Yesterday I gave the first formal presentation that I have done for over a decade and since I left the Courts' Service preferring usually to give a practical demonstration with a horse under my arm. Having done a read through with some horsey friends I realised that I was flummoxed by a Powerpoint presentation taken by surprise by every slide as if I hadn't written it in the first place.
I decided instead to resort to my usual ad-libbing, prompted by pictures of some of the gorgeous horses I have worked with and owner over the years. This was much more naturally me.
It also meant that I could draw in my audience of ten fire-fighters to find out what they already knew from common sense and learning.
This presentation for ART level 3 was about the link between the horse's psychology and his physiology, and techniques for helping horses to stay calm at the scene of an accident - either before they are sedated or as a bystander horse. We covered the nature of the horse, his senses and how his body is set up to react to the information it receives, and the body language of the horse. Sometimes I couldn't give them black and white answers - a yawn can mean pain, stress, release, or plain old tiredness.
It was great to be on the same platform as Professor Josh Slater who was covering chemical restraint - sedation and anaesthesia at the scene of an accident, and Anton Phillips, Animal Rescue Specialist who was one of the instigators of the movement towards safer animal rescues both in this country and abroad.
Hopefully I will be asked again in the future. I am able to do a range of talks from the technical to the anecdotal for interested groups. Let me know if you would like me to come.
