I rewatched “ What The Bleep Do We Know” a few days ago.  It really got me to thinking and I was not disappointed in my memory of it.  It goes right back to what we think and how we act creates contentment or unhappiness in our life.  I like the science behind it but also the kind of out there thinking that really gets my brain going.

So how does this have anything to do with stockmanship?  It has everything to do with it.  

I have gotten to see and be a part of so many different types of human/animal interactions.  I’ve seen the strongest toughest guys in the world scared to death of and/or very gentle  when working with animals.  I’ve seen people that were not very tough or strong spur and jerk horses, hot shot the heck out of cattle, and kick a dog.  It has  little to do with a persons physical and lots to do with a persons mental.  The brain and how it has learned to handle fear and stimulation from the interaction with animals.

I don’t know if everything in the movie is scientifically proven fact, but let’s assume that it is.  There are some things that could really make a difference in how you can be successful in your interactions that you want to have with animals.

One experiment they highlight is the study of water by Dr Emoto.  He put different words like “I love you” or “I hate you” on a jar of water and then looked at the crystals in a microscope.  It is amazing what happens to the molecular structure of the water.  Check it out on google.

I believe I recall our animals are about 80% water.  If we are angry or don’t like them it could be changing the way their body and brain works when we interact with them, just the same as in the water experiments.  On the other side if we feel good about them and like interacting in a positive way could we change their molecular structure and have a better immune response?

Maybe the hotshot isn’t bad, but the intent of the person using it.  If the intent was different in the first place, the animal might have not needed the extra prodding.

I hope you will really think about this and study it.  Watch the YouTube videos.

It might be a bunch of bull, but it might not.

Another thing I picked up from the film was how people create the same situations without even realizing it.  Somehow our brain gets stimulus even if it is a negative and we get a satisfaction or stimulation from it even if we could have a better situation.

I’ll give an example of something that a lot of people disagree with me on.  The overbending of the horses neck while riding or preparing them to ride.

The  reason people disagree is we want different outcomes and are riding with different goals.  The first thing is I don’t get a fear response in my brain when a horse bucks or wants to run off.  I feel confident I can ride most anything, and at one time in my life I felt like I could ride anything and proved it.  This is not normal and because of my former experience and physical ability it did not create a fear in my brain.

The other thing is if felt if you let a horse move out and helped him through his fear with proper riding skills and let him think his way out of the fear it would stick and then the human became a positive stimulus in the horses brain as well.  I could get what I wanted and not take the life and try out of my horse.

This is what I like, and makes my brain tell me to work with as many animals as I can because I get such a good feeling of getting along and getting things done.

I didn’t realize that this is not for most people. The reason is because of the fear factor when riding something so powerful as a horse.  That why I don’t fit the horse world very well.  

I have nothing against spurs, and feel some people really need them.  I haven’t wore spurs for a long time.  I feel my horses are very responsive to my feel because I keep the life in them by not bending them, and I keep a real forward attitude with lots of “life” in my mind.

On the other side of the mountain, I ride with a snaffle bit.  Even though I have lots of go in my horses I like the feel and control I get with a snaffle and can really get to the horses mind, then to his body without taking the life out.  THAT REALLY GIVES ME SOME GOOD FEELING IN MY BRAIN.

But that’s me, and I didn’t pay enough attention to what other people were going through with this fear.  When people put a helmet and a safety vest on they are afraid.  They should be.  So they do things to try to be safer.  So they do lots of ground work that takes some of the life out so they feel safe.  Then they get on and have to have a way to feel safe so they bend the horse and disengage the hind end to feel safe.  This takes lots of the forward out of the horse and they feel safer.

That’s  good for the human.  But what about the horse.  Every time he tries he gets shut down or taught to escape through a shoulder.  After a while the horse loses the will to go forward and some of the try is gone.

Well then the rider gets more confidence and wants to go.  Now it’s hard to get the horse to go because we have taken some of the life out, and it’s hard to get him to go where we want because we have thought him to not go strait.

So I was wrong for some people, but not for the horse.

I had a real nice experience last week at a feedyard.  They had a little horse that always bucked when they first got on him and would buck if you put to much pressure on to quick out working cattle.  

I said I would like to ride him.  They brought him into the barn after lunch.  I groomed him with my hand in the tie stall.  I put one arm against him and groomed him with the other hand.  I call this a three point contact. (Thank you to Dr Robert Miller).  I feel this will really help get a horse to let down some of its fear or anxiety.  When he got a little tight I would do what my subconscious would tell me to do to relax him.  I saddled and bridled him the same way.  I then led him out with all the other guys and got off the concrete and out in the dirt with a little more room and stepped to him like I was going to get on.

