31st August, 2010 The clip clip

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=32iIKDlKg7E&feature=related

Apparently this clip is no longer available due to a copyright claim by Parelli. What is showed was Linda demonstrating to a student just how to catch a horse in the face with the clip.

New link: try this - http://www.barnmice.com/video/linda-parelli-shows-how-to

31st August, 2010 Exmoor twinned with Loisaba

This super picture turned up in my inbox today from Sarah B showing her two Exmoor ponies in their Masai browbands. Just a small glimpse under those bushy forelocks but pretty all the same.

31st August, 2010 Clips and snippets

There were some very important points made at the clinic which I am sure will stay with me. For the first time, I really understood the usefulness of a circle to give a horse direction and to lighten up his front quarters. I think all those video of horses doing endless and mindless circles in Parelli training had given me a phobia but it was good to see circles being used to communicate with a horse and the horse being released to a halt pretty quickly. Circles can create all sorts of problems when they are used badly, often to get rid of excess energy and I think there is a world of difference between deliberately circling a horse and allowing it to come past you - here the horse is often pulled round to the left resulting in the left shoulder impeding and moving the handler; hard to stop once it has been established.

I liked the way that Lesley released a horse's hips and shoulder and drew the horse's head and attention to different sides - very clever stuff this and you would need to see it to understand it. I tried it out on Theoden this morning and it worked very well. He was also suprised to be asked to pick up both of his feet from the same side (but not at the same time).

Much was made of not pet-ifying or dog-ifying horses and I agree that it is important to get young horses accepting direction and not wandering all over you asking for attention right from the outset. It should all be on your terms. It must be a dreadful shock to some placid and well loved ponies to be told that they "must" once they start their ridden work. Of course, many of them then object.

I'm not convinced that just because a human spends time at the horse's front end this automatically leads to a bargy horse as I think it is possible to insist that they don't do that. I agree that we shouldn't be smothering them though and impeding their ability to see properly! For a pony like Mystery, Lesley's suggestion that we spend more time standing next to where we will be sitting is going to be very useful. We might need to stand a person on each side though to get her over her fear of seeing something out of both eyes at the same time. If we shape this, it should be possible.

Lesley also demonstrated how those heavy snaps that are on their ropes continue to swing under a horse's chin ages after any slight movement from the handler confusing, annoying and ultimately desensitising the horse. Indeed part of Parelli training involves utilising the snap smack the horse in the chin and face in order to encourage them to back up or yield. I'll find the Youtube clip of this and put it on here. This all made me feel better about the fact that although I use a clip I always tend to put it on the side of the headcollar that I am working so that it is much stiller. I have always felt that the horse gets a much more direct signal this way whether I am using an ordinary headcollar or a Dually.

31st August, 2010 Coalitions?

On the same sort of theme, horsemanship can be very similar to politics in having a far left and a far right and extremists at either end. My vague attempt at drawing such a scale is shown above with clicker training at one end and heavy handed and probably illogical horsemanship at the other. It's important to remember that it's not just the label that counts but the level of fear, discomfort or even pain that is used. Heavy negative reinforcement could in fact be more uncomfortable than fairly light and quick punishment depending on what it was. A badly fitting saddle may punish a movement even for a horse being rewarded with treats. It's a useful exercise to consider not only what you do but how you do it, the equipment you use and how you use it. If what matters is how the horse interprets it, then different horses will interpret different things differently depending on their temprement and previous experiences. For a wild Exmoor pony, the mere presence of a human being will amount to pressure. Pressure must mean mental as well as physical and could affect any of the senses.

Of course, all of these terms are a human construct and could be dismissed as semantics, intellectualisation or anthropomorphism nevertheless they can be really useful in deciding what you are prepared to use, how it fits in with your belief system and how it might affect your horse. Over the weekend I was told that it was not what you do but your intent that counts - taken to its limits, this could include giving a horse a thorough beating as long as your intent was good - that can't be right.

Most, but not all, people cross the bands above whether they mean to or not.

Click on the diagram above to be able to use it.......

