Flexibility

I’m really starting to learn how useful operant conditioning can be.  You can get a horse to do anything, and even want to do anything!

For the first week or so, all I really saw was the mechanics of how we trained the horses.  I know I described before how we ask the horses to target our hands, starting with their noses.  This targeting leads into them learning to target other parts of their body, which introduces them to scratching and petting.  Later, the horse learns to follow because of targeting, which makes leading the horse easy.  Even halter training works because the horse learns to generalize targeting to touching anything with their nose, until they put their own nose into the halter!

Throughout training we also work on duration with the horses.  This teaches them to wait without moving away for a reward.  Duration is probably the most annoying thing I have to train (it comes pretty early in the process, so is part of my section) both for myself and the horse.  The horse gets annoyed and then I do too!  I’ve seen how useful it is later though!

The unusual things we’ve started to train have really shown me the power of this training method.  We’ve worked with two horses to get them ready for freeze branding.  They learned to target a fake freeze brand, and to allow an electric razor to be rubbed along their neck.  The difference in their reaction to the freeze brand as compared to a totally wild horse was huge!  The wild horse was trying to sit down in the chute and to buck away from the handlers, while our horses merely leaned away from them!

We also worked to worm a stallion who was losing weight without explanation.  We taught him to put the wormer into his own mouth and had him wait for a duration of 5 seconds so that we could push the plunger to put the ivermectin in his mouth.  Anything unusual you want the horse to do becomes usual!  They learn that anything you want to do will be rewarding and not dangerous, so getting through the fear is much easier than with some methods of horse training.  What a powerful tool!

A little veterinary medicine

The other day I finally got to go into town and see the facility there.  The forest service holding pens in Farmington, NM house all the wild horses that have yet to be trained and were housing a few that had completed their training, but had not been adopted.

We took three horses with us that day, on the hour long dirt roads plus 30 minutes of highway driving.  All of them needed to see the veterinarian.  Patricia thought it was worth bringing me because one of the horses was going to be gelded.  Equine veterinarians have quite the job!

First, I watched one of the horses I had been working with get freeze branded, wormed and blood tested.  This wasn’t too bad.  Kahuna had already learned what the chute was like, since we use one here, and had been trained to stand still for the freeze branding.  Freeze branding works by supercooling an iron brand, which, when applied for about 30 seconds, will destroy the color forming cells in the hair follicles, resulting in hairs that grow back in white.  The brand doesn’t hurt too much, but is very scary for horses not trained.  Kahuna did very well because of his training.

The vet then did the same things with Maui, the second horse we brought, but ended with gelding.  Tranquilizing a horse is quite a dramatic thing. It takes two shots, with two types of drugs, to safely tranquilize (and probably anaesthatize, but I don’t know that for sure).  It took Maui only about a minute to go under and fall to the ground.  The vet and the assistants then had to go to where the horse fell to perform the procedure.  Maui woke up enough to stand up within 15 minutes.  Quite the time constraint!

The gelding was quite a bloody affair (they do it with a knife) but Maui is doing well now, a few days later.  The more sad-but-amusing thing was watching Maui wake up.  He insisted on standing immediately, but if he tried to move or anything bumped him, he would fall back down.  At one point another horse was let back into the pen (on the way from the chute back to his home pen) and Maui made a valiant effort to run along with him for a few feet, before falling again.  Happily, Maui is doing just fine, and the swelling is already starting to go down.  And he got an adopter, which is great!

The whole thing was very fascinating, but really makes me question whether veterinary medicine is actually a possibility for my future!

A Visitor

So even when I’m working all day with horses, I still don’t keep my focus completely off my first love.  Birds.

I had an adorable little visitor last night.  The little guy just flew into my room after the lights had been turned off in the main atrium.

The poor little bird had gotten stuck inside after he entered through an open window at the opposite end of the house.  He flew into my room so he wouldn’t be alone in the dark and just perched above my bed for awhile.

I finally got him to go outside and perch by having him follow a succession of lights turned on in turn.  The moment he got outside he flew to the light and began swooping up all the moths and bugs hanging out there!  The poor guy must have been really hungry after sitting inside all day!

The research I was helping with this last semester has also come back to haunt me:  There are hummingbirds everywhere here!  Those little guys are just as cute as I remember.  I’ve enjoyed watching them close up a few times, as they hover over the flowers drinking nectar.  If you’ve never watched a hummingbird fly you should watch a video like this one on YouTube.  Yes, you really can’t follow the wings with your naked eye!

