See you later, Mustang Camp

It's been 3 days since I left Mustang Camp. Leaving was just as much of an adventure as the summer I spent there. Thank you, New Mexico, for giving me a new definition of "desert"...

As promised, this post is intended to bring this blog to a close. I thought for a couple of days how exactly I wanted to do that, and I think the most valuable thing for me to do is a sort of "Day In The Life of a Mustang Camp-er" Hopefully this gives potential volunteers/interns an idea of what they are getting themselves in to - and encourage them to hurry up and get themselves over there!

The following is an average day for an intern at Mustang Camp during the Summer of 2013:

Morning Chores
6:30 AM - Wake up (OK more realistically closer to 6:50...)
7:00 AM - Meet in the dining room for tea/coffee and pastries or cinnamon toast
7:30 AM to somewhere between 9:00 and 10:30 AM - Feed the horses breakfast and muck the pens
After feeding/mucking - John makes breakfast while others tend to the garden/greenhouse
Around 10:30 to 11:30 AM - Breakfast! (Usually something delicious like pancakes, oatmeal, breakfast burritos, etc.)

Class Time
After breakfast until around noon, depending on what there is to discuss! - Pat and the interns meet in the classroom to talk about vocabulary, training techniques, etc. This is also the time where any training "issues" are addressed and we work together as a group to come up with potential solutions

Training Time
ALL AFTERNOON - Hands on training time with the horses. I know of a lot of internships/volunteer experiences with animals where they say "Sorry, we can't let you come in physical contact with the animals since you're not covered under our insurance." Luckily, at Mustang Camp, animal training and behavior modification is seen in a different light - working with animals is a technical skill that needs PRACTICE. Sure you can read all the books and watch all the clinician videos you can get your hands on, but in no way does that mean that you can apply these techniques in real life on a real animal. There is no lack of opportunity to enhance your timing, learn to adjust your body language, and experiment with body position and treat delivery positioning and reinforcement schedule. After working primarily with dogs, I noticed a couple of interesting things with working with the mustangs:

1. Mustangs don't move NEARLY as quickly or move quite as many parts of their body at the same time as dogs. One of the first things the mustangs at Mustang Camp learn is the "Easy" posture, where they stand still with their head low and neck straight. I can only imagine trying to teach wiggly Benji something like that - you'd have to teach your dog a very solid stand-stay first!
2. Compared to shaping behaviors in dogs, the mustangs seem to be rather forgiving in the precision of timing required for them to understand the desired behavior. If you are half-a-second late on your bridge, or accidentally miss bridging the behavior once, all is not lost. Perhaps this has something to do with the fact that the mustangs overall move more slowly, or it could also have to do with their seemingly higher self-awareness. In comparison to dogs, the horses seem to have a better sense of what they are doing, when they are doing it, and most of the moves they make (behaviors they offer) are performed at what I would consider a higher level of consciousness than when I am dealing with my dogs. Although I must say, there is so much individual variation in the horses as well in how much attention they are paying to their actions. Take, for example, Ginger and Greta. Ginger was very much a "Let me throw everything at you and if something works, feed me!" while Greta really worked for things to be predictable: "If you say 'shoulder' and touch my withers instead, shame on you!" Both, however, were very keen on picking out what I was bridging them for - though, perhaps for very different reasons.
3. It's easy to tell when a horse likes scratching and when you can use it to reward good behavior, since you can tell exactly when they are enjoying the scratches. Plus, you don't have to scratch them for very long. While dogs will lean into your hand when you find a good itchy spot (but you'd better give it a good scratch!!), horses will stick out their lip and arch their necks when you've found a good spot. Relaxing for a rub is also a great way to tell that the horse is comfortable with whatever you're doing with them that day. I got to do some fun experimenting with Mr. Simon, who was incredibly food motivated, but also liked a good scratching. If I had food, there was no way he was going to work for scratches, but if there was no food in sight, he was happy to try his very hardest (we worked on Walk on, Whoa, and Back at liberty) to get some good verbal praise and for me to spend a couple seconds rubbing that nice itchy spot right along the bottom of his neck.

Evening Chores

6:00 PM - Finish up training and start gathering hay bags for evening feeding. Pat fills the waters while John and the intern(s) fill and distribute hay bags

Around 7:30 to 8:00 PM - Dinner! Usually it's one of the interns' jobs to pick salad greens from the garden and greenhouse, and John makes the rest of dinner

9:00 PM (ish) - The day comes to a close. Each day we take turns for who washes dishes (except of course the cook!), and then everyone heads their separate ways to clean up and get ready for bed.

I'm missing Mustang Camp a whole lot right now and can't wait to get back into the busy school/work/dance schedule again. If at some point life presents the opportunity to go back to Mustang Camp, I'd take it in a heartbeat. But for now I must say, good bye Mustang Camp, and good luck Pat and John. I wish you the best of luck and good health in the future.

Love,

Lynna