From my window seat, my eyes followed along as a river laced its way through the quilted patchwork of the Canadian prairies. I was flying to Winnipeg, Manitoba en-route to the Bar K Ranch, where I was scheduled to do a three-day horsemanship clinic.

I was traveling with the lovely Janet Werstroh we all know from the head offices of “Horses… Naturally” with Jay O’Jay in Calgary Alberta. Yes, Janet was truly excited about leaving the city behind and immersing herself into the lifestyle of a 16,000-acre working cattle ranch. And may I add; a ranch that is very well known for its foundation bred quarter horses and breeding program. Click here to check out their website.

I was impressed with the natural ease with which Janet calmly turned off the buzz of urban living, allowing herself to fall into the day-to-day routines of this working ranch. Let me put it to you this way; her jeans were dirtier than mine at the end of each day and I don’t think she even noticed.

Just in case you’re wondering! Janet was traveling with me mainly because she was going to be taking photographs of all the different aspects of the clinic; including all the participants, their horse and whatever else she had time for. I was amazed; in three days Janet took over 1800 images! Now she has the tedious task of editing, sorting and burning selected images onto CD discs to send out to all those who made requests. My bet is that the next time she travels with me, the amount of photos taken will be considerably less.

The images attached to this blog are Janet’s, so if you like them please drop her a line and let her know. We will also be adding more of her images throughout the web site – see if you can identify them.

As we disembarked from the airplane and headed over to pick up our baggage, the anticipation of getting to the Bar K Ranch caused me to tingle with excitement. I truly was looking forward to meeting up with all the people and all the horses that would be taking part in this spring tune-up clinic.

There she was, I spotted her right away! Susan Kopec was waiting for us at the bottom of the escalator. And as we made our way over to her with the mounds of baggage we were packing, I could feel the warmth of her welcome reaching out to us from across the room. I could tell this was going to be a good clinic!

From their family owned and operated Bar K Ranch, Susan and her husband David Kopec were my clinic hosts for what was being officially named the “Spring Tune-Up Clinic”. Their hospitality was second to none. I even got to stay in an attached cabin to the main house with lots of room to spread out my traveling gear and relax.

David and Susan had all the bases covered, right from a portable round pen set up in the indoor arena, a quality sound system, bleachers for the spectators and, they even had the parents of local 4H kids cooking up great lunches.

Right from trailer parking, camp sites, stabling and portable toilets, nothing was overlooked. Heck, they even had an evening trail ride planed for those who cared to join in. We actually rode home under the light of a full moon – hard to beat!

In my humble opinion, being aware of the needs of others is a good thing, but doing something about it deserves to be commended.

“Win a Colt”! For five bucks you could buy a ticket in an effort to raise money for the “Riding for the Disabled”. The Bar K Ranch donated the newborn foal for this draw, but the interesting part was that there were approximately 52 foals to choose from. That’s right, there were 52 brood mares in their foaling pasture and every morning of the clinic, there was sure to be the cutest newborn baby found standing along side its mother.

Monique, a clinic participant, won the contest draw and when I saw her last, she was still walking amongst all those newborns scratching her head. A bit confusing for sure – good luck with your decision Monique!

Staying with David and Susan at the Bar K Ranch was an exceptional experience for me. I think the intentions behind all we do in life speak louder than any words and are a direct reflection of our integrity and self worth. I hope they know how much I appreciated those days I spent in Winnipeg, and that I can’t wait to return again in the fall.

It’s time for the episode you’ve all been waiting for: The First Ride! Jay has gentled this mustang enough that he thinks it’s time for Matt to get on for the first time. Check it out to see how it goes! This isn’t the last episode of the series though, so stay tuned.

Hello everyone, Colette here. I’m happy to announce the release of episode six in A Mustang Story: A New Perspective! In this episode, Jay does some fencework with the mustang. It’s a great technique to use before someone actually gets into the saddle, that’s for sure.

Also, the very last segment of the interview with Matthew Ford has been released, too. Jay and Matt look back on the whole experience of the mustang and talk about what an impression it made on them.

My truck was in four-wheel drive and I was hanging onto the steering wheel with my eyes wide open. It sure didn’t look like springtime in Alberta with all the snow and ice I was driving through.