I noticed several of the guys had their cell phones out so they were expecting a little something.  When I stepped to him to get on he got tight and ready to buck.  I relaxed him with the three point contact and as soon as he was relaxed I led him forward as if I was on him(from out front). I stepped back to him after he walked relaxed and calm.  He was fine with me putting my foot in the stirrup so I stepped half way on.  He got tight again so I relaxed him and as soon as he was not thinking about bucking I stepped down and lead him forward.  I did the same one more time, maybe twice.

He felt good the next time so I just stepped on.  He felt relaxed so I lead him forward by taking his head to the right just a little and leading him forward from his back.  I didn’t use my legs as that would of made him want to buck.  He walked off real nice and I took him in a 20 foot circle to the left and a twenty foot circle to the right and said we we ready to go.  

He was perfect all afternoon and I got lots of work done on him.  The next morning I just saddled him and stepped on and was ready to go.  He didn’t try to buck one time and I really enjoyed riding him.

Now the thing is he could have blown up and bucked me off.  Then everyone would have said I should have done ground work.  

I did do ground work. It fit this horse.  If it didn’t I was willing to suffer the consequences and try to ride him.  I see people that are afraid they will have trouble create a lot more trouble than they had before they started.  This is why it is so important to get a horse that matches your ability.

I feel I can get along real good with horses, dogs and cattle because I can match pressure mentally and physically with them.  The more I’m around animals the more important this becomes to me.  

It really bothers me and I get the wrong brain stimulus when I fight with animals or make them afraid.  It really makes me feel good when I can really get along with animals and they feel content with me.  Same with people.

The animals I am interacting with in my life are really making me feel good.  When We sit in the house in the evening We have three dogs and three cats pretty close by.  The three hoses I am riding are all really working nice and not bothered to much, and I am not fighting with them, just having fun.

It is so great to ride out on these young horses and have a couple young dogs and an old fat one and not be yelling and screaming commands at them and not jerking and spurring on my horse.  The cattle take a little pressure sometimes from the pups, but want to be with me as that’s where the pressure is off.  They need a little exercise anyway.

So I hope you understand what I’m trying to say.  You create your own situations.  You set it up so your animals work well and you work your animals well. YOU CREATE THE STRUCTURE IN THE JAR OF WATER!

Anger and fear(of failure) create negative situations while confidence and knowledge create positive situations.

As we were riding out as a group  at the feedyard that day the fellow they all look up to as a real good hand said the day wasn’t over and the little horse would buck.  We were going along and his three year old did something and he got after him with his spurs and bit pretty aggressive.  I don’t know if the horse did something wrong or something else did something wrong, but the horse got the pressure.  I like the fellow and am sure he gets a lot done, I just wonder if he feels as good as he could, and if the animals that he interacts with could be better, and I wonder if the people that pay him wouldn’t get better value from him if he used a better kind of pressure. (Not necessarily less, but better)

I hope you will watch the movie, or at least think about the pressure you use and honestly analyze if it is the best for you and that you haven’t got into a pattern that is not the best for you or your animals.

On another note.  As I have noted before I have been reading a daily chronological bible all year.  I’m just to the time when Jesus is tried and going to be crucified.  I was thinking Jesus fit right into the thinking of creating the right pressure through parables and examples.  What the bleep and the Bible fit pretty good together-if that’s what you want!

Here is a trailer of Temple Grandin speaking at the Best Horses Practices Summit.  I’ve seen her speak and present lots of times but I felt she was really “on” at this one and I think it would be worth the money to listen to this.

The video reminds me of a “Ted Talk” so I titled it Temple Talk.

I am headed home.  I was last there the 6th of September.  I sure am ready ready.  My flight from Pasco to Denver is my 90th on United this year and that’s important as it puts me at Platinum status, which means that I can check two bags for free and one can be over fifty pounds.  I can take my saddle for free and that saves a lot of money for the year.  I also get a better chance at good seats.

I had a hard time sleeping last night as I have had so much information in the last weeks go into my brain and I was trying to process it all.  

We just finished the Stockmanship and Stewardship event in Pasco, Washington.  I ended up eating with and sitting with the crew from Beef Northwest, and talked to lots of cowboys in the crowd.  I am drawn to the Hispanics and the horseback culture and We always have things to discuss.

