Archive for Benji
2012: Believe in Yourself
Posted by: | CommentsI grabbed Carolyn’s hand as we stepped off the train. A nervous chill of anticipation skittered up my spine. People were rushing past us, anxious to get on with their morning, and we timidly tried to keep up. Someone spoke, and smiled, then spoke again and hurried off. The words meant nothing, but we smiled back just the same.
I was bristling with excitement. Gone were the miseries of the long, sleepless flight over. Gone were the first flashes of Milano, seen as a drowsy blur of television stations and newspaper reporters. Now, after a good night’s sleep on a long train ride, my senses were alive and tingling again and the whole feeling was like I had dozed off in Dallas and awakened here.
It was our first trip abroad and my first time out of the country except for three days in Nassau and a few hours in Juarez. So, maybe you can imagine. I mean, anywhere would’ve been terrific, but we weren’t just anywhere. We were in Rome!
The Eternal City. Born nine hundred years before Christ. Home of Cato, Nero, Constantine and the Caesars. A magical place where it is said, you can actually hear the breathing of the centuries; Read More→
Winter Breakthrough – Got Water!
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Last December was the coldest in middle Tennessee since the early 1940s. Another record. Of course. At least we’re consistent. We had just limped through eight days of below freezing temperatures. It got so low the first night that the pond totally froze. I kept trying to break up the ice along the edges so the horses could get to water (the remnants seen on the gravel in the photo below) but it soon reached the point where it was re-freezing before I got back into the house. So finally
– remembering well Mariah’s fall through the ice the winter before – I closed off the entire pasture and Read More→
Training with Treats – Stepping Out of the Box
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I’m not a professional trainer. I do not do it for a living. But I am a student of what works. Logic and common sense to a fault, I suppose. Which lead us quite unexpectedly to the discovery that horses can develop a vocabulary.
Yes vocabulary!
Horses can learn the meanings of words and, like children, as their vocabulary grows they can put those words together into different phrases and sentences. Even actual conversations. That’s not supposed to be true according to most, but Kathleen and I have found it to be absolutely true. And now there is even a scientific study proving it. Read More→
Six Popular Questions… and the Answers
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A few short years ago I could never imagine a time when we would be receiving so many questions about our experiences with horses. How they should be living. And eating. How the barefoot thing was working out. How we achieved such terrific relationships. How our horses transitioned from dry rocky California to wet green middle Tennessee. Questions about pastures, Join-Up, ground work, lifestyle, leadership. Read More→
Trust Yourself to Try and Err
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For years I’ve called the process of making Benji movies trial-and-error film making. I always – well, usually – know what I want to see up there on the screen, but almost never know how to get it on film. I remember late one night in Oregon on Benji the Hunted there were about twelve of us crammed and bundled around the camera which was sitting on the dirt pointed down at a tiny little cougar cub who was supposed to be looking up at Benji, pleading with his eyes to not be left alone to be eaten by Read More→
No Dog Should Be Without this…
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For all of you who have a dog: The Benji Method – Teach Your Dog To Do What Benji Does in the Movies… EBOOK with 90 MINUTES OF VIDEO demonstration embedded in the book (Benji and yours truly). Only $5.99. Also available in paperback :).
It’s a non-regulation Read More→
Joe Camp’s answer to Who needs Hollywood, August 31, 2010
By Jack L. Kennedy for the Joplin Independent
A wise elder once said, “You can’t tell a book by its cover.”
He or she must have been referring to Who Needs Hollywood.
If you want or expect a namedropping foray through Tinsel Town, or a nice cute tale about dogs by the guy in 1974 who forged the first Benji movie almost with his bare hands, you won’t be too disappointed as author Joe Camp does throw in a few names and battles with stereotypical Hollywood forms and other more conventional devices.
But the Hollywood glamour days are almost secondary, the theatrical drama virtually anti-climactic. In a strange, strong, compelling sense, the book is not about the making of a Hollywood movie. It is about faith….having faith in what you can do, in hanging on.
It also is a love story, Read More→
Blogger News Network’s Maryann Miller Reviews Who Needs Hollywood
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“Granted, not everyone wants to buck Hollywood and the odds to make a movie, but everyone has a dream of some sort, and this book encourages people to fight for that dream. Work for that dream. Even if it takes half a lifetime to make it come true. Who Needs Hollywood is so much more than a story about a dog or about making a movie. Like Camp’s best seller, The Soul of a Horse, this one is full of insight and inspiration. And how to make things happen against all odds. Who Needs Hollywood is written with candor, and at times a self-effacing humility and is a refreshing break from some celebrity books that are all about me.” – Maryann Miller, Blogger News Network
Link to full review: http://www.bloggernews.net/125128
Benji and The Soul of a Horse Are Big Hits at Road to the Horse
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Being called an entertainer had little effect on Benji. She’s been there, done that. Me? I think I’ll have my badge framed as it’s the first (and probably the only) time it’ll ever happen to me. But what a fun, fun weekend it was. Kathleen and I feel very honored to be invited into inner circle with Read More→
Joe, Kathleen, and Benji will be at Road to the Horse
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Meet Benji, Kathleen, and moi at Road the the Horse, the World Championship colt starting competition March 5-7 in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. Benji will make a special appearance at the event; I’ll be signing copies of The Soul of a Horse: Life Lessons from the Herd; and – by popular demand – Kathleen will be introducing Read More→
Benji Helps Raise Money for Gentle Carousel Therapy Minature Horses in Ocala
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Benji leads Magic into the Ocala Mayor’s office to receive a special
presentation for making a difference in the Ocala community
What a spectacular weekend this was in Ocala, Florida. Wall-to-wall events and media interviews all focused on fund-raising for the Gentle Carousel Therapy Miniature Horses and bringing a bit of happiness into the lives of hospitalized children and senior citizens. Gentle Carousel is a non-profit organization lead by Debbie and Jorge Garcia-Bengochea, two of the most caring, selfless individuals I’ve ever met. Their miniature horses visit kids in children’s hospitals and Read More→
New Video is Up: Benji Gets a New Baby…Horse
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Our canine superstar Benji, Oprah’s favorite onscreen animal, has never had anything to do with our other horses. Not even sweet Cash. Along comes our unhandled pregnant mustang adopted from the BLM Dec 10. Malachi was born on March 3 and from the very first day Benji was taken with him. Maybe because Benji was adopted from a shelter as well Read More→
