It's that time of year again...... CLIPPING!

I was asked by one of my lovely regular clients to help train one of her clipper phobic ponies. Tam is a Highland Pony and has been clipped in the past by previous owners. However, her present reaction when presented with the clippers is to quickly vacate to the furthest possible location and shake with worry. Her owner wasn't sure that we would ever be able to completely desensitise Tam to the clippers... however, fully confident in IH methods I knew we could rise to the challenge.

We began by doing some advance and retreat work with a feather duster, ensuring that she was happy with being touched all over her body. Over four sessions we slowly and incrementally repeated the work beginning with an old electric toothbrush progressing to a quiet dog trimmer and then noisier clippers before finishing with the ordinary horse clippers. We took our time and spent as long as we needed to at each stage before moving onto the next. Working logically and progressively meant that we built firm foundations that we could revisit if necessary. We finished session four with a very relaxed pony who stood perfectly still with low adrenaline and no anxiety, worry or hassle.

My weapon of choice..... clippers taped to feather duster

Using advance and retreat with the duster

All done... no drama

Santos

This cheeky little chappy is one of the most inquisitive and bold characters I have had the pleasure of working with. Having worked with several of his companions and witnessed his interest and downright nosiness we thought it was time to let him into 'school'. He was completely unphased by all the equipment and we hope to be longlining him soon!

Royal Romance

This 2 year old filly is sister to Juno (the untouchable yearling starring in earlier posts). She has good blood lines and all being well, is destined for a career in eventing or showjumping. Like Juno she is extremely trainable and very quick to learn. Unlike Juno, she is not at all shy!

The first couple of sessions I did with her were aimed at establishing understanding and respect for personal space and getting control of her feet. This was soon achieved, and we have been working incrementally week by week to advance her training. We started with lots of groundwork and confidence building; tarpaulins, plastic bags, traffic cones, umbrellas, going for walks around the farm etc. Then we long lined with the roller in the roundpen, followed by on the tracks with a leader, before moving onto the saddle. This has taken place over several weeks.

At first she found halting extremely hard work as she is so enthusiastic about going forwards. However, gentle consistent asks with correct timing and a giving feel on the line soon resulted in a soft and calm halt. The next challenge was steering. Initially, Roma found it difficult to leave the side of the roundpen. Again, gentle, clear and consistent asks and well timed releases resulted in a greater understanding of what I was asking her to do. Last session we long lined in the field around obstacles with very light responses to my asks for halts and steering. Hoorah! Fun times ahead!

Juno what I mean?

I am absolutely thrilled to bits with the progress Juno has made. From being absolutely petrified of being touched at all, and convinced that the rope was about to eat her, I now feel she trusts me 100%. The way this little filly has responded in little over 12 training sessions is testament indeed to Intelligent Horsemanship training techniques.

Today, Juno had her feet trimmed for the first time. We took our time and made sure we worked at her pace, using familiar advance and retreat when introducing new people and equipment. Trust, confidence and leadership are so well established now, that we were able to work quietly and calmly without any drama.... just the way we like it!!!!

Barefoot trimmer, Warwick Jones, working with Juno

Happy to relax and let us get on with it

Praise Indeed.....

It is always so much easier to retain morale and willing when you are rewarded for your efforts. There is a simple little game you can try which highlights this. It's called the 'Yes/No' game. Grab yourself a partner and have a go....

Round One: Person A needs to mentally select an object near to wherever you are. Don't tell person B what you have chosen. Person B now has to walk around and try and guess what you have chosen. The only clue person A can give is to say 'No'. The use of body language or other verbal clues is not permitted. Note how you both feel during this round of the game, and how long it takes to identify the object.

Round Two: Choose another object and repeat the game. This time, the only clue that can be given is the word 'Yes'. Again, note how you feel during this round of the game and how long it takes to identify the object.

We have had surprisingly strong reactions in both partners when playing this game. Many people begin to feel annoyed, silly, put off or even angry after they have been told 'No', a few times. It is in many peoples nature to want to offer praise or reassurance when the correct thing is being done, and depending on your personality it can be very difficult to be the person to keep saying 'No'. Most people feel a lot more motivated, inspired and willing during the 'Yes' round of the game, and it often seems that the object is identified a lot quicker during this round.

When working with horses I always make it as easy as possible for them to respond with a 'Yes' to what I am asking. This way you can offer praise and build confidence. Asking for something beyond their ability, understanding or too far beyond their comfort zone can often result in an undesired response, which then has to be corrected, resulting in a 'No'. 

Praise does wonders for confidence and morale, and I am not ashamed to blow my own trumpet a little after receiving some lovely feedback myself.....


