If you are like many professional horsemen, finding the right people to help you in your business is one of your biggest challenges.  That’s partly because candidates with horse experience are limited, the rate of pay in the equine industry is low in comparison to other industries and much of the work is unsupervised requiring employees with good work habits.

A resume, job application and a short interview will you tell you only part of the story about an employee candidate.

You know what I mean if you’ve ever had your promising new hire show up for work on Monday morning and you find out that not only did the name on the job application and the face from the interview show up, a whole person came along as well with a life history and assorted baggage.

There are many books and articles written every year on the subject of hiring. Read one, or skim several to expand your skills.

But, like most things, experience is the best teacher on the practice of hiring good people.

Experience has taught me that the following points are important to consider in your interview process. They’re in random order and may seem blatantly obvious. But, like a mare with her ears pinned flat on her neck, the obvious is still worthy of your attention.

1. Does the applicant show up early, on time, or late for the interview? Late arrivals are often backed by good excuses: “heavy traffic, difficulty finding the place, drop children off, etc.” These are the same excuses you’ll probably hear every day from the applicant once hired. If you expect punctuality every day, lack of it at the interview is deal breaker.

1. Is the applicant dressed in a way that is acceptable to you for your business image? If unconventional body piercings-offensive tattoos and sloppy general appearance don’t bother you or your customers, no need to worry. If they do, keep in mind you are probably seeing the best image of the candidate at the interview.

1. Does the candidate have reliable transportation? You know what happens when a worker is a no-show. You either find a way to pick up the employee to get him or her to work, or you go through the day running on one less cylinder.
2. Look for life in the eyes- good eye contact, enthusiasm and energy.  And while the following is not absolute, it’s worthy of your careful observation. When someone is remembering details, their eyes move to the right (your right). When someone is making something up, their eyes move to the left. It’s usually opposite for left handers.

1. Bad mouthing and negative comments- past employers, industry, relationships, family, excessive bad luck. If you hear too much of it in the candidate interview, you’ll be forever hearing it from the employee.

1. How many days off, benefits, what’s the pay ? If too many questions like these come early in the interview, you know that Johnny is all about his Paycheck.
2. Lack of enthusiasm for horses and or animals in general. Captain Obvious says this could be a problem.
3. Messy car – no science or research backs this up, but I got in the habit of walking a candidate to his vehicle to have a peek at the car. Back seats littered with adult beverage cans and fast food wrappers, duct taped door handles and turn signal lenses and out of date inspection stickers tell part of a story.
4. Poor listener-Even though you will only be doing twenty percent of the talking at an interview, the candidate should show signs of coherence and listening carefully to what you say. After all, carrying out your directions is a key job requirement.
5. Lacking good manners-you’ll never be happy apologizing for your employee’s crude behavior and impolite habits. Even though it’s not you being rude, his reflection tarnishes your silver.

We both know there is no perfect employee. But, as a profitable business owner, screening for bad habits and attitudes makes good sense. Good attitude trumps work experience.

People with good attitudes, but weak on work experience and skills can always be trained for business.

People with bad attitudes, but strong on work experience and skills are often train wrecks for business.

 You can find more about Doug Emerson at http://www.profitablehorseman.com

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Joanna Robson, DVM will be a presenter at Equine Affaire she will teach the participants on Thermography- A Hot Tool in Equine Diagnostics: Using Thermography to Assist in Saddle Fitting, Competition, Pre-purchases, Etc, Recognizing a Horse in Pain: Understanding Non-traditional Lameness, Body Changes & Behavior as Signs of Pain, and Horse Chiropractics- Veterinary Spinal Manipulative Therapy: Maximizing Your Horse’s Performance through Correct Motion at the seminar stage. Robson will also present demonstrations on Veterinary Chiropractics Up Close: Understanding the Treatment Process & Why a Veterinary License or Referral is Required, and Veterinary Acupuncture- Connecting the Dots: Performing an Evaluation, Identifying the Acupuncture Points & Medians.”