These are the people I have the most in common with.  I don’t have a P.H.D. but I am a good P.H.D. (post hole digger), and most of the folks that are hired to handle and take care of animals are the same.  The ones that are working in all kinds of weather and all kinds of conditions for the lowest pay are the ones I can and want to relate too.  We need to give them the tools and support to get the job we ask them to do done.  

They have to be tough to work the hours and in the conditions the livestock industry requires.  There are certain cultures they follow and are and should be real proud of that culture.  Sometimes the culture gets in the way of how management wants things done and how the culture has got it done.  I feel if I can help bridge this gap, I will serve a real good purpose in the world. 

I also was thinking about how different our culture of the whole industry is from the rest of the world.  Up until 150 years or so ago everyone had to deal with animals in North America.  Horses were used for work and livestock was for meat and milk.  They say less than 2% of the population is involved with production agriculture, but just think how small the percentage is of those involved with animal agriculture.

I wonder what percentage have pets, and now look at animals completely different than their ancestors of 150 years ago.

Wife Tammy has been at “The Home Ranch” for two weeks doing yoga and horsemanship.  The ladies that come want to interact with horses and get more at one with their bodies, mind and spirit.  It’s a real great place and you don’t go there if you don’t have some money to spend.  

It gives me the chance to see just how different the world those of us that produce beef are from those that might eat beef.  One of the big things they were dealing with was the weather and if they would ride in the indoor arena, outside, or not ride at all. (The people that are responsible for the care of livestock don’t have that option)Another big dilemma was praying before the evening supper.  Lots of different faiths and beliefs bringing out “egos” at a yoga retreat.  From my understanding yoga is about letting go of your ego and acceptance of others. Interesting.

I’m pretty sure most of the ladies are very concerned about how the food they eat is raised.  I bet lots of them are willing to pay extra for “cage free” or “free range “ and are concerned about animal welfare. 

Most of them have know idea about animal care and welfare and what it takes to produce good healthy beef.  They have lots of opinions on what is right and wrong, but have know idea of the facts and science, just what someone marketing to them is putting in there mind.

At all the Stockmanship and Stewardship events we have done this year we have been presenting to people that are in the business of raising beef. Hispanic pen riders, cowboys, farmers, feedlot operations, grass fed beef producers, people wanting to get into the beef business, students and all other levels of producers wanting to raise beef in the name of BQA which stands for  beef quality assurance.  Everything is about animal welfare and science to produce better and healthier beef.

It looks to me like we all want the same thing, we just have different opinions of what it is.  Why?  That’s a good question.

I have been thinking about the brain science I heard about last week.  The release of chemicals that make humans and animal feel good and the release of chemicals that make humans and animals feel bad.  

I watched a movie many years ago called “What the Bleep”.  It was all about quantum physics and how people’s thoughts and feelings created their behavior.  I’m going to watch it again.  I feel this is the answer to most of our questions we are trying to answer.  If we want to change the habits and behavior of our workers, our customers, and our animals we must understand how the brain works and look at things from a scientific standpoint to overcome the emotions of fear, greed, and ego and overcome it with facts, common sense and true compassion for humans and animals.

As I look back over the last month, much of the funding for the livestock conferences I have been involved with were from big Pharma.  Zoetis in Canada and Mexico, Boehringer Ingelheim sponsor the Stockmanship and Stewardship tour, and Elanco was a big sponsor of the conference in Monterrey, Mexico.  They are all very dedicated to animals and the people that raise them.  If there was not a need for them they would go away.  

For some reason it seems that they have become the enemy and the negative part of our industry to the consumer.  “All natural, hormone free” is the easiest way to change the brain response for a housewife that cares about her family.

Free range brings a wonderful feeling to people that don’t know.  The cows that are being predated on by wolves in the Northwest would be much more content in a confinement barn.  They are living in total fear and the conception rates and sickness rate show how stressed these animals are in this “free range “ environment.

So after a month and a little on the road I have become even more passionate about my job and inspired by all the great people I come in contact with that are so dedicated to people and animals.

One last thought.

I’ve been to lots of livestock meetings in the last several years.  At many they pray before the meal (mostly in the south ). At many they don’t. (mostly in the north)I have never heard anyone complain about how or if they prayed.  The only ones I know what religion they are are the Catholics that cross themselves.  I’m sure there have been Jewish, Amish, Protestants, Baptist’s and even some atheists.  They just adjust and do their own thing and let others do their own.  When there is no prayer offered I see lots of folks praying on their own.  I think people of the land become more tolerant because of the life we must live.  Drought and death will make some things seem pretty trivial and puts faith into perspective.  Working with Mother Nature and animals is good for the body and soul.  I feel sorry for people that don’t get to be a part of it.