This page is devoted to the education of Horse People everywhere, in the hope that one small thing learnt will improve the life of their horse.

If I 'get up your nose', ignore it. I say things with a 'glint in the eye' and mean the best for you and your horses.
 

** ALL PHOTOS ON THIS SITE ARE FREE TO USE.

Turn up the volume     

25th November, 2008

I don't know why but I am often told of a Victorian Horseman who is from the NH side of things, who has been giving me a hard time for a couple of years now. He is a Forum addict, don't know how as I haven't the time to even read his words when I get emails about him and so I have no clue what this letter below is about and again, haven't got the time to read it. I do however see that this Horseman is named there again. 'Rogilla" I wonder what now.

Then at Equitana, on both of the Clinics of Quantum Savvy that I attended to get a first hand look at the Guy and his Horses, he opened up his spiel to all in attendance and launched into Horsemen like myself. I can't quote him but it was about the three ways that you choose a good Horseman from a bad Horseman. I was filmed at the clinic.

They are a bad Horseman if they tie a Horse up and they are a bad Horseman if they 'bag a horse down'. A prolific Forum Expert says,  " They are bad Horsemen if they desensitize. a Horse." (not verbatim)  Remember all those words as they will become highly relevant over the next week. The "Buzz word that differentiates us apparently is that , we don't give a Horse "OPTIONS"

I guess this is this common thread about "desensitizing Horses" as being the end of the World as we know it. So I reserve the right of reply then and I think it is high time that this other side of the current Horse climate is looked at for once, as closely as I get examined. So to be objective, I went to most people's Clinics and was going to photograph the Body Language of their Horses, with my new Lens. My Camera broke. Excuse the quality.

Amongst the Horses that were exhibiting concerning Body Language throughout, were these.  One Horse spent much of the time with an uncontrollable nervous flapping of the lips, accompanied by frightened eyes and incessant licking that was so far over the top as to be the first time I have seen such a thing. You can make up your own mind. These are not selected. This was the Horse throughout the entirety and over two days.

Imho, a Horse that exhibits emotional traits will not try for the Owner any more. 5 out of 5 run outs during the grand entrance over two days/

To sum this Clinic up, basically nothing was taught, no attempt was made to teach. The entire period on both days was devoted to preaching the Sermon according to Quantum Savvy and denigrating all other Horsemanship styles.

*********

Guy McLean's Horses. There is a high chance that they are making faces at each other due to the pecking order and maybe vying for favoritism. In the Herd situation, away from the Handler, they may really elect to make their own faces.

John Chatteton took on Problem Horses and they reacted perfectly and were not bothered, even though coming to the Clinic with a high degree of worry.

This Ladies Horses were most unhappy indeed.

Heather Currie and her Boyfriend (so the goss goes :) Stallion was happy and fine.

Pat Parelli was one of the few who took on Horses with Problems. Genuine Horses to show genuine ability rather than tricks taught to personal Horses. The Body Language of his Horses was perfect. They were Happy. He was terrific and has improved yet again. The real deal.

Carlos's Horse was fine. Happy and interested.

You may remember me mentioned 'flexed off"? Very good for the PC Kiddies to see in real life. Not 'supple' as the lesson went.

The Pony Club Horses were fine. Just chucking their heads requesting relief.

and as I said, the Dressage Horses were the happiest of all and yet the hardest working Horses with probably the most demands on them.

So, Horses are the best Judges of Horse Trainers and Riders'. Not Internet Forums or Crowds. Horses never lie!

*************

LETTER OF THE DAY NH OR NOT NH?

 
Hi Mr. HP :)

Very much enjoy your 'Blog', and often recommended it to others.

Anyway, thought you might be interested in the following considering
Rogilla's post on the
Eques.com.au forum:

http://esiforum.mywowbb.com/view_topic.php?id=304&forum_id=1&highlight=desen
sitize++

Key posting by "Dr Deb" Bennett who recommends Dorrance/Hunt/Whitney etc. ;>
(This is in no way a recommendation for or against Deb Bennett as a
competent horse handler as I've never seen her working or riding a hrose.)

("Elderly teacher" is Tom Dorrance with whom she rode a number of years)

(originally posted: Fri Oct 24th, 2008 07:40 pm by "Waldo")

Waldo, this is Dr. Deb. This paragraph pretty much tells me where you would
be at if you showed up in my class. You are mixed up. Being your horse's
teacher is your proper role, because educating your horse is the goal. One
of the reasons I continually recommend J. Allen Boone's book is that he so
effectively gets across the idea of "making the bridge level." Anyone who
figures they need to be the 'leader' is still putting himself above the
animal mentally, and (just as with the word 'natural') using the title
'leader' to kid himself that he's really his horse's partner. You are either
equal partners, or you are the senior partner -- the leader -- and hence the
balance is unequal.

I would totally dispense with all of that. You need to be the teacher,
because your horse does not come into the situation knowing how to use the
furniture. All domestic horses are still born wild. Their instincts
continually get them into trouble within the domestic environment. So you be
the teacher, and then there's no folderol about whether you are partners, or
whether you are equal. You are most emphatically not equal! There is a
teacher and there is the one who needs to be taught. Sometimes the teacher
is you. Sometimes the teacher is the horse.

Only the educated horse can be 100% OK on the inside. The best a "leader"
can produce is an obedient trooper -- a follower that will PERFORM, no
matter how he feels. In the Army, follower behavior is created by squelching
any tendency to think independently. The trooper is to PERFORM no matter how
he really feels or thinks. This is the root-cause of "post-traumatic stress
disorder" -- the trooper never did really or deeply accept that he would
need to be killing other human beings.

My major goal with every horse is to get him all right on the inside. This
can only by done through a process of education. To be educated means that
the horse understands, and emotionally accepts, whatever I am going to ask
him to be or do, whatever situation I am going to ask him to be in. Once the
horse becomes 100% OK on the inside, you can shoot a cannon off under his
belly and he'll stand there smacking his lips with his ears in a V. This has
nothing to do with 'desensitizing' (to desensitize means to 'make numb' --
another route to having the horse PERFORM ANYWAY). True 100% OK-ness is
absolutely something unworldly, by which I mean, it is something that
reminds me of Another -- and better -- world. It is akin to what Ernest
Hemingway meant when he said of the bullfight -- the dance of death between
bull and man -- that it was 'uncanny' or 'otherworldly'.

And don't kid yourself, Waldo: it is most certainly a dance of death. There
is no difference at all between roundpenning a horse, when it is done
aright, and torrying a bull. The understanding that develops between the
animal and the handler is the same, and while the bull dies in literal fact,
the horse dies too -- in the sense that he dies to his old life, submitting
his whole will to the man's. The idea for us is to be worthy of this, not to
mis-use it. Our elderly teacher often emphasized this point. -- Dr. Deb


By the way, just for info on where she is coming from, here is her take on
"natural" horsemanship:

Posted: Thu May 15th, 2008 03:07 am
Quote Reply
Aye, there's a difference, isn't there, between wimping and cringing and
letting the horse make the functional decisions, and "asking permission" in
the sense that Liz and David mean it.

In the first instance, the rider or handler is essentially saying to the
horse, "you do all the work." When we go for a horseback ride, there are two
kinds of "work": planning work, and physical work. We decide which of these
jobs the person ought to do based on our rational ability to look at our
God-given gifts and talents. As the person has built the environment and
this environment is not in any sense natural to the horse; and as the person
and society have compelled the horse to inhabit this environment; and as the
person can read and speak to other humans who are the most dangerous things
in that environment -- we look to the person to do the planning. On the
other hand, as the horse can outrun us, is larger and far stronger, and is
generally a durable sort of body, we look to the horse to do the physical
work.

But when the person wimps, cringes, doesn't hang in there when there's a
little shy or jiggle, and generally pussyfoots around the animal exuding
guilt and uncertainty -- in other words when she is a lot more concerned
with herself than she is with looking up, looking out, and getting on with
the job -- then she is saying to the horse, "I am not willing or able to
focus and plan, not really able to govern this ride, you, or myself." In
such a case, the animal can't believe in or really trust the rider, and it
is truly a miracle that he doesn't just buck the person off and leave; just
as much as if she had subjected him to continual beatings.

This whole scenario is a world away from the kind of "asking permission"
that Dave is talking about. In this case, we have a confident and
experienced horsewoman who knows ahead of time exactly what the whole
outcome is destined to be. As you heard me say in the clinic -- this is a
joke, but I mean it too -- ultimately we always have control; I don't know
any barn, anywhere, we couldn't get a gun and just kill the horse if the
situation got bad enough. Any horse in a pen or enclosure of any size, no
matter how large, is already caught and permanently caught. All that
therefore remains is how we are to introduce ourselves to the horse so as to
minimize the fear that he is usually going to have at first.

You saw Eyjolfur Isolfsson doing masterful work in the roundpen with the
Icelandic horse on the tape I showed the class: he comes toward the animalThank
soft and steady, he comes in on the "slice" three-quarters from the front
toward the shoulder rather than broadside, and when he reaches out to touch
the animal -- it is almost more than the animal's curiosity will bear -- he
is careful not to tip the animal's feelings over from curiosity to fear. As
soon as his touch is accepted, Eyjolfur withdraws, and then, miracle of
miracles -- the horse can't stand for him to leave, and so he hooks on and
follows! And so the right kind of relationship begins.

