What's New

Well first this newsletter is way late this month. I wanted to include our schedule and its been being added to so fast I can barely keep up. So, here it is as of this moment. Thanks to everyone involved with all of these arrangements

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Animals in Translation: Using the Mysteries of Autism to Decode Animal Behavior        

By Temple Grandin

Hardcover: 368 pages
Publisher: Scribner (December 28, 2004)  

Clicker trainers know that you have to “break it down“ and this book offers you a unique chance to understand how that works for your students. Temple Grandin is a professor of Animal Science at Colorado State University. She is currently responsible for the design of more than half of the animal handling systems at slaughter houses through out the United States. Her work is wide-spread because she is good at it; the animals stay calm and move through the plant without upset.  

Animals in Translation is her latest volume, and it presents the most accessible version yet of her perception concepts. She is a high functioning autistic, which is a pervasive developmental disorder, characterized by communication difficulties and behavior which can be dramatically different from other people of the same age. Autism often presents as hyper-sensitivity to sensation and noise, and stimulation can prove so overwhelming that the individual withdraws completely from social interaction.  

Through her design work she has come to understand that the way she processes thought is very similar to animals, and quite different than most people. She is a visual thinker, capturing thoughts in images which she describes as having no emotional attachment. Initially she attempted to simply understand how animals cope with disruptions or unusual stimuli. As she recognized the complexity of her talent she also realized that there was great insight to share with those of us who want to better understand our animals.

She is a remarkably successful communicator, presenting images, experiences and details as startling keys to the behavior of our animals. This book really gained stature in my library as I shared it with students and friends. Students that I considered to already be good animal trainers were both astonished and enchanted by her descriptions of her thinking process. Most interesting were the number of students who came to me and shyly confessed that they so appreciated my talking about the book to them, as this was the way that they thought as well.

Reading this book made me a better trainer and most of all, gave me greater patience with my students, since I now better understand just how different from mine their experiences may be.

Interesting article: http://hcs.harvard.edu/~husn/BRAIN/vol7-spring2000/grandin.htm 

Reviewer: Janalee Redmond is a dressage rider that is learning to drive. She has used clicker training for several years and is deeply committed to sharing the training benefits of calm, centered communication. http://www.hnhfarm.com/

Purchase this book and others like it at: www.zenhorsemanship.com/7502.html 

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Getting Started

What are you waiting for Get Started Now!  Getting Started Clicker Training for Horses Kit

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Horses of Gettysburg

Humans have relied on horses since the dawn of time, but there is no stronger bond than between a man and his horse on the battlefield.

Narrated by Ronald F. Maxwell, director of the epic films Gettysburg and Gods and Generals, Horses of Gettysburg captures the relationship between soldiers and their horses that they so desperately depended on for survival.

Filmed in high definition with charging horses, battlefield panoramas and no "talking heads,"  this cinematic documentary tells the story of the 72,000 horses and mules that fought at the Battle of Gettysburg and uncovers the strategies employed to ensure that the millions of animals in service with the North and South remained healthy and well-trained for action.

Horses of Gettysburg celebrates the honor and courage of these four legged warriors and their critical role in shaping the United States of America that we live in today.

Order your copy today

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 How Big is Your Marketing Budget?

Imagine having magazines, papers, and T.V. or radio stations calling you and ASKING you for your story. How much are a few inches of "ink", a 2-minute segment on T.V. or a thirty minute interview on the radio worth to you - could you afford to purchase that?

Probably not.

But you can get them at no charge - if you know what you are doing!

On May 3rd, Sherry Busch, of RiskOutWest.com will share strategies and techniques for getting the kind of media
coverage that you, your equine business, or your event need.

Sherry was the Public Relations Assistant at the U.S. Weightlifting Federation and the Colorado State Games. She was the Public Relations Director for the Colorado State Games, for the Colorado Springs National Ski Patrol Ski Swap, the Marketing Director for U.S. Open Taekwondo Championships, and the Marketing Director for National Events for the U.S. Taekwondo Federation.

She has graciously agreed to share her extensive Public Relations experience with us in a very special call on May 3rd.

Public relations is a great way to build a business on a small budget, and it's a skill that all small business owners should have. Getting "ink" in the paper, or time on TV or radio can greatly amplify your current marketing program, and should be part of every marketing program. Unfortunately, it's often one of the areas that is often overlooked even by savvy businesses.

On May 3rd, you will learn:
How to write a media release (press release)
How to put together a media kit
How to target the media that you want
How to use the press that you get in other parts
of your marketing

There is no charge for the call, although it is a toll call.

Remember to reserve your copy of the audio and transcript from this call. This is DEFINITELY something you will want to refer to by and by, especially if you are trying to market yourself or your business on a fixed budget!