Another benefit to being in remote areas:  The surrounding wildlife!

Drama Drama Drama

Well, all the excitement came on one day yesterday!  Hence why the post is late.

Patricia likes to call her horses “the home team.”  There are six horses that Patricia and John own and have trained to ride, etc.  However, ‘trained’ doesn’t mean they are always obediently.

The day started out innocently enough: My alarm didn’t go off, so I missed eating first breakfast with the Iricks, but helped feed and clean the horse pens.  After breakfast, we started training horses, but during my second horse (a stallion named Black Lightning) we noticed that two of the horses were outside the property.

It was kind of sweet how we noticed, actually:  Santana, a gelding who is almost always trouble, started neighing at the horses across the next pen.  Santana and the biggest trouble-maker, Sammy, had lived together for four years, and were best buds.  They kept neighing back and forth the whole afternoon.

Patricia was able to get the two who had wandered into the empty pen by the barn, and let rest of the home team who had stayed in their pen where they belonged wander the yard for the day.  The only other trouble we had with those four was that Chester the mule took advantage of the fact that Black Lightning was in the chute to pick  on him a bit, resulting in a cut above the stallion’s eye.

After I had finished almost all my horses, Patricia decided that it would be my task to catch the four wanderers, learning how to put on a halter and lead in the process.  At first, this went well.   Two of the horses and the mule were quite happy to put on a lead rope and halter for ‘cookies’ (sweet grain) and were easy to lead in.  However, in the process of trying to bring hay into the pen to keep the captured horses occupied and not escaping, the two escapees from earlier (Sammy and Cracker) escaped!

In the end, Patricia had to rescue me and help catch the last two horses.  I was leading Sammy in (the final horse) when, of course, the moment I lead him into the pen, two other horses take their chance to bite at him, and he rears and pulls the rope from my hands, resulting in a very nice set of rope burns all over my hands.

What a lovely way to end a long day.

At least I got tea  and cookies afterwards…and I learned to put on a halter, so there was some success!

A Change for the Better

The speed of improvement using the clicker method can be impressive.  In just four days I’ve watched a young gelding named Jasper move from being a skittish horse that would hide in the corner of  his stall to an eager equine, ready to play games for treats.

Jasper enjoying his breakfast this morning

Today Jasper was my best horse.  Actually, this surprised me.  The last few days, I’ve been dreading being asked to work with Jasper, as I just couldn’t figure out how to help him improve.  And I wasn’t the only one.  Patricia has been working with this horse for months now, and even the mediocre tameness he showed when I arrived only came in the last few weeks, after the introduction of the chute to help train.

The chute is a useful device that prevents reinforcement of the unwanted behavior of running away when a horse is training.  The trainer also takes much less risk training in the chute, as the horse can’t really kick or bite very well through the bars.  Funnily enough, the horses actually seem to like being in that tiny pen.  This morning when we came outside, two horses, Denali and Maui, were fighting for the right to be the one in the chute, hopeful for some early training (and rewarding).

Jasper made a jump two days ago when working with Patricia, but today was something special.  He started targeting her hand in his stall that day, but refused to do anything more.  As he is a very high-strung horse, we felt that focusing on relaxation would help.  So after half an hour of rewarding every droopy eye and relaxed pose, we realized that he was keeping his shoulder in reaching distance.  Here, you can experience it with me:

I stand still watching, waiting, arm outstretched. “Target Shoulder” I say again, as Jasper hesitates.  He leans towards me slightly.  ‘A little more,’ I think ‘you’ll have to move that foot.’  The moment stretches, then slowly he moves his right food, the one farther away from me.  His legs cross for a moment, then the right food steps.  He reaches me “Ex!” I say then quickly give him a triple reward.  “That was amazing!” I say.  “Target Shoulder.” And he does it again, and again, and again, until we both start settling into the excitement of the moment.

This is how rewarding Mustang Camp can be.

Double Rainbow, All Across the Sky

Okay, I kind of hate myself for using that title.  I actually really hate that meme!  However, I couldn’t resist at the same time; after all, I did see a double rainbow this evening.

