Playing With Lukas." Like the sign on his gate reads "Fairy Tales Do Come True."
We wish to thank our gracious hosts, The Waltons and Brookside Equestrian Center
Connect with Karen Murdock and Lukas at:
Lukas' Residence Page: http://www.playingwithlukas.com
Lukas' Videos: www.youtube.com/profile?user=PlayingwithLukas
Copyright 2010 Karen Murdock is a retired psychiatric nurse, who has been fixing issue horses for above 30 years. She makes use of a combination of shaping tactics, a specialized version of clicker training and beneficial reinforcement. Her special method employs games and play as a way to connect and bond with horses to build confidence, boost concentrate, improve performance as effectively as develop willingness and trust. All of her companies and proceeds go to benefit the horses.
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