Joanna Robson is an affiliated equine veterinarian, and a renowned speaker, demonstrator, and lecturer on equine anatomy, saddle-fitting, and biomechanics. She is the president of Inspiritus Equine, Inc., who founded the Integrated Soundness Solutions. She is a member of Saddlefit for Life, the AAEP and the AVMA.

Robson graduated from the Washington State University in Honors 6-Year Veterinary Medicine Program, followed by a rotating internship in Medicine and Surgery at the Western College of Veterinary Medicine in Saskatoon, Canada. She is also a graduate of the Healing Oasis Wellness Center Veterinary Chiropractic Course in Sturtevante, Wisconsin.

Robson possesses a passion for teaching and educating people in recognizing pain in horses as well as providing assistance in finding options for treatment. She is certified in veterinary acupuncture from the Chi Institute of Traditional Chinese Medicine in Gainesville, Florida.

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Equine instructor Collin Walker will present a demonstration on Arena Footing: Tips for Creating an Arena that Meets Your Needs at the Equine Affaire. He will also teach the participants on Selecting Stall Flooring: Why What Your Horse Stands on Matters.

Collin Walker is a specialist at the Lynwood Equine Flooring Systems. The company   specializes in ecologically friendly flooring systems for use in landscaping and equine applications. EquiTerr and EquiTerr Pro are the company’s principle horse flooring products for stalls, turnouts, paddocks, round pens, and arenas. It also offers, its complete expertise in the complete construction of arenas.

Lynwood Equine provides solutions based upon the current condition of stalls, corrals, round pens, arenas, soil conditions, and climate. It offers assistance to horse owners at every stage, right from planning to installation of stalls.

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Tom Seay, a true horse lover who has been around horses since the age of five. He is a professional horseback outfitter and was engaged in taking people on overnight horseback vacations for about nineteen years. His “The American Transcontinental Trail Ride” in 1995 was one of the most significant accomplishments as an outfitter in his nineteen years of career. Hosted by eighty-three towns with 256 riders, including Mayors, Texas Rangers and Chiefs of Police, the trip took four and a half months.

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The owner of The Worthy Horse, an equine bodywork firm established in 1995, Susie Huber-Lytal is a horse lover. She is dedicated to working on equine wellness and providing outstanding equine massage therapy.

 

Susie will conduct demonstrations on variations of warm ups, stretches and exercises, along with stress relief and massage programs for the horse at the Equine Affaire.  Susie will give us the know how to increase the wellness of horses through healing, education and awareness and provide information suitable for all horse lovers, be they owners, riders, or trainers.

Identifying the different triggers of stress and soreness will be discussed during Susie’s seminar: Biomechanics of the Equine Forelimb: A Closer Look at How Structure & Function Affect the Horse’s Performance.

Susie Huber-Lytal’s experience is that maintaining performance horses at optimal levels is determined by how a horse is responding to its training stress. In this regard, massage can be used as a tool to determine how the horse’s body is reacting to training and showing stresses, and at the same time providing relief from acquired tensions in the body.

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The Equine Affaire will feature Steve Edwards and his Donkeys, Mules & Packing clinic. Edwards’ clinics specialize in educating and training mules, donkeys and horses as well as their riders and general public about mulemanship, horsemanship, mule packing and gamesmanship.

Steve Edwards has been training mules and donkeys for thirty-five years. He educates the general public through his clinics, apprenticeships, and various individualized programs. Steve and his wife, Susan offer clinics on understanding and training mules, donkeys and their owners at their Queen Valley Mule Ranch, in Queen Valley, Arizona. Their mule training program includes colt starting, foundation training, driving from one to six mules, various levels of showing, pack mules, trail riding, problem solving and much more.

 Steve Edwards travels giving clinics on mule handling throughout the United States and Canada. He also teaches a course in mulemanship at Pierce College. The college is a part of the Los Angele Community College System, where students earn a mule trainer’s certificate. Steve appears on Rural Heritage on RFD-TV to demonstrate how to train mules and donkeys and he has also been a featured writer for numerous magazines, including Western Mule, Mules and More, Rocky Mountain Rider, Trail Rider, and Bridle & Bit Newspaper.

