Riding Your Horse Away From His Buddies

Horses are herd animals and those instincts often fall into place in other places such as an arena or trail ride. These are also the times when you generally need the horse to be more independent and do what you ask. These herd instincts often lead to fights either on the rail or on the trail, but in order to find the root of the problem, it is important to look at things from the horse's point of view.

The horse has a reason for everything he does. It is up to the rider to find what those reasons are. If the horse is scared, then you will want to help him to relax and calm down before you head off in a different direction. If he just wants to go somewhere else because he feels like it, then you will want to treat him differently and tell him where you want to go. This might end up in a small fight, but he may just be acting stubborn. The rider should be able to feel the situation and feel what they should do next. If the horse is truly scared, then you may want to begin with baby steps.

The baby step horse is the one we will discuss. You will want to ride your horse with a friend, assuming that their horse does not have this problem, and you will want to gradually begin suggesting to the horse that you want to veer away for a little bit. All you are doing is suggesting, maybe applying a little rein direction or leg. He may not respond immediately but any pressure you apply for a different direction will make him think about moving that way. As soon as he gives the slightest effort, remove the pressure and relax. He will probably continue staying near the other horse, so you will want to suggest your way again. The key is to get him to understand that there is only pressure when he is with the other horse. As soon as he realizes he won't be pressured if he goes your way, he will decide to go your way.

The hardest part of this training is that you must have a feel for your horse. Many people have problems developing and finding this feel and getting the proper timing on relieving pressure. The horse will provide you with little signs he is thinking of going your way, these signs might be as simple as his ears moving in that direction or taking a slight step in that direction. For example, if you are riding along with a friend and you decide that you want to veer off to the right and away from that horse, you will apply rein pressure and the horse will give you a sign that he is thinking of that direction by turning his head slightly to the right. When you see this sign and that is the way you want to go, relieve the pressure immediately. The sooner you are able to relieve the pressure, the more willing the horse will be to move in your direction.

This process is especially useful in young horses and colts that have just been started. They are more in tune with the rider and the rider will need a greater amount of feel. Many older horses have often begun to ignore many cues from the rider, as many times you mistakenly cue your horse when riding and they learn to basically tune you out. Young colts are not like that and they are very sensitive to everything you tell them. You may not necessarily want to focus on setting this as a goal, but you may choose to practice it with your horse over a short amount of time. The horse will soon begin to understand and will gradually become more willing to go where you want to go rather than staying with his buddies.

Some horses will take more effort than others and they may need a little more convincing. Many times you may also need to pay really close attention to what you are doing, and your horse will be more willing to respond. The key is finding a feel for your horse so that you will be able to see or feel what he is about to do. Many horses may give you very subtle cues such as twitching an ear in that direction, while others will turn their whole head. Colts can be even subtler and you may have to rely on your feel of the horse in order to feel which direction he is going to go. These methods will work whether you ride English or Western and can be easy training procedures that can be used on the trail. Anytime you have an opportunity to test your horse and teach him something new, you should take advantage of it.

Life Insurance - 5 Mistakes People Make When Purchasing a New Policy

1. Procrastination. Never a good habit, procrastination costs you money when it comes to purchasing life insurance. Life insurance premiums are based on the age and health of the insured. Younger people pay less than older ones on the theory that they will live longer and pay more premiums. The longer you wait to buy life insurance, the more it costs.

Remedy: Purchase sooner rather than later. The lowest price you will ever get is the one you qualify for now. To overcome inertia, set a deadline to buy insurance. You will thank yourself later.

2. Paying with after-tax dollars. Many people who can pay for life insurance with pre-tax dollars are not doing so. Instead they are paying with hard-earned, after-tax dollars. If you are self-employed, you might qualify to buy life insurance through your company with pre-tax dollars. The same is true if you are a partner in a business.

Remedy: Ask your tax advisor if you would benefit from paying for life insurance through your business or employer.

3. Designating an estate as beneficiary. Making your estate your beneficiary is a costly mistake. It subjects your death benefit to inheritance taxes it would not incur if it were paid to an individual. It also means the death benefit will end up in probate court to be settled along with the rest of your estate. That means the benefit will not be available to pay for a funeral, make a house payment, or cover any other immediate expenses.

