14. November 2009 by admin.

12th November 2009

Tony and I had a wonderful evening last night at St James’s Palace in London. We were invited by RDA (Riding for the Disabled Association) to celebrate its 40th anniversary. Princess Anne gave an impressive speech and I have to say that her dedication and genuine support as Patron for this charity shone through. Tony and I are also avid supporters of this charity and attend the Nationals at Hartpury each summer, although sadly we had to miss the event this year. It is always both a humbling and inspiring event and the level of sportsmanship is second to none. We met a wonderful lady at the celebration named Agnes who, it turns out, lives near us. We have been invited to go and meet her RDA driving ponies so will be heading out to Frome in the very near future.

RDA needs help to change the perception that many people have about its work. It has helped countless children and adults who suffer from a range of disabilities. Many of the riders came to RDA following car or riding accidents and I will always support its work as you never know what lies around the corner. If I am ever in a position where my health and wellbeing is affected through a terrible incident I know that RDA will enable me to maintain my love and passion for horses in a safe and caring environment.

I also met another wonderful lady yesterday who first came across my work when Tina and I attended the AGM at Bishop Burton some years ago. We had given a demonstration of body work and ground work exercises that are helpful for the RDA horses and ponies and she told me that she has used the work consistently since, with great results. The stories of the children she has helped are incredible. Children that could not speak, nor follow instructions, have been given new ways of expressing themselves, thanks to the patient ponies at her centre and the team of dedicated volunteers. Hearing a child relate to their steed using words, after years of silence and being able to ride their ponies to a mark, halt, then ask them to walk on again, when they had never been able to think through a sequence of actions before must be one of the most rewarding experiences ever. Adults and children alike are liberated from the constraints of often overwhelming mental and physical disabilities. That is what I call true horse power.

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14. November 2009 by admin.

5th November 2009

I have just completed a written report for a dog that I have been asked to assess for a court case. She is one of the sweetest dogs I have ever met and I am appalled, though not surprised, that she has a destruction order on her for allegedly biting someone. I obviously cannot go into details about this case, but if we do not win the appeal I will be devastated as will her owner. I video my assessments when I am called in to temperament test dogs that are the subject of court cases, and the video shows nothing other than a sweet, friendly, loving, wonderful dog. I do not know what happened around the event that has brought misery and distress to her owner as I was not there at the time. Of course I do not condone dogs biting people but if a gentle, obedient, family dog suddenly bites there is usually a jolly good reason.

As I am writing this, the dreaded fireworks are going off all around my farm and my house. I have left the animals at home with Tony to come back to the yard to do late hay and check that the horses are coping with the noise. We have left all the lights on in the barn to reduce the impact of the flashes and classical music is playing loudly to diffuse the sounds. The donkeys, horses and dogs are doing well as are all the animals at home. I have never enjoyed fireworks. As a child they really hurt my ears and I cannot imagine how intolerable they must be for animals whose sense of hearing is so much greater than ours.

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14. November 2009 by admin.

3rd November 2009

Today was a pretty perfect day for me. I love doing live television and when you also add animals into the mix it can become even more exciting. I appeared on This Morning again talking through quick tips that people can try with animals to help them remain as calm as possible during fireworks. I then shot across town to appear on Blue Peter in the afternoon where I demonstrated the steps for teaching a dog to sit and stay with the glorious Barney, one of the Blue Peter pets (not Barney the horse!). Blue Peter presenter Helen is doing a superb job with her new dog and I am so pleased that the programme is taking such an active role in teaching children how to interact with their canine friends in kind and respectful ways. AND I have another Blue Peter badge - HURRAH. I had picked Emily up from our hotel en route and it was lovely having her with me in the studio. After transmission we drove back to Reigate together and we are spending the evening in the company of my best friend Janine and my gorgeous godchildren.

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14. November 2009 by admin.

