19. July 2010 by admin.

The race horses’ owners have been to visit and are thrilled with the changes in their horses. They can’t believe they have only been with us a week and want them to stay for longer. I am loving having four extra horses in and with a week long clinic starting next Monday we will be packed so I shall take my female donkeys home to free up some stable space. The new young horse is a poppet but was very braced through the neck when she arrived on Monday. She can tip out of balance and walk through people very easily but this is a common pattern with youngsters. Too many people label them as dominant but when you watch them on the move you can see that the weight falls through their nearside shoulder and near fore making them lean towards the handler. Whilst horses are naturally more one sided, as are we, this is exacerbated by our handling of them since we are so conditioned to leading them from the near side.

As with most youngsters she really finds it hard to turn to the right due to this pattern of bracing that has been set up from an early age. When lunged on the right with a bit in her mouth she apparently took off which doesn’t surprise me in the slightest. In my opinion she isn’t ready to be lunged - she cannot maintain her balance in a straight line, let alone on a circle. Her owner is lovely and has asked us to work with her for a month so that we can teach her some coordination and self control and we will put her through the clinic next week as I think she will benefit from working in the company of other horses once she has learnt some of the basic leading exercises.

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19. July 2010 by admin.

I have been back in England for a few days now but have not had time to even think about jet lag. I arrived home last Wednesday and went to the farm on Thursday to catch up. Our little mare that was in for starting is now backed. She is still unsure about poles but I have every faith that we will get there in the end. We also have two lovely race horses in for two weeks before they go back into training and another mare due in tomorrow. I have been doing dog demonstrations at a county fair in Essex over the weekend and also managed to get in some gardening at my mother’s cottage in Suffolk so my feet have barely touched the ground since I returned.

Our daughter Daisy has elected to stay on in the US for a further few weeks which is actually great as Tony, Jon and I have secretly decorated and redesigned my old office so that she can move into a bigger bedroom. We will now have more time to get further along with the project before she comes home. The room (actually it’s two small rooms joined together) is a funny shape so I suggested putting in a stair case up to part of the attic which will be a dressing area and it is looking totally amazing. There is a lot to be said for having a male best friend (Jon) who is a very talented builder, joiner, plasterer, etc. The guy can build a whole house including electrics and plumbing (which I think is pretty cool) so Daisy’s new room is a piece of cake.

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19. July 2010 by admin.

I am back in Connecticut after a wonderful, wonderful week. We spent the last day of the clinic working with the horses and watching Robyn give a demonstration on how to start handling a very young filly foal. She was only a few months old and Robyn showed the group how to put on and use a simple body rope made from the catch ropes that we use. This is an easy way to help teach a foal to lead without applying any pressure on their head. It also helps to balance the foal through the body and in fact can be used on any horse. This technique was used on Knick Knack and it enables the handler to show a horse how to organise his body more effectively without hanging on to his head and I can tell you from experience it is brilliant for teaching donkeys how to be calm for the farrier.

  We were fortunate to have Lili on the course who is a bare foot trimmer. Knick Knack was brought into the feeding area and whilst he munched happily on grass in a raised bowl, Lili, Mandy and Robyn continued with the trimming work and the result was pretty outstanding. The four year olds were led out to pasture where they will be turned away for a few weeks to process all the information they have learnt. Six days before they had to be herded in and out of the corral and watching them lead quietly out in a string to new grazing was a wonderful sight. I find this work as exciting and inspiring as I did when I first started learning this unique technique in the Bitterroot Mountains over sixteen years ago, and I wonder what on earth I would be doing with my life if I hadn’t met Linda Tellington Jones and her sister, my dear friend Robyn Hood. I love all the connections that this work brings. I have so enjoyed meeting up with my old friends and making new ones too. Louise - I hope you enjoy this blog - it was a pleasure to meet you and I am so glad that you have discovered Horse Hero through Linda’s website. This is what it is all about. Sharing, learning, growing, helping horses and having fun.

It was really sad saying goodbye to Mel and all the wonderful people that I met. I don’t know when I will see them again aside from Barbara and Robyn as they will be in England in the autumn. I may just have to go back to Bitterroot next year. I had to leave before the final group supper as my flight was early this morning and Barbara and I headed down to Jackson to dine once more in what is now one of our favourite restaurants. We got to bed around 1.00am and were up at 4.00am. I flew out of Jackson on the first morning flight and slept all the way to New York.

