26. March 2011 by admin.

I am back at the farm and it is packed.  I haven’t been around much this week as have had other things to do so had a pleasant early morning coffee catching up with my good friend and co-author Marie Miller.  My birthday was great.  The hotel was glorious and I had a lively evening with my family and friends at a great Mexican restaurant in Charlotte Street.  The hotel was next door so it was an easy stroll back and we were in bed at a reasonable hour.  The alarm went off again at 5.15am and we were in the car heading out to Pinewood by six.  The set is beautiful and I watched Tony’s last scene on the monitor before meeting the delightful and incredible Meryl Streep.  She is extraordinary.  Just wonderful.  Everything I had hoped she would be.  It is so refreshing meeting someone who is so talented and successful and yet so charming and down to earth.  People that throw their weight around, are stand offish and/or put people down are usually coming from a place of insecurity and I have met plenty of people like that in my time.  Meryl Streep was a total delight.

I have come back to a host of emails including two lovely updates about horses that have been transformed with TTouch.  One was from the owner of a stallion who had had a really rough time at a trainers and who came back to his owners aggressive and in a very poor state.  Erica, one of our Practitioners worked with him and he made a complete turn around.  He is still doing very well, is still entire and is out competing successfully with his teenage rider. The other email was from Katie and Ruben (Katie is a reader of Horse Hero) who I went to see in Essex last summer.  His behaviour was dangerous as he was spooking, rearing and bucking but Katie took on board everything I showed her.

In her recent update Katie writes that she has now been out hacking Ruben and he is coming on in leaps and bounds. His whole attitude has changed and she is hacking on a loose rein.  He doesn’t rear at all any more and only occasionally naps but it is only a half hearted attempt and there isn’t any drama when Katie asks him to move forward. She continues with  ‘He is pleasure to ride all the time and I keep saying it (and annoying all my friends) but everyday just gets better. No monsters anywhere anymore. No spooking at all. The girls couldn’t believe it the other day as a tractor came by us down a tight lane and it was towing a full trailer behind it and Ruben didn’t even bat an eyelid. Now that is progress.’ They have been out cross country schooling and Katie reports that Ruben was amazing, clearing everything with ease and more importantly Katie could take him away from the friend they had gone with and also the owner of the other horse could take her horse away from Ruben without causing any upset.

She finishes her email with the lovely words ‘ the future is looking promising for him’ which has certainly made me smile. What a difference from the horse I met only a few months ago.  Well done Katie. And well done Ruben.

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26. March 2011 by admin.

It is beginning to feel like Groundhog Day.  My alarm went off again at 5.15am and I was out on the M4 by 6.30am.  I drove up to Dogs Trust Harefield to film a taster for a prospective new television show about dogs.  It was a great, great day.  I was working with Jodie Prenger and it was so lovely seeing her again.  The crew were brilliant and of course I adore working at Dogs Trust.  I am now getting really tired but am taking two days off as it is my birthday tomorrow.  Daisy, Tony and I are going to go up to London and stay in a delicious hotel with Emily. We are going to meet up with some friends in the evening then it will be another early start on Friday as Tony is due at Pinewood Studios for his last day on Iron Lady and I think I will go with him.

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26. March 2011 by admin.

I was up early again as I had to take Naomi to the airport for an early flight but am used to it as I have been at the yard by six in the mornings on the days when Tina would usually work as she is assisting on the clinic. I have been bringing in the horses and feeding everyone before doing all the animals at home and getting back to the farm for 8.45 am as Tony has been away filming and there is so much to do when the clinics are on. We will miss Naomi as she really feels a part of my family.  Tony was home for a couple of days though last week which was perfect as it was Daisy’s birthday. I also took some time out and as Emily had come home for the celebrations we had a wonderful time together cycling along the tow path near Bath and going out for supper with Tony’s mother and Naomi.

Daisy’s Godmother, Bex, came out to see us this afternoon as she is appearing in a play at the Theatre Royal in Bath.  I didn’t finish work until 9.00pm and after saying goodbye to Tony and Bex who left to go back to Cardiff and Bath respectively and packing up my car am now ready to fall into bed.  I am teaching a workshop in Bedfordshire tomorrow and need to be on the road by 5.30am.

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26. March 2011 by admin.