Sam, to handle horses of course you need to be chuck full of good feelings
toward yourself. Anyone needs this at any time. Jesus said, "love thy
neighbor as thyself." Don't forget the "thyself" part, m'dear -- it comes
first, and without that part being there, you have nothing to love thy
neighbor with. -- Dr. Deb.



Thanks for that. It will entertain my Readers no doubt. I will read it after my wife comes home and I have a minute :)
 

Young rider crushed by horse still in coma

November 24, 2008
An Australian teenager is in an induced coma in a New South Wales hospital after being crushed by her horse while competing at a gymkhana at Sutton Forest in the Southern Highlands late on Saturday.
The 14-year-old girl, from Berrima in the Southern Highlands, was unconscious for 35 minutes when she fell from her horse, who then rolled on her. The NRMA CareFlight flying trauma team landed at the grounds at 4.45pm to work with ambulance officers in treating the girl.

The girl is reported to have a fractured skull, and paramedics say her riding helmet saved her from even more serious injury.

She was given a general anaesthetic by the doctor and placed on a ventilator to control her breathing. She was flown, along with her mother, to the Westmead Children's Hospital where she was in a serious but stable condition on arrival just before 6pm.

+++++++++++++++

Kerry Jervis, your email is bouncing.

*************

EQUITANA

Hi John

I was at Equitana only on Saturday and wanted to run a few things passed you.

Warwick was very unprepared, no plan B or C apart from some jump rails and I sense a reluctance in people to use a system other than their own, even to their detriment. The danger in using another method is that people say, oh well that’s just Parelli or Monty or O’Leary J. The danger in not moving seamlessly through other options is what we saw on Saturday L. So, I do feel very sorry for Warwick and think it’s a shame we didn’t get to see some of his training methods.

--------, what can I say, less than impressed or as my non-horsey husband pointed out “utter crap”, I wanted to go down and wave that lead rope around that close to his face to see what happened. Very poor Parelli rip off if you ask me. Incidentally, my husband after his day said that “after all I’ve seen today your South Australian man is right on the money” looks like his vote goes with you and you weren’t even a competitor, not to mention apparently you’re my SA man!! Hope Linda doesn’t mind sharing, lol.

Husband was also impressed with Alan Hannaford, the campdrafting guy, he said he looked the most comfortable on a horse, beautiful Stallion and the commentary was very entertaining.
 

Yes, I forgot to mention Allan. A classic and a very happy Horse. Actually taught stuff. A real character.

I acknowledge what you said about the round yards being too large, but to be fair, they all agreed to participate knowing the regulations and with EI had an extra year to prepare. Horses were as close to the same as you are going to get, so I suppose the best guy working with untouched horses won, it would have been good to see more competition. I actually liked Warwick’s horse the most, don’t know why.

On a different topic, I attended Andrew McLean’s lecture which I found very interesting, very much an academic approach. I would pay money to go to a dinner with the two of you and listen to the conversation over a few reds… Anyway, this “over shadowing” I think he called it, moving the horse back and forth giving it something else to focus on other than the scary thing and in effect desensitizing it, is that kind of the similar to strapping up one front leg therefore giving them something to use as a distraction? or have I got it way wrong? I guess with Andrew’s method you are bringing the horse to the object which you bring closer each time, but you are also allowing retreat, and where do you go if the horse throws a real tanty? I would have thought advance-retreat with the object would work better, curious as to your opinion.

I know you’re busy so sorry for clogging up with more email, thought a novice view might be interesting.

Regards, Jane

I watched Andrew too. I know he likes "Peer Review" and although I have not passed an opinion on the system before, let me just say that I disagree with it completely. I understand the principal completely and it is a sound one but I know for a fact that Mouths are deteriorated in the process. Regards

Hi John,

I have been attending Equitana everyday and been on the lookout for you, yet still have managed to spot you. That must be a very wide brimmed hat you are hiding under!!!

I did'nt want to write to you whilst you were away as I know your time is minimal, however after watching the Dressage with the Stars last night I have been complelled to.

I have never been to the dressage before so am a 'virgin' in that respect, however was disappointed to see 'lame' horses at such a high level with people clapping and cheering oblivious to it!

Also, what must the big names from overseas think when a 'lame' horse is put in front of them to teach??? I did love Andreas though :o)

But don't forget, these people 'love' their horses.......

Best wishes to your lovely wife, thanks for listening to my 'vent'

xoxo

Renee

Wow. I went to that but ran out of Battery and left. Bit of a worry? Hard to believe. Surely not? Anyhow, weren't they lovely Horses though? Did you like Andreas? Seems like a nice Lad.

**********


**********
************

LETTERS OF THE DAY

By the way John

I REALLY love your website. I am a novice horse owner of two thoroughbreds who are absolutely gorgeous. Your site is a wealth of information and a breath of fresh air of information, knowledge and experience. Thank you for being so generous with your skills and experience. I can’t wait to see the dvd’s I’ve bought to continue on this steep, but exhilarating learning curve.

Cheers

Melissa

Thank you Mel. All the best.


*************

Hi Mr HP,

Firstly I hope Mrs HP is doing ok. Must be incredible frustrating for one who is normally very active to be laid up in bad all day and night. I hope she is doing ok.

Regarding the whole stiff arms issue(s);-

I wonder some times if the stiff arms is part of a bigger balance issue and the bracing and tensing of the rider is a coping mechanism for lack of balance (in the seat I suspect)? If the seat were to become truly independent of the 'hands/arms' then surely these stiff arm riders would be improved? It seems these days there is too much emphasis on 'taking up a contact' and 'riding in a frame/on the bit/round' before the rider is truly able to give and soften to the horse? Ie the rider is balanced in/through the seat and has softness in the arms therefore hands? (I don't profess to be a trained coach or professional rider, just my observation as rider.)

I'll put my hand up and say that it took me a VERY LONG time to develop the balance and muscle tone required to stay balanced, to have an independent seat and be able to soften the arms and hands. Whilst developing both my horse and my strength I spent a lot of time riding 'long' and 'low' and not 'asking' for a contact that I had no hope of softly maintaining. It all seems to come back to basics. Once I had the horse 'built up' and 'correct' & myself fit enough to balance hands and seat independently the 'contact' and 'give' was easy!

Anyway that's my opinion, as for leaving the sport over criticism, well, the question should be asked just how badly do you want to learn to ride?, if you take up basket ball you'll probably still cop criticism over how you play, would you give that up too?. Criticism is a part of life, the best thing anyone can do with criticism is to NOT take it personally, learn from it and move on. For what it is worth I hate to see anyone 'giving up horses' it's the most rewarding 'sport' I know of, but it's damn hard to learn to do it 'right'.

Regards,

Sarah.

Thanks Sarah. I think I have said enough on the matter, although maybe not :) I was reviewing the Dressage Video footage in frame by frame earlier and was surprised with one Horse, caused by hands. Mrs. HP want's to see it and vet it tomorrow as to whether I use it.


************

John,
Quick comment about two recent 'Letter of the Day' posts on your site.
Firstly, about the lady with the guy trying to hitch a ride on her float. Thank God for the guys in the ute.
A couple of years ago, I made a citizens arrest in Melbourne of a guy that had just robbed a bookstore. I chased him through the streets and eventually cornered him in an alley. I'd been doing and teaching karate for a few years, so I put him down pretty quick and pinned him to the pavement. The alley was fully of yuppies sitting around sipping lattés, and I was calling out for someone to help me or call the cops. You know, not one of those smooth skinned pretty boys lifted a finger to help me while I was holding this guy down. They all just sat there like stunned mullets. Probably afraid they'd get their hair tossed up.

Finally, a shopkeeper rang the cops, who arrived 15 minutes later. I don't tell the story very often, because most people tell me I was an idiot for getting involved. I hope this country never has the need to face another Kokoda.

Secondly, when it comes to receiving criticism about my riding, I like to reflect on the line Frank Hopkins speaks in the movie Hidalgo - "Mister, you can say what you want about me, but I'm gonna have to ask you not to talk that way about my horse." Whack!

In other words, don’t blame the horse, blame me.

John F

PS: With the new movie 'Australia' coming out shortly, I wonder if there's going to be a rise in the number of men taking up riding to emulate Hugh Jackman's character? The funny but sad part will be that most them will probably live that dream following tracks in the sand of a dressage arena.

Lol John. You have a great way with the Pen. How true. What a shame I hadn't been there with a Cap? :) Great yarn but at least then the Crowds won't look like they do now but more like this?? Regards

**********

Hi John,
I was just reading the email about the man climbing into the poor girl's horse float!
OMGness!!!! how freaky!!!!
The 'on lookers' remind me of a time when I was going to school on the Northern Line (underground) near NottingHill Gate. I was 3 story's below ground waiting for the train to arrive.
There were 2 big skin head boys holding a little African kid by his arms and legs swinging him to and fro threatening to throw him on the electrified train tracks.
Immediately I stomped over and told their stud ridden tattooed heads to let him go, or else! There was a guard standing by the wall pretending he couldn't see what was happening and the whole platform was toe to brief case 6 people deep from one end to as far as the eye could see, except for the polite space the crowd had made for the brute's performance...
They did let him go and the poor kid ran off so fast he couldn't thank me
I didn't think of the consequences I just acted the way I thought was right, and I've always noticed people being a little intimidated by a 6 foot red head with a bad temper so I wasn't scared.
Anyway, day 2 of training our Miniature Arabian to jump attatched, I think he's improving!!!
Cheers,
Sarah.

