4th October, 2008 Red fiery creatures and those with long ears

With over 50 miles under our walking boots, David and I relaxed by working with a couple of Shetland ponies on Thursday and then came home via the Donkey Sanctuary. Eishann and Marbles (not pictured) are both solid little chaps with characters to match. Nina, the donkey, had a poorly leg but still shuffled over for a cuddle and a lovely rub.

30th September, 2008 Grenofen, Tavistock, Devon

Dartmoor was in its autumnal glory as we drove across the moor to Widecombe. Once again we were able to work with Dartmoor ponies which are so naturally amenable and uncomplicated. Derry did a fantastic job with two entirely untouched and unweaned foals whilst Julie and I worked using a combination of touch and move away and clicker training on 3 older ponies. Julie's pony had been ear tagged so although seemingly bold he was especially worried about his ears. My first pony took to everything like the proverbial duck and had his first headcollar on, touched all over, led and feet handled within an hour. In the afternoon, Annie took her treats regally and looked very fetching in her purple headcollar. sadly all of these ponies will still be going to the sales on Friday where they are at risk of going in the wrong direction. Natalie, the Chairperson of the DPTC will show them off to their best effect on behalf of their owner and cross her fingers for their futures.

I must admit that my jaw dropped when one breeder told me that they preferred to have their ponies ear marked ( a shape cut of the pony's ear) rather than ear tagging them as a form of identification. They have already got brands that would easily pass for helicopter landing pads what more do they need? I am still working out how I feel about the practise of blindfolding them while they are being branded - would this really be less traumatic?

29th September, 2008 Labelling

Following on from the aggression post, it is easy for horses to acquire labels over time. By working with them sympathetically even long standing behaviour can be completely extinguished although for some horses it will remain a default position which could re-emerge if things go awry.

There are also lots of labels for different types of horsemanship and the phrase "natural horsemanship" can cover a real multitude of techniques, some of which (many?) bear no reemblance to nature at all. It is so important for every person making choices on behalf of their horse to read the label first and then to soak if off and take a really close look at the actual contents; not just philosophies and concepts being relied upon but their practical application. I am very wary of techniques that purport to be all about love and libertyfor the horse when in fact they are about mental constraint and physical abuse. If your trainer tells you it is necessary to put your horse on the floor in the name of natural horsemanship or submission then please walk away (and take your horse with you). It is neither necessary or natural and is more about the trainer's ego and need to dominate than your horse's best interests. I have recently been told that at one natural horsemanship ranch there cure for separation anxiety is to tie it to a tree for two days and nights completely alone with no feed or water so that it could deal with its fears and be pleased to see its owner when they rescued it! My concern is that there is just as much nonsense, cruelty and dominance carried out under the banner of natural horsemanship as in any other school of horsemanship and plenty of room for charlatans. I don't know which is worse, never becoming aware of how horses really think or being totally aware and then abusing them with that knowledge. Once you know how they tick you know how to take them to the brink.

28th September, 2008 Anger Management

More frequently I am being contacted to help with horses and ponies that are aggressive. Aggression, which is a natural behaviour within a horse's range, can be brought on by chronic or acute pain – the horse just feels grumpy and his threshold for annoyance is lowered. We have to take an ethical approach so that we address any causes at the same time as making it clear to the horse that the behaviour is not acceptable. There is growing evidence, for example, that both competition and lesiure horses that are kept in for a high percentage of the day frequently suffer from gastric ulcers. These are caused by acidity in the stomach. Horses are designed to eat for about 18 hours a day and only salivate when their jaws are moving. The saliva counteracts the acidity of the stomach. Unfortunately the only way of confirming the presence of gastric ulcers is through endoscopy by the vet but vices such as crib-biting are thought to be symptomatic of gastric ulcers.

Aggression can also be brought about by a horse’s desire to protect itself. Particularly when a horse can’t get away from something that is frightening it or hurting it, it may resort to self-defence. This is then reinforced if it works. Horses may either slowly or quickly escalate their behaviour until it has the desired effect.