Please visit :
http://tinyurl.com/m32p8 for more info or to signup. Space is limited, so please reserve your seat on this call today!____________________________________________________________________________________

A Little Bit of the History of Clicker Training
Dogs – WWI – WWII -

With thanks to: http://www.alldogsgym.com/training/clicker-history.asp
A Brief History of Dog Training -
70 years of Clicker Training

In the beginning . . . there was Col. Konrad Most - arguably the father of modern "traditional" dog training. Most trained military dogs in Germany at the turn of the 20th Century. His book, Training Dogs - A Manual, was published in German in 1910, but wasn't translated into English until 1954, the year of his death.

Most's training approach was widely adopted as the model for military training throughout the world, and is still used today for many military, police and service dog training programs. Although his techniques, which rely on collar corrections and punishment are considered and heavy-handed from today's perspective, Most's methods are based on the principles of operant learning that form the basis of clicker training.

Most's training techniques spread throughout the world as his students and disciples emigrated to other countries. Coming to the U.S. were Josef Weber (The Dog in Training, 1939) and Hans Tosutti (Companion Dog Training, 1948) who opened schools for training dogs in Philadelphia and Boston respectively. (In 1936, Tosutti founded the New England Dog Training Club in Boston - the oldest existing AKC member obedience training club in the country.)

One of Weber's students in the U.S. was Blanche Saunders (The Complete Book of Dog Obedience, 1954 and The Story of Dog Obedience, 1974). Saunders and Helene Whitehouse Walker are the originators of AKC Obedience trials, and traveled around the country spreading the concept of companion dog training to the public. Among Saunders' students and followers were many of the well-known trainers of the 1950's and 60's, including Winifred Strickland.

It's important to have this historical perspective to understand the global nature of so-called "traditional" training - based on the teachings of Konrad Most.

So what of clicker training? A video produced by Bob and Marion Bailey called "Patient Like the Chipmunks" offers an outstanding view of the history of operant conditioning of animals. Marion Bailey and her first husband, Keller Breland, were graduate students of B.F. Skinner. Leaving graduate school in the early '40's, they started Animal Behavior Enterprises - a business that trained and provided scores of animal species for commercial purposes.

Keller Breland was the first dog trainer to use a clicker - a tin cricket to, as he said, "bridge the time between the behavior and the delivery of the reinforcer." (Quote from a conversation with Marion Breland Bailey). He used the sound to mark the desired behavior when training field dogs and herding dogs work in a field away from the handler. Breland called the click sound a "bridging stimulus."

It's possible that Breland's training approach using operant conditioning with a conditioned reinforcer might have spread beyond his own business were it not for World War II, which solidified the military model in pet dog training. Enter William Koehler, who, like Most was a military dog trainer. A Hollywood dog trainer, his book the Koehler Method of Dog Training was, and may still remain, the all-time best selling dog training book, forming the basis for virtually all dog training from the 1950's into the '70's.

Meanwhile, clicker training was being used by Keller Breland with other species. In the 1950's Marineland hired him to develop a training program for their marine mammals. In a matter of weeks, Keller devised the system of marine mammal training that is still in use today. The Brelands worked with many trainers and associates who worked in a variety of locations, including Sea Life Park, which was then owned by Karen Pryor and her husband.

Skip ahead a few years to 1984 when Karen Pryor wrote Don't Shoot the Dog, a guide to human interpersonal relations. Serendipitously, the book's title skyrocketed Pryor (well, perhaps 6 or 7 years isn't exactly a skyrocket) to the attention of dog trainers. Pryor met Gary Wilkes-a professional dog trainer and the first person since Keller Breland to use clicker training on a wide variety of dogs in a wide variety of applications. Gary and Karen hooked up to do seminars together and the die was cast for the word of clicker training to spread throughout the dog-training community.

It is through the wonders of the Internet that clicker training has spread as rapidly as it has-else what has happened in less than 10 years might have taken 25 or more.

Why is this history important? Well, history is important - and fascinating. And as this history demonstrates, clicker training is not just some touchy feely, New Age approach to training dogs. Keller Breland used clicker training with dogs over 70 years ago -a decade before marine mammals. But it's taken nearly all this time for the dog training community to catch up. And thank goodness we have. Dogs are the better for it!
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And, Don't forget to contact us for all of your saddle fitting needs - Saddle Fitting by Dave

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Exploring Rabbit Holes and Investigating the Impossible
(Click the Universe)
June 3, 2006 - Galway, NY
Visit http://www.zenhorsemanship.com/  for details.

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MAKE YOUR WILDEST DREAMS COME TRUE.
This is a great time to hire a coach to get support in clarifying and making your dreams come true. Our Energy Mirroring and Coaching will help you to create a life free from fear and worry. In this process you will be supported while overcoming all blocks and beliefs that no longer serve you. You can wake up every morning with a smile and the energy to create your day.

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