31st August, 2010 Party Political Broadcasts

I have always struggled to listen to party political broadcasts and not be totally swayed by what is said, only to be drawn completely the other way by the opposing party. At the moment, I am feeling as flat and stretched out as a piece of very thin pastry that has been rolling pinned (if that's a verb) to the limits. This state of culinary marvellousness has been achieved by attending a Lesley Desmond clinic and a Ben Hart clinic withing the space of three weeks. Within the realms of so called natural horsemanship, they couldn't get much further apart and yet both are talking about feel and trust. Lesley had no problem with kicking a horse in the tummy for barging into her whilst Ben disapproves of the use of training halters. There were some moments of real refinement in what Lesley was doing where horses were asked to move with the tiniest touch on the line or reins and some great learning points for me. Nevertheless, I wouldn't be happy using my feet and fist the way that she does.

I suppose that all "A list" trainers have to be solidly committed to their ideas and techniques, at least on the outside, because that what carries their followers and indeed the horses along. What Lesley calls sureness. I was impressed when Richard Maxwell completely rewrote his book "From Birth to Backing" which is now "Training the Young Horse" to take into account his new thinking in many areas of training young horses. I think owners can feel let down if their chosen trainer completely turns their back on the philosophy that they have dand commits themself to another entirely new approach over and over again in the manner of a serial monogamist or a butterfly; it would take a great deal of faith to follow a trainer all through their journey and the occasional cul de sac.

It's also easy to become confused about conflicting advice - on the Equine Touch course we were told about how the practice of pulling the tongue to one side to administer wormers has the potential to damage the hyoid apparatus - these bones support the guttural pouches, pharynx, larynx and root of the tongue, and yet at the weekend this was being used as a way of redirecting a biting horse. The greatest trap of all is a closed mind and it's important not to be in the thrall of anyone and not to swallow anything hook, lime and sinker.

For me, it's important to have my own hat stand upon which I can hang the hats that seem to fit within my overall set of belief and values. Fortunately Kelly has never been prescriptive about what I do although I expect she would have a fit if I kicked a client's horse in the tummy or recklessly turned one into a monster by using undisciplined clicker training. It's not sexy to be a moderate trainer but I think that's what I am - mild but effective, a bit like Fairy Liquid!

Incidentally, I did talk to Lesley about kicking the horse and she explained that she felt that it was not punishment because that had not been her intent. Who decides whether something is punishment? The donor or the recipient? However, you could have endless arguments that the witholding of a treat is very punishing to a horse - just ask Chancer!

We were not allowed to take any photographs at the clinic so here are some of the mountains at Llanberis where the clinic was held.

28th August, 2010 Flexing those Mussels

Yesterday morning, when I really should have been somewhere else, I espied Mussels and his dam, Limpet, at the side of the road. Mussels, you may recall, is a yearling colt that I did some halter work with some months ago.At the drift on Wednesday his owner told me that she had decided to turn him out again rather than send him to the sales but had now found him a nice new home. Unfortunately though the drift hadn't found him! He was very pleased to see me and followed me back to the fields for a bucket of mix. He didn't seem to be in the least bit concerned about leaving his Mum and soon made friends with Jack. Limpet will be able to come back and talk to him over the fence for the next week or so until he goes to his new owners so not the abrupt (and early) weaning that many ponies get. We'll do some leading and loading work before he goes too.

Jack and Mussels are in fact related as all of their breeder's ponies come from the same foundation mare some 50 years ago!

Updated 31st August - until now, Mussels has been in a field next to Jack but this morning we felt he was ready to move in with the others even though Chancer towers over him. The Forest life prepares these young horses well for socialising so well. Mussels champed his little lips and looked all respectful and within a matter of minutes he was under the wing of the other two and sharing Chancer's haylage pile.

26th August, 2010 The grass is always greener

Now that the local drifts are over, it was time to turn the girls back out again. Brandy led the way having been reunited with her owner for the first time in eighteen months yesterday afternoon. We have agreed that I shall keep an eye out for her but that she can stay to keep Nelly company as they are best friends.

26th August, 2010 Bluebell Part II

Today it was off to see Anne and Bluebell again. The first priority was to take Bluebell's headcollar off as it was beginning to rub and then to persuade her that she it was okay to have it back on again given that it had been forced on the very first time. Luckily all the work we had done so far and the work we did today convinced her that the headcollar was nothing and by the end of our session today, Anne was able to put it on and take it off really easily. Bear in mind that this is a yearling filly who was born wild and brought in by the agister having disappeared with her mother for quite some time. After just four hours work in two sessions, she can be touched pretty much everywhere, accepts her headcollar and can be lead with just a scarf around her neck.