I was on my way to the Mane Event Horse Expo in Red Deer, Alberta for the 2008 Trainer’s Challenge. Equine Canada had invited me to be their color commentator for this very popular event. Together with Sylvia Schneider and Diana Balbar we were going to be interviewing each of the trainers and following their progress throughout this challenge. What a flip/flop!

Last year I was one of the featured trainers and Canada Equine covering my progress. It was fun being on the other side of the fence! You won’t be disappointed if you tune into these comprehensive podcasts. Visit The Equine Podcast and Clinician interviews on my web site.

Now for more exciting news! Lammles Western Wear is now selling my DVD’s along with some of my horse tack. They kicked off my new product line at the Mane Event – so, whenever I wasn’t covering the Trainer’s Challenge, I was at the Lammles Booth. Let me tell you that I have been shopping at Lammles for years and have the shirt collection to prove it!

On a closing note, I would like to thank all the people who came over to talk to me. There were so many and I must apologize for not remembering everyone’s name. If you only knew how encouraging it is to have that much support from the horse community! I want to thank each and every one of you for your support because it gives me the opportunity to be out there doing clinics, workshops and demonstrations. What a wonderful way to make a living - working with people and their horses – it’s my passion and it’s my life.

Jay O’Jay

Hi guys! This is Colette again. We’re up to episode five in One Man, One Horse - A Mustang Story. This is a very pivotal episode because this is when Jay first tries to get a saddle onto the mustang. Up until now, he’s been doing exercises with the horse to get her ready for this step. I think it’s pretty amazing that anyone could get a saddle on a horse that started out so fearful. In the beginning he could hardly walk up to her without her running away frantically!

The next section of our interview with Matthew Ford is a good one, too. He talks about how he was about ready to give up finding a place for the mustang to stay when he moved back to Invermere. When he was told about Jay, it gave him some hope and then when Jay took on the challenge, well, that’s where this whole adventure begins.

“Spring has sprung” and with it we are rewarded with all that Mother Nature has to offer. The beginning of new life! What could be more adorable and touching then a newborn foal. Share this special moment with Jay as this newborn filly named “Late Lass” faces the challenge of standing on her own to take her first drink of mother’s milk.

Click “New Born Foal” to view!

Some Advice and tips from Jay about New Born Foals:

When you have the good fortune to watch a newborn foal struggling to stand up on her own and not having much success, the desire to help can become overwhelming. Why? As you watch her repeated unsuccessful attempts, you worry about the foal hurting herself. You also worry that if she doesn’t get the colostrum from mother’s milk within just a few hours after birth, she will not survive.

Colostrum is the first fluid a mare secretes from her udder after foaling. It contains the antibodies, which protect the foal from infection. There are protective immunoglobulins in the colostrum, which is more concentrated in the early hours of lactation. As time goes on milk production will dilute them. Also, the foal’s ability to absorb them decreases as her digestive tract matures. Peak absorption time is between 2 and 4 hours of birth.

However, I like to let nature unfold “naturally”, I think it’s important for the foal to face the challenge of standing on her own. I believe that it gives them spirit and builds character with a sense of drive. Like all things in life - if it is handed to us on a silver platter, it doesn’t have the same value as it would if we had worked for it. My recommendation, don’t help unless it is absolutely necessary!

Jay O’Jay

It’s not that I didn’t notice! It’s like watching your kids grow up; from one day to the next there really isn’t any change in size. Then one day they’re taller than you are. That’s how this winter felt to me; each day blended into the next and I thought for sure it was never going to end. Finally, spring is in the air!

Yes, and even with a winter blanketing program, the amount of hair my horses are now shedding is nothing short of amazing. I’m legging them up slowly to avoid any physical injuries, I want to have them in reasonable good shape to start what will be an exciting summer of clinics, workshops, and demonstrations, and of course a whole lot of traveling down the road. Hopefully, I’ll be seeing you on my travels.
 