You are brave Sarah. I guess you have to be with that Tribe of Kids :) I have been getting your videos but too snowed under right now. Regards and sympathies to Helen :)

*************

Hi John,

A few months ago, I was having awful problems with my horse. My instructor told me to sell him as she considered him to be too naughty and strong for me. Unfortunately, or fortunately as it turns out, that was not an option for me as I see my horses at pets. I also had a gut feeling that there was something wrong as he had progressively got worse and, at times, could be the sweetest horse to ride. I spent days and weeks googling, having had him looked at by my chiro-vet and my vet, and that is when I first came across your website. Watching the videos of the horses showing classic symptoms of being in pain brought tears to my eyes as it was so typical of my horse.

I will go into a little more detail about my story later in the email (in case you don't have the time to read it all), but I would like to mention EPSM or PSSM as this is what I believe my horse has. Vets laughed at me when I suggested it. One vet told me to take my horse home and treat him like a normal horse - his problems were behavioural and he was having a lend of me! One vet dismissed EPSM, but could see that Ricky, my horse, was not right. His reasons for dismissing EPSM were that he was not a draft nor quarter horse (he is a warmblood), he wasn't in America(!) and he wasn't tying up. I emailed both leading research vets in the US. Stephanie Vahlberg politely replied saying that she was unable to comment without seeing my horse and Beth Valentine replied saying that he EPSM was seriously worth considering.

I changed his diet (fat diet) and exercised him daily no matter how awful he felt - I allowed him to trot in whatever frame he could and "exercised" rather than worked in the early stages. Meanwhile, Murdoch University vets (in WA) were working through all possible tests, none of which showed anything. It was only after the main vet was pulling his hair out trying to think what else it could be that he started to consider EPSM. I told him about my emails and he has been in contact with Stephanie Vahlberg since. Having seen how Ricky has responded to diet and exercise, the vet now believes that my horse could have EPSM.

I am sure you will have some knowledge of EPSM, or will be able to find out much more information than I will write here, however, I will briefly describe what it is and how it affects Ricky. It is a condition whereby horses over produce glycogen, leading to an abnormal amount in the muscles. I think it is a form that is not readily useable by muscles and the build up leads to poor muscle condition. It presents itself in such vague and differing symptoms that it is often not considered. It's typical signs are a lack of forward, a lack of muscle development, hard muscles, tying up (but this is rare in warmbloods), stiffness, grumpy behaviour, bunny hopping in canter...the list goes on and the number of symptoms varies with every horse.

Ricky's story:

I bought Ricky almost 3 years ago as a green broken 4yo with a known "backing up" problem. Yes, I know... but at the time I was looking for a horse to do some low level dressage on and he was by far the nicest horse I had seen. He is by Rotspon out of a thoroughbred mare, bred in Queensland by one of the big studs. I brought him on slowly under my instructor's eye and he was always commented on by everybody who saw him. He was a hard working, willing horse who found his work so easy, although he was always testing me and spotted ghosts in every arena, but the more challenging the work, the harder he tried and the more he listened. We had a very successful year 2 years ago until we started to do more collected work. His canter work had always been on the forehand, but I wasn't too concerned because he was only young and immature looking in the muscle department. I assumed he was a late developer and his strength would come with time as he was already starting to sit in his canter work. Ricky found some collected work easy and would often throw in a perfect flying change whilst spooking at something, or just because I tapped him with my whip, but then when I worked on them, it was almost as though he struggled. Along with struggling came "naughty" behaviour. His canter work deteriorated and he became a grumpy horse, humping his back in much of his warm up work and yet the next day he would be back to happy, obliging Ricky, finding lateral and collected work almost easy. This pattern continued (minus the collected work as we went back to basics) over several months, whilst I found excuse after excuse for him.

With his backing up problem, I had always had his chiro, who also happened to be a vet, see him regularly (anything from 4 week intervals to 3 months, depending on how he felt). Even with increased humping under saddle, Ricky never felt sore to the chiro - only ever a bit stiff, but nothing that should be causing this reaction under saddle. I should also add here that he had been assessed for stifle problems and neurological disorders, with no positive outcome. Vets found it very difficult to say that he did or didn't have neurological problems with the symptoms presented. The only "issue" was his backing up where he would struggle to co-ordinate and balance himself.

His "naughty" behaviour started just over a year ago, with problems increasing in the New Year. He had always been a horse for stretching down and swinging his back well. This all stopped. I struggled to get him to lower his head and accept the bit, his back was hollow and he refused to go forward. He went from a cheeky, spooky horse, to a naughty, dull horse. I was mortified when I realised that he had lost muscle across his back within a month or 2, but put it down to lack of "correct" work because of his avoidance techniques. I took him to my local vet to be checked for a sore back with no problems to find, except perhaps lameness issues. I felt that he was uneven under saddle when he humped his back. My vet thought that perhaps he was humping his back because of lameness issues and after many tests, gave him cortizone injections into his knees followed up with pentosan injections. The vet also found a small area of scar tissue, in line with a poor fitting saddle. I had his saddle custom made by a prominant saddle maker in Australia and had it fitted by the saddle maker every 6 months. To be honest, I never liked how the saddle sat on him and always found it difficult to ride in, but having spent almost $5000 on a saddle, who was I to argue with the saddler when he insisted tha it fitted well (I have learnt my lesson!) After the scar tissue had been found, I immediately looked at getting a new saddle. You had to see the difference Ricky to believe it! My instructor would not listen until I turned up to lesson with a different saddle and he worked so much better. He relaxed more and was able to stretch down. I knew which saddles were worth considering within a few steps, Ricky made it that clear.

Problems fixed - or so I thought! Uneveness under control, back issues/saddle issues resloved and we were back on track. I was advised by my instructor to feed him barley and lupins to try and give him the energy he needed. She had always described him as "weedy" looking. A month went by with positive results - a happy Ricky who was starting to work nicely. That was until I took him to our first competition in 5 months. He hollowed his back and became the naughty Ricky who refused to go forward. Thinking that perhaps it was mental association, I pushed him through the warm up and the test and continued to ride him afterwards until he gave his back. All problems had been solved except for attitude!

Well, how I have kicked myself since! I took him back to his stable at the competition grounds and sponged him down (it was a cold morning). As I sponged his flanks, he almost collapsed to the floor. Ricky has always been sensitive across his back, but only dipping away slightly. This was ridiculous, he wouldn't let me anywhere near his belly. Yep, he had colic.

All symptoms of colic subsided that night, except the sore belly. Two weeks went by and my poor horse was still suffering; no vet could give him anything that would relieve it. Along with his sore belly came ridiculous itchiness and stiffeness. Ricky could not bend round to scratch himself, nor could he eat or drink off the floor. He was a mess. Eventually, he got referred to Murdoch University. This is where the first vet told me to take him home and treat him like a normal horse (he was a surgeon and couldn't find anything physically wrong). I insisted on seeing another vet and eventually, after seeing 4 vets in total (2 at my own practice and 2 at Murdoch), the 5th vet could see that my horse was distressed.

He was scoped for ulcers, checked for sacro-illiac disease, neurological disorders, blood tests, skin problems etc etc.

Looking back, he has always had problems, but most were managed or explained by all sorts of other reasons. Feeding him barley exasperated EPSM issues and he "crashed" a month after being on it. His "weedy" muscles were unable to develop properly, leading to a sensitive back, a lack of ability to collect, a lack of forward, "squidgy" muscles on his rump, rock hard muscles on his second thigh, uneveness, loss of muscle, sore/sensitive areas, backing up issues, scratches on his head and legs (from losing balance through lack of muscle), being difficult for the farrier to shoe behind, overheating, itchiness, stiffness...

He has now been on the EPSM diet (no grain, low sugar - eliminating it as much as I can - and 20% of his feed being fat as his only source of fuel) along with daily (almost daily as other problems make this difficult at times) exercise for almost 6 months and he is like a different horse from the naughty, grumpy, stiff, itchy horse he became. He willingly works forward into the bit and enjoys his work. He was able to start stretching his neck after about a month of being on the diet, but, apparently, it can take the body 6 months to adapt to using fat as the only source of fuel. I get so excited when I see him standing underneath himself when eating his dinner off the floor as he has always stood with his hind legs splayed out, and when he manages 3 or 4 steps of co-ordinated backing, and when he backs out of the float taking some diagonal steps (even if his legs are all over the place).

The vet had genetic tests sent to America, but we have just eceived the results - negative - but only about 18% of EPSM warmbloods have the genetic mutation. The only real diagnosis is to sent a fresh muscle biopsy to America, but as this is not possible, and frozen samples, samples read by others are not accurate, we are left with the fact that Ricky has turned around on the diet and exercise regime leading us to believe that he has EPSM.