In the meantime, Brandee is doing really well too and on Monday I taught Michelle how to put her headcollar on. Michelle took the time to say sorry to Brandee for all those times that she had has to grab her through the fence. She was rewarded when Brandee followed her all across the pen, something she has never done before. It was an emotional moment.

25th August, 2010 Fritham Drift

The clinic I was due to attend today was cancelled so instead I went out with my camera, first of all to Telegraph Hill which is covered in heather and then on to the drift at Fritham. There were very few ponies brought in and only three foals and the whole thing went off very quietly indeed. I was lucky enough to be fed sandwiches and cake by the various neighbours to my field that were already there. This begs the question of who would have been unkind enough to report me to the council for having a very small caravan there which was discreetly hidden away and not visible unless actually on the property. Having no source of electricity, I have used the cooker in the caravan to make the odd cup of soup in the winter and the heater to thaw myself out. I have stayed in it on two occasions - once when Jack had serious colic and once when Cello was gelded. I haven't got a leg to stand on and it will have to go but it will make my life harder again.

22nd August, 2010 Boy's toys

I have yet to find a trailer or a horsebox that seems to take into account the safety of the horse inside it or the fact that the vast majority are driven and used by women. Take the Equitrek for example, the bar is fixed so that in an emergency it would be a hell of a job to get it down with a horse that is panicking or worse still has gone over it. There is only one way out of an Equitrek for a horse as the back door is narrow and only intended for humans. The partition is so heavy that it takes two determined women to shift it around and a lot of swearing and unladylike grunting too. The outside doors are flimsy and sharp around the edges so that if the horse tests them with his nose he can get hurt. The latest Ifor Williams, functional as always, still has sharp metal bits at the top of the central pole and the catch on the inside of the jockey door would be a real hindrance if you needed to get out in an emergency. These days you can have the front ramp on whichever side of the vehicle you like but for those that are on the right, you may be unloading a horse onto the traffic side of the vehicle in an emergency. There are no brackets on the back of the trailer nowadays either so where someone wanted to use panels to enclose the horse for protection or training, or in an emergency situation, there is nothing to fasten them to really easily. As with the Equitrek, the front bars on these trailer, and most others, are so thin that they must cause bruising if a horse pushes against them due to heavy braking or poor driving. I think is a common cause for horses not wanting to load - many seem to go in easy if the front bar is down whilst loading. In horseboxes their seem to be plenty of places for the horse to bash it's head in the underside of partitions or sharp edges to "luggage racks" or to hook up a headcollar on catches and brackets.

Apart from the physical effort involved in hitching trailers up and moving their contents around, it could be argued that they are fine for the well trained, calm and experienced horses but for the early stages of training and especially remedial training, they are cumbersome and sometimes dangerous.

21st August, 2010 A little treat

This little herd of donkeys were having fun outside my fields today.

21st August, 2010 It's behind you......

It's been a while since I saw Arnie but he's been having a bit of trouble with things coming up suddenly behind him especially bicycles and cars over the cattle grid. There was nothing else for it but to go and meet these demons and to work with him to help him get over it. Barry, who might be forgiven for thinking it was all a plot to get him fit, was volunteered to ride the bike and we got him to approach Arnie from all angles and steadily to increase his speed, change gears clunkily and to apply the brakes. Arnie got used to this and I have suggested that Barry don some colourful lycra and go out and about with Arnie being led in hand and ridden for the next few weeks whenever he can. We may then need to recruit more cyclists so that they can travel along like a herd.

At the cattle grid, Arnie was fine with facing the traffic but not sure about it coming up behind him and on his right hand side. I used clicker training to reward him each time a car came by and in time I think he was happy to see another vehicle approaching. He coped with a lorry and a motorbike and someone who drove right up to him in the layby to turn round. It was astonishing how many people drove really quickly over the cattle grid even though there was a bright white pony standing right next to it.

21st August, 2010 Been around the world....