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19. July 2010 by admin.

The horses have been walking through the labyrinth and over raised poles during the past few days and they have also learnt to walk between two bales of straw and over wood. The youngsters need to feel confident about walking on wood as they will have to walk over a large wooden bridge that crosses a fast flowing river when they move closer to the ranch house where the five year old horses are worked. They will need to come into the corral in front of the main building to have their feet trimmed and will also be brought into this area when they are part of the trail riding group when older so it is a highly necessary part of their education. We actually teach all horses to walk over a variety of surfaces as I have written before. It helps to reduce spooking and also gives confidence to horses that are worried about travelling in a horse box or trailer and the key is to keep it simple so that they can learn in easy stages. They have to become used to the noise, and the feeling of walking over different surfaces.

There is also the visual stimulus to consider as well. It is accepted that humans have four working memory ’slots’ although it was originally thought to be seven. Working memory is a more active version of short term memory and scientists now believe the same is true of the horse. Once new steps in any exercise are successfully processed and pieced together that sequence can take up one slot, regardless of how many pieces there are in that sequence, enabling the horse to take on board more information provided they aren’t overloaded. If they are given too much information the brain becomes flooded as there aren’t enough empty ’slots’ and the horse either shuts down or panics. He certainly won’t remember every piece of the exercises the following day or develop in confidence so again the key is to work slowly with each step. This will actually save time in the long run as the exercise becomes truly embedded.

Once the horses were happy to walk between bales of straw we asked participants to stand on the bales and progressed to teaching the horses to walk next to raised wands and/or pool noodles and then under them. The sliding saddle pad exercise was also taught to the four year olds and all the horses were driven with chest lines. There are several steps to this process starting with someone walking up behind the horse and saying whoah and offering the horse some grass or hay. We start by walking up slowly and calmly, then progress to walking up a little more quickly and even slowly running up behind the horse. This naturally needs to be done from both sides and the handlers can give a signal to stop in the beginning so that the horse learns to quietly halt and turn his head if he sees or hears anyone approaching him from behind.

As well as being an excellent exercise for the horse in terms of teaching him to listen to a signal behind him as opposed to up by his head, it also helps him to overcome concerns of movement behind and can be extremely useful if he ever escapes from his stable or field without a head collar. It is also a great exercise to teach horses that walk off when you want to catch them from the field.

The group are tired but thoroughly enjoyed the trail ride yesterday afternoon. It is a tradition to take one afternoon off to ride up into the mountains and the views are truly outstanding. Robyn, Mandy, Barbara and I stayed behind to work with the five year old horses under saddle and continue with helping a young horse named Knick Knack who has real issues about having his feet trimmed. He is so unbalanced that he has found it really hard to stand on three legs and after a two hour unsuccessful stint with the farrier he was left untrimmed for many months. His hooves are really flared and he has a large crack on the left fore and Mel is desperately concerned.

Using the clicker, the wand and some body work Mandy and Robyn have been able to teach Knick Knack to pick up each foot without panicking and to circle each leg in preparation for him having his feet trimmed. Working in short sessions on and off for the last five days has certainly paid off. This afternoon Knick Knack fell asleep in the corral whilst we were working with the five year old horses. He was in such a relaxed state that Robyn and Mandy were able to continue with their work whilst he was lying down! Mandy was even able to start trimming his hooves with the nippers and all the time Knick Knack snoozed away.

This is obviously potentially a very dangerous situation to put yourself in but as Knick Knack had grown in confidence throughout the week and certainly trusted Mandy and Robyn he remained totally calm

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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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17. June 2010 by admin.

It was great to spend time with Tony as we won’t see each other now for a good few weeks. I finished this blog on the Eurostar on my way back to England. It is the most civilised way of travelling to Paris by far and I was back in time to walk dogs, see the horses and catch up with emails before packing for my trip to the US. I am going to New York with my daughter, Emily, to visit my other daughter, Daisy, travelling to Connecticut to see my sister and nephews, then flying to Salt Lake City on Saturday where I will meet up with friends. We will then drive to the Bitterroot Mountains in Wyoming.