The most severe sanction that I would ever use would be a well timed rattle of a rattle bottle but on the whole some "loud" body language and a kiss-kiss noise are sufficient. I won;t hesitate to be big in this way if it is behaviour that I want to extinguish. I love Monty's phrase that "to attack the point of consternation is an open invitation to war"; a poetic way of saying that hitting doesn't work. Too often it is interpreted as part of the game or battle.

A pony we had in recently had learned to direct his aggression straight at his handlers always geting them to give up. Indeed he had been able to keep going for well over an hour with me and all I wanted to do was to touch him with the hand on the stick. It was tempting to ignore and avoid this issue but increasingly he was saying no to being touched by any third party or any foreign object no matter how well intentioned. The orginal trigger seems to have been invasive veterinary treatment which no doubt hurt. By now though his owner couldn't even remove bot eggs from his body without a fight. I had vision of him attacking a judge if he ever won a prize(!) or continuing to generalise the behaviour to anything else he didn't quite fancy doing. Built like a small bull, albeit a beautiful one, he resorted to biting, kicking, striking out, barging, squashing or leaving. All good fun. I felt that I needed to work with him on consecutive days with no time constraints. I revised his groundwork first and made it clear with judicious use of the rattle bottle on only two occasions that he was not to invade my space and then spent time working on de-sensitisation. As I suspected, he was hyper-sensitive to touch (like me!) and by using firmer pressure rather than more tentative pressure I was able to ask him to cope and then even enjoy touch. Over the next few days, Sheila, Julie, his owner and I all quietly worked with him for an hour or so quietly with objects ranging from the feather duster to a noisy massager (which he loved) and the hand on the stick which he began to accept readily. We tried to work with him rather than against him and also offered him aromatherapy oils which he relished - yarrow, lavender, peppermint, rose, rosemary and thyme - at first but he lost interest in all of them by day three. Yarrow is indicated for hyper-sensitive horses. He's back home and doing fine now.

25th September, 2008 Mousehole, Cornwall

This is a beautiful and lumpy bit of Britain. So far, David and I have walked over 30 miles mainly along the South West Coastal path. The warm weather has been a bonus and a shock to David who was at less than 10 degrees c in Tallinn, Estonia last week. Cornwall is full of romantic names - Botallack, Lamorna and Zennor, Men an Tol, Lanyon Quoit and the Merry Maidens. We've said Hi to a few horses, dairy cows, llamas and even some camels and a Tamworth pig but I'm looking forward to the Dartmoor ponies on Sunday.

20th September, 2008 Rosette Scheme

The rosettes have arrived for the Rosette Scheme. They're red of course. For every 5o hours of work (e.g. groundwork; de-sensitisation, long-reining, preparation for starting and ridden work) Herd members can earn a rosette for their horse. Sadly, I cannot include poo-picking and grooming!

18th September, 2008 Only human?

So here's a controversial one. If we carry our horsemanship into the rest of our life then by definition how we are in our normal life is how we are with our horses. So, if we are all talk no action does this come through to the horse as a lack of reliability, consistency and commitment? If we can talk the talk but not walk the walk, can the horse sense our lack of certainty and experience and therefore feel insecure? If we constantly talk over other people and don't listen to their replies, does the horse give up trying to tell us anything? If we constantly block the advice someone gives us do we block the horse in the same way - no, it's not that, I've tried that! Or if we just add "oh and another thing" does the horse think how much do you want from me?! I'm off up to the farm now to ride my horse, be consistent, listen to her, open the way for her and not ask for more than she can possibly give. Phew! Actually, I shall just finish reading the Horse and Hound before I go!

p.s. Had a brilliant ride on Petra - for some reason known only to themselves, Blue, Nell, Cello, Ginger and another bay pony all decided to tag along even though I wasn't going around their haunt. In pale sunshine and dappled trees we wandered around the Forest as a group and played Three Billy Goats Gruff at the wooden bridge. All was serene until we got within the magnetic field of their haunt by which time we had gathered a few more and then the whole lot just took off through the woods and almost blew Petra's mind.