Having been to the Nile on Thursday, it was off to India, Havanna and Mars yesterday. India's loading continues to improve with each session so that today she accepted the partition and stood for much longer in the trailer before she went out. Her owner also loaded her for the first time too. India used to be quite awe inspiring when she said no but is now really responsive and tries all the time. Havanna has accepted the bridle being held against her face with my hands between her ears and I have also started to gently fold her ears down as I will need to do when they go under the browband. Mars is standing for much much longer periods in the trailer and becoming much more relaxed. Significant progress in the case of each horse but a good reminder that there can be no such thing as a quick fix in a lot of cases.

21st August, 2010 Reins supreme

When a horse won;t stand by the mounting block it is easy to send the owner off on a potentially expensive tour of back specialists and saddle fitters - both very important if there is any element of pain. In Nile's case, however, it was a simple case of miscommunication. As M approached the mounting block she would ask him to come to a halt by applying pressure on his left rein. Being the good responsive horse that he is, Nile took this not only to mean stop but also turn your head towards me. If you bring a horse's head towards you then the bottom will almost certainly go away as they are basically designed on the same lines as a plank! By asking Nile to stop with the right rein, this whole situation was resolved in a few minutes. Incidentally, he is still accepting his bit in 7 seconds flat!

17th August, 2010 Patience is a virtue

My second horse at Gleneagles was a delightful mare called Patience. She is very worried about water and so it was somehow fitting that we worked in the rain. She's also nervous about other things too. For the first part of the session I worked on things with which I could touch her including the feather duster and a rosette (which she has always struggled to accept close to her). I then demonstrated how I would begin to work with her phobia about fly sprays and how clicker training might really help. After that, the umbrella and the tarpaulin were relatively easy although it took her a little while to build up the courage to walk over the latter - it was interesting to watch her work her way around it, touching it on all four sides before finally deciding she could step on to it.

"What a brilliant day, Sarah Weston Logical Horsemanship came to our yard and gave a most interesting demonstration, using Bladon and Patience, she was amazing. We all agreed we could have watched and listened to her all day." Gleneagles Manager - Karen Pike

"It was a wonderful demonstration - very inspiring and thought-provoking. Thanks to Karen for organising the session - can we have more?!!" Bronagh on Facebook

17th August, 2010 Lend me your ears.....

This is Bladon, an eighteen year old gelding (by Carnaval Drum) that belongs to Gleaneagles Equestrian Centre. He has suffered from aural plaques and, as a result, is none too keen to have his bridle on. Today I was asked to do a demonstration for the Rider's Rally at the Centre and showed how I would begin to tackle this problem. By the end of the session he was beginning to lower his head on request even when I had got the bridle in my hands. In an ideal world, it would be good to work with him on a continuing basis, reinforcing each stage. Only then would I want to start putting the bridle on again. Not easy in a riding school where he is worked sometimes three times a day and has to have his bridle on each time.

I really like this riding school where the horses seemed very relaxed and the atmosphere was good. I received a warm welcome and was asked lots of good questions.

15th August, 2010 The moon's a balloon....

Amongst the theory work we did at Ben's clinic we worked with elastic bands and balloons to explore the idea of feel and the need to make sure that you don't break your horse or make him go bang! Having managed to burst Jack's balloon first thing in the morning this had a particular resonance with me. So important to recognise that even the smallest changes in work we are doing, the equipment we are using or the environment and surroundings may amount to too much pressure. Outside factors may mean that the balloon is already at full stretch or half way there.

Received this e-mail on 18th August from Carol: "Well, having just read your BLOG and finally finding time I thought I would drop you a line about events at the weekend. John has just come out of hospital after a nasty fall from Gala! Basically he was showing me what he could now do with her and I was very impressed. He pulled up by me and said he would take his gilet off and I said, wait, as a lot of horses can get spooked by you taking off clothing so just move the zip a little and let me see. So he did a bit and I saw the shift in her eye so I said to him, she is not happy, DO NOT TAKE YOUR GILET OFF -but he ignored me and carried on saying she would be alright. And lo, she took off I couldn't hold her and she just started bucking across the field and John came off. When I got to him his eyes were rolled up in his head and he was groaning. I thought he was dying! Well ambulance dash to Exeter, much worry as they thought he had fractured his lumber vertebra but scans have revealed he is fine, just bruised. I have personally aged 100 years!

With both my accident with Bobby and now John's with Gala the horse each time gave a clear "please do not continue" and we both did. So sometimes it is the merest whisper of breath that makes the balloon go pop!".......... John is apparently back at his desk but very sore.

