17th September, 2011 Slow down or go round.

An accident waiting to happen

"A yellow-and-black triangular sign appears by the roadside. It says: ‘Animal casualty here within the last week’.  Another pony hit by a car in the New Forest.It is an all-too-familiar story. And it is especially poignant at this time of year: as the foals are born the risk of accidents increases.New Forest ponies have no road-sense and they will wander out in front of traffic without warning. Foals can be skittish and, if they suddenly realise they are separated from their mothers, they will make a dash for it regardless of the road conditions. Sadly they do not know the Green Cross Code.

Around 100 animals are injured or killed on the roads of the New Forest each year. These are not just statistics: each lost animal means distress for its owner, for the Agister who attends the scene, and for the driver who may suffer damage to a vehicle or worse.What can be done? Organisations including the New Forest National Park Authority, the Verderers, the Forestry Commission and the Police work together on campaigns to raise awareness and reduce the death toll.

The temporary triangular road-signs highlight animal accident sites, warning drivers of blackspots. A credit card-size animal emergency hotlines card tells drivers whom to contact if they see an animal accident or if they are involved in one themselves. A free car sticker encourages careful driving to safeguard ponies. Animal safety messages are promoted widely in Forest leaflets, on websites, in talks and even in community radio adverts." Quoted from the National Park Authority

BUT still it does no good. Three foals have been killed within 8 days and just 0.4 miles of each other on the B3078 Fordingbridge to Cadnam Road close to Deadman's Hill. 

Perhaps the driver of vehicle registration number E1 DER would care to explain to me why they still think it is okay to speed across the Forest, repeatedly overtaking other vehicles that are keeping to the speed limit.

17th September, 2011 How long is a piece of string?

"Knots weaken the rope in which they are made. When knotted rope is strained to its breaking point, it almost always fails at the knot or close to it, unless it is defective or damaged elsewhere."

When someone asks me how long it might take to get a horse over a particular problem or trained to do a certain task, its tempting to respond, "well, how long is a piece of string?" So much depends on the nature of the string, not just its actual length but whether there are knots and twists in it, how tight they are and how robust and pliable the string is and what it is made from. What was it's intended use?  Is it old and frayed or young and malleable; has it been left out to cope with the elements? Not only that, it will then depend on your dexterity and quiet determination to undo the knots without damaging the material; your ability to undo new knots and twists which it is in it's very nature to acquire if left untended or to its own devices.

The key is to find the very end of the string and to start to unravel it, methodically working your way along it's length and tackling each twist and turn leaving it neatly coiled and not under immense tension. Fortunately most string is readily straightened out and once the first knots and twists are loosened it all gets much easier but sometimes it is like looking at a plate of sphaghetti and you're not even sure there is only one piece of string. The knots may be fiddly and intricate and the string falls easily back into the same kinks through years of habit. Then it can be frustrating and long winded, like working in freezing temperatures with no mittens and blunt fingernails. Nevertheless the same painstaking, methodical approach works rather than attacking it with a pair of scissors and affecting a temporary and weaker repair.

17th September, 2011, The Man with the Golden Helmet

Early canter transition

Out and about in Ashford Forest

Returning to the trailer

Would you like a leg up Jim?

Happily on board

Things are going slowly but surely with Theoden. Jim is encountering his 'no' much less often and he is starting to offer his transitions much more readily. People keep asking me why I am not working with him myself - the answer is simple, when he bucks I come off and I really don't want him to learn that it works. Jim can get on and stay on and yet rides with tact and diplomacy. Finding someone who works with the same values as me and isn't going to hit Theoden is really important to me. It's all too easy to turn your back on a horse that has gone to school and to pretend that horrible things don't happen to them. I have had the opportunity to watch Jim working with a variety of horses during the week and it has been great to be around someone who speaks the same language that I do even though he is working with bigger and trickier starting horses than I would ever attempt. Aswell as running courses and training horses in East Sussex, Jim is tour manager for Monty Roberts and Kelly Marks.