Sometimes, even when the work you do is enjoyable, you just have to enjoy the excuse to take a break.  (Perhaps a stop and smell the roses instance?  Okay, not really)  Just before noon today, a rainstorm came through.  And not your run-of-the-mill New Mexico weather:  This storm lasted two hours!  (sorry any Ohioan readers, but the Arizonans know what I’m talking about!) Of course we couldn’t train in the rain–Patricia’s decision, not mine–so I had a reprieve, and watched a documentary about the clicker training method and had lunch.

Are you wondering why I’m so lazy?  When I’m doing what I have been wanting to do for awhile?  Well, perhaps it will help if you know my schedule.  Here’s how my days have been going so far:

• 6:45 wake up (except when my alarm decides on its own that it doesn’t wish to start the day this early)
• 7:00 eat tea and cinnamon toast (first breakfast)
• 7:30 gather feed bags from the horses stalls/pens, then start taking bags to hang up as John fills them.  Also hand feed new horses if required
• 8:30 poop time!  Each horse produces half a wheel barrow of food per day, so 20 horses produces 10 wheelbarrows daily–delicious!
• 9:30 breakfast!  and more tea
• 10:00 short break, if we’re running on this schedule. Book time!
• 10:30 start training.  Each horse averages an hour, so three before lunch and three after
• 2:15 Lunch time!  So far, it’s cheese and tomato toasted on homemade bread every day, and I’m still enjoying it!
• 3:00 More training.  After every one or two horses I fill out cards tracking their progress, so a few more breaks exist here or there
• 6:15 break, if I’m on track.  Otherwise, finish the last horse.  Tea is common here.  So is rain.
• 6:30-7:00 evening feeding and watering.  Horses drink a LOT of water, so it takes awhile…
• 8:00 Finally dinner time.  We eat whatever John cooks, usually.  Since he owned a restaurant for a few years, it’s usually pretty good
  

  although the double rainbow isn't actually visible in this photo, Sammy is so gorgeous that I couldn't resist!

• 9:00 (or later if we start talking too much) we go our separate ways.  Dishes duty comes every other day.  I also shower every other day.  Those are currently on the same day…Probably should plan that better
• 10:30 or 11:00 time for bed.  Unless I stay up too late blogging

So there you have it, in bulleted form.  The schedule is actually pretty daunting, now that I look at it.  However, it’s rather chill here (not surprising since we are so isolated) and I don’t really have to hurry at any of my tasks, just keep working until I’m done.

But there you go, that’s why I take time to enjoy the rain.  and the double rainbow.

A new love is born

By day 2 of mustang camp, I am already partially autonomously (yes a contradiction, thank you) training 6 horses.  I’m a little shocked at how quickly Patricia trusts me!  But here’s the key:  I’m working with all the horses at the beginning stages of their training.  Which means, I’m learning along with the horses.

I never thought of myself as the kind of person that would fall in love with a horse.  Those people always seemed a little too sentimental, a little too girly.  I should have known better.  After all my history with animals, the many relationships that have formed, of course I would love a horse.  And that horse’s name is Kahuna.

 

This great horse needs a new home. If you ever want a mustang, or hear of someone who does, send them to MustangCamp.org!

 

Mr. Kahuna is a 3 year old black stallion, with a white blaze on his forehead.  He’s had a troublesome few months, but has started to blossom in the last few weeks.  The special thing about horses is that once they let you close, the bonding starts immediately.  And Kahuna let us close yesterday, when he decided he could target in his stall.

Some animal training facts:  Targeting involves holding out a hand (or a ball on a stick or something else like a rope) and asking the horse to touch it with a certain body part.  This action is reinforced with a clicking sound (we use the sound ‘Ex’) and a reward of food.  Basically, this operant conditioning with positive reinforcement works:  You reinforce a behavior that the animal chose to do with a positive reward, and a secondary reinforcing signal (the click).

We use targeting to help the animal relax around humans, and learn that good things come from choosing to participate.  Early in training, we teach the horses to target our hands with their noses, then jaws, neck, shoulder, etc.  This helps them get comfortable with our touch, and allows us to move forward into petting them, placing topical medications or halters on them, etc.

Back to the love story:  The targeting in the stall with Kahuna has lead to him allowing me to scratch him all over his head, neck, and shoulders.  As he relaxes into the scratching, his head starts to droop over my shoulder.  The weight of a stallion’s head sitting beside your head, breathing into your ear, just brings something out of your heart, and makes you want to work with that horse forever.

