Safety For Horse and Rider

Gentle Handling Improves Safety For Horse and Rider

CLAYTON – When Chris Mitchell found himself on the ground with a horse on top, he knew it was time to find a better way to handle horses.

Through research on the Internet, Mitchell discovered the work of Frank Bell, a master trainer who specializes in techniques for natural horsemanship that emphasizes safety for both the rider and horse. Bell shared his skill at a clinic organized by Mitchell at the Barbour County Farm Center, then continued instruction with private lessons Monday.

“It’s all about risk management,” Bell explained. “What we’re trying to do is take the risk out of the equation and get things going in our direction so we’ve got a fighting chance. Horses are very unpredictable by nature. A lot of horses are on the verge of blowing up.”

Just as pilots, scuba divers and mountain climbers rely on a safety checklist to reduce risk, people who handle horses should do the same, he said.

“My dream is to have this safety system in every barn in the world. There’s a lot of people out there getting hurt,” Bell continued, adding that the number of injuries from horseback riding is the “dirty little secret” of the horse industry.

Mitchell’s story is hardly unique. He stumbled into buying a horse the first time after purchasing a house with a barn. As weeds grew taller around the empty barn, the Mitchell’s decided to buy a horse. Friends tried to warn them about how dangerous horses can be, but Mitchell considered himself experienced after riding about 10 years. Now he understands the difference between riding well-trained horses and ones that have “issues.”

“It’s just my personality to jump into things too quick. That’s exactly what I did with the horse. I decided the best way for me to learn is to go out and get one,” Mitchell admitted in an interview at the Farm Center Monday while Bell gave private lessons in the background.

When Mitchell bought his first horse a year ago, the gaited saddle horse seemed docile enough. But after he got the horse home, Mitchell climbed in the saddle and the horse bolted. Friends offered advice for handling the horse, but none of it worked. When the horse ended up on top of him, Mitchell decided, “There’s not too many more of these times that I have left. I need to look into some programs.”

He tried a variety of horse training techniques before choosing Bell’s 7-Step Safety System.

“I settled on Frank’s program mainly because it just really seems to create a bond between the rider and the horse and really settles the horse down, so it loses that explosive personality,” Mitchell explained.

Bell’s practical method addresses a number of points for horse owners that other trainers don’t address, he continued. For example, how do you keep the horse out of your space while putting feed down? How do you get a horse prepared so a ferrier can shoe the horse without getting kicked? These are problems Mitchell didn’t consider before buying a horse.

Mitchell bought four more horses, including three mustangs that he’s still training. He is also the most recently accredited trainer in Frank Bell’s 7-Step Safety System which includes bonding with the horse, learning to take and give, developing intimacy and generally building confidence for the horse, handler and rider.

At last weekend’s clinic, Mitchell said owners who didn’t respect their horse’s space turned out to be the main problem. “You didn’t know who was leading who, whether the horse was leading the person or the person was leading the horse,” he said. “That can be a really dangerous situation because the horse can run over on top of the handler.”

Mustangs adopted from the wild can cause problems because they tend to revert to fight or flight mode, Mitchell said. “You have to slowly break it down for the horse, so the horse understands what you’re wanting and rewarding for the right answers while discouraging it for the wrong answers by making it uncomfortable.”

Bell said most people who adopt mustangs don’t realize what they’re getting into. “Ninety percent of people that buy mustangs are first-time horse owners. It’s borderline crazy. It’s like buying a tiger,” he said. They’re (mustangs) wonderful animals, they’re just a little more complicated.”

He developed his system after getting “busted up” and breaking his collarbone in an accident with a horse. “I promised myself that if I was going to train horses, I would develop a ground system that dramatically raised my safety level.”

As he started healing, Bell began different “manipulations” with horses to find out what positions and actions bothered them most. Without realizing it, he was becoming a “horse whisperer,” the term given to a successful trainer in Ireland named Dan Sullivan in the 1800s.

Before long, Bell was turning out nice horses, which led to people bringing him really difficult horses. Soon he started asking people to bring him difficult horses because he was so “blown away” by how well the system worked. Then he started teaching his system to others.

“I feel like I’m here to give something back,” Bell said. “If you’re given something that you can do well, it can make a difference, especially in a world that’s as crazy as the world we’re living in. … If we can do something that’s really positive, I think it’s good for mankind.”

Bell’s reputation soared after Western Horseman Magazine published a three-part series on his safety system. Coincidentally, Robert Redford’s movie “The Horse Whisperer” based on a book by Nicholas Evans, came out about the same time.

Bell said he’s still amazed to get paid for doing work he loves so much.

“I just think it’s intriguing that horses are basically a wild animal but we can get them to where they will take us places safely. We can get on their back and do all kinds of things. It’s unbelievable,” Bell said, mentioning horses that work in riot control as an example.

“They’re incredibly receptive to learning and growing and getting along well with humans. Horses like to learn.”

Can children catch worms or other diseases from cats and dogs?

There is a term for diseases that are passed on from animals to people. It is called zoonosis.

Infants and small children are more susceptible to catching parasites and diseases from pets as they have immature immune systems and often poor hygiene.