Unfortunately, my battle is not the only one. I have been writing on "Eques" forum where there are a handful of other people in Australia with the same issues. Vets are not open to the idea as it is such a relatively newly discovered disease, however, my vet at Murdoch is now considering at least 3 other cases as being possible EPSM cases. EPSM must be more common in Australia, it is just undetected. Of course, there are so many other problems to consider too and EPSM is so vague in its symptoms that it is not as easy to detect.

I hope this helps even one of your cases that you come across. I am in the process of writing an article for a magazine in the hope that I can get people to consider EPSM. I truly believe that if I was able to sell Ricky (and not be so soft lol), I would have sold him to a home where he would have been abused for being naughty or possibly ended up at the slaughter house. Maybe if I had never asked him to go beyond Novice dressage and had never fed him barley, he would be happily plodding along.

Sorry for my email being so long - I have so much to say and am not very good at condensing it as even the smaller points are relevant (and I have left parts out lol). If you have any questions about my experience with EPSM, I am more than happy to help where I can.

Kind Regards,
Alison :)
 

Goodness Gracious Alison. You just broke the record for the longest letter at least :) Terrible sage and poor Horse. They sure do talk to us, don't they. I am sure that being read by so many will help Horses in the future and prompt people to spur Vets in that direction as well as the norm. Thanks and so glad to hear of your success. You deserve the Owner of the week award and your Horse this:

*************

24th November, 2008

EQUITANA

Very tired now and way behind on my work, especially this web site. I will not be catching up on it either until Mrs. HP comes out of Hospital, which is this Friday thank God. That will save me half a day 7x7.

It was a wonderful extravaganza of the celebration of the Horse and congratulations to the Organizers for a wonderful job. There were literally thousands there and the setting in multiple Halls seemed to work well.

THE WAY OF THE HORSE

Young Dan James won the "Way of the Horse" and so he should have. I haven't got time to say much about that now, as I said. There will be many theories put on the Internet about how it went and there will be 'square offs' to protect reputations. I will just say this. All three Horses were magnificent Australian Stock Horses and all with great temperaments. The only reason that the Amatuers will think that their temperaments differed will be as a result of how they reacted. That had nothing to do with the individual Horses but had everything to do with the 'Breakers' . Each Horse simply reacted only to the quality of Handling that they did or did not get and therefore accurately reflected the place getters. I was sitting with Professional Horsemen and we all would have wanted to own the Horse that had to be withdrawn.  However there was daylite between young Dan and the others. He was the only Horseman in attendance. But......he may read this......

**********

SOME SUNDRY PICS

Richard WeissAndreas Hellgard (sp)The Husbandless Ladies Phill Rodney (sp)

Linda ParelliPat ParelliJohn Chattetonwrangler jane :)

***********

Hi HP

I read with interest your report on the horse handling clinic at Equitana. I
can't wait to hear what mouthing system Dan James will use to help finish
off the horse he is working on. I am in the Kimberley and about 18 months
ago, before the last Equitana got cancelled, I LENT him your DVD on mouthing
because I thought he would find it very useful. After a couple of phone
calls and me leaving text messages on his phone as to my address to send it
back to, I am still without your DVD on Mouthing. If by chance you get to
talk to him after the event can you please tell him that Margaret in Derby
would like her DVD back so that she can further her own horses education. I
really appreciate that he is very busy establishing his career but I lent it
to him in a time when he was still green and asking lots of questions. I
can't think of any reason why he has not bothered to return it to me. I was
just trying to help him out. If you can help it would be appreciated and if
he's used your mouthing system then I am glad I helped get it out in front
of people but would still like my DVD back ( last time I lend out anything
so important).

Kind regards
Marg.

The naughty young Buck :) Very interesting. If he doesn't do the right thing soon now, get back to me and I will send you a replacement Marg. I think this message will get passed on :) In the spirit of complete non bias, the Mouthing system he used turned out to be a non event and he spent more time plaiting the Horses up in about 50 foot of rope :) Up their back legs, flanks, every where except where it was supposed  to go.

On that note though, it is absolutely ridiculous and unfair, to have those Round Pens as big as they are. Not fair on the Horses or the Handlers and making it far too difficult for all. Negating most systems of Breaking in in their pure form. I would have refused it.

*************

LETTER OF THE DAY

So next week, I am going to examine it all and reveal some of the moves and
grooves. It is time "to put the cards on the table" because just lately,
there has been a resurgence of the second wave of the Natural Horsemanship
phenomenon and just like during the heady days when the first wave came
through, when fully grown Men like Ray Hunt and John Lyons even, faded away
into the background for fear of saying anything about their traditional
systems for fear of drawing much fire. So did the Australian Horsemen of the
day but I am proud that I led the charge back to the middle ground by
actually mentioning the word 'hobbles' God forbid.



Thankyou John, for the what I call the obvious , a lot of people have
categorised Ray as NH ,

I remember being at a clinic some time ago and some parreli - ites turned
up and asked where they could enrol for the natural horsemanship class and
to quote Carloyn Hunt " you must be in the wrong place we dont do natural
horsemanship"

and as Bill dorrance once said

"When people think of natural horsemanship that could mean a lot of things.
It isn't natural for a horse to be around people, and it's not natural for a
person to be sitting on him either. When we use these words we speak about
what's natural for the horse to do within his own boundaries" - Bill
Dorrance

cheers

Kellie

Thanks Kellie. I just wish I had the time to get down to detail but sadly I haven't. Very interesting. I can just say that "if only they knew just how much NH those blokes really did practice, as I do too. We just don't "float ropes, use carrot sticks and put "Grass Hopper" poses on that much :) I have been thinking about this and the obvious answer came to me. The best Judge of all this is the Horse of course. Only the Horse is qualified to judge the quality of a Trainer. They never lie and the answers are all there in their face and eyes. So in case I was getting biased, I toured Equitana to specifically see what everyone's Horses were saying. I can trust the Horses you see.

I will download my photos in the next couple of days and let you see for yourself. Horses never lie, however, I will show this one tonight.

There was this International Trainer there. I didn't bother to check who she was as her Horses were totally confused, terrorized, I was confused and had no clue what the Hell she was on about. Here are her HOrses.

I'll do a piece on this later in the week and we can have a good look at many.

*********

John

reading with interest your comments on Equitana and different training styles.

There is a clinic coming up my way shortly with Carlos Tabernaberri. Have you heard of him? I'm trying to get more detail on what is covered but am getting a general run around and feel good stories - not encouraging for someone like me who has to deal in facts.

As a general question, is it worthwhile going to these sort of clinics (some sort of NH) if your horse has well established ground manners? Do they cater for the horses who can already do the games? I'm getting an inkling that they don't.

Great to hear Linda is nearly on her way home. I hope she recovers quickly as I know it is very hard for active people to be bedridden.

K

I did watch him K, as I watched them all. I'll call him the Spanish Stallion :) He was a confident Boy :) He rode a Horse that he had trained, spoke at length about softness, bend and such like but road his Horse in each direction, each time, 'flexed off" as he rides in a rope Halter and with only one rein. The outside rein. So I really couldn't get a message. To assess Trainers, put them on other peoples Horses and preferably Horses with Problems. If they fix them in front of your eyes, they are worth their description. If they ride their own Horses and look magnificent, reserve your Judgment. The Way of the Horse is the classic example of that principal. Regards
 

**********

Hi John,
Nice to meet you at Equitana. Thanks for mentioning on your website about
the "Way of the horse" as i was not intending to go back after the Thursday
and after checking this out, decided to go back on Saturday and was so glad
i did. It was a fantastic demonstration of different methods. One of
these breakers broke in one of my horses years ago which made it even more
interesting.

All inspired, i set out today to test out the lateral mouth using your
method and had the video all ready but as the mare had injured herself
today, i decided i had better try out another horse instead.

I decided to try a 9yo WB. This horse was broken in at 2yo.

So here is the resultant mouthing test. I only did one rein as this was so
bad, i couldnt see the point in trying the other and i have to say i was a
little shocked by the result. Its only a short clip but you will get the
idea. I start asking him as he is about to break into canter and he just
keeps charging off with the rope pulling through my hands, even with his
head turned around. I did think i would loose him so in the end just about
had to pull with all my weight (75kg) to get him to stop and you can see how
he drags me along with him till he stops!!

Maybe i was not pulling hard enough to start but he still shouldnt go
faster!.

I hope you can view this as i tried to make it private and havent done this
before. Let me know if you have problems with it.


How should i go about remouthing this horse? Would you advise i go back to
the string method and go from there or start with the lunging with the rope
attached to the outside?

Any idea when you think you might start working with horses again as i would
love to send him to you to get him sorted out properly.

ps. Did you see the painting of linda on her horse at Equitana?

kind regards,
Susan

Yes Susan, I did see that painting. It was in a competition. Kind of weird feeling for me. Just commence from the section for the Professionals or confident handlers and complete as of the chestnut Horse that had bolted, near the end. Mouthing with Rope Halters gives us a 'warm inner glow' but not so to the Owner down the track when the Horse does the shoot through at whatever. In addition, Mouth in a rope Halter or a side pull and your Horse is NOT prepared for a Bit and will be highly resistant and highly stressing. I couldn't watch that video. You need to se the 'Friend' thing properly. Regards

***********

STIFF ARMS

hi John,
you know what i think about this whole little drama so i wont go on. How
about we get to the point and help the horses' welfare, as you say.