The companion animal clinic is over and we have new horses in that have come for the Equine clinic.  We have six countries represented here this week which is amazing.  We even have a participant who has flown over from Japan which is amazing given the terrible events that have occurred.

My lovely little dog client with the anxieties about the vets and hot air balloons came to the farm again this morning and she was so different. Her owner reported that she has noticed a change in her little dog already and the fear about lampposts is definitely diminishing which is great.  As we had lots of people and horses around I took her up to the fields this morning and she was amazing.  I could work all over her body and she was totally calm on the lead.  It never ceases to amaze me when such small simple exercises help animals to overcome such a variety of concerns and the exercises that I show people are usually something that they can practice effortlessly at home.

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26. March 2011 by admin.

The dog clinic is well under way and we have five countries represented as people are now travelling from Europe to join the clinics here in the UK.  It’s been another packed week but I actually managed to go for a glorious hack on Sunday on Skupla (my Icelandic) before shooting off to the airport to collect Naomi who flew in from Malta.  Naomi works for the SPCA and we are sponsoring her so that she can attend both the companion animal and equine training clinics.  Despite being wary about spiders she actually held a tarantula today! She also worked on a snake which is another first for her. Naomi is staying with us and we all feel as though we have known her for years. She fits in really well and is going to be a great ambassador for the work.

I was teaching at Dogs Trust Harefield on the International Training Programme yesterday and have canine clients coming in as well so this week is all about dogs.  One of my canine clients has an issue with the vets and other anxieties too so I started working with the other issues that she has as her response to the vets is pretty intense.  It is the same principle as working with horses.  It isn’t about working on the problem that provokes the biggest response as there are always lots of little associated concerns that all build and contribute to the explosive reactions that are more obvious.  My little client demonstrated this perfectly.  She is concerned about being on the lead.  She is worried by people being close to her if she doesn’t know them and she is also anxious being in a room that she doesn’t know.  Add all these individual concerns together and you can see why a visit to the vets is going to cause her real distress especially as there is the added concern of being examined and injected.

The way forward was to teach her that being on the lead is safe and pleasant by using a long rope running through the clips on the TTouch harness giving her the choice to come near me or not.  It’s a really neat little exercise and she coped well.  She then went for a walk off lead with her owners and came back for another short session but it was too much for her in front of everyone on the clinic so we ended it there.  One of her other concerns is hot air balloons and this has now developed to a fear of kites and lamp posts - dogs like horses learn by association and how ever strange a behaviour may appear everything is linked.  By working on the smallest issues, the greater problems naturally subside provided the animal is not over loaded.  We ended the session and I have asked her delightful owners to come back in a few days time.

Sadly I don’t think I am going to have time to visit Crufts this year which is a shame as I love meeting up with my friends. I will have to watch them on television instead when I finally finish for the day.

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26. March 2011 by admin.

I taught a one day horse workshop today and had a lovely group of people. We had some excellent horses on the clinic too who demonstrated perfectly how the simple small body work and ground exercises bring about profound changes in a short amount of time. There was a lovely cob who was short on the right hind and who found it hard to cover the ground with impulsion. When I was working with her in the stable I found a small area in the middle of her back that was locked.  Initially she couldn’t bring her back up but after showing the group how to do small spine rocks and teaching her to engage her abdominal muscles she lifted her back with ease.  I concentrated on bringing movement to the locked area to the side of the thoracic spine and although she had repeatedly stood with one of her fore limbs forward when we were doing observations at the start of the workshop this changed.  When we put her back under saddle at the end of the afternoon the difference was huge.  She was engaging her hindquarters and the snatching movement of the right hind had gone.

All the horses were dramatically different at the end and I really like showing people the horses under saddle at both the start and the end of the day.  It really helps people to understand what I am looking for in the horse’s movement and posture and to see how this simple gentle technique can bring about positive change.  It was a great day and although my schedule is crazy I wouldn’t want to change a thing as I love having so much variety in my work.

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26. March 2011 by admin.

Tina and I set off for Fiona’s mid morning and filmed a second session with Taz.  He has improved no end and although there is still some way to go he is definitely moving in the right direction.  His default is to stand with his right fore out to the side but as we continued to work he started to organise his body in a more balanced way.  He is a real thinker and is one smart cookie and I really enjoyed working with him again.

