Horsefest!

[altivo]

Judging by the way it's been shrinking more every year, I have a bad feeling that this might be the last year for the Northern Illinois Horsefest. Of course the high price of fuel has probably cut into the willingness of big horse farms to haul horses across two or three states or even two or three counties.

We did go again, though, yesterday afternoon. It was hot and muggy, and very overcast when we left for Boone County. We planned to get lunch at Countryside Cafe, a little "mom and pop" diner in Garden Prairie that we've liked ever since we moved out here. No dice. We had lunch there on our way to the Boone County Fair two weeks ago, and there was no hint this was coming, but it's closed. Sign on the door says "We have retired from the cafe. Thank you for your business." I suppose someone will buy it, but it won't be the same any more. Sigh.

So we stopped at another place in Belvidere and went on to the fairgrounds. Looking at the half empty parking lots I knew it was going to be small, but didn't realize even then how small. Probably half the size and a third of the crowd from three years ago, when I wrote this about it. We walked through the remaining exhibits and a lot of empty space. Very few horses present where there used to be barns full of them for sale or just on view as potential breeding stock. I didn't even find a horse plushie to buy, though I bought a DVD from clinician Tracy Porter on doing ground work with your horse.

We were finishing up a walk through the barns when I heard the announcer in the demonstration ring say that Laura Amandis was going to give a brief demo of her liberty horse routine with the stallion Acierto, and then would give a 30 minute talk on how he was trained. "This I've got to hear," I said, and Gary agreed. We sat down to watch. She showed some of the same routines that we had seen in 2005, and then gave some very interesting insights into the way the training is done. It has to do with getting the horse to watch the handler with one eye at a time, and now that I know this, I can look at the whole routine in a new light and see some of why it works. It's similar to the way Arabian stallions are exhibited on a long lead, in which they circle their handler in a sort of floating gait that looks almost as if they are flying. The difference is that the liberty horse goes through his routine without halter or lead rope, following only verbal or visual commands.

Acierto is magnificent. You can tell he likes applause, because he deliberately works the crowd just as some trained dogs will do. He is very focused on his handler though, and responds with great sensitivity to small gestures. Amandis usually carries a long whip in each hand, though she never cracks them or touches the horse with them at all. They serve as batons, like the one an orchestra conductor uses, to telegraph her gestures to the horse. A little twitch with one and he launches into a "Spanish trot" or a pirouette. It's quite amazing.

For those of you who have never seen a liberty horse at work, you can now view Acierto and Amandis on Youtube.

That video was made in 2007 but is nearly identical to the presentation we saw back in 2005. Amandis has added a couple of new tricks to Acierto's repertoire now. She has been working on reining horse moves, and showed us that he can do the tight turning in place that a reining horse does, on signal, with no one on his back. I can't wait to see him do the sliding stop as well, and I fully expect she'll get him there. Well, maybe. If there's still a Horsefest by then, and if I'm still able to attend.

Comments

[avon-deer.livejournal.com]

0:28 on that vid = I think he's in love with her. :D

Sorry to hear the event might be stopping. You're probably right about it being another casualty of fuel cut backs. I've not really gone anywhere this year either.

[altivo.livejournal.com]

I think he's in love with her.

That, of course, is what it's supposed to look like. If the training was done entirely along the lines of what her teachers would have done back in the 50s and 60s, then he actually views her as something like a herd lead mare (it's really the lead mare who calls the shots in a wild herd) or another horse who is more dominant. That position was achieved not by physical pressure but by tweaking his natural instincts and knowing how they work. It's a long, slow process that requires a lot of knowledge of horse psychology.

However, she said that the basic moves can be taught in just a year. To me that suggests a mixture of traditional techniques (some of which she demonstrated Saturday) and the more recent click and reward methodology, which is adapted from what dolphin trainers use. In any case, by the time Acierto is performing at this level, there's a lot of well-conditioned response involved on his part, and a lot of subtle body language on her part, some of which she may not even be consciously aware.

[soanos.livejournal.com]

Pity the cameraman and the splitlight operator had problems following. :P

Very nice indeed. I am sure there is a deep bond of rusts between those two. :)

[altivo.livejournal.com]

I think the camera and lighting guys were probably limited somewhat. Their location and the way their equipment was mounted didn't let them reach the entire arena.

[goldenstallion.livejournal.com]

Dear Rider.

I enjoyed watching the video. Reminds me of when Thunder was young and in the small paddock out back of the cabin. I used to play with him similarly by holding a long stick and pointing it at him. He would run one way then stop, turn and go the other way. Got to where I could get him to walk, trot or lope and turn to face me and even come up to me. Depended on exactly where the stick was pointed and the timing and fine-tuning was half the fun. He seemed to enjoy it, too. I would actually like a round pen and play with both the boys that way. I feel it smartens them up and makes them even more aware of handler body language, etc.

BTW, Imperator and Chrysios are awaiting your return either muck. *ahem*

Imperator

[altivo.livejournal.com]

I need a clue of when to look for you there. I've been on and off occasionally but never when you were around.

[hellmutt.livejournal.com]

I think the horse looks pretty excited in that vid. Nice.

[altivo.livejournal.com]

Watching an animal enjoy what it is doing is always a pleasure.