I will be spending six days at Bitterroot with young horses and writing more articles for a UK magazine and some South African websites, and I am so looking forward to the trip. I haven’t been to Wyoming for well over ten years and it is a brilliant place to be. So the next time I blog I will be sitting in the wonderful mountain setting of the Bitterroot Ranch whilst Arabian horses mill around my cabin. Divine

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17. June 2010 by admin.

We were picked up at 10.15am and are now in Pierrefonds where Merlin is filmed and the castle is spectacular. I feel full of the joys of life (or should that be joie de vivre?) and totally clear headed today and am so happy that I have been able to accompany Tony to work. This is the third series of Merlin and for the past two years I have been trying to come and visit him in France but the parts that are filmed in Pierrefonds have always clashed with my own work commitments. Tony has been filming in the courtyard this morning and I have been wandering between the two sets as tournament scenes are also being filmed in the castle grounds.

One of the horses that they are using in Tony’s scene has to stand quietly whilst the cameras roll as Arthur makes his way down a stone staircase leaving Morgana and King Uther standing on the castle steps. Arthur then bids farewell and mounts before riding off through the castle gates. As the word ‘action’ is known to the horse, and usually signifies the start of some exciting activity, the word ‘casserole’ is being used instead to ensure his hooves remain firmly on the spot until he is mounted. I hope this isn’t a threat!

The second horse is rather livelier in spirit but is so beautifully trained. The handler was using a long stick fashioned from a length of willowy branch to gently touch the horse on his legs and on his hindquarters to ask him to step neatly onto a small length of carpet when he wasn’t being filmed so that the sound of hooves on the cobble stones didn’t disturb the filming. Fantastic to watch and I am thrilled that I have found a use for the willow saplings I managed to drown last year. Both horses take all the cameras, cables, lights, tracks, trucks and noise in their stride. Nothing seems to faze them and they are genuinely calm, not just trained to remain rooted to the spot.

The tournament horses are stunning and of course their training is also supreme. There are several horses in this scene and the moment ‘action’ is called, the horses and the riders engage immediately in close combat. There are horses whizzing around in a tiny space whilst their Knights do battle but the minute the word ‘cut’ is heard they all stop moving and stand quietly waiting for the next direction. It’s very impressive. I have been talking to the trainer and he has invited me and Tony out to the stables to watch the horses train. It’s an offer I am most definitely going to accept. I like his philosophy - he takes what the horse offers and if one is reluctant to rear on cue he teaches it something else instead. As he said “why make a horse do something he doesn’t like to do? Some people are good at Maths and others English - it is the same for the horse.” How true.

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17. June 2010 by admin.

Je suis en France! Merveilleux! Tony and I had a very civilised night near the Bastille watching England vs USA in the World Cup (how disappointing was that?) and we woke up divinely late this morning and walked down into Le Marais to eat lunch in a wonderful restaurant. I so love sitting outside drinking coffee watching life go by and Paris is the best place for that. We wandered around the Jewish Quarter all afternoon and bought some beautiful decorative wall tiles by a Canadian designer named Sid Dickens, which would make beautiful gifts, and then collected our luggage before heading back to the Gare du Nord to catch the train to Compiégne where Tony stays when filming in France.

It’s been good taking time out and great fun wandering around Paris, but today for some reason I feel totally disconnected from myself. If I had to put it into words it would be like having a cold and knowing that the fine cuisine that you are eating is a glorious, aromatic medley of perfect flavours but you just can’t taste or smell a thing. I guess it has been a strange few weeks for me in terms of emotions, and spending time away from home without any responsibilities has given permission for these emotions to surface. I thought I would feel a sense of achievement and relief on reaching the anniversary of my father’s passing on June 1st as the months that followed my parents’ deaths were filled with constant reminders that they were no longer with us. But I don’t. We had all, in our own ways, prepared ourselves for the first birthday celebrations, the first summer visit from my sister and my nephews, the first Christmas and the first Easter and so on without them and in truth each event was far more joyful then I could ever have imagined or hoped it could be.

I have become used to not calling my parents when there is good news to share but despite all those potentially huge emotional hurdles that we’ve all met, and survived, I probably miss them more than ever. I fully understand why people continually drive themselves forward to keep feelings hidden and I have many friends who are constantly in need of the next great adventure, and whilst goals and ambitions are not bad things, stillness is also in order. I love to be busy but it’s also good to be quiet. It gives me time to reflect and focus on what is important in my life.

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