As you say you only listen to every tenth word a female says - well,
likewise. Amongst the last couple of days updates i cant clearly remember
you giving any actual guidance, although its possible i missed it.
For the sake of the rider who allegedly has only the problem of stiff hands,
for all the horses who are allegedly being mistreated, and for the zillion
and one other people who i DO see mistreating their horses through horrible
hands; please can you suggest some uselful exercises to overcome this?
I am not a coach, horseman, instructor or anything similar and do not
profess to know, but you do (profess to) - so please share.
If they cant ride green horses, they cant ride schoolmasters, but we cant
lose them as the entire industry (yes, you too) would fall down overnight
without these people; please show us your helpful knowledge on this and tell
us HOW they can fix it. Clealry they love the sport, love their horses, so
how do we change this.
No more long winded story - just a dot-point exercise, plan, magic pill or
idea please. No having a go at anyone - just a starting point, please.

Thanks, would very much appreciate if you can post this and answer it
concisely.

Carly

When I am in the presence of more than one Female Carly, they listen to None of my words so don't feel bad. They only hear themselves.

Learn to ride with no reins. Back on the lunge. Exercises and balance to establish a correct seat and good core strength.

Concentrate on overcoming nerves as nervous Riders' grab at Horses mouths and don't want to let go.

Forget the frame or outline of a Horse until everything else is coming along well.

Don't attempt to put a Horse into a frame until complete understanding of how to achieve it NOW, by knowledge and good Coaching.

understanding the principal of 'inside leg to outside rein' and being able to achieve it, understanding and being able to achieve a supple horse and all that goes with that.

Lift those arms up to where they are positioned pointing to the mouth of the HOrse, NOT THE GROUND.

Work on relaxing the joints in the arms. Wrists, elbows, shoulders, fingers.

Ride for 2 months with the hands ad arms in the required position but zero contact. Big Belly reins. Let the hands float in mid air and learn to be totally independent and not influenced by anything the Body may do.

Go and have some Western Lessons even. To change the mindset of the grip of death. Gain the confidence that Horses can be ridden with no contact and that control can be had with seat, legs, body weight shift and so on.

Above all, learn release, softness the moment the Horse offers it. Timing.

Regards to all.

************

Answer these tomorrow. 11pm Nite
 

Thanks for entertaining me during the Richard Wiess clinic, I could have
chatted all day but thought I would give you a rest! Richard was getting
the horses to do travers in handby waving the whip at thier
hindquarters, something that seemed counter-intuitive. I would have
thought that waving a whip at them would have made them move their
quarters away. We were speculating what training method he used. I
found out the answer as I overheard him telling another lady. He has
them on the wall, and waves the whip at them giving relief when they
move the quarters towards him. Seemed pretty simple when he said
it. But I came away from the demo not really understanding what benefit
the work on the ground would give you, or how to start doing it. Maybe I
am just ignorant of the benefits, could help translate to work under
saddle. Interested to hear what you think.

I also thought I would drop you a note to tell everyone about a happy =
ending to what could have been a tragic story. I'd =
just hobble&ntrained my 4yo, I'd repeated the lesson twice as =
the first time he went off like a firecracker. Because of his reaction =
(exactly like your "Young Chip" on the leg restrints DVD) I wanted to =
make 100% sure he would give if he got stuck in a fence. About a week =
later, I came home and called the horses for thier evening feed, no Tex. =
I got that sick feeling you get thinking this can't be good. Took a walk =
to the back fence to find him with his leg hooked through one of the =
wires. He had obviously been there all day as he had made a nice muddy =
trench walking from one post to the other and lots of manure piles. But, =
he had not pulled back, and not a scratch on him. The way he ripped his =
leg around in the training, I would have hated to =
see what would have happened in a fence, where the pain would have =
worsened the panic. A massive thank you to you as I would =
never have known about hobble training, in fact if you had asked my =
opinion I would have thought it cruel! Now I know it's the best thing =
you can do for your horse.

******************

Hey you! Hey John and Linda, Between you John and my husband, both of you
need gold stars. I have had some problems from the fall and my hubbie is
looking after the forte very well also.
.
I am not getting my money back on Red, I truely believe that the old owner
Don didn't know Red was unsound. I know this person on a very personal
level and he is shocked and just as upset as I am. There is no 'real' proof
of how old the spurs are also..
. Soooooo my plan is to go back to my beautiful, old,boney TB...Bazel. lol.
Daughters yr8 homework this year has taken her away from Bazel quite allot
and he hasn't been ridden much. Since his accident he has been ridden very
lightly as his hoof is still too tender to have shoes on and we have allot
of rocks around where we ride .
I am not allowed on a horse until the end of Feb 09!!!! Bazel will be
perfect by then, I have a new instructor (hopefully this one won't leave
town ..again) who is giving me stretching excerses with the physio
permission as of next week. My mare is now in foal, so I pick her up after
xmas. Then once I am allowed back on, Bazel and I will continue our weekly
lessons until the foal is ready to be broken in. These 'conditions' are
also my husbands. He 'told' me no more mucking around, you must have at
least 1 to 2 years lessons before you are allowed on the young horse.... I
think he got a scare...so Thats my plan.

**********




Hello John,
I am sending this email as I would like other readers to share my
experience of what happened to me last night!
My Shetland pony came down with colic last night (22nd Nov) due to his
drench being over due, this is of course MY fault, BIG MISTAKE!!!! (I
treat my horses every three months) and since I have been doing so, I
have not had a colic problem in two years.) as they are in sandy
paddocks and being Shetlands they are always foraging for bits of
grass etc. therefore making themselves vulnerable for sand colic.
I noticed my pony looking rather uncomfortable yesterday afternoon, so
the first thing I did was to drench him with your recipe, he slowly
worsened as the evening came around and I spent some hours walking him
but he was having spasms and trying to lie down.
By this time I phoned my vet on the after hours number and asked if they
would come out to give him a pain killer to keep him comfortable until
the drench kicked in.
Of course I had to tell the vet that the pony had been drenched with the
recipe and I found myself being scolded for doing so!! which made me
feel very uncomfortable and somewhat angry as I new I was doing my very
best to save my pony! The vet was not wanting to call out to my property
at 3am ( who I might add was on call for emergencies that night!) to
give my pony a pain reliever because I had drenched my own pony and what
I had drenched my pony with! After I had convinced her that he needed
pain relief she came out and gave him an injection and gave me another
in case I would need to repeat the medication after a period of about 6hrs.
She had told me that she had heard of this recipe and does not believe
in such a treatment and was basically telling me that because my pony
was full of sand and that it would take some months for this to build up
in his gut. BUT I have found that if I do not drench my ponies every
three to four months they are more vulnerable to colic and since I have
been doing this drench I have not ever had one colic!!!!!! apart from
this one and it is purely my fault for their treatment being overdue!

I am sure that Paraffin oil is useful to get things moving along in the
gut BUT it will not "stir up" the sand!
I can remember having a pony at the vets overnight with bad colic and
the next day they rang me and said that he was well and ready to go home
as he had done about 7 manures during the night and he was passing more
manure in the morning and when I asked her if she saw any sand in the
manure she could not tell me!!!!!! the simple fact that he had used his
bowels did not give any indication that the sand problem had been
treated!! (two different things in my opinion!) when I drench my horses
with this recipe they pass sand!! How do I know? apart from seeing it in
the manure, I take a sample of the manure that has been passed and place
it in a jar with water and you soon see the sand on the bottom of the jar!
I am just so upset at the vets out there who are sceptical of this
treatment and are telling people that it does not work! (of course we
know why!)
Yes there may be people out there (according to my vet) who have treated
their horses with this recipe and then phoned the vet as there horse has
not improved BUT have they used this treatment as a regular PREVENTATIVE
measure? OR drenched their horse who is in the midst of a severe attack
of colic and may already be too far gone! NOTHING much other than
surgery may save him by this stage! You can see how these stories get
"twisted" and make the recipe look useless when it it truly a real life
saver!!!! I cannot stress this enough with all the problems I have had
in the past with sand colic and I have taken my time to find out much
more about the prevention and management of sand colic.

A few years ago when my horse had a bad attack of sand colic, he was
drenched the week before with Paraffin oil by my vet (and was done
regularly) was absolutely full of sand and ended up having surgery!!
There are so many factors that can confuse people or "trick" people into
thinking that the oil is effective, for example: was the horse on green
pasture? was he getting plenty of good quality hay? etc would make the
oil seem like an effective way of drenching.
I certainly don't think there is any thing wrong with giving your horse
some paraffin oil in his diet once a week to keep things on "the move"
and help prevent food impactions and if we use the sand recipe fairly
regularly to prevent the build up of sand in the first place, we could
all avoid heartbreak and hefty vet bills and we would have a much
happier, healthier horse!!!!!!
By the way, my pony is passing sand today! (23rd Nov) and has not been
in any more pain since the one injection was given last night.
Because my pony did have time to build up sand, I will follow up with a
second treatment in about a week's time.
Good luck to everyone and happy Horse'n around!!
Debbie.