15th August, 2010 Jack goes to see his Uncle Ben

Jack and I eventually got to Ben Hart's clinic yesterday after a bit of a mishap with a poll guard. All week I had been practising with the narrow rectangular poll guard and Jack had accepted it very easily. Yesterday, I decided to couple this with a thin neoprene half round poll guard so that more of his forehead was protected. Jack took offence at this being put over his ears and promptly left. It took him a little while to forgive me and allow me to rescue him. Nevertheless I was able to load him and off we trundled. Thereafter we had a great day. Jack was happy to chill out in the car park while we waited for our turn and we amused ourselves with a bit of grooming and following the Hippobuggie around doing Pope impressions. Now that Jack is happily picking up his feet, Ben got us working on softness rather than duration and then allowing a second person to handle his feet with a view to trimming them. Fortunately Laura, the barefoot trimmer, had agreed to come and we worked with him together. We broke up each mini-session with some jumping so that Jack could enjoy himself and get rid of any pent up energy/ adrenalin.

15th August, 2010 Cattle, rustlers

Whilst waiting for his turn to have his back checked by Kate on Friday, Theoden was startled by two ghostly white figures emerging from the trees outside his pen. He whirled around with a half finished trail of Haylage dangling from his mouth like a beard belonging to the lead singer of ZZ Top. He came to a halt in front of one of the grey horned cows and she calmly leant forward and stole the food from his mouth. You should have seen his face!

12th August, 2010 Bluebell

This afternoon it was off into the Forest to work with a yearling filly that has only just been weaned from her Mum. Although her Mum is pretty wild and elusive, the filly herself was confident and curious. The agister put a headcollar on her when she was delivered but she has never been touched on her body. Today I worked on her right hand side first of all as that is the side that she offered but later I worked all the way down her left too and got her to the stage where she was definitely enjoying touch. I also used a scarf to thread through her headcollar to start her initial leading work. Her owner then repeated this before we called it a day.

E-mail received 13.8.10 "Thank you so very much for the amazing progress that we made with Bluebell, I have spent alot of time touching her today and she is accepting me on both sides consistently." AL

12th August, 2010 Sales

Heather and I pottered off to Beaulieu Road Sales this morning so that I could pick up some foal headcollars and to see how things were going down there. Most of the horses and ponies were older and many appeared to have been well handled. It was good to see so many of them with written descriptions of their history and breeding. Haynets were much in evidence and most of the ponies were pretty calm and relaxed.

12th August, 2010 Wise words

It's rare that I pinch Monty's words wholesale but I almost felt he was psychic this week. Theoden has a really frustrating habit of coming in at me with his shoulder when I am applying fly spray, no matter how quietly and non-confrontationally I do it. I have repeated the training with him a number of times now and yet he still does it. What's irritating is that he does it a good few seconds after I have sprayed him now as if to say, oh, I forgot, I'm supposed to squash you when I feel threatened like that. Normally I am really patient but the intimidating nature of this move has been making me cross even though I know it is absolutely instinctive and automatic for him to want to do it. Anyway, here's what Monty said:

A strong belief in my concepts gives me the patience to repeat procedures again and again. I know that they will ultimately be successful and, once you come to that conclusion, it will be much easier for you to express the patience required in this effort.

The loss of patience, particularly in non-violent training, is counterproductive. I have had a lifetime to discover that losing one's patience will eventually be viewed as a mistake. It is my opinion that we should practise the art of observing our mistakes, allowing us to learn from them. It is my strong recommendation to every horseperson that they learn the language Equus. Once we know the instinctual patterns of the horse's brain and the way horses communicate, we are far less likely to experience a loss of patience. A profound statement made to me in this context was, 'A good loser is a consistent one.' We must not be good losers. This does not mean that we fall on the ground pounding our fists, acting in an immature fashion. We must, however, feel the hurt of losing in order to be motivated to change our tactics. We should replay mental videos of the procedure in question. When we view ourselves losing patience, we should carefully note the outcome.I have found over the decades that any time I lost my patience my re-run of the mental video would show that my horse and I took a step backwards.