17th September, 2011 Practical Skills Development

How many IH students does it take to change a lightbulb?

I have just returned from a week in East Sussex where I was able to visit and work with Theoden every day. I arrived just in time to observe and appreciate the Practical Skills Development Course which is run by Jim (Goddard, IHRA) and fellow IHRA's Rosie Jones and Sandra Williams. This is a really excellent course for people hoping to become RA's themselves as it gives them a valuable opportunity to practice, maintain and hone their skills with all kinds of horses with all kinds of backgrounds. The next course is due to take place in April and it is the sort of course that people could go back to time and time again and learn something new each time. For details keep an eye on the IH magazine and the IH website.

9th September, 2011 By George Part II

I received this lovely email from George's owner today. 

"So far it is going really well, he was getting on really well with the head collar so I decided to see what happened when I tried to put it on outside! Again using the clicker technique I started in the small paddock and then in his field! Since Sunday I have been leaving the head collar off completely and have successfully been able to put it on everyday so far so good! Also the clicker technique has enable me to get George to trot with me too!!" CG

Brave George

I am going to be away for a week now as I am visiting Theoden in Sussex and reading a lot of books. Also hoping to work with Graylie and Pep. I'll keep notes...

E-mail received 19.9.11:
"No headcollar is going great there is absolutely no hassle whatsoever anymore, the headcollar doesn't seem to be too scary.  I am still trying to introduce George to  more and more things every time I go up there now.  I used the umbrella again but this time with it up over Dad's head and he was fine with it and I have been trying to desensitise him to having things on his back. I started off with a little blanket scrunched up and rubbing it all over his body and at the end of the week I put it on his back and took it off again. He seemed pretty happy, so I opened it out a little bit more so it was slightly over both sides of his back and we did a tiny circle around the field, and he was great.  I am going to continue doing this, making the walk bigger, and also opening the blanket up even more.

So far so good, he is doing great I can't get over how much he has improved with in the last 2 weeks - it is incredible." CG

9th September, 2011 The fish that got away

Another wonderfully restorative day. Guilda is now a fully fledged riding pony and was ridden by her owner at walk and trot out on the Forest. That pony loves migrating and her grin was almost as wide as her owners. Guilda is going to go and have further schooling now with June Simmonds at Fir Tree Equestrian Centre but will pop back for occasional bits of training on things like traffic.

"Oh WOW !. Apart from my son being born this was the best day of my life."KG

Then off to Lucy where there has been a dramatic change. Not only is she much mellower, but her owner is too and she's no longer afraid of Lucy's big behaviour; she just calmly deals with it and moves on. Lucy coped with two long reins at the end of the session and tried her hardest to be good all the way through.

Guess what...forgot the battery in the camera again so no pictures to show of all this happiness...

9th September, 2011 The Essence

A much better day yesterday, despite my cartoon thumb that felt about ten times its normal size. Working with semi-feral ponies is always my favourite job. In the morning I worked with Milly, Molly and Puck. Milly had her headcollar on easily three times having got over her real fear of having things enclosing her nose. The £1 fluffy purple scarf worked once again. Molly had graduated to having her headcollar on out in the big field in exchange for clickered treats. Puck had a jangly surcingle on and we did some one rein work before finishing.

In the afternoon I went to see Charlie the sheepdog pony. In fact his sheep have been taken away because he is tormenting them so I have suggested they take up the offer of a tame pony companion. Charlie was much more relaxed from the outset today and the really great news is that his owner has a wonderfully calm demeanour and will be able to carry on from while I am away next week; he get's it. I have to say that I love working with men on these sorts of tasks and watching them let go of any ego and macho and start to really think about what the pony needs from them.

By the end I got to the stage where Charlie was leaning in to me and curling his neck around me so that I could rub his neck all the more. By tracing the bones of his face, I was able to touch him all over it and later Mike did the same and gently removed Charlie's headcollar which has been getting a little tight. 

Sorry no pictures....

(A huge thank you to everyone who sent me a hug yesterday).