Quite a saga Debbie. Glad you are on top of it now. One can only do their best. Thanks for the story. Interesting!

************



 

22nd November, 2008

THE WAY OF THE HORSE

Went to the first session of the Colt starting competition today and as I was expecting, it would have been quite an eye opener to the crowd. As I have been saying for many years on this Site, we can all build reputations that are bigger than Ben Hur by using Internet Forums, Floating Ropes, selling DVD's and fancy T Shirts or wearing Jods and using especially big words that boggle the minds of the plebs but when you are let loose in a round Pen with an unbroken Horse and have to actually ride the Animal, all of your theories can suddenly desert you in a second and you are suddenly in a very lonely place. So it was in the first session today.

The contestants were: Warwick McLean, Senior resident Trainer of the Australian Equine Behaviour Centre in Victoria,

Shane Ransley from quantum savvy...and

Dan James from Western Australia.

A conventional Australian Horseman (James) a NH expert (Ransley) and I must admit I don't know where Warwick fits.

At the half way mark, Warwick hasn't caught his Horse and used a number of systems such as looking at it, feed in a bin, a long whip to touch it and a yard made of plastic show jumping rails.

Sane has just caught his but hasn't been able to achieve anything with it, giving him rope burn, rearing over the top of the round pen with the legs caught up ...and

Dan James is about ready to go for a Trail Ride. All saddled and ridden, ending with a feed bag on his horse whilst he did interviews., why, because he threw a rope over it's head and caught it.

Now the interesting thing about this Comp is that it exposes some real truths and it levels the playing field. It separates the fact from fiction and most of all, shows the 4 thousand or so guests, the difference between true Australian Horsemen and Natural Horse Practitioners.

I have noticed much put on Internet Forums lately, by a Horse Trainer who comes from the 'Slobber Strap' brigade, denigrating as not Horsemen, anyone who dares to "desentize a Horse', and I wrote a piece on that too recently. Being interested to see all three contestants' prior to the event, I watched them all during the last two days and was struck by Shane Ransley telling all assembled, that the way to choose a good Horseman is to delete anyone who ties a Horse up or bags a Horse down. They are not Horsemen.

So it was with great interest that I attended today and I must admit, quite entertaining because I was surrounded by other conventional Horsemen and the comments did make me chuckle.

Tomorrow will be interesting. I already know the winner of course (unless the Judges are nobbled like they were last time) but Bill Willoughby is the Centre Judge lol so I don't think that'll happen. I fear for the Horse of Shane's and I fear for Warwick :)

I remember the NH Lady who put her hand up for the last comp. Clearly she should not have been there and in fact it was dangerous for her as she had zero clue.

More tomorrow night then. Oh, b y the way, Dan James Stock Whip trained his Horse too so he is not a Horseman's back teeth :)

After he see's the hits on his youtube vid, someone may tell him before tomorrow that I wrote. Here is some advice. Slow down now. Don't get a rush of blood. Remember the Crowd are all assessing you so be fair to the lovely Horse and don't get excited. You have him. Mouth him under saddle, nice and slow and real well. All over red rover.

***********

LETTERS OF THE DAY

Hey,
I'm just wondering if you can help me? I'v got a mare and foal that have moved into my paddock (not mine but belong to a family that knows nothing about horses at all) The foal is just over 2months old and still not halter broken, everytime i carry a halter anywhere near it, it attacks me (even if im heading in a completely differant dircetion for another horse). I'm just wondering what the best way would be to go about halter breaking it now without anyone getting hurt?

Cheers
Stacey

Simple Stacey. Get a Professional Horseman in immediately, go inside and make a cup of tea and close the blinds :) It ain't going to be pretty. Such irresponsibility results in a highly dangerous young Horse, to itself mainly but also to us. No amateur should attempt to halter break this Horse and it would be a miracle if any did. Make the phone call. Best of Luck.

*********

Hi John,

Why aren'tyou at Equitana?
I see Derek O'Leary was!
I would go if I knew I could see and learn from you.
Who do I speak to!>>??
Cheers
Rosemary Downing

I am there Rosemary. :) Keeping my head low :)


************

Hello mrs Horse problems !

I love your link on how to build a dressage arena !!!

My problem: I live in Kenthurst, Sydney (Dural, hills district)...and I want to get an arena built for my wife on our 4 acre property.

I need someone to do it !!!! I have no idea where to go to find someone reliable to build our horse arena.

Any feedback on this would be outstanding !!

Thank you
Martin
(traditionally a non horsey husband of Jocelyn...who loves her horses and dressage....and therefore so do I

Well done Martin. That's a good Husband who may just keep his wife :) Get any local Earth Mover, preferably with a Grader. Depending on the ground, they may need an excavator as well but if easy going, a Grader would do it. Certainly you need one to finish it off anyhow. It is not rocket science. You just dictate what you want and don't pay until you have it. Slight fall away from the Bank, NOT TOWARDS IT:::: with any drain system. THEY DON'T WORK .No type of drain works!!!!!!! Have the fall to the down hill side. They have laser levels now so blind freddie can get them right.

regards

**********

Hi there,

You must hear this 5000 times a year but its getting me down ad I appreciate your advice.

I'm not clever at anything, am more cautious than most, but have started 2 young ones in my life (I'm 36), losing the first to illness at 10, but my second is an amazing little guy I have huge fun with - happy as, go anywhere, dres/jump/hunting/trail at 7yrs. Because he is clockwork, learns and progresses easily, I decided to bring on an already started one, and got a nice, 4 1/2yr 1/2 TB-1/4clyde-1/8perch-1/8 appaloosa, 16.2hh.

I rode him a couple times in a school and out on the road, and while we had about 45seconds of backing, sideways and jibbing when I presented him with a stop sign painted on the road - so much for them saying he has been out and about!! - I was certainly confident enough and capable enough to block correctly and keep him up and face the fear! He went well and once over it, of course it wasn't a big deal. It is pretty much like that with anything new, although he is believeing what I say more and more as we do more things and he sees more things, and realises they won't hurt him; bridges, viaducts, culvers etc, things on the trail.

I knew he was spoilt when I got him as you could just tell he was a big soft dork. He didn't like hard brushes (squealed) and would only accept a body brush, and they told me he preferred classical music in the stable!!!!!!! He had only been worked in long lines and his ridden education was 1 3-day trek in Feb07. Most of what he had done prior to me getting him oin March07 had been done with his head parked up his sister's ass, so doing things on his own is big concept.

He has always squealed, or at least squeaked or grunted when presented with something he doesn't like. Squealing happens when we are hacking and I have to kick for any reason, not a big thump but with my heel/s, to move towards an object or in a direction (he isn't nappy), or when lunging and lifting the whip to ask for usually the first two canters, which is obviously transferred to a firm leg aid when I'm on him, he squeals. He squeals and wheels away most times I turn him out, and he squeals if I say "No!" or wag my finger when he is tied hup and pawing, or trying to eat the spare tyre on my float, or the roof, when at a show. Last night I left the protein (nuts, only 1/2Litre) out of his feed and just presented him with broll, chaff and molasses, and he was to my mind angry. He took a couple bites then stomped all over the bucket, smashed it, and proceeded to boot it round the paddock, then went back and nibbled the dregs off the ground. He has never done that before.

You probably think he walks all over me, but this is what I can't understand. He goes really well for me, tries his heart out, and is well-behaved at clinics and in-hand to leading, groom, feet (I had to work with a little but he is much, much better than when I got him, he used to snatch them up and then try and snatch them away, and the same with the hinds, unnerving, but he is good now. I never gave in or let them go, to the point where he said fine, "I'll fall over then, as I knew he would try). This squealing on the ground when he is in the paddock is getting worse, but he now won't come near me with a feed bin (which is good, right?) and will bugger off at feed time if he sees me, after I did what your YouTube video suggested.

Why is he squealing? Is he building for a huge one? What the hell should I do? He is resentful of ANY correction, and I havn't corrected anything unfairly. I know you probably hear that a lot too, but wouldn't I be having huge problems with my current horse if I'd been making the same mistakes? I don't mean to sound arrogant, but my 7yr is the best behaved consistemtly behaved, biddable horse of all my friends! You name it, sunscreen, needles, worming, floating, feet, handling, lunging, riding, he is impeccable, and I can't believe what my friends will put up with - I just feel so lucky!! Then I have to take a step back and say, "Well, you've had this guy since 2 days after he was taken from his mother" (6months). I know that sounds harsh, but he seems to have accepted me as mother and is happy with that. He likes other horses but he can take them or leave them and will follow me round like a puppy. Maybe THIS is unhealthy, I don't know!!! Everyone wants him and thinks he is so sweet. He IS, and he is not spoilt, cos he does anything I ask, and more, we don't even need to talk to each other, I just think things. What am I doing wrong with the new one?