1st November 2009

Where has this year gone? I usually look forward to Christmas but am not sure how I feel at the moment due to all the sadness we have experienced. I cannot even begin to get my head around shopping. Instead I am enjoying all the mucking out and continuing with the clearing and sorting. Perhaps I could craft some fashionable gifts from the manure and rubbish I am knee deep in every day. Then again I kind of need to keep what family members I have left, so on second thoughts had better not.

Our year will end in its usual busy way as Daisy starts working on a film project and Tony will be rehearsing for a play in London. I too may be filming through December but won’t know what my schedule is for another few weeks. I have also been catching up with articles, taking pictures for magazines and as always everybody wants everything at short notice. I also desperately need to update our websites as my wonderful webmaster Liz has been patiently waiting for a looooong time for new articles and information.

I shall finish my emails, pack up some equipment and book a hotel for tomorrow night as I am off to London. Emily and I will meet in town and spend the evening together. I haven’t seen her for a few days and I so enjoy the company of my daughters. I miss them when they aren’t at home.

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14. November 2009 by admin.

29th October 2009

I have had to ‘fire’ Tina. She had a freak accident today whilst working with one of the horses and we spent a delightful (not) few hours in the local A & E department. Our good friend Dan was also there as he had shut his thumb in the door of his boat a couple of days before and was in agony. Jon also called in for coffee as he was working in the area and it turned into quite a social event. Poor Tina is very, very sore and is adamant that she will be at work tomorrow so I fired her. On full pay of course! I have dropped her home and will be going to bed early tonight so that I can feed and turn out in the morning, as the majority of the horses are now in at night.

Everyone at Tilley Farm more than pulls their weight and are only too happy to step in and give an extra hand when something goes wrong. I am fortunate to have a wonderful team and we are lucky that accidents are few and far between as we pay great attention to the comfort levels of the horses when we are working with them. We don’t know what happened as it was so quick - these accidents usually are - but I wonder if the horse was stung by one of the drowsy wasps that are still hovering around.

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14. November 2009 by admin.

28 Oct 2009

The farm is almost quiet now. The majority of people have left but my good friend and co-author Marie Miller, and Rachel Jackson, another excellent practitioner, have stayed on for an extra day. Our new book is about to be published and we have also just received the sales figures for our other book, which has been translated into four different languages and is doing really well. The feedback from both dog owners and those that are working in a professional capacity with dogs has been fantastic. I hope the new book is received just as well.

A new client brought her dog to see us today. I met them on the sponsored walk a week or so ago and was concerned about the dog as he had many challenging behaviours. His owners have only recently taken him on and know something of his past, which is pretty sad. I had offered my services to them as I felt that body work and ground work would have a positive influence on both his posture and behaviour. This particular dog has big issues around people and other dogs and is muzzled when out and about.

I cannot express in the written word how I feel right now. We were able to remove his muzzle and he actively sought out contact from both me, Marie and Rachel even though he had only known us for a very short time. His eyes changed totally as we worked with him in the arena and in the training barn and the tension that was held in his hindquarters totally disappeared. Stress lines around his muzzle also dissipated and he looked like a totally different dog. His owner went home with new hope and lots of home work and will come back to continue with the rehabilitation. I LOVE MY WORK.

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14. November 2009 by admin.

22nd October 2009

Robyn and I had a wonderful day on Wednesday working with dressage horses and a nervous pony at a competition yard in Gloucestershire, and today I am off to work with a cat that is having issues with another cat in the household. Whilst the general belief is that older cats often find it hard to accept a new cat as they are not particularly sociable by nature, it is still possible to restore some level of harmony and peace with a patient and understanding approach. I so enjoy working with a variety of animals, as different species teach me new things that can then be successfully applied to others.

The last clinic for the year is underway and we have many newcomers on this course which is fantastic. It’s great watching people discover new skills and the transformation in the dogs as they too progress through the week is always fascinating and highly rewarding.

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