16. July 2010 by admin.

All the horses are coming on a treat. Glimmer and Taj Mahili no longer need to be moved into the smaller catch pen to be caught and remained with the rest of their little herd in the corral whilst we put head collars on the horses for the morning session.  Second lead lines have been added to the head collars to teach the horses to lead from both sides and accept contact on both sides of the body.  Chunking each step down into small exercises enables you to see at which point the horse becomes unsure of what he is being asked to do and when the second line was attached to Glimmer’s head collar, she initially became a little stuck.  This is where the wand work is important as the handlers can stroke the horse gently all over the body to relax the horse and give him better body awareness enabling the horse to move calmly out of the freeze reflex without exploding.

All the horses can now be stroked all over their body with wands and are also thoroughly enjoying the benefits of body work. Some of the mud has been removed from the Canadian horses and work has begun on their manes and tails too. Yesterday Glimmer was unable to be touched on the right side of her body with the hand so I wrapped a body wrap around the button end of the wand and showed Glimmer’s group how to roll this down her neck and chest. This is a neat step between stroking with the wands and direct hand contact and it worked a treat as we were able to roll the soft bandaged end of the wand all over her body.

We were also able to put full body wraps on the horses having started first with a single length tied loosely around the base of the neck before progressing.  A second wrap was then attached to the neck piece and taken around the heart girth area to accustom the horse to wearing first a surcingle and later a girth. As the body wraps are stretchy they move as the horse breathes and prevent the horse from panicking when he feels something around his ribs which can happen if horses are introduced to a girth too quickly. A back piece is added later and this can be extremely beneficial for horses that are nervous about movement behind them. Body wraps also improve proprioception and body awareness and aid balance as a result. They also teach a horse to become accustomed to the sensation of something on his body such as a saddle pad and rugs and reduce the chances of the horse becoming startled when he feels long lines (or driving lines) along his barrel as he advances with the ground work.

It is sweltering here in the mountains and the civilised early evening drinks and nibbles that are laid on every day are much appreciated.  With so many horses going through the clinic we are all working really hard but enjoying every moment and I can’t believe that we are already half way through the week.  The Canadian horses are almost catching up with the Bitterroot youngsters and it is truly amazing to see how much can be achieved in such a short space of time with patience, understanding and an open mind.

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16. July 2010 by admin.

I am unbelievably happy to be here.  Our cabin was surrounded by the horses this morning (they are free to roam the land) and the sight of contented, grazing horses against the back drop of the mountains is breathtaking.  The Ranch is situated in the Bitterroot Mountains and at 7,000 feet the scenery is always spectacular.  Bitterroot is owned by Mel and Byard Fox and it was a great reunion last night as I haven’t been to Bitterroot for fifteen years.  Mel is a wonderful woman and I am so thrilled to be able to spend another week with her and her beautiful horses. Little has changed here and Bitterroot remains a truly magical place.  Linda is also here and as this was where my TTEAM journey began sixteen years ago with Linda, Mel, Barbara and Carol Lang (who will be visiting us later in the week) it feels as though I have come back home.

We have a big clinic with eleven horses to start and several five year old horses that were started last year to bring on under saddle.  Aside from being haltered for feet trimming and worming the horses born at Bitterroot have had very little handling and we also have a few Arabians from Canada in the group of four year olds.  The Canadian horses have also had little handling but were roped when they were caught to be sold so they are naturally wary of human interaction. The day started with the horses being brought into the corral and Linda Tellington Jones and her sister Robyn showing the group how to catch the horses quietly and with minimal stress and without driving the horses around the enclosure.  One of the Canadian chestnut mares called Glimmer was particularly worried so she was quietly ushered into a smaller catch pen with her friend Taj Mahali who was also pretty fearful so that Linda could use two wands to initiate contact with both horses. Glimmer and Taj Mahali were allowed to move slowly around the pen and this quiet approach enabled Linda to halter both horses in a very short space of time using a light catch rope that was placed around their necks and made into a simple light halter that could then be removed once the head collars were on the horses.  The Canadian horses are so worried by human contact that their manes and coats are plastered in mud as they cannot be groomed. The first session was simply about catching the horses quietly, and attaching a light lead line to the side of the head collar and encouraging them to walk forward. Heavy ropes or lines with big clips can significantly affect the balance of the horse and can trigger bracing in the poll and neck particularly if the rope is attached to the central ring.  It is far easier to teach a youngster to lead if the clip is attached to the side ring as the chin is not  drawn forward if the handler pulls on the line by mistake.  The Bitterroot horses have no unpleasant association with humans and were already more advanced in their handling than the Canadian horses by the end of the morning but Glimmer and Taj Mahali did very well during the short session as did the participants on the clinic.

The afternoon was spent with the five year old horses in another part of the Ranch going back over some of the leading exercises that they learnt last year and it is fascinating to see how solid those early foundation steps are as the horses remember everything from the previous summer even though they were turned away for the winter and spring.  New studies have shown that horses that are trained once a week for seven weeks learn more and retain more information than horses that are trained every day for seven consecutive days and although the horses here at Bitterroot are worked for short sessions every day on the clinic, their ongoing training allows for plenty of breaks and time out resulting in happy, contented youngsters who progress well and enjoy each training session as they continue to mature and develop.

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16. July 2010 by admin.

After a wonderful few days, first in New York and then Connecticut with my daughters, my sister and my nephews, I flew up to Salt Lake City early this morning to meet up with my very dear friend Barbara Owens.  I met Barbara on my first TTEAM training at Bitterroot over sixteen years ago and we have remained close friends.  I haven’t seen Barbara for a couple of years as both of us are ridiculously busy and it was great to spend six hours together on the drive through Utah to Jackson, Wyoming. Robyn’s son in law, Walt, was also with us and I haven’t seen him for a few years either so it was great catching up with them both. Of course there was much laughter along the way and I am so ridiculously excited at the thought of spending a week at the Bitterroot Ranch, the journey seemed remarkably short.  Walt should actually be renamed Tom Tom as he has an uncanny knack of being able to find his way across whatever country he is in without the need for a map and we arrived in Jackson in good time and in very good spirits.

We met up with Robyn, her daughter Mandy and another wonderful friend Andy who is visiting from Australia and had the most fantastic supper in a wonderful restaurant in Jackson.  I have an article to write and pictures to email to an equestrian magazine back in England so will take advantage of the slight jet lag (am now two hours behind NY time) and get up early to make sure I meet the deadline before we all meet up for breakfast in town tomorrow morning prior to our two hour journey up to the Ranch.

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