Hubby was dubious of me buying someone else's starter, but Im worried the horse has been so mollycoddled that he will not be able to respect reasonable demands and conditions at our home. He has no respect for an electric fence and can scale anything we put up. It is at the stage now when I go to put him back in the paddock, I'm so mad, he senses it, I know he does, and he takes off squealing when he sees me coming. I understand it is useless to reprimand when you catch them, just like dogs that won't come - the last thing you do is belt them - so I GET how important it is to do nothing, but simply catch them - he's not getting a beating when I catch him and put him back, but he just KNOWS I'm friggin angry. I don't speak or anything, but I am pretty abrupt and I always let him go when I'm on the other side of the fence. The previous owners say he has NEVER done all this before and I'm too hard on him. If that's the case, I need to move him on before he starts hating me. But why will he work under saddle so well fo me? 8 months on I feel like we're really not clicking unless I'm on him and thats not what I'm looking for, unless I can find a way to be respectful friends.

Thanks for listening.
Steph

Wow Steph. It is the night of the long letters :) I am reading them, in between talking to my wife and watching the rugby and buying a pitza :) My gut instinct is that he is 'getting out of his Box" MY HORSE IS OUT OF IT'S BOX!!!, however, I am not there so I can't be sure. One can never rule anything in or out. I would even entertain the idea that a Horse could attempt to talk to a Human, verbally, although unlikely. All the squealers I have met, 100% of them, have been 'naughty' (themselves or mostly caused by Humans)

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Hi John,

Again, we hope Mr’s HP is getting better each day. Just a quick note if I can, I tend to rabbit on a bit. Anyway, I just read the letter of the day on HANDS, wow; entertaining mate. It is the first time I have seen such an emotional attack on the posts, but good on ya for posting the letter. I am only a novice rider really and now have a lovely little standie who I suppose you could also call a novice. I did have a trained mare that after trialing broke down as un sound – I was lucky enough to be able to return the horse to the trader and get a full refund.

Well to the point. I suppose I was a little like that lady, I had so many concerns about riding with little experience on a mature but freshly trained horse and I did have the same feeling / concerns about is my riding (non professional style) going to wreck him. Well, I tossed and turned many a night trying to work out what was best for my fellow etc etc. This is only the second horse I have really bonded too and I really felt driven to build the partnership. I have read many, many posts on your site, watched podcasts and my daughter bought a DVD set and then made the decision (after one or two other partial related emails to you) that I would work through the education with my horse myself – to a point.

So – I do some of the parelli / savvy stuff. Now, I am in no hurry to get my fellow past each goal so I read your topic, practice it on the ground, in my mind etc to ensure I get as close to the right feel as I can and then when I ride my boy introduce it there. I am lucky to have a couple very experienced western riders that help me out. We achieve at the walk and then try at the trot and to be honest; I think we are getting there. We have lateral mouth, one rein stop and are working on coming off the leg towards some reining. I also want to point out that I am not looking to compete but just want a nice trail riding partner that I can rely on and him on me. When we think he is ready for canter I plan to send him to a professional trainer to polish him and train to canter. Always a bit of a short trail ride at the end of some arena work. He sniggers when I have the lead rope and saddle as he seems to just luv riding down the road. Now, there is one point that I really want to make here – the big belly reins. I have read so much about this on your site and would not have it any other way – when we have finished our bit of training and he has done good, loose rein reward. When finished in the arena, we head out with nice loose reins and mosey along. He is becoming a very relaxed and nice horse. So, here I am as a novice training my standie. I expect you may give me a bit of a serve on taking this on myself and I have to admit that my little fella has an exceptional temperament, but I just wanted to say that, if you listen to your horse, using kindness with firmness and give the horse the same respect you want from him – it is possible to make a start even if you are not a pro but listen to them.

So what brought me to this letter – I realized how important your frankness is after reading that letter. You say it as it is and it is important to take that on the chin. Hmmm, so your goin to Equintana you lucky bugger.

Thanks again,

Mike

Haha Mike. I will tell you something. You are making all the right noises and it never ceases to amaze me just how many complete Novices, come across with attitudes that will see them reap success with their Horse Riding. Don't be disheartened when I give the Savvies a bit of an even up this week because the ground work is just what you should be doing. Just don't call it savvy because it is Parelli! He invented it and is light years ahead of the interlopers :) Well done and congrats on the Breed :)
 

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Dear HP

Please, please advise:

12mths ago my sister took on a retired RDA QH. 15 years old. She took him to her 28 acres of lush grass, shady trees & open dams and he was allowed free roaming with a yarded feed/rug at night. No other horses! It got to where the nightfeed was run out to the paddock when he wasn't looking and shut the gate after he barrelled in. The first lot of (cheap) rugs were wiggled out of by morning. Eventually he'd keep on his $300 Pessoa combo (a man who likes the finer things!).

After she'd had him for about 6 weeks, we went to visit. Until this time SHE had not ridden him. She'd bought a Wintec saddle and I'd given her a snaffle-bit, Hanoverian bridle, but she had not ridden him at all (she's an absolute beginner).

Day 1: 2 and half hours to saddle up. Tied to twine in his night padock. He would just swing from side to side in a big arc, not minding if he squashed me against the fence - very wound up. I eventually picked up my crop (always carry it) and would not let him in "my space". His little lip dropped and he allowed me to saddle him up, still moving his front feet restlessly. Led him out of the paddock (he basically walks ON me) and into the roundyard. NB: as he was ex-RDA it never crossed my mind that he wouldn't saddle up in his own yard.
Lunged him a little - no issues at all. Went to mount up - kept walking backwards (never occurred to me that he was a QH and I was actually cueing him to walk back!). Eventually got a mounting block and, standing on it, walked him round and round on a light rein, then stopped and mounted. Finally clicks to me to try Western Style and Voila!! Rode him round - no issues. Walk, trot, canter - very relaxed and loping. Dismounted (wore myself out), rubbed him down and released him - he bolted to his "security spot" in the paddock.
Day 2: Straight into roundyard!! Tied him up, again the restlessness. Had crop ready and rank established immediately. Saddled up and rode 20 mins. Mounted from block again as per day before. Opened roundyard and he thought it was a set of racing barriers, small tantrum and then jigjogging out. Tried to ride around the property (where he roams freely), but he was shying and throwing his head down (BIG tantrum). Took him to his night paddock and rode around no probs. Back to roundyard and let my daughter have a ride (15 yrs). Again no issues.
Day 3/4/5 Rode in Night paddock and roundyard, no issues at all. Easy to saddle, catch, even jumped some small jumps (have to pick him up and put him on the other side!) JJ even rode him in the roundyard bareback with natural headcollar - walk, trot, canter.
Day 6: Sister returns from conference in city (she'd been away all week). Worked QH and he was a bit sweaty. Went to hose him off and when I turned on the tap - he pulled back viciously and broke my Bro-in-Law's finger(he was holding the leadrope).

We return to city and 6 mths later visit again.

Day 1: Saddles up well but tries to bolt out of Roundyard. Jigjogged up to Night paddock then worked sensibly with teens riding him.
Day 2: Butter wouldn't melt in his mouth, but when they tried to ride Property boundary (now has company of TB), he just threw himself around and wanted to go back to his "security corner"
Day 3: Rides like a PC mount.
Day 4: Quiet as a lamb - daughter wants to bring him home!!!!!

3 months later: he's at home :S

Day 1: Had a roll in the sand, went to sleep. Rode around the property with quiet TB mare - he is a power walker!! Went out onto the road. Power-walked and hung onto the bit, eyes popping out of his head. Big earth moving trucks screaming past - no problem. (I am a big believer in throwing a naughty horse in the deep end to create stimulation - don't try this please).
Day 2: Rode out - less hanging on the bit, still power-walking.
Day 3: Riding on end of buckle (power-walking), neck reining, small trots and finished in a local stream (which he barrelled through!)

Rode out almost daily with no issues UNTIL:
A: he saw a black alpaca and barrelled around to take off home. Sounds fair enough except my sisters' neighbours HAVE alpacas, so he's seen them before.
B: Walked out the gate in the OTHER direction - he'd done this once before for a very pleasant four hour ride with some beginners. He was quite happy to walk in behind the group of 4. THIS day - he saw the scariest monster ever - a horse with a sheet and flyveil on. He started with the throwing himself around, running backwards, trying to look away (he WAS being ridden in company), completely shutting me out - then bolted! I was a wee bit concerned as it WAS on the road, but we do have a very quiet street and so I just took up a Racing position - he slowed, stopped and I regained a speck of control. Daughter caught up and we rode in the other direction - PAST home - but he kept prancing sideways thinking the big scary monster was coming up behind him. When he eventually realised where he was, he calmed and we turned to walk back home. NO way! He thought we were walking toward the scary monster again. The closer we got to home, the more wound up he got until he was nearly backing into the neighbours fence! I jumped off and led him home but he was STILL looking for the monster. He has seen horses with sheets on everyday!

Since then we have not ridden in that direction - but intend to again after some more summer-combo training! Daughter has been riding him all over Suburb and into creeks, jumping him (he acts like he's done THAT before). No problems. With the warmer weather he has been getting hosed almost daily - no problem, no sign of that initial pulliing back Rugged daily - no issue. He hasn't got out of a single rug.

When we think he has a reason to misbehave - he doesn't at all! He almost yawns! What we think is the norm - he freaks out totally.

Daughter is in love with him (even after seeing him bolt) and wants to take him out. I think he's so unpredictable, I'd rather she ride one of the others.

