Harry Tonemah Mandy Brown get help walking a horse from Joe Don Dunham. The Chatanooga, Okla., 4-H club attended Dunham's clinic and members were given a chance to test what they learned at the seminar.

Program teaches important life lessons

By John IngleTimes Record News
June 10, 2003

CHATTANOOGA, Okla. - Trust, respect and problem solving are all horse sense if you ask Joe Don Dunham.

That's why he and June, an 8-year-old horse, travel to schools and churches teaching children that building trust, respecting people and learning how to solve problems are essential in life.

Maybe there's nothing extraordinary in that, but there is in the way Dunham teaches it.

"I use horses because a horse herd's like a community, church or 4H group," he said recently outside a Chattanooga school. "Kids really seem to respond well to horses."

As June, a beautiful roan horse, stood in a small round pen, Dunham began to teach the 4-H students by showing how his actions determined what the horse did.

It's similar to a parent-child relationship, he said.

When June began acting in a manner Dunham didn't approve of, it wasn't the horse's fault, he said. Correcting June's actions would begin with an inventory of what he has done.

"When you run into problems in life ... you have to look at yourself and see if that is where the problem started," Dunham said.

The same is applicable to children and students, he said.

When a student gets in trouble at school, his first instinct is to blame someone else instead of looking at what he could have done to instigate the problem.

At home, when a parent asks a child to do something and the child doesn't follow through with the request, it is the child's reluctance to carry out the task that has spawned the problem, he said.

Once the action is identified, it is then up to the student or child to decide what to change.

He again turned to June to illustrate his point.

With the horse running around a circle pen, Dunham flailed his arms and swiftly approached the horse. June stopped and pointed her ears back, an indication that she didn't approve of his action.

"If we're having a problem, what am I willing to do to change my actions to get her to change hers?" he said. "You can't expect different results from the same action."

Regardless of what the situation is, a change begins with trust, Dunham said. If a person or animal can't trust you, then they won't accept what changes you are trying to make.

June became the example again.

With a short rope similar to a hog tie, Dunham approached June and gently slid the rope around her neck.

He then asked the 4H students if they thought he would be able to ride her without a saddle.

A mixture of yes and no reverberated from the students. Dunham climbed on the back of June with nothing but a small rope to control her. He explained to students that by nature, horses are animals of prey, and humans are predators.

"To let a predator on their back - their most vulnerable part of their body - requires a huge amount of trust," he said.

Training a horse doesn't happen overnight, and neither does changing someone's actions, Dunham said. But identification of those actions and the willingness to change is what begins building trust and respect.

To request a lesson from Dunham, e-mail him at jddunham@pldi.net or call him at (580) 305-7189 or (580) 568-2290. For more information, visit his Web site at www.dddcc.com. Click on "Dunham Farms" scrolling across the bottom of the screen.

Regional and military reporter John Ingle can be contacted at (940) 763-7532, (800) 627-1646 Ext. 532 or by e-mail at inglej@timesrecordnews.com.

Copyright 2003, Times Record News. All Rights Reserved.