For now, Kahuna is still looking for an adopter.  He’s such a sweet horse, that I know he’ll do great in a new home, with a patient owner.  However, I’m not sure what owner would deserve him.  If I could, I’d adopt him myself!

A New Direction

Denali, a 3 year old cryptorchid who has yet to be adopted

On Thursday morning, I’m in route from Phoenix, AZ to Austin, TX, spending a week with my parents.  I’m picking up my life and moving in with my brother, just because I need a change.  Then the change happened:  I visited a little ranch called Mustang Camp in the middle of nowhere in New Mexico, interested in a future volunteering opportunity.  I’m offered a job on the spot:  Work at Mustang Camp for a month and I’ll be treated as an assistant trainer immediately, and paid something on the side.

So here I am, learning to tame wild mustangs, freshly caught from the forest service land near the New Mexico/Colorado border (Although there’s no actual forest there) and ready to get their training on.  Mustang Camp works to train wild mustangs to stop fearing humans, and to take a halter and lead rope before allowing them to be adopted by private owners all over the state of New Mexico and farther abroad.  Anyone who can prove they have the facilities necessary to house a horse, and some basic knowledge of horse care and training can apply to adopt a mustang from the US government, through the  Mustang Camp website.

Mustang Camp trains exclusively with operant conditioning and positive reinforcement.  Basically, good behaviors are rewarded, and connected with an external stimulus (the clicker method) so that the horse knows when it has done what the trainer wants.  As the training progresses, the horse becomes more and more comfortable with humans, as good always comes from their interactions, and the trainer is able to guide the horse into behaviors such as accepting a halter, following on a lead rope, and brushing.  I’ll discuss more specific examples from mustang training on later days.

I hope you’ll enjoy this adventure as much as I already am.  On my first day, I’ve worked with three horses, learning the basics of clicker training and learning my way around the ranch.  Mustang Camp should be a unique experience!

Book Review: Introverts in the Church

I just read a really great book that I think anyone in a Christian community should read. I’m an INTP on the Myers-Briggs personality type indicator, which means I love thinking about things and making connections between different areas of my life. I quite often look at my world through the lens of the Myers-Briggs test. Through my involvement in Chi Alpha Christian Fellowship at ASU for four years, as well as my small group experiences at Redemption Church, I’ve noticed that most people don’t understand how much being an introvert or an extrovert affects your experience in any Christian community. This was one issue that was never dealt with in my community, even though many of the introverts consistently struggled with finding a place in that community where they both fit well and were capable of investing throughout an entire school year without burning out.

Introverts in the Church: finding our place in an extroverted culture by Adam S. McHugh talks about this issue in the church today, and offers much practical advice in the areas of Christian community, spirituality, leadership and evangelism for introverts living in an extroverted culture. Introverts in the Church starts by first identifying the problem (that there is a serious disconnect between the extroverted church culture in the United States and the 50% of the church body that is introverted) then discussing many different ways introverts can invest themselves by using their personality rather than trying to become extroverts. The book also delves into the gifts that introverts can offer within the community and on leadership, gifts that complement extroverted strengths!

My favorite thing about this book was how the author encourages introverts to blossom in their own gifts, but never gives introverts permission to withdraw from community or isolate themselves completely. While McHugh does point out that parts of the extroverted expectations of the American church are not actually required by the bible (which means that introverts don’t need to do everything!) the fact is that we are required as Christians to invest in people, both in Christian community and in reaching those outside our faith. Introverts in the Church gives many ideas on how to be an active part of the church without simply acting extroverted, while still following the commandments the Bible gives for all Christians

I would recommend this book to anyone investing in a Christian community or leading one (which should cover all Christians!). Introverts will find the book helpful in suggesting new ways to live out their faith, while extroverts may find a better understanding of the introverts in their community, and news ways to encourage them to be themselves within the community. Leaders may find practical ways to encourage their introverted disciples in self-understanding, community involvement, and eventually, leadership. I think that Introverts in the Church could be a book that starts to change Christian communities for the better!

*If you’re interested in the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, I would suggest the wikipedia article for understanding the concepts quickly and the Myers-Briggs website for a quick assessment of your own personality and what that means for you.

*If you like the book, check out McHugh’s blog Introverted Church!