Remedy: Designate a loved one as the beneficiary. If you are single, name a parent, sibling, or trusted friend. Discuss your plans ahead of time, so the beneficiary is prepared.

4. Naming just one beneficiary. Many people name only one beneficiary in their life insurance policies-usually a spouse. If your sole beneficiary dies before you do, the death benefit will be paid to your estate, subjecting it to all the problems outlined above.

Remedy: Designate back-ups to your beneficiary. If you have children, you can name them as back-ups to your spouse--especially if they are old enough to make good decisions. If not, turn to parents, siblings, or close friends.

5. Purchasing too little coverage. Some people attempt to minimize their premiums by purchasing very little coverage. Others underestimate future expenses that need to be covered by the death benefit. Either way, the amount they chose will not be enough to pay off a mortgage, fund an education, or replace missing income.

Remedy: Buy more insurance than you think you need. You have more insurance buying power now than you ever will again, so use it.

What Does The Term "Mens Rea" Mean?

Many people wonder how the law distinguishes between someone who deliberately set out to cause harm to someone and an action that accidentally resulted in harm.

There is an old Latin term used in the law, particularly criminal law, that is called "mens rea." Mens rea (pronounced, menz ray uh) means "guilty mind" and is a concept present in most criminal laws that distinguishes between an accidental event and an intentional act, even if they both result in the same harm caused to someone's life, person or property.

For example, a defendant who is on trial for murder must be shown to have not only caused the death of another, but also shown to have intended to commit an unlawful act. Notice that the state does not have to prove that the defendant intended to cause a person's death, but that the intent was to do something that was against the law.

This means that if someone's death resulted from a defendant's actions while in the act of committing a robbery, the intent to break the law for a robbery is carried over to the death of the victim.

Recklessness is also a mens rea. For example, if a defendant was driving at high speeds through a residential neighborhood and a death occurs as a result, that criminal recklessness is sufficient recklessness for a charge of manslaughter.

Traditional, most criminal statutes required some level of moral culpability in order to find a defendant guilty. For example, suppose a hunter is charged with murder after accidentally shooting another hunter while out in the woods during hunting season. If the shooter's criminal defense lawyer [http://www.askcrimelawyer.blogspot.com] can show that he did not act with malice, criminal intent or recklessness, he cannot be found guilty of murder.

On the other hand, there are some laws that are called "strict liability statutes," which do not require any level of intent in order to be found guilty. These are fairly modern criminal laws that do not require a proving of mens rea. Generally these laws are enacted because public policy demands that would-be defendants know the law and make absolutely certain of their actions.

Statutory rape laws of having sex with a minor, or laws forbidding the sale of alcohol to minors are examples of strict liability laws. These laws absolutely require that an adult having consensual sex know that the partner is not a minor, or that a seller of alcohol know that the person buying alcohol is a legal adult. Again, such laws are passed because our society demands strict liability in the compliance of these actions.

Other strict liability laws are often federal regulations, such as tax laws, environmental protection laws and health care regulations. In other words, if you violate an obscure income tax law, you are still guilty of violating the law, regardless of whether you intended to or not.

How Title Insurance Can Protect You From Loss When A Claim Is Filed Against Your Property

Rare as they are, property claims do arise. Even if you had a title search performed during the time you were in escrow before you bought the property, it's possible that something was missed and someone could make a claim against your property.

More likely, however, is that a previous owner had given another person permission to use the property in some manner without recording it. An example of this would be if a previous owner gave a neighbor verbal permission to use a portion of the property for a specified use. Unless it was documented and filed, it's unlikely that such an agreement would show up in a title search.

How Title Insurance Works

Title insurance works by protecting you from defects in the title. These defects occurred prior to the date of your policy being issued and prior to you taking ownership of the property. Title agencies will research the history of the property to identify and fix defects in the title before they issue a policy. If they find defects in the title, the defects will either be corrected or listed as exclusions to the policy. If listed as exclusions, they will not be covered against future claims. Keep in mind that this is very different from most other types of insurance such as homeowners insurance, which protects you from unseen future events.

So what do you do if someone files a claim against your property?