He rides both Western and English and really acts like he has done the whole PC thing before (and knows how to get out of work!). He moans and groans all through his ride, but seems to LOVE to be worked. In fact he is almost obsessively habitual.

Have now taken him to the beach on two occasions. First time he reared up after my daughter had just mounted (had never pulled THIS trick before). She dismounted, a gave him a quick grrrrr'ing and walking backwalks, she remounted and he was lovely. Second time at beach, she rode only in headcollar and parelli-style lead...cantered along the beach!

I don't know if he psychological issues as no-one seems to know his past. Will he get througgh all these dangerous tantrums? We've taken him out to some SJ Training days and he's been fine, except for my daughter has to almost scream her lungs out at him in the warm-up area or he won't respect her...he doesn't care how much she whips him (she's only got chicken arms lol).

I don't want to have to resort to artificial aides :( I can't keep him though, with the unpredictable attitude.

Kind Regards
Jodie aka very worried Mum :(

Hi Jodie, Under the circumstances and given the time ridden, the long breaks, the traffic and so on, this Horse, despite his little problems, seems to have not gone out of his way to kill anyone so that sounds like a big plus. Despite breaking my record for the longest letter ever written to me, and even though it was detailed, it is not easy to get a line on what is happening here. My vibes are telling me that your Family needs an urgent on ground assessment by a Professional and to be able to gather helpful information on training systems, quickly. I have the feeling your Daughter may be too much 'English' at times, too on the mouth and needs to turn the Horse into a pleasure Horse, in every way. Turn him loose but as I said to the lass below, sort out your ground work. Add groundwork training. Go read this: THE 7 GAMES OF NATURAL HORSEMANSHIP, learn it and train it. It may change your life

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Hello,
I have had my horse for nearly a year now and im still having a couple of problems. He was left out in the paddock for a year before i got him and he had never gone to Pony Club before so this was all new to him. He has calmed down heaps and im really happy with him but there are just some things that we struggle working together with. Recently at my Pony Club camp we were doing a cross country course and he got really excited holding his head really high and i had no control of him at all. We were told to just walk down a ditch and he went mad and i ended up breaking my arm. I felt I could have controled the matter a lot better if his head was at the normal height. When I got home my friend gave me this bit that she said would work, it did for the easier things but in cross country and working with cattle he just rears up everywhere and wants to take off in a second. I feel capable of controlling him if his head was down. He is just sooo big and compared to him im like a fly on his back.
Would the Market Harborough help at all? Does this aid ensure that the horses head is carried in the right spot (low)?
I have already tried an ordinary martingale and a running martingale but these seem to do nothing!!
THANKS!!
P.S watched the vidio, its a very good demo!

That is a shame young Lady. You were told to do something that clearly your Horse was not ready for and therefore that was dangerous instruction. Now listen. The Market Harborough can easily put the head of a Horse down but no piece of equipment is the full answer. It is only an aid to achieve further with advice and lessons. However, you have to work on the foundations of your Horse and fix those things that are missing. Your Horse sounds as if it may have novelty evented or camp drafted etc, previously. Those Horses are a very difficult proposition for the best of us but if you insist, you have some hard work to do and the complete package is needed. Possible re-mouthing, prep-programming the Horse by lunging in running reins, fixing it's lateral lightness, improve the Dressage on the Horse by putting in the hard yards on the flat work, making sure it leg yields, goes around correctly as per the principals of correct Dressage, improving the ground work of the Horse too. So plenty for you to think about and I wish you all the best. These Horses make the best riders out of you and turn you into a Trainer :)

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21st November, 2008

Another day in Paradise :) The wonderful Melbourne Traffic. The place is non functional now. Oh for the 60k flowing traffic in Adelaide :)

Another interesting day where I filmed for Mrs. HP a German Trainer on the subject of flying changes, had a look around at the many trade stalls and took a look at the range of Horse Floats there. More on that next week.

I also took the time to study the Body Language of the various Horses involved with the various Clinicians and looked closely at what the Horses were telling us. They are the best Judge of course......and the best Teachers too. The behind the scenes stuff that probably less than 1% of the thousands of people who watch these things don't see as they are mesmerized by either the verbal spiel of the Trainer or the various props that get used in an event such as this like stock whips, blue tarps and plenty of 'liberty work.' It certainly interesting.

I know one thing. The best Judge of a Horseman is the Horse. Not the crowd, cheering, clapping, wearing promotional T Shirts and ready to be react to any cue of the Trainer who has pre-programmed their minds prior to attendance. The melting pot, the cauldron. The Stage where you see genuine Horsemanship no matter the style or the roots and you see plenty of 'slight of hand' and smoke and mirrors. As I said, most don't see it and I sure wished they could.

So next week, I am going to examine it all and reveal some of the moves and grooves. It is time "to put the cards on the table" because just lately, there has been a resurgence of the second wave of the Natural Horsemanship phenomenon and just like during the heady days when the first wave came through, when fully grown Men like Ray Hunt and John Lyons even, faded away into the background for fear of saying anything about their traditional systems for fear of drawing much fire. So did the Australian Horsemen of the day but I am proud that I led the charge back to the middle ground by actually mentioning the word 'hobbles' God forbid.

There have been two such new entrants of the second wave, decide to very obviously challenge my Horsemanship and it happened twice in the last two days here. So let's have a real close look next week. Right up close and personal and let's ask the Horses, some of the very few in attendance that  have a clue :)

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Mrs. HP was told this morning to start weight bearing immediately and that she could go home next week. Meanwhile, the leg was weeping a little this morning and Plastics took a swab for testing.

Letters answered next week.

cheers

2oth November, 2009

Hi Folks. Forgive me if I peter out tonight as I started at 5am to get to Melbourne to film for Mrs. HP. I didn't want to come but she insisted. I must admit that I didn't enjoy coming and especially when I drove past her Hospital this morning on the way to the Airport. Gut wrenching!

Anyhow, her 5th operation went well this morning and yes, the Anysth person tried to give her a general but the head Surgeon abided by my wishes and dictated a local and some gaga juice. Consequently she came through it feeling fine apart from the pain which she tried to handle with panadine forte but not quite but she is ok now and the good news (at last) is that there was no infection on the bone and she can come out in 7 days time. Thank God!

EQUITANA

As I said, I am at Equitana Asia Pacific and it is one massive event indeed. Similar to an entire Roayal Agricultural Show but all Horse. Pat Parelli is here along with Adreas Heltsgard (sp) the Silver Medalist at the World Equestrian Games in Aachen, along with many other Trainers from around the World. One would need to sit down and study the programme to be able to see it all in 4 days.

I mainly filmed for my wife to make her happy in Hospital and to feel as if she was there a little and concentrated on Andreas, Andrew McLean, Richard Weiss (sp) and then late in the afternoon, I had a look at Quantum Savvy who were having a go at conventional Horsemen and systems and John Chatteton, a conventional Horseman who ran rings around them imho. More about this later when I get home. It wasn't a good start for the Savvy Guy as he rode in with nice loud music and a big opening, english saddle and rope halter, swung around the arena to jump a line of 44 gallon drums lined up and the Horse ran out 3 times in a row which proved a couple of things. You have no control in a rope Halter lol and don't do tricks with animals or kids :) He had to give up the effort.

Richard Weiss, despite his mode of delivery and an accent on Dressage Association, did Parelli with a Carrot stick/whip. I will always level the playing field by reporting such with any Trainer I see dressing Parelli up with slight changes of tack because Pat invented it, many took it up but few will acknowledge him but believe me Folks, half the highly promoted Acts are clones of Pat's but daren't mention it any way and in fact, do a wonderful job in making subtle changes in accent so that the audience (the unsuspecting or savvy) do not realize. The most notable of course is Quantum Savvy which is 100% Pat Parelli! However, I have to compliment Richard on having two Horses that had most notably retained their personality  where many others during the day had not.

Saturday and Sunday features "The way of the Horse" where three different Trainers will go about breaking in a horse each to see what systems work for them.

It does one good to go to something like this. One should question themselves, continually but this promotes it. It makes me at least, reexamine all beliefs and systems, to look for improvements and indeed for places where one may be entirely wrong in beliefs. I like to think that I am clinical and open in examining all. I cut the crap out of all, no matter who they may be. I can look through the Bull, the hype, the buzz and the con and believe me, there is plenty of that here.

For me, the day confirmed to me that nothing beats complete Horsemanship that takes totally into account the needs of Horses, that doesn't attempt to ruffle them and an ability to change like a chameleon every second. That the swinging of carrot sticks at Horses as the cure for every single Horse on the Planet is a Bankrupt principal. More tomorrow.

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LETTERS OF THE DAY

19th November, 2008

My poor darling wife has been hit with another operation, scheduled for in the Morning. Great timing as I fly to Equitana :( At least it is only for half an hour as they move her metal case down and put two more pins through her leg :( I pulled rank and have stopped the General Anesthetic this time and have local and some gag, ga juice. She has had enough of that. There was a meeting of the top Surgeons there today and they say it will get her going 6 months earlier. :)

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EQUITANA

The South Asia/South Pacific Equitana is on in Melbourne for the next 4 days. Perhaps less letters until I get back ???????</