Horses are forgiving individuals and, if we are quick enough to rectify our mistakes, they will soon be back on a positive track. Recognizing progress is certainly an art form, but I have to assume that each of us has some idea of what we want from our horses and thus can recognize the positive track. Learning the language and understanding the nature of the horse will fortify your confidence. These bits of knowledge will support your resolve to stay the course, watching closely for improvement that you can appropriately reward."

So, it's an improvement that Theoden doesn't actually launch himself at me the instant I spray him with the fly spray. I need to keep working on it.

On the same note, Jack simply isn't going to be ready to travel in the Ifor to the clinic this weekend. I'm either going to have to borrow a stock trailer again so that we can enclose him safely or not go at all.

11th August, 2010 I can I will

One of those photo-less days when great things have happened. Mystery had her feet trimmed all round by the farrier yesterday. She gave him a good hard sniff because, unlike David, he smells like smoke (I quite like it!) and then she gave him the benefit of the doubt. We worked using timed actions so that it was rather like Mastermind: Your name: Guy Reynolds, and your subject? rasping - you have one minute on rasping starting now....... It worked very well because it meant that she always had her foot put down (i.e. a release) before she chose to take it away either through fear or discomfort. So each foot actually took just three minutes although the whole job took an hour overall. Sensibly, Iona was paying Guy for his time rather than his work.

Next I loaded Jack in to the trailer and taught him that he could turn around in there. We had got stuck in the lorry (not literally) because he couldn't see where he was meant to go and I felt that he would panic if we tried to close the back doors. We will be using full width bars in the trailer and wedging straw bales into the section at the front to stop him even thinking about going over the front bar. I have plenty of time to practice before Saturday and if I don't think he's ready, he won't go. Last time we borrowed a stock trailer.

9th August, 2010 I can't or I won't?

Jane's other horse Havanna has been sharp around her head ever since Jane got her. It makes it very tricky to get her bridle on and each time it's a fiddle it just reinforces the problem. Today we made a start on desensitising her head. Simply using the touch and move away technique wasn't going to be enough as Havanna quickly started to just flick an ear back to touch me and then took her head away (and she is very tall!). We decided that we would use clicker training to see if we could reward a simple pause. Havanna got the hang of this very quickly and we went from being able to touch her with the feather duster to a hand on either side of her head and all around her ears. Not only was she much stiller but sher head was a lot lower. From a click and treat for each pause we moved on to two or three clicks (intermediate bridges) for each reward. Jane is going to consolidate this work over the next few days and then we'll start using a leather strap in the same way as the feather duster and hand before moving on to the bridle itself.

She will also be checked physically just as soon as she is still enough to accept someone's enquiring hands.

This afternoon it was off to a horse whose initial "I can't" has turned into an "I won't" when it comes to loading. She seems perfectly settled when she is in the box, accepts the partition and travels extremely well. She has begun to plant herself at the bottom of the ramp and simply refuses to move. I am convinced that she learned that behaviour worked in earlier "I can't" days (years ago). Today she loaded beautifully about ten times from the outset so I may have to revisit when she goes on strike again; the first time I have met an owner who was frustrated because her horse did load! However, we did some work with the tarpaulin instead. At first she was willing to try and to take a step further forward each time but then I watched her switch from I can't to I won't. In these circumstances we used a carrier bag on a stick to flap at a good distance behind her to just encourage her to take one step forward and "unstick" her. This was sufficient to ask her to engage again and meant that I could thank her for taking that step forward by gently backing her three steps and then ask her to come forward again. Within a few minutes she had walked all the way over the tarpaulin. It's really important to know the difference between I can't and I won't and, if in doubt, give the benefit of that doubt to the horse.

Added 12.8.10
The next day, the horse was due to go to a lesson:

"She loaded perfectly to go but I did pretend it was just a practice, put all her tack and grooming kit in lorry before I bought her in, then when I was ready to go just walked her up the ramp like a dream. Coming back she did think about being sticky and I thought 'oh no here we go', but I told her it was about to start chucking it down with rain and if she hung about we were both going to get very wet so she said 'ok mum' and walked straight on, so that was a relief!" Pretend you are practising seems to be quite a good motto as you're adrenalin is bound to be lower. M is now going to keep a diary of where she was going, what time of day, what she was doing at the other end and anything else that seems to be relevant in order to see if there is a pattern to her horse's behaviour.