| "The best place for him, Karen, is the feedlot - he's too | | | | heard my car door shut as I arrived at the stables. Our |
| far gone; he's so scrambled that he's not coming | | | | lessons had now become games that he initiated with |
| back". A trainer's comments seven years ago, after | | | | a happy eagerness and ceaseless enthusiasm. The |
| he watched while I tried in vain to stop my then 10 | | | | smile had been learned within days and I had been |
| year old gelding, Lukas. "Downward transitions" were | | | | adding new tricks weekly to his ever-expanding |
| accomplished by veering towards a solid barrier and | | | | repertoire. His spookiness had disappeared long ago |
| hanging on for dear life. He had become increasingly | | | | as his trust, confidence and focus had improved. And |
| unmanageable and dangerous with each successive | | | | his under-saddle work? Through our playing he had |
| day. I had purchased him as a green project horse | | | | "learned to learn", and had become a joy to ride. |
| from a hunter barn, where he wasn't fitting in with the | | | | Around this time, I began to wonder just how much |
| amateur program. Prior to that he had been in a back | | | | Lukas really could learn and happened to pick up the |
| yard, neglected and malnourished. His racing career | | | | book, "Beautiful Jim Key" - a fascinating story about a |
| years before had been brief and unmemorable - 3 | | | | horse who lived at the turn of the century. Jim is |
| races with 3 back-of-the-pack finishes and 2 bowed | | | | considered to be the most intelligent horse that has |
| tendons. | | | | ever lived - his IQ was estimated to be equal to that |
| I have always loved Dressage (a type of English riding) | | | | of a 5th grader's! So, I began to incorporate different |
| and felt that it was the most elegant of all the | | | | perceptual tasks into our play-times just to see what |
| disciplines and had planned to show him in the lower | | | | would happen. And, now, the rest is history, as they |
| levels. Using the Classical Training Scale had improved | | | | say. |
| all of my past horses, but Lukas was the exception: | | | | To date, Lukas' talents include: smiling; nodding yes; |
| Half-halt? Forget it! Bend? Bucking is better? A bit of | | | | shaking his head no, kissing (dry and wet - for the |
| collection? No way! Just hand walking him, we were | | | | young at heart); posing; yawning; catching; fetching; the |
| beset with invisible monsters that even followed him | | | | "blindfold"; crossing his front legs; acting lame; |
| into his own stall! One particularly disappointing day, | | | | obeissance (curtsy); waving; going to a mark; pedestal |
| after I had been unable to even give him away as a | | | | work; Spanish walk (to the front and back); jambet; |
| pasture pet and he was sulking in a far corner, it | | | | passage; bowing; laying down and letting me sit on him; |
| occurred to me that we needed some type of | | | | putting his feet all together; playing hide and seek; |
| "bridge" - a way to connect in between the | | | | staying and coming; rearing; pushing a barrel; spelling (5 |
| problematic present and my cherished Dressage goals. | | | | letter words); counting (up to 5); identifying shapes |
| I decided to fall back on my trick training experience as | | | | (horse, butterfly, square, heart and star) and |
| a way to try to bond and establish an understanding | | | | discriminating between 3 colors (he chooses his green |
| with Lukas. This playful interactive way of relating with | | | | one). In addition, he has grasped the concepts of |
| animals had long been a way for me to enhance | | | | spatial relationships, proportion, same/different and |
| learning and make a horse more attractive for | | | | absentness. |
| adoption. But, could it also become a way to help | | | | His story has been picked up globally on NBC; CBS; |
| Lukas reach his potential, I wondered? | | | | ABC; CNN; HLN; Equisearch, EquineVIP, RFD-Radio, |
| So, the journey began - face tricks being the easiest | | | | and Pet Life Radio among many others. Also, The |
| and simplest, the smile was attempted first. Having | | | | Associated Press released a feature article on him. He |
| been a psychiatric nurse for 25 years, I use a | | | | has been included in many newspapers, magazine |
| combination of behavior modification techniques, my | | | | articles and forums, Yahoo and Google have listed him |
| own specialized version of clicker training and a wide | | | | under "The World's Smartest Horse", and he is |
| variety of bits and pieces from everything to circus to | | | | currently being studied by The Human-Equine Alliance |
| cowboy, Spanish Riding School to Sea World. | | | | for Learning (HEAL). Lukas has been appointed the |
| Kindness and liberty training are the foundation of my | | | | official "Spokeshorse" for TROTT- a group that finds |
| system - positive reinforcement along with brief, | | | | homes for ex-racehorses. In addition, he is the |
| enjoyable lessons provide the most beneficial results | | | | poster-boy for the California Thoroughbred Breeders' |
| for both trainer and trainee. But to even begin, I first | | | | Association - an organization dedicated to |
| needed to get his attention: I used round pen liberty | | | | Thoroughbred awareness ownership. |
| work to develop his focus and concentration. During | | | | What's next for Lukas?, I'm often asked. We plan to |
| this time, I also began to link rewards (praise, petting, | | | | continue to show others the happy results of kind |
| small carrot bits) with acceptable responses and as | | | | training and how smart and wonderful horses are. |
| Lukas' abilities improved, I was able to create longer | | | | Lukas' new book is available on Lulu as an e-book or a |
| "chains" of behaviors. | | | | print version: "Playing With Lukas." Like the sign on his |
| I began to notice a definite shift in Lukas' attitude - I | | | | gate reads "Fairy Tales Do Come True. |
| was being greeted now with a loud whinny when he | | | | |