 Picking up the foot.

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Rick Lamb will conduct clinics on natural horsemanship at the Equine Affaire, Pomona, California. Rick will present clinics on The Power of Natural Horsemanship-Understanding & Using a Horse’s Nature to Improve Your Relationship, Micromanagers Need Not Apply-Giving Horses What They Really Need, Finding Flicka-Choosing a Horse That’s Right for You, and Mythbusting-Dispelling Common Misconceptions about Natural Horsemanship.”

Rick Lamb is a life-long horse lover, who developed his passion for horses at a very tender age. However, as a teenager he chose music as a career. But, in 1997 he launched a weekly syndicated radio program called The Horse Show With Rick Lamb along with his wife. The program was a hit. Later in 1999, he came up with another radio feature, Horse Show Minute. Rick has picked several industry awards for his two radio shows.

Today, Rick Lamb is heard on more than 120 radio stations. He is the author of two books called, Horse Smarts for the Busy Rider and Human to Horseman: a Journey of Discovery, Growth, and Celebration, that provides information on riding, training, stable management, and horse care and provides insights in small bites of horsemanship which can be enjoyed by anyone interested in horses. Rick also
co-authored the book, The Revolution In Horsemanship with Dr. Robert M. Miller.

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Rebecca Rigdon will present her clinic on dressage at the Equine Affaire. She will teach participants on Collection: Establishing a Solid Dressage Foundation at First & Second Level; “Creating a Better Ride: Explaining & Applying Effective Aids to the Dressage Horse; Evaluating Performance & Setting Realistic Training Goals for the Young, Advanced & Olympic-Level Dressage Horse; and Going for the Freestyle: Tips for Developing and Performing an Impressive Dressage Freestyle Test.

Rebecca Rigdon is a successful dressage trainer, who has been competing in Dressage for twenty years and has trained a number of Dressage horses and riders. After graduating from the University of Kansas with a Bachelor of Arts degree in English, she started off her career in the equine field. Currently, she is engaged in providing first-class equine care, as well as training to both horses and riders at the Freedom Hill Stables. Freedom Hill is a breeding stable and training facility in Olathe, Kansas with indoor and outdoor dressage arenas.

Rigdon has a total of thirteen horses in training ranging from young horses schooling Training level through Grand Prix. In her horse show career, she has earned several awards, including 28 Region IV and Midwest Championships (First through Grand Prix, junior and open); several Holsteiner All Breeds awards, including National Holsteiner Champion; and two USDF Young Rider National Champion year-end awards.

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Michelle Staples will teach participants of the Equine Affaire on Barn Fire Safety: Making Your Barn Safe, What to Do In Case of Fire & Understanding the Mechanics of a Fire Response Call, Disaster Preparedness: Understanding Disasters, Evacuation Plans & What to Take for You & Your Animals, and Your Safety is #1! How to Be Safe Around Horses.

Michelle Staples is a horse safety specialist, who has several years of experience in providing training to both horses and humans. She always had an intense passion for horse rescue and is well-known in the Standardbred rescue world. Michelle is also the author of A Horseowner’s Guide to Large Animal Rescue.

Michelle is a certified Emergency Medical Technician (EMT). She also earned NDART membership, and became an instructor in both CPR and CERT (Community Emergency Response Team). Apart from her book on Large Animal Rescue, she has also been actively promoting LAR training.

Also see:

• Equinesciencecertificate.com
• Horsetalk.co.nz

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Flower Essences & Homeopathic Remedies for Horses

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Harrison realized the effectiveness of flower essences after a riding accident twenty years ago when a friend applied the remedy on Harrison and her horse. The accident inspired her to create the natural products to help with the various mental, spiritual and emotional needs of animals. She owns a facility called, Black Wing Farms in San Diego County, where she mixes and offers about twenty different flower essence blends.

Her line of essences provides help for many animal groomers as well as trainers, by building a bond of trust between humans and animals. Veterinarians, competitors, rescue organizations, equine dentists, farriers, animal shelters and sanctuaries also use Black Wing Farm’ products in order to modify animal behavior permanently.

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