A3O-Lancaster Farming, Saturday, August 20, 1994
Horse Training, Composting Demonstrations Part Of Ag Progress
VERNON ACHENBACH JR.
Lancaster Farming Staff
ROCKSPRING (Centre
Co.) Educational demonstra
tions are a large part of the puipose
of Penn State Ag Progress Days,
held annually at the Russell E. Lar
son Agricultural Research Center,
in Rockspring.
Among some of the offerings
this year were a horse training clin
ic and a manure composting
demonstration.
The horse training clinic drew a
large audience as Ward Studebak
cr, Penn State University Horse
Farm manager, used one of the
university horses to demonstrate
the basic techniques for establish
ing communications with a horse
and training it to react in a predict
able way.
Studebaker talked about and
demonstrated the use of his physi
cal presence to “push” a horse, and
to allow it to come toward him.
Also, using a rope, he demon
strated how a horse is made calm
with materials and how to intro
duce them to the animal. Further,
program Farm Link, distributes information and talks to vis
itors about keeping farms in farming by helping retiring far
mers meet young want-to-be farmers, and helping both
understand and develop a relationship that can transfer the
farm to the next generation.
, - JSU SCS, talks electric fencing
with visitors to Ag Progress Days.
he demonstrate how a rope is used
in conjunction with body move
ments to nudge a horse into doing
something.
Studebaker stressed that the
horse learns only through repeated
experience and not the whip. He
said that while there may be times
when a horse may need to be
shown firmness by the handler, it
is more effective to perform
repeated, and consistent simple
actions that correspond to specific
behaviors in the horse.
He said that the reward for a
horse is to be unpressured. For
example. Studebaker demon
strated how his walking toward the
horse resulted in the horse moving
away, a natural horse behavior.
Then he demonstrated how when
he backed away from the horse and
stood, the horse came to him.
Studebaker said horses under
stand the movement of legs and,
without the use of a halter rope or
any other means of constraint, he
walked the horse around the ring,
made it change directions, go away
from him and come to him just by
Studebaker’s own maneuverings
in the ring.
While there were many lessons
in Studebaker’s presentation, he
stressed that horses are dangerous
to be around, that they all kick and
may bite very quickly and that it’s
more important to be smart with
dealing with a horse than by using
force.
Other demonstrations at Ag
Progress included a composting
educational site, where university
personnel and USDA Soil Conser
vation Service staff discussed the
basics of turning manure and other
waste into a rich, safe soil
amendment
The key is to combine nitrogen
from the manure, carbon from
plant material (leaves, woody
materials or paper) and moisture in
proper combination in order to
provide a growing environment for
areobic bacteria and fungus, which
use the carbon and nutrients to cre
ate a stable form of the nutrients
and materials.
The demonstration site was pre
viously a manure stacking pad that
Penn State wanted as a remote site
to store manure from its dairy
facility.
Later, the university decided to
expand the site to compost the
manure and constructed a gravel
base pad adjacent to two cement
storage structures to use as a com
posting pad. On display this week
were two long windrows of com
posting material. One windrow
was a week old, the other a month
and a half old.
(Turn to Pago A3l)
George Herd, a PSU Extension staff member, center, talks about the specifics of
composting manure to a group of Ag Progress Days visitors.
Ward Studebaker puts a harness on a horse while assistant Brian Egan helps out.
Studebaker is giving a demonstration on training and handling horses.
Rick Fogal, supervisor with the Pa. Department of Agri
culture’s Bureau of Weights and Measures, displays the
bureau’s testing wares and answers questions.
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