On a personal level, one of the more exciting things for me this summer will be my colt starting workshops. I’d honestly have to say that I absolutely love watching these colts getting connected with their owners and then gaining the confidence in themselves to accept a saddle and rider. Giving a colt the right start in life goes a long way when you think of his future years. After all, don’t we all want a horse that is pleasant to be around and a real pleasure to train? It all boils down to building that solid foundation, a foundation that can be expanded upon as they continue to mature and grow. If there is a secret to producing a willing attitude and creating a horse that is light and responsive to your cues, it would be found here.

I’m limiting my colt starting workshops to four horses and riders simply because I want to give everyone a maximum amount of my personal time. When you leave this workshop, you will be leaving with a whole lot of my personal experience, knowledge and understanding of how to start a colt the right way. I want each participant to start their own colt under my guidance, I want them to learn and understand each step of the way. I will not have them hanging off the fence watching me start the colt. Being involved is how you learn. When they go home I want them to leave with more confidence in themselves than when they first arrived.
 
These workshops will be the number one ticket for this coming season, especially for anyone who is truly interested in learning how to start a colt correctly. I’ve always wondered how anyone can learn colt starting in a group of ten or more horses. In a situation like this it’s the trainer that does all the work because there just isn’t enough time to spend on either individual horses or their riders.
 
One of the things I always pride myself in is that I teach transferable skills and anyone taking this workshop is going to go home with a lot of knowledge and understanding.
 
Well, if you let me start rambling, it seems that I never stop, so on that note, I’ll just say – “keep on keeping on” as you prepare both yourself and your horse for another season of horse’n around.

A new episode of One Man, One Horse - A Mustang Story is out today! 

At this point in the series, Jay has been able to touch this scared and wild mustang, and get a halter on her. But, the horse is still quite frightened. Jay uses his three principles of training – cause movement, follow a feel, and yield to pressure – to help the horse recognize him as a leader. So it makes sense that this episode is called “Respect and Control“!

The thing I like about this episode is watching Jay how takes control and leadership of his horses peacefully and not using brute force. It’s in the little reinforcements like getting the horse to move out of his personal space. Jay’s always working on how quiet he can be around horses and still be in full control of them. I think that’s really great because it gives horses the respect they deserve!

We’ve got another segment of the interview with Matt Ford up today, too. He tells us the story about how he got the Mustang to begin with… and how he got a sore toe that day! Definitely a must-see!

Hello everyone! Colette here, from the Jay O Jay Inc. team. Some of you may know that I’m the one who’s doing the editing of the footage for the mustang series. Well, I’m happy to announce that today we released the latest episode of A Mustang Story. This episode is called “Building Trust“. I think my favourite part of this episode is when our mustang goes back in the program a little bit, and Jay says, “This is where some people give up, but this is where I get strong.” And it’s true, he does have a lot of patience and confidence with horses.

One thing I’ve learned from Jay while watching and editing these video clips is that patience does grow out of understanding. This is true of people as well as of horses. At first, I’m sure it’s easy to get angry when your horse seems to always run away and forget what you teach it. But then when you work to understand what the horse is feeling, it helps give you patience. When you remember, horses are prey animals and predators sometimes try to jump on their back when they attack, then it’s quite easy to understand why horses can be fearful sometimes! I find it’s the same thing with people, too. When you really understand where someone’s coming from, you can be more patient with them and their mistakes than you would be if you didn’t know anything about them.

Something special about the release of this episode is that also on the Jay O Jay website, we’ve released an interview with Matthew Ford, the owner of the mustang. This is a great inside peek at how he got the horse and what he was feeling when he first saw the wild mustangs. I remember when Matt came into our office to do these interviews with Jay. He was a little shy at first but he really got the hang of it fast. And what a nice guy he is! I think the mustang is lucky to have such a loving owner. There’ll be more segments of the interview to come, so that’s something to look forward to. Until next time!

I was standing at the BBQ when I saw a black pickup truck make its way up the dirt road that leads to my place here in Invermere BC.

Yes! Paul Schofield had just arrived with his four-year-old mare “Betsy” and for the next five days they would be my guests here at Stoddart Creek Stables – or at least that’s what I thought! Allow me to start from the beginning.