Check Your Policy

The very first thing you should do is review your title insurance policy to determine if the claim or use is specifically excluded from it. It's possible this specific use was named as an exclusion and you forgot about it.

If the claim is not listed as an exclusion, then you may, indeed, have a case and need to contact your real estate title agency.

Contacting Your Agency

There will be specific instructions in your policy regarding how to contact the agency if a claim arises. It is in your best interests to follow these instructions exactly. This usually requires submitting written documentation along with proof of damage or loss.

The important thing to remember about title insurance is that it is an indemnity policy which only protects you from actual loss. The loss could be loss of use or financial loss, but unless there is some type of loss involved, your policy will not protect you from claims. Even if it is determined that you have not suffered a specific loss, the agency is bound to defend you against such claims, even if they may ultimately deny coverage of the claim.

Although this may sound confusing, the important thing to remember when faced with a claim is if you are suffering an actual loss. If you aren't, then maybe you will work it out with the neighbor to continue to allow the use. If, however, you are facing a loss, then your title insurance policy will most likely protect you and your agency will defend you to the best of their ability.

How to Close Petroleum Trade Deals - 11 Deadly Don'ts for Oil Brokers in Closing Oil Deals

There are some common deadly don'ts and mistakes frequently made by brokers in trying to close deals.

Most (in deed, just about ALL) brokers and intermediaries that one meets on the Internet who send out "offers" and "deals" each day claiming they have oil or oil products to sell, haven't got even the foggiest clue of what is even proper trading, or what is involved in proper trading or how it works or is done. Almost to a man or woman, they essentially think that all there is to oil "trading," is basically to accumulate any number of some copied generic documents they can find - 'SPAs,' 'LOI,' 'FCO,' 'ICPO' and what have you - with almost none of them ever verified, and just keep passing them around on the Internet to potential buyers or their agents, asking them to "just sign," "just sign"! In deed, what is even worse, they hardly ever have the foggiest idea of even what their PROPER function and duty is as an intermediary in the modern Internet era of too much information but too little quality or genuine data!

True, in the field of oil trading and petroleum trade deals, as in the field of law, ignorance of the rules is NOT a legitimate excuse for breaking the rules. However, simply because these brokers and agents are generally untrained in, and badly misinformed and uninformed about, the proper procedures or rules and protocols of doing modern international trading before they plunge into the business, they simply don't know any better, and coupled with the fact that they're often badly blinded by sheer greed and false notion about the petroleum trading business being a business in which to 'strike it big and fast' without much work or knowledge as an oil intermediary, these intermediaries mindlessly plunge ahead, nevertheless, and keep passing those same, old, flawed mumbo jumbo procedures (so-called 'joker broker' procedures) around the Internet world, down the web of prolonged "daisy chain" of the extensive Internet broker network.

And the result?

It invariably leads to the common woes of the brokers and intermediaries -- namely, woeful failure on the part of most or nearly all of them (some 99.9% of them, according to one study) to find any buyers, or to close any deals or earn even a dime in commission - even after years of trying their hands at working as an intermediary! For a serious seller of oil or his broker or intermediary, a vitally critical question is: how to close petroleum trade deals in the correct way and manner.

Outlined below are the major common 11 deadly don'ts for oil brokers in closing oil deals. In deed, I call them the lethal "DEAD ON ARRIVAL" mistakes of oil brokers and dealers!

1. Don't Even Get Into the Business Until You've First Got the Requisite Training, Preparation & Education

Don't ever rush into it, or rush it. FACT: There's a great, great deal of learning and mastery of details that need to, and MUST be, done before you can ever find success or even understand or do well in the oil trading business! Take strictly to heart this advice offered by experts who have studied it, and by respected business gurus who have successfully done the business. Don't even ever try to act or function as a broker/agent intermediary (not to speak of a trader) in the international commodities and petroleum trading industry UNTIL you have first put in the necessary time, resources and hard work required to learn the business, and have actually acquired the requisite education, training, experience and knowledge in the fundamentals of the business - comprising the practical methodology, rules, knots and bolts, and procedures of it.

