14th March, 2012 Why the long ears?

Great to be reunited with Xanthe, her Suffolk Punch, Tally, and her collection of beautiful mules this evening - Xato, Tomeu and Jordi. Xato arrived inside his Mummy's tummy when she was imported from France but Tomeu and Jordi had endured some poor treatment and still find it difficult to trust people. Since we last saw them, Xato has begun to load readily and Tomeu and Jordi are so much braver than they ever were. As the sun started to go down, we long reined Xato and then spent time foot handling with the other two.

13th March, 2012 Hands On

On tour today and spotted this beautiful Andalusian and his mate in a field by the roadside. Unable to wait until tomorrow when I will be putting my hands on Xanthe's equines, amongst others, I had to stop to say hello.

12th March, 2012 Bearable

On holiday at the moment, and hope to bring you some pictures of horses, mules and donkeys in Mallorca very soon. In the meantime here is Gulliver, an EasyJet bear. When we get home, we'll be entering a competition to win free flights and all we have to do is photograph our Gulliver 'on holiday'. People here think we are mad but have co-operated with our endeavours!

11th March, 2012 Bye, bye Mr Malvern Pye

It's taken me a little while to be able to talk about my Grandpa's funeral. One of the disadvantages of a very long life is that you have outlived most of your friends and those that are left are too frail to come to your funeral. That doesn't explain though why the 10 people who did come to his funeral were divided into four factions when we all come from the same family. United, I would hope, in our great fondness and love for Pye, it saddens me that no-one thought it might be disrespectful to allow their feelings for each other to be so transparent. David and I tried to be a bridge between all of them. My Aunt, Mel, complied exactly with my Grandfather's wishes - no flowers, no fuss. That's the least and the last thing you can do for someone who has died. Goodnight Pye. Sleep well.

7th March, 2012 What a let down

There is only one thing I don't like more than being cancelled without good reason and that's letting a client down. Our cars seem to be engaging in a conspiracy at the moment so that if one breaks down the other one joins in. Only two months ago the MG broke down on the forecourt of the garage when we were collecting the other one from being mended. This time, the MG was already having his cam belt changed when the 4 x 4 started to over heat and the radiator started bubbling. I managed to nurse it home on a bottle full of Evian water but there was no prospect of getting all the way over to Arlesford. This was another date with Puck and company and Matt the farrier. The good news is that this gently pushed Puck and co's owners towards independence and they managed the visit beautifully without me. They were so delighted with how the ponies behaved and it has filled with them with confidence. Phew! All's well that ends well then.

7th March, 2012 Simples

When I meet a client and their horse for the first time, we often work through the simple groundwork exercises in order to establish some simple rules for them both. By moving the horse and insisting that the horse never moves me, it's often easy to start to gain some sense in a chaotic situation. During this first session, the horse often begins to relax and to co-operate softly with what he is being asked to do. They may well stand still for the first time in ages. This is all straightforward stuff and I think owners can be left wondering what it is all about - one step here, one step there, stand still for a while, breathe, relax, use a bit of intent - all small stuff. However, the effect it can have is profound.

I went to see one horse about three weeks ago, who was always busy on the ground and struggles to leave his field mate. It was if he was lonely when he was with people. He also hated being touched anywhere but on his shoulder and would bite or threaten to bite whenever he was approached. He often had his ears back.

We went through the groundwork exercises and he started to work with me and to give me his attention. He even looked down and noticed I was there (I'm not very tall!). His owner kept going with the exercises but most importantly incorporated them into her every day life with the horse so that he never moved her, she always moved him and he was asked not to overtake her when she led him.

When I went back yesterday he was a different horse. His ears were forward, he was relaxed and while we were waiting to start I was able to touch him all over and to cuddle him! His groundwork was exemplary; calm and soft. We can now move on to take him out and about without his field mate, building up his own Google map so that he knows where he is and that he always goes home again.

Incidentally, this is a horse that is very 'over-at-the-knee' and finds it hard to stand still without moving forward. The stay mechanism in his front legs simply doesn't work and if he is not full square when he is asked to stand he absolutely cannot maintain a halt. By making sure that he is always balanced, we were able to help him to stand still and not set him up to fail.

"Thank you for today.  I hoped you would be impressed with BB's progress." YM

Updated 9th March: Here's another example of one session making a profound difference...

"Just a short update. I've been using the clicker with Santi and give him one treat when catching him, this seems to be a good middle way. I'm not bothered by him for more treats, but nor does it take 10 mins to catch him either!

Today, with the perfect weather conditions and a good feeling about things I decided to take him out alone. I'd done some desensitisation sessions and leading up the lane alone earlier in the week and he'd been as good as gold. Just at the end of the track to the stable, though, were some men cutting down branches and using a shredder etc. Luckily some other riders asked the men to shut down the shredder and I jumped off and led Santi past a trailer, no problem. Brakes went on at the orange shredder, so we did 1 step forward, turn away and forward again. Stopping, rewarding him for looking and not pulling back, and walking on with motorcycle hands, with me between him and the shredder. He gave it a wide birth and a good look, but followed me, and also past the white van which still had its engine running. Just a few hundred yards up the lane I hopped back on him and we were out for 45-50mins. Literally crossed the road and into the forest, walked around the heath, and back again. Met the men and vehicles on our way back, but we went up a side track and let them pass no bother at all.

I know there's lots more to do, but that first session with you has made such a difference and I went out feeling confident that we could handle whatever we met and we did! "CJ

5th March, 2012 Have you got yours?

The latest edition of the Intelligent Horsemanship Magazine is now out. You can get yours if you join IH now. Go to www.intelligenthorsemanship.co.uk