21st February, 2014 The Collective

Much talk about Russia during the Winter Olympics and time to really appreciate our Communal Collective up at the fields. With the three of us there, Tracey, Charly and myself and our various horses we are all getting a much more even workload and able to cover for each other. It's bliss!

Despite the horrendous weather conditions the horses are all doing well. Three with rugs and three without now depending on condition and breed. Everyone looks a little damp around the edges and we've got lots of mud. The outside ponies are all looking pretty well too.

Today everyone's children came over for the afternoon and we took Indy and Nettles for a walk in the tentative sunshine.

 

21st February, 2014 That Sinking Feeling

I don't under-estimate the sheer fear, worry and devastation caused by a sink-hole that undermines the stability of a house, swallows the car on the drive or opens up in front of your feet. I just thought it was useful analogy and I live my life looking for useful analogies.

If you horse has literally fallen down a sink hole then of course you are going to call the Fire Service and ask for the Animal Rescue Team first as well as your vet.. We are so fortunate to have expert lie this with all the right kit and expertise to bring a horse alive and viable if it is at all possible.

Sometimes though you can buy a new horse or be in the middle of training one and a yawning great sink-hole appears and the horse you once had seems to disappear out of sight with a rapidity you didn't imagine he possessed; from being sane and sensible he suddenly becomes incapable of reason or sense. Sink holes in the ground are caused by masses of water suddenly dissolving the underlying rock which may have been there for millions of years but suddenly gives up the ghost. It is the same bedrock that can suddenly dissolve under your horse.

What causes a sink hole to swallow your horse?

There can be a variety of reasons, often inter-linked, that can cause a horse to suddenly go backwards a very long way in his training or confidence. Here are just a few common causes:

1. Environment - when a horse's environment changes, especially if he is suddenly isolated from others or unable to communicate with them through touch, he can be destabilised very quickly. Horses really need company if at all possible. Like elephants they get their inner peace from the close proximity of others, mutual grooming, synchronicity, and the very herd structure of older and younger horses, mares and geldings. They also need room to move and release energy. Every time they are confined they begin to store energy which has to be released somewhere. As soon as these things are compromised we start to alter their natural patterns of behaviour and sometimes this can affect them very badly. Where natural behaviour is further inhibited through the punishment of an electric shock the effect can be even greater, especially where the fence surrounds the entire paddock and is transformed from the mains. Some horses are fine; many are not. I understand that fields may need to be limited in size because of pressure of number, or a horse's weight, and horses kept apart because of the risk of injury,. We cannot escape the inconvenient truth that horses in mixed herds in large areas are able to express their feelings and natural desires whereas horses in small, electric fenced individual paddocks are not.

2. Pain - any pain will cause a horse to become more nervous and to search for ways to postpone or ease that pain.

3. Training - where there is a sudden change in training style or the training itself is incongruent this can become very frustrating and confusing for a horse. If the way the trainer is feeling and acting are incompatible this can have the same effect. Consistency and internal consistency of principles and emotions are essential. Dabbling in bits and pieces of inconsistent or worse, conflicting, training methods is difficult for the owner never mind the horse.

Underlying all of this is an emotional reaction from the horse who let's face it is a horse-shaped bag of emotions. These may be expressed as high energy anger, fear and flight.

What to do if your horse falls down a sink hole.

It can only be done from the bottom, not the top - below ground level in other words. So if you were at an advanced stage of work - hacking out happily and on your own, or competing, travelling here and there, then don't be surprised if you need to go back to basics and look at your environment, any physical issues and then groundwork, desensitisation, long reining, leading out and so on. Don't lament the past if you can help it, or at least leave those emotions at the gate, and work with what you've got. Try to limit your ambitions - have a quiet aim, even a dream, but take small steps all the way.

If your horse suddenly appears to go down a 'sink hole' it is always worth trying to work out what has changed for him - spring grass or switching to another make or type of food can have a massive impact on their equilibrium.

20th February, 2014 Just saying...

Credit: Audrey Scott-Hopkins

"...don't ask me how it's taken this long, but I am FINALLY reading No Fear No Force - and I feel like coming and giving you a great big hug! It's so very well-written and clear that even if I hadn't seen these techniques in action at Shy Lowen, I'd probably still feel able to have a go with the book as a guide. Your compassion (which obviously I already know you have in bucketloads) and desire to help make these ponies' lives easier is apparent even for the reader who's never had the pleasure of meeting you. I'm sure it has done a lot of good and every foal and feral pony handler should have a copy. Looking forward to reading the rest of it xxx" Kellie O'Shea, Trustee and Volunteer at the Shy Lowen Charity

19th February, 2014 Two-thirty

Six days ago I was contacted by M, a lady from another part of the country asking for my help with her ex-racehorse, Laddie He had a complicated history having been hit by a tractor and trailer. Miraculously, or more likely because of tender, patient care, she brought him back from his injuries and to the stage where he can actually be ridden in traffic again. However she now had an issue with his teeth which she described as follows:

"When I had him, he had been turned away for a year, and his teeth needed floating badly - ulcerated mouth. Our local veterinary hospital knew him from racing and said he was an absolute 's**t' to do, even under sedation.  Every year it is the same - enough sedation for 3 horses and he still lifts you off the ground.  Just recently, he 'told' me there was pain in his mouth and I called the vet.  They x-rayed him and said one of his pre-molars was cracked, all the way down.  Three hospital visits later (...as they actually tried to get it out with sedation, couldn't get it all out and then he had to go back for a g/a so they could go in through his cheek to push out the root), of course he will now be worse than ever when having his teeth done - and I really don't want to put him through it (and of course now I will have to have it done twice a year).  So...my thinking is...I buy an electric toothbrush and start desensitising him myself (he will let me put my hands in his mouth, but not the vet).  This done, my intention is to ask a local equine dentist to come and try to do it without any sedation at all (my belief is that the sedation process itself stresses him).
I would appreciate your advice - and a possible visit."