Sidestepping or ignoring this seemingly simple advice by brokers and agents and mindlessly plunging right ahead into the business, any way, has almost universally been the single biggest and most strategic but deadly mistake on their part, sooner or ultimately landing them only in woeful failures and disappointments in closing any deals. It is a common behavior that is often fueled and powered by wild fantasy or mythological notion that most naive, greedy and uninformed dealers and intermediaries often have or been lead to belief that one can actually succeed, in deed make it big, in this business otherwise, without much education, training, experience in the industry.

2. Don't look to turn instant millionaire without work or efforts in this business.

It just doesn't work that way in this business. Never! Far, far, far from it!!

3. Don't Just Pass Around Joker Broker Documents.

Don't just pass around on the Internet the same, old, tired, bogus, annoying joker broker "documents" that nobody reads - LOI, ICPO, FOC, POP, etc. Or, at the very least, learn and know the right ones to use, and when and how to in a deal. Why? Because no credible buyer even looks at or reads such papers, especially when the paper is from an unknown, unestablished "Internet" trader or intermediary, and especially when it's not properly presented, such as presenting them with no separate statement of analysis or research done on the principal or offer. Be aware that, in deed, rather, quite often, for a credible and experienced buyer, seeing such documents and procedures immediately gives you away that you're probably a newbie or joker broker trader who either really has nothing to sell or is a novice or uninformed fellow in the business.

4. Even With LEGITIMATE Documents, Don't Pass Them Around Unless There Has Been Due Diligence.

There are some situations when the application of certain "documents" may be legitimately appropriate, such as in the use of documents like the SPA, BL, ATS, ABS, and the like. But even in such particular situations, you must still be sure not to just routinely or indiscriminately pass them around - i.e., not UNLESS they come with (you provide them with) a simple way by which the buyer can readily verify and confirm them as to their authenticity and genuineness. If you do otherwise, you're almost guaranteed - no one would read them. Most buyers simply view such papers, off hand, as copied, forged and worthless pieces of papers that are not worth wasting even a split second on!.

5. Don't be a Joker Broker, or Behave Like One.

That is, basically, don't ever be the type of broker/agent intermediary (or trader) who goes around peddling fake deals on the Internet, whether knowingly or unknowingly; who frequently passes around totally unrealistic and impractical or unworkable procedures for doing a deal, and who, oftentimes, is innocently and naively trying to close a deal for someone who they might claim or believe to be real, but who actually is not, but being that they never verify anything in order to be able to know, they just peddle and shove around those unverified worthless offers and bogus documents, any way, annoying everybody. That is, in short, simply don't be a jerk, the kind of seller or intermediary described by one expert in these terms: "[a member of] underground string of International brokers trading meaningless offers and circumventing each other, left and right, [which] illustrates well the term 'Joker Broker' and resembles, often, a Zoo full of monkeys."

6. Don't Present an Unworkable or Unrealistic Set of Transactions Procedures

A good, realistic, reasonable transactions procedure that is practical and workable, is almost everything in this business as to whether an offer will materialize or not. For example, if you are essentially an unknown or obscure Internet seller (which is to say, UNLESS you are a Major or an otherwise fairly established and well-known dealer in the industry, for example), don't send a potential buyer a procedure that asks that buyer "just sign contract, just sign contract" with you, when you've not yet provided any evidence, FIRST, that establishes that you're a legitimate or safe seller of the product, and don't demand that it submit to you an LOI or ICPO, etc., with its banking details to you. Don't ask a potential buyer to provide you a POF showing that it can pay for the product, when you yourself have not yet shown him FIRST your (the seller's) profile or even any record of past performance by the seller indicating that the seller has ever successfully done such business in the past. In like manner, don't ever present a draft contract that asks the buyer to provide you (a mere unknown Internet "seller") an upfront BCL or pre-payment or DLC before you (the unknown Internet seller) will provide a PB..

7. Don't be in Denial of Certain Basic Facts that Almost Everyone Else Already Knows to be So

Don't be in denial. You must recognize -- and admit that to yourself -- that if you're a crude oil or petroleum product seller or intermediary in the 'secondary' market today, generally you have a very low public esteem and image in the trading world, and are simply just not trusted by the average buyer in the international market. At least, not automatically or off hand!