Buddy is also coming on a treat but he was tired as he had been out hacking the day before so we didn’t do much with the canter as he was lacking energy.  We worked over poles which again is a really simple exercise but shows a lot about how the horse is organising his body.  Working over and around poles adds variety to training sessions for both the horse and the rider and also serves as a great marker for any issues the horse may have under saddle. The focus should be about building on what the horse can do rather than focusing on what they can’t do and by the end of the session Buddy was working really well.

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2. March 2011 by admin.

We had our monthly Sighthound session this morning and ITV local news came to film the morning.  Tony has fallen in love with Zaria who I worked with last month and everyone has fallen for a little emaciated whippet x greyhound called Jaspar.  What a poppet.  Hopefully we can raise the profile of these lovely dogs through the local news programme when it airs.  Our usual group of Practitioners and Practitioners in Training came to help and I am now back in the office catching up with emails and finishing this blog. I will then head home for lunch.

The sun is shining and we are all getting ready for the clinics which start on Monday.  I am going to Fiona’s tomorrow (can’t wait) and am teaching a one day equine workshop on Saturday so must get the hand-outs ready for that but for now, the lure of the sun is too much and the paperwork can wait.  It is the perfect afternoon for dog walking and there are five patient hounds who whole heartedly agree.

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2. March 2011 by admin.

Another new month and I am now back at home after another extraordinary trip abroad.  Mags and I left for Poland last Thursday and had a wonderful time.  It was my first trip to Poland and I have fallen in love with Gdansk.  It is a stunning city and the architecture is beautiful. I love old buildings and am fascinated by history so I was in my element.  The seminar was organised by Marta who I met at the International Companion Animal Welfare Conference a couple of years ago.  Dogs Trust organise ICAWC and the International Training Programme that I speak at three times a year and their education programmes are really making a difference to dogs and those who want to help them both here in the UK and abroad.

I paid back the few extra days of warmth I gained from my trip to Malta as it was freezing in Poland.  The Baltic Sea has been turned into a glittering, solid mass of ice.  It was breathtakingly beautiful and the frozen waves on the sea shore in Gdynia were amazing.  The sea hasn’t frozen in Poland for quite some time apparently and I doubt I will ever see anything like that again.  The workshop was great fun and Marta did a wonderful job of interpreting ably assisted by her friend Miriam.  We had around thirty people on the course ranging from dog trainers, shelter helpers, assistance dog trainers, vets and behaviourists and I loved every moment of my time in Poland.  Marta is going to organise an equine training and more dog workshops so I will be going back at some point in the not to distant future.  I might even need to buy some land there!    I am one happy bunny.

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2. March 2011 by admin.

I didn’t work on the yard yesterday.  Instead I spent the day at home with Tony and Daisy as it was Tony’s birthday.  I have a wonderful young girl named Rosie who has started coming to the farm on Sundays to help out and be with the horses and she is just brilliant.   She and Jon are looking after the horses so that I can spend the day with Tony.  Emily is in Dublin as she has been recalled for a part in a film and she has also set up some meetings in Dublin whilst she is there.  Sharon Newsome and I are going to get together at the beginning of April to write an outline for a book on the horses of Dunsink and if Emily does get work in Ireland we may all be commuting to Dublin on a regular basis!   That would suit me down to the ground as I always feel very at home in Ireland and I do find it hard to write at home as there are always so many other distractions.

The online shop is almost complete but now it’s the technical bit and I am RUBBISH at that kind of thing.  I am working on my two Power Point presentations that I will be using in my two day seminar in Poland and the ever patient Jon is working on the on line shop at the next computer.  Thank heavens for all his talents.  Tilley Farm would not be the place that it is without my incredible team and support group and I hope they all know how valued they are.  Mags is coming to Poland with me as I need an assistant and Tina will cover the yard for me at the weekend.  I think we have around thirty people on the two day workshop so it will be a busy few days and I am blessed to have such wonderful people around me who are all an integral part of the team enabling me to travel, to teach, to learn and to continue to help animals and their owners.  Thank you Tina, Shelley, Mags, Jon, Vikki, Rosie, Megan, Caroline, Elaine, Liz and Andrew.  You are all brilliant and your work and support is greatly appreciated.

I had another glorious session with a new canine client and his owners this morning and could have spent all day chatting and working as we are all on the same page when it comes to behaviour and dogs.  Another rewarding day here at Tilley Farm.

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