Visualize and it will happen

http://susangarrettdogagility.com/2010/01/making-dreams-come-true.html


This is a blog entry worth reading and going back to remind myself to visualize things. When you can see something in your mind's eye, then it can happen.

Food for thought................

I read this article by Kory Pounds in the February 2010 Western Horseman magazine. I know that it is written for horses and training/working horses. But I thought that this gentleman made some good points that could be applied to training/working sheepdogs too. Just thought I'd post it here and see if there are any reactions.

My thoughts on this article is that he makes comments on how he wants the horse to work the cow good and not wait for the rider to give him his cues. Just like we don't want a sheepdog that is too mechanical. We want a dog who will work with us, but still can think for itself.

Any thoughts out there?

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He believes that the wrong approach makes horses robotic when working cattle, tending to rely on cues from the rider rather than reading and reacting to the cow.

"Some guys don't challenge their horse to learn," Kory Pound says. "It's more like they're programming him to where they put a foot on him and he jumps to the right, and put another foot on him and he jumps to the left. They're teaching him how to be active, but not teaching him how to work the cow."

Having earned nearly $1 million in NCHA competition, Pounds' training approach apparently works. He credits much of his success and training philosophy to lessons learned while working for five-time NCHA Futurity champion Buster Welch.

"He always used to say, 'If you work a cow good, then your horse will work a cow good,'" Pounds says. "It boils down to getting a horse in time with a cow.

When the cow stops, the horse must stop, landing in a position that keeps the cow engaged. Pounds doesn't want the cow to relax when stopped, and he wants the horse to remain hooked and in position for the cow's next move.

As cattle can be quick and unpredictable, it's best for the horse to respond to the cow's moves rather than wait for direction from the rider. But teaching that takes time.

"If the cow means more to them than the training, then they'll always come back to the cow," Pounds says. "There's no substitute for experience. I don't care how smart or cowy a horse is. It takes two years to train a contest cutting horse. And, really, we're simply getting them to work a cow good."

Sting at 8 months 10 days

Here is Sting very intently watching the sheep while I was filling the mineral feeder.

He really wants to work sheep.

I keep telling him that no, he's not old enough. When you're older and when there is no snow in the training pen, then you can start working sheep. He has also been told that he cannot come over the fence.

A morning of hoarfrost

We were supposed to have fog this morning and instead I woke up to hoarfrost on everything. I like how the sun reflected off of this shepherd's crook.

And this shepherd's crook also had a nice coating of ice/frost.

This is the view of the trees on the way to the barn.

This is Steve's Austrian pine tree. It was so cool how it was covered in frost.

Yes, the Christmas lights are still on the tree. It was so cold for the two weeks since Christmas that we haven't been able to stand being out long enough to take the lights off.

Here is the wren house with frosted branches all around.

Just playing around with the depth of focus on the same shot.

There was lots of frost on the branches around the farm.

It even made weeds look pretty.

In with the new, out with the old

I could look back on the last decade, except that some of the changes that affected me started before the year 2000. I met Steve in October 1998. We met on a blind date and we are still together. Yes, I lost my Dad in August 1998. I then lost my heart dog, Bogey, on Father's Day 1999. But this decade started with Steve in my life.

In November 2000 I bought this farm and moved out into the country. The following summer I bought a few sheep from a neighbor and have never looked back. I brought the first Katahdins onto the farm in the summer of 2001. I remember standing out in the field on a beautiful sunny afternoon on 9/11/2001 and thinking about all that was happening in NYC. Hard to believe when you're that far away.

Lost my Mom on Veteran's day 2002. May she rest in peace. She suffered from Alzheimer's and is in a much better place now with my Dad.

Jag came into my life the end of 1999, so I began the last decade with Jaggie. We lost Jag on July 30th of 2009, so we begin the next decade without him. We also lost Ripley in August of 2008. Hard to imagine this next decade without them. But they still touch our lives. Jag and I had a wonderful time at trials. Without him I wouldn't have met a lot of people and have some of the friends that I have today.

Steve proposed to me on Christmas day 2003. We married on March 22nd, 2004. We are coming up on our 6th anniversary in March 2010. Oh, we built a new house on the property and moved in February of 2004. So as we started our new life married, we started it in a new home too.

We've had a few dogs join us in the last 10 years. Phire was born on January 4th, 2000 and came here in April of that year. Bett was born in October 2001 and I flew down to Florida to bring her up here. Stryker was born in November 2002. Cash was the first one born here in the new house in February 2004. Then came Corbie born in January 2005. Sting was not born here, but he came to join the gang in June 2009.

We have lambed every spring since 2002. Some lambs have stayed here and some have moved on. We look forward to seeing the little lambs every spring.

I had surgery this past September. A good thing in the long run.

We look forward to another decade on our little hobby farm. Raising lambs, working and training our dogs. Enjoying walks and enjoying life out in the country. I look forward to a few trials this coming year and to be able to continue trialing and to spend time with friends.

There have been ups and downs over the last decade. There have been sad times and happy times. Tis life I guess.

As I look forward I hope to be that much of a better trainer, always trying to understand my dogs and to work with them as a team.

Our New Year's Day visitor on 1/01/10

We started out the new year with a visitor. First one coyote went by and the dogs ran out and barked at it. That one took off really fast. Then the dogs took off down the driveway barking and I saw this one. It was across the county road in the neighbor's corn field. When I took this picture it had crossed the county road and was trotting across the neighboring alfalfa field.

It then went to the north of us and just sat there and looked at the dogs.

It would do some yipping and the howl at them. It sat there for quite awhile. I think that it was teasing them, as if it wanted them to chase it. Luckily there was a fence in between them and it.