Paul Schofield arrives at Stoddart Creek Stables

Paul, his wife Velma, and a group of friends traveled to Red Deer, Alberta to attend the Mane Event which is a large horse expo that features “horse trainers” of all disciplines. However, Paul and his friends were there to watch the “Trainer’s Challenge” - a colt starting competition with three trainers and three range raised colts.

To make a long story short – I just happened to be one of the featured trainers and as the competition unfolded, Paul was convinced that I would be the winner. He even made a $50.00 bet! Well, he couldn’t believe it when he lost that bet – so he ranted and raved about it all the way home – driving his wife and all of his friends “Insane”!

The Trainer’s Challenge was held at the end of April/07 and as the summer fell upon Paul, he went about his business of farming and ranching in central Alberta, Canada.

As fate would have it, we were to meet again – this time by total surprise! Paul had tickets for Big Valley Jamboree in Camrose, Alberta – a huge outdoors Country & Western Music Festival and to his amazement – he saw me there doing a series of Colt starting demonstrations.

Not only was he surprised, he was eager to share the story of how he had lost fifty bucks. You could say that Paul was having trouble accepting the fact that I had not won the Trainer’s Challenge - and you guessed it – he started to rant and rave about it once again.

This is how we met and this is where our friendship began. As we talked, Paul asked me if there was any chance of him coming out to my facility to learn more about Jay O’Jay Horsemanship. I could see the eagerness in his eyes and I could feel his energy, the kind that only comes from a strong his desire to learn - so we made plans!

On September 13/07 at 7:30pm, Paul rolled into “Stoddart Creek Stables” with his horse “Betsy”. I put the BBQ on “hold” as I focused in on getting Betsy settled into what would be her new home for the next five days. Then it was Paul’s turn to un-hook the trailer and get bunked in.

Stoddart Creek Stables - Indoor Arena

As I finally sat down to eat my diner the conversation started, and let me tell you – it never ended. Paul wanted to learn the right way - he wanted to know the techniques, the strategies and the mechanic’s of horse training. His enthusiasm was contagious!

I told him that the techniques and the strategies were more or less the easy part. It’s the relationship with your horse – the communication – the emotional knowledge about their behavior and the mental knowledge of how they are – that’s the challenge! In fact some people never clue in enough to get it – and yet it’s the very core of every great horseman.

Stoddart Creek Stables - Top Barn & Round Pen

We woke up early that next morning, got the chores done, put the coffee pot on and had a good breakfast. Fueled up and ready to go, we started day one of what would be a “private work shop” with Jay O’jay Horsemanship. 

Can you believe it – in five days we started two colts – a big black Friesian and a big brown German Warm blood. We also stayed overnight at a backcountry lodge where we did a one day work shop – trailer loading, round penning techniques and then took an incredible trail ride into the wilderness of the Canadian Rockies. On top of that I was filming Paul and Betsy’s lessons so we could discuss them in the evenings. And somehow I found the time to ride my own two horses – Coco & Cisco.

Then, when the five days were up – Paul blew my mind – he said he didn’t want to go home! What about your wife, I asked – she’s okay with me staying was his reply. Well aren’t you tired of horse’n around yet? No – is the only thing he said.

Paul stayed another five days – and let me tell you – I worked real hard on getting him to understand “how” to become a better horseman. As you’ve probably already guessed by now – if you want to be successful with horses – you had better start working on yourself. It’s our personality that’s the deciding factor as to how we do all things with horses. Our attitude is a big part of this equation – and a healthy attitude is only achieved through the knowledge and understanding of the horse.

At the end of the ten days, I asked Paul – in a word or two can you tell me a little bit about your experience here with Jay O’Jay Horsemanship? Are you happy with the knowledge and understanding you gained? He didn’t really answer me in words – he just stood there with this look on his face – so I thought I had better photograph it.

Paul Schofield – Expressing his experience with Jay O’Jay Horsemanship

All that I know for sure is that Paul left Stoddart Creek Stables with a big smile on his face!

Paul Schofield & Betsy

It was time for Paul to get back home, his family was missing him and the cows were calling. But as he was pulling out of the driveway – he shouted out the truck window – “I’m coming back”! 

Click here to see what Paul had to say about this time spent learning from me!