Lukas is Captivating, Enchanting, Incredible, and he's a rescued Thoroughbred Horse

"Captivating!", "Enchanting!", "Incredible!" – are all being used to describe Lukas, a seventeen year old off-the-track, rescued Thoroughbred owned and trained by Karen Murdock. Murdock's specialty is the ability to form an extraordinary connection with horses by using trick training and games designed to build confidence, focus, willingness, performance and trust. Her success is evident with Lukas - he may not be the only liberty horse to passage, Spanish Walk, and jambet (three legged 180 pivot), but he also freely performs the bow, reverence and rear. Astonishingly enough, he also spells, counts, identifies shapes and discriminates colors in addition to his many other talents. Murdock has developed a progressive system based on kindness and shared enjoyment for the horse and trainer. The deep love, respect, and appreciatio
Lukas and Murdock share is obvious to anyone that observes them.

Lukas is the only liberty horse to passage; Spanish walk; jambet. spell, count, identify shapes, discriminate colors and he also freely performs the bow, reverence and rear.

Lukas (race name Just Ask Mike, by Crystal Waters and Califo
ia bred by the Hudons) ran three races as a two year old, and "showed little". After leaving the track and changing hands several times, he ended up neglected and emaciated in a back yard. A local trainer, Sue Smith, took pity on the then eight year old gelding - "his tail was a solid bat of mud and debris" - and purchased him with plans to eventually include him in her amateur jumping program. After two years, he was "still not fitting in", according to Smith, and Murdock found him advertised in a local Horsetrader as a "green project horse". Following brief competition training (by someone else) that didn't agree with him, Lukas became extremely sullen, distrustful and resistant to the point of being dangerous. His bad habits included bucking, shying (even in his own stall!), and withdrawal and difficulty with even small changes and requests.

Through her consistent and patient retraining, Murdock and Lukas have developed a partnership that many have described as magical. Her techniques can be used to correct any number of problems and become tools to approach issues and develop an almost boundless repertoire. For both the trainer and the horse, it becomes a bridge to establish and deepen a very special bond as they learn to respond to each other in a new and fun way. Play is really the basis of Murdock's system - positive reinforcement being the most powerful, beautiful aspect of her training. It provides a joyful medium that naturally leads to quicker learning and eager responses without the use of any force whatsoever ( she doesn't even own a whip!). It also leads to better retention and broader generalizations which makes subsequent lessons easier.

Lukas' repertoire, all at liberty (without any equipment) now includes the: smile, yes, no, pose, kiss (dry and wet), fetch, blindfold, catch, yawn, wave, pedestal work, Spanish Walk (forward and backward), stay and come, jambet, reverence, passage, bow, crossed front legs, the lay down and sitting on him, feet together (front and back), hide and seek, acting lame, pushing a cart and rear. Most of his acclaim, however, comes from his amazing abilities to spell, count, identify shapes and discriminate colors along with his newer concepts of spatial relationships, object permanence, proportion, same/different and absentness. Murdock decided to make Lukas public only seven short months ago, and posted Lukas' videos on you-tube in the hopes that it would "help some horses." And the rest, as they say, is history: once destined for a bleak future, Lukas is now listed on both Yahoo and Google as, “The World’s Smartest Horse." He has appeared on NBC, CBS, ABC, CNN, HLN, Equisearch, Equine VIP, Pet Life Radio, RFD-Radio and the Associated Press released a feature story on him. His story has been in countless magazines, newspapers and newsletters and on many websites and blogs world-wide, and Guinness is currently considering a record related to his feats. He has been invited to attend events all over the country and his next upcoming event is America's Family Pet Expo at the Orange County fairgrounds April 16 - 18.

In addition, he has been appointed the Spokeshorse for TROTT – an organization dedicated to finding homes for ex-racehorses. Murdock and Lukas have also teamed up with the Califo
ia Thoroughbred Breeders' Association to promote Thoroughbred awareness and ownership. Furthermore, HEAL (Human-Equine Alliances for Learning), an equine-assisted therapy practice in Chehalis, Washington, is using Lukas' training model to help their patients overcome trauma. Lastly, his newfound status is being used to help horses around the world by showing others the happy results of kind training and how wonderful and smart animals are.