Since she was so far away and the fuel would cost so much in the first place, I suggested that she ring me to discuss him and perhaps she would make a donation to Shy Lowen in exchange for that. Given how well they had overcome massive trauma in the past, I was hopeful that she would be able to follow advice carefully and work with him really sympathetically.

In the event I talked her through incremental desensitisation techniques which could be coupled with clicker training.

"Just wanted to let you know...every day since talking to you I have been doing some desensitising work in Lad’s mouth with hands and toothbrush and using click (not terribly well as I tend to use other verbal praising, and have to keep reminding myself to click, but I figure as long as it is a sound he knows and is happy with that won’t matter too much?).  This morning the vet came to check that all was OK in his mouth since the extraction.  I asked for him not to be sedated if possible.  With me holding him and clicking/talking to him, the vet was able to get her hand right into his mouth, pull his tongue to one side, check the gauze was still in place, feel the rest of his teeth – all without sedation!  It took ten minutes instead of ½ hour and his reward was straight out into the field with his mates.

I am so chuffed.  Thanks again for your time, just talking it through with someone who understands was fantastic.  I will keep on so that next time his float is due, hopefully it will all be easier for him."

Slowly slowly becomes quickly quickly.

18th February, 2014 Going to Bed with an Astronaut

I am probably light years behind the rest of the world but I have enjoyed going to the International Space Station for the last few nights with Canadian Astronaut, Chris Hadfield. His Guide to Life on Earth is entertaining and by definition provides the biggest perspective on life. Astronauts have to absorb everything from education to emotions in order to be able to survive literally and metaphorically.

I'll leave you to read it if you haven't already but the light-bulb moments for me were his determination to "sweat the small stuff" because that's what keeps him safe, To be a zero rather than a plus or minus one - in other words to be a giver not a taker but not to go where you are not wanted (yet!).

And here's some YouTube clips


Space Oddity - now reaching 22 million viewings!

Chris Hadfield Best Bits

18th February, 2014 Make a Scene

The February edition of HorseScene has been out for a little while and copies are available free at many good tack shops. It is also available on line at February HorseScene I am a regular contributor to the magazine and this edition features my article on bridle shyness and Theoden's ears!

17th February, 2014 Blue Eyed Boy

An interesting start to the week with two owners that I have worked with previously but with different ponies. Natalie described how Champ had arrived in a martingale, grackle and Dutch gag with a warning that he shouldn't do any jumping because he became a missile when pointed at a jump. It transpired that although he was lovely to hack out he "morphed into a thing possessed!" as soon as he was taken into the school. Although he has calmed down a little, it became clear to me that despite his 17 years, Champ may not have ever understood how to respond to the bit; as soon as any pressure is placed on it his neck tenses and he goes straight into pressure. 

We worked on interrupting this pattern, putting a little pressure on one rein only if he failed to come to a halt when asked. We used the environment to provide a very clear stopping place and also gave him a clickered treat for coming to a halt. This took a lot of the tension out of the situation and got him thinking about halt rather than pressing forwards all the time.

"I will practice these things and look forward to sharing his progress  with you soon hopefully.  My mind is at rest. Cant wait for the next stage - but will have to!"NH

Currently being ridden without a bit he is already starting to look softer in his outlook.

Treats are given from either side so that he doesn't become a gannet. 

Email received 18.3.14: "I have not put that horrid heavy saddle back on  him since your visit. Chris Radford came out and tried him in a Forester  saddle - he went round the school like a dream! a normal trot!...Secondly, our work in the school has been coming along. With no saddle,  I have done some work just walking and halting bareback with him and  then, using J's treeless Heather Moffat dressage saddle, we have  been doing more of the same as well as trotting circles and practising  downward transitions to walk. So I get the feeling he was so  uncomfortable in that saddle. I have done some practice in the stable with a bit in his mouth using  click and treat when he softens to vibrations down the reins (as you  showed me). We  have tried trotting while we are out hacking (in his Dually) and  we can  achieve trot to walk when it is safe to do so. His default is to still  run really fast but I find if I don't pull him and just stroke his neck  and tell him to steady he drops down into a nice little rhythm which we  can maintain for a few minutes and then I ask him with my voice to walk  and he does. And obviously he gets a click and a treat for slowing  down. he loves the click and treat. We have a target of a red child's spade  (bucket and spade) and he loves to play that game whilst doing his stretches." NH

Django's history was equally complicated. He came to Jenny when he had been abandoned at a livery yard by a former owner and she took to him. Although she could pick his front feet up albeit briefly, his backs have become a no go area. Rather than tie him up which leaves him feeling as if he has no choice and prompts him to pull back until the tie breaks, we worked in the school with a long lead rein. He was soon picking up his feet as asked and for longer and longer, allowing us to pick them out too. We repeated this over and over again with the four of us present taking it in turns. Jenny's incremental training will take this further and hopefully she will be able to ask a man to practise with him too before the farrier comes next time.

It's all very relaxing once you let go of all that tension and worry.

Django appears to be more than ready to be re-started too. We'll have to assess how good his previous training has been and fill in any gaps.

"This is brilliant thank you!! Thank you so much for today I really enjoyed it. Found Champ's session really interesting as well." JA