Can Children Catch Worms from Cats and Dogs?

It is possible for humans and especially children to become infected with worms from cats and dogs. It is important to teach your children to wash their hands before eating. Equally important is to regularly treat your pets for worms.

It should be noted that catching worms from the family pet is not common but you should be aware of the possibility.

Can Roundworm spread from cats and dogs to children?

Roundworm are the most common parasite of the digestive system in cats and dogs. Roundworm can only spread to humans by ingesting roundworm eggs. This can happen when a child comes in contact with contaminated soil or sand and then transfers eggs to the mouth via contaminated fingers or by putting contaminated objects in their mouths.

Visceral larva migrans, is a disease caused by roundworm that can affect humans.

Visceral larva migrans also known as Toxocariasis is a potentially serious disease that can affect the eyes and other organs. The disease is caused by Toxocara canis (dog roundworm) which lives in the intestine of dogs and Toxcara cati (cat roundworm) which lives in the intestine of cats. Dogs have been known to be infected with Toxcara Cati after eating the feces of cats.

After the eggs are inadvertently eaten they hatch in the human intestine. The larvae from these eggs are then released into the bloodstream and find their way to all parts of the body, including the liver, lungs, heart, brain and eyes.

Most human patients are children between the ages of two and four years, who become infected after playing in sandboxes or soil contaminated by pet feces. The eggs can survive in soil for as long as seven years.

Toxocariasis can be prevented by keeping children from playing in soil contaminated by animal feces and by teaching children to wash their hands before eating. Toxocara eggs can only become infective if they have been in the environment for approximately two week, so direct contact with an infected animal generally does not result in transmission.

Can children or adults catch Hookworm from pets?

Hookworm is an intestinal parasite found in cats and dogs but is more common in dogs. Hookworm are most commonly found in tropical and subtropical areas. In animals the hookworm attaches to the inside of the intestinal wall by means of a hook-like mouth and feed on the blood of the host. The eggs are excreted in the animals feces.

Hookworm is transmissible to humans via soil contaminated by cat or dog feces. Hookworm eggs are deposited into the soil. The larvae which hatch from the eggs can infect a human either by ingestion or by penetrating the skin. In skin penetration humans can develop into a characteristic itchy rash called cutaneous larva migrans, or creeping eruption. The rash can take the form of a snake-like tract with blisters which is caused by the hookworm larvae traveling under the skin. In humans when the hookworm enters via the skin it does not find it's way to the intestines.

Children or adults can become infected through the soles of their feet by walking barefoot in a hookworm infected area or on the buttocks by sitting in a infected area. Can Ringworm spread from cats and dogs to children?

Contrary to its name Ringworm is not a worm at all but a fungus called Dermatophytes. Dermaphtytes means 'plants that live on the skin'. In the past, because of the circular lesions made by the fungi they were thought to be caused by worms, hence the name ringworm.

Ringworm is very contagious and can spread from cats, dogs and other animals to humans and visa versa.

Peacock Information and Facts

Peacock Information and Facts


Peacocks are native to India, but can live in many parts of the world in captivity. There are many different kinds of peacocks including the Indian Blue, Black Shouldered, Congo, Green, and White peacocks. White peacocks are the same as the Indian Blue in size and behavior, but are white.

In the wild, male Peacocks generally accumulate a harem of 2 - 5 females. However, in captivity, they are usually satisfied with one. The male has an extremely long train (commonly called his tail) which is NOT actually his tail. The train serves as a cover for the actual tail, which is brown. The train actually sprouts from the center of the back. Peacocks grow to 7' from tip of beak to end of train.


Males are called Peacocks and females are called Peahens. The collective term for both male and female is Peafowl. Peacocks need a great amount of companionship. If you are interested in purchasing one, you will want to get two unless you want a very unhappy bird. I have had peacocks fly away looking for their mates after the peahen dies. Peacocks love to be with one another and close to each other.

The main purpose of the male's train is to entrance the female to get her to mate with him. He spreads his train and displays an incredible fan of beautiful blues, greens, violets, reds, oranges and yellows. Every area of the train changes color when struck by different angles of light. The male vibrates his tail rapidly at the female in an attempt to impress her. He shakes his wings and turns from left to right. However, even with this awesome display, it is very rare that we ever see them mate. The female usually pretends not to notice the male. When she is ready to lay eggs, she will decide to mate with the male. Later, an egg fairly larger than a chicken egg is layed. After 28 days of incubation, the egg hatches. There is no fixed amount of eggs that the peahen will lay. She will also sometimes lay decoy eggs away from the nest to distract predators.

After the 28 (sometimes shorter) days of incubation, the chick hatches and looks somewhat disgusting. It is still covered with substances from the inside of the egg.

The egg left behind by the chick is quite gross-looking on the inside. There is a yellowish-brown membrane left behind called the alontoias membrane. This is material that the peachick's (as they are called) body has digested and does not need.

When the chick is not even one day old, it can walk, eat and drink on it's own. Baby peacocks are born with flight feathers already on their wings and can fly by the time they are one week old. They need to be able to do this to fly into trees at night.