That, most especially, if you're a person or entity sourcing oil as a "seller" or "supplier" of the product from one of these counties called the 'hotbed scam countries' - Nigeria, Russia, or, though to a lesser extent, even Saudi Arabia - you must recognize and admit the bitter but brutal truth to yourself, that, like it or not, justified or not, any document whatsoever that you present that's stamped 'from Nigeria' or 'from Russia,' etc., is automatically cast as suspect and not to be trusted, or as something false or forged in the eyes of most dealers in international trade. Nobody regards, trusts, or accepts them, period! The same, too, for any word regarding the genuineness of your offer that you might utter about yourself, your seller, or your offer. And hence recognize and admit to yourself as an oil seller, that, that being the brutal FACT of the matter, there's just no point whatsoever in your being in self-denial and trying to fool yourself by denying or pretending that it's otherwise or not so because there's virtually no credible dealer out there who doesn't already hold a firm negative view on that.

8. Don't Make Any Sanctimonious Claims or Proclamations About How Supposedly Great Your Offer or the Offer-Maker Is

Just don't even try it at all -- that is, to make any self-serving, pious claims or statements about how supposedly "genuine and authentic" and wonderfully "real and reliable," or "respectable and honest," the seller of the product or his offer, supposedly is. That will just NOT make any shred of difference whatsoever to any legitimate buyer, nor make any impression on anyone. Just check at the door any pipe hopes or unreal dreams you might have about some 'magical' powers that any word or claims of any kind that you may utter might possess. Buyers -- CREDIBLE buyers -- simply don't pay a dime worth of time or attention to merely such words and claims, and would generally disregard or even laugh them away as utterly worthless.

CLUE: Rather, the more productive and effective thing that move credible buyers and instantly bring results with them, is when YOU can show them that a document or offer you provide to the prospective buyer has been diligently verified for its validity and authenticity, and when you can provide the buyer some concrete, simple, accessible way and method by which he (she) himself can independently verify and confirm its actual genuineness and authenticity.

9. Don't Submit 'Deals' or 'Offers' that are Unverified

Know that every credible or experienced buyer already knows that at least 99.9 percent of the email "offers" and "deals" he gets any single day on oil deals, are bogus or fake, any way, and are destined for the delete button, in any case. He (or she) already knows that reality even all too well! So, whenever he gets another one of such familiar email offers from you (and/or any others), and it contains no mention or indication that you've done any verification or authentication on it before submitting it, that buyer simply says to himself almost automatically, "aha, this is apparently one of those same usual good old joker broker worthless nonsense being passed around again through the usual long 'daisy chain' line of brokers, from other clueless broker/agent intermediary to me," and so, quite predictably, the buyer almost automatically tosses your material into the unread email inbox right away.

10. DON'T BE TOO PARANOID ABOUT BEING 'CIRCUMVENTED'

Sure, the possibility of being circumvented by a fellow broker or agent, or an unscrupulous trader, is a very real and present danger and a fact of life in this business. No denying or minimizing whatsoever of that fact. But you must still make sure, nevertheless, that that concern is your last priority, and not your first. After all, ONLY an intermediary who has a signed contract, or has a deal that's been sealed to close, can ever possibly be circumvented! If you've got NO deal, to begin with, you can't ever possibly be 'circumvented'! So, your FIRST priority should be to find a credible seller, first, and after you're certain that you have one, and that you've adequately done your share of due diligence on the prospective seller sufficient for you to say that that prospect is a good one for securing a contract with a buyer, then it may be time at that stage (and only at that point) for you to worry about making certain you'd have proper protection on the possible circumvention issue. Excessive and undue paranoia about being 'circumvented,' could cripple all chances you may have for making it even through the first step of a deal, at all.

11. DON'T SUBMIT 'DEAD ON ARRIVAL' OFFERS

This is super important. Sales offers or business leads or prospects which come from traders or broker/agent intermediaries often come by emails that are submitted with a statement of introduction like this: "This is from an authentic seller. Will supply on CIF, FOB or TTO, 2 million bbl of BLCO (or FLCO, SLCO, etc) x 12 to capable buyer. Could supply for up to 36 months. Gross discount $7 per bbl; $3 commission to brokers/agents to be distributed equally between seller's side and buyer's side. See attached SPA, ATS, SCO,... If interested, buyer should please endorse the SCO and sign the SPA. Please revert back to me immediately."

