tomdorrance

Today, Jec loans the mic to me for an interview with Whit Hibbard, a fourth generation Montana rancher and low stress stockmanship professional. I met Whit many years ago when he was passing through Colorado, giving presentations on low stress stockmanship and livestock handling.

There’s a strong parallel I see with the shift in handling cows and the shift of handling horses as we move away from physical and domineering ways to the mental, partnership type of work. But it’s interesting because when you go to a horsemanship clinic nowadays, it’s populated mostly by women. When you go to a stockmanship clinic, it’s mostly men. Which is the tougher audience, I wonder?

Whit is doing impressive work with National Parks, big private ranches like those owned by Ted Turner. Turner Enterprises consists of 18 ranches and two million acres. Most recently, Whit has focused on bison and has helped livestock handlers design structures that incorporate low stress handling into their overall system.

Pretty cool. Even if you don’t work cows or have an interest in working cows, there are helpful, insightful reflections here around how we operation. By the way, Whit also publishes the Stockmanship Journal and you can find links to a free download on besthorsepractices.com.

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In today's episode, we we talk to acclaimed horseman, clinician and author, Martin Black of Bruneau, Idaho. He is famous for his many educational books and DVDS on Vaquero-style horsemanship. This includes the Western Horseman Book, Cow-Horse Confidence. Recently, he also co-authored a book with Dr. Steve Peters, Evidence-Based Horsemanship.

He has worked on ranches in Idaho, Nevada and California. He has worked with some of the top horsemen and bridlemen, Paul Black, Charlie and Bill Van Norman, Ray Hunt, Gene Lewis, Melvin Jones, Tom Dorrance, and Tom Marvel.

In this episode, he talks about the importance of horsemanship in all aspects of interacting with horses; including trimming and shoeing. He shares his philosophies in communicating with horses to get the most out of the horse/horseman relationship.

Martin has helped everyone from recreational riders to top horse-trainers in cutting, reining and racing, cowboys, cow-horse competitors, ropers, show-jumpers, and eventers.

You can find out more about Martin Black and purchase his educational materials at MartinBlack.net.

If you would like to contact us with questions relating to your business, specific cases, general horse hoof care questions, or suggestions for future podcasts, please email us at farrierfocuspodcast@gmail.com. We might even feature your email in a future episode!