Or, the offer will say something like; "See attached POP documents to show that seller has product. Do your own due diligence and please revert back immediately."

An offer such as this is simply "dead on arrival," however. It's got no chance with a credible buyer! Why? The trader or broker/agent intermediary has NOT done the single most important thing he/she should and could have done as a responsible and serious intermediary - that is, he/she has provided NO profile or bio of this supposed "seller" whose offer/product he's peddling; NO verifiable evidence or proofs of any kind; NO statement of result that he should have developed concerning any verification/due diligence done about the offer or the seller which the prospective interested buyer can now use as the starting background point and information to do his own independent due diligence upon, or a follow up on. Hence, this offer almost certainly will be tossed into the infamous waste paper basket right off the bat!

No credible buyer, or buyer's mandate -- who probably gets already, perhaps, literally several dozens of this kind of offers per single day (as with the author's consultancy office, for example, where the volume averages some 3 dozens per day 24/7) -- will go around expending even a split second of its own valuable staff time and company resources chasing after empty shadows and 'doing your own due diligence' on an unknown, obscure, dubious, faceless Internet "seller" about whom it has been provided absolutely no background information to start with or go by! So, naturally and almost automatically, all that such buyers would do with such mail about which there's no evidence of any prior verification or due diligence work done concerning the offer, would be to reach to the delete button!

POINTER: You want your offer read, paid attention to or duly considered? It's simple. Provide tangible evidence to the buyer that lets him see that you did your proper job on the offer as a broker/agent intermediary -- due diligence.

FOR A FOLLOW UP

So, how to close petroleum trade deals? For a follow up on a specific plan of action by which, exactly, you can completely avoid committing these deadly don'ts of oil brokers in closing oil deals which are at the very heart of why most dealers and intermediaries frequently fail to close deals, please see the instructional information and links in the author's resource box below.

Plan a Road Trip

It was my job to plan a road trip. I thought I had a lot of tedious work ahead of me. Boy, was I wrong! As I laid out our itinerary, and then delved deeper and deeper into the areas we would visit, I began to get more and more excited.

Our plan was for a late spring 6-week cross country road trip. If possible, we would do it with no motel reservations. Our goals were to stay off the interstate as much as possible, fish for trout at some of the top western streams, and try to see as much of our beautiful country as we possibly could.

I started by going to our local Triple A office and getting a roadmap of the US. I have two books that describe the 'best' scenic drives in the US. Using these books as my guides, I used a highlighter to mark the 'best' scenic routes on my US map.

Then I got into my mental car and 'traveled' along the highlighted route. Using the internet, my books, and old articles from travel magazines that I had saved, I 'visited' small towns, 'toured' museums, and 'stayed' at elegant bed and breakfasts. It soon became a contest with myself, as I discovered one special place after another. What else was there that I hadn't yet found? And what would we find once we got on the road for real? What other unique places would we discover? Working on our road trip plan now became very exciting.

A very important part of the plan was the need to figure daily driving mileage so that we didn't overextend ourselves and end up driving tired. It's relatively easy to figure mileage when you are driving on an interstate. But for a road trip like this, I needed to figure mileage on the small, two laned, twisty roads that were part of our plan. For help with this part of our trip, I went to the Triple A website and used its Triptik® tool. Using specific destinations and/or routes, it gives point to point mileage. Not only did it provide me with the mileage information that I needed, but it also helped pinpoint roads and mountain passes that might still be closed in the late spring and where we might need to plan an alternate route.

After several weeks of research, we were ready to depart. Of course we didn't keep, exactly, to our planned agenda. We decided that, yes, Dinosaur National Monument AND Craters of the Moon National Monument were both worth a visit. And, yes, we just HAD to stop at some of those great looking trout streams. And spend, of course, a little extra time walking a windswept beach.

We got home 4 days later than originally planned. We put a bit over 10,000 miles on the car. A friend said they couldn't imagine taking a road trip that was SO long that we had to plan for an oil change halfway through it. Yes, we planned for the oil change. AND the two new tires we knew we'd need before tackling some of the mountain roads we expected to travel.