"Jenny was brilliant with both us and the horses from the start. She completed a very thorough assessment of our thoughts on the ...ponies and their different histories on her first visit and then asked to see what we did before offering her advice. This worked brilliantly as she saw where we all were before the training started. 

She explained to us exactly what she was going to do and why she was doing it with each pony and took what I believe to be a genuine interest in each of them. We then worked through a number of exercises specific to each that we could do to improve our communication. At the end of each session she sends us extensive notes which we find invaluable for referring back to – I was very impressed with the effort that it must have taken her to write them all up.

We have now had three sessions with Jenny, and both Simon and I feel that have made a real difference to us all. Simon and his cob (who we were at the point of selling) are not getting on amazingly well – we cannot believe the difference in such a short time! Jenny also made is possible for us to handle our new boy – a semi feral 3 year old colt in time to get him gelded this spring. As always it was us humans that needed the training, and this has resulted in us all understanding each other much better."

Juno ropes aren't actually snakes.....

Juno is an 11 month old filly who has just begun to realise that (most) humans are not going to eat her, and that actually, we can give pretty good scratches. Having spent most of her short life actively avoiding all human contact, she is very adept at evasion. Breaking free and running away, jumping field boundaries, trying to leap out of stables, turning her bottom and threatening to kick are a few examples from her repertoire, all of which have been effectively used to avoid entrapment by a human. In her mind, each time she uses one of these tactics it becomes a successful method of avoiding perceived trouble, and therefore becomes a learnt behaviour and is more likely to be repeated. 

We have to remember here, that she is not 'naughty', 'cunning' or 'devious'. She is just a horse with instincts that tell her not to interact with a predator. Whether we like it our not, us humans are naturally predators. We have eyes on the front of our head, walk in straight lines, are very task focused, our hands look like claws and we move with intent. Compare this with the horse, a prey animal. They have eyes on the sides of their heads to allow almost all round vision. They move in a series of meandering arcs, combining grazing with keeping a watchful eye for predators. They do not have hidden agendas, creep up or jump out and their sole aims are to eat, sleep, stay alive and breed. They do not have ambitions, desires or wants outside of this. They do not wake up in the morning and plan out their day or wonder what tomorrow will bring. They live in the moment, doing what they believe necessary to stay alive here and now.

I have worked with Juno over a series of six sessions now, using advance and retreat and body language. I began with the feather duster, and then moved onto my hands. I then realised she was pretty fearful of the rope, possibly as she has run with it a few times, and now believes it can chase her. So, I did a significant amount of work using advance and retreat with the rope, so she can tolerate being stroked with it.

I have worked very incrementally to build Juno's confidence and trust, always aiming to consolidate each stage of learning before moving onto the next. Today's session was extremely rewarding. We saw an incredible amount of licking, chewing and sighing, and Juno really softened and relaxed into my touch. There is still a long way to go, but this little filly's world must already be a lot less stressful now she realises that she is not on our menu.

What's the story, Jackanory?

Jack was born on the Quantock Hills and sold for very little money to a lady in Somerset, who wanted him as a companion for her older horse. This owner realised that he needed some specialist training and so contacted Sarah Weston, who went to do some handling with him back in 2011. Sarah made fantastic progress with him, but his owner still found she was struggling to put the concepts into practise. I lived only a few miles from Jack and knowing I needed case studies, Sarah kindly put me in touch with Jack's owners, and I went along to help. I did several sessions over about a month, during which time we made significant progress. I was able to put Jack's head collar on, touch all over his body and did a small amount of leading around the barn he was in. He wasn't easy- he had learnt that if he turned his bottom and threatened to kick, then his handler would move out of the way, and he would also try biting and barging. I really felt he would benefit from being able to go out in the field, and let off some of the pent up energy and frustration he so clearly felt. However, his owner was worried that she wouldn't be able to catch him again.

Using advance and retreat with the feather duster to encourage Jack to accept touch.

 

Jack's owner decided it was unfair to keep Jack in the barn, and didn't feel she was able to continue handling him on her own.  Having made such progress with this bold little guy I was extremely determined to find him a home. I contacted everyone I could think of, but no-one could take him. I then suggested that if his owner would have him gelded, I would take him. Thankfully, the work I had done with him was ideal preparation for the vet's visit, and Jack accepted the sedative easily from the vet. A couple of weeks later he arrived at his new home, and was put straight out in the field with some new friends....

Jack catching up on 'being a horse'

Jack spent the next couple of weeks in the field socialising, playing and eating grass. Having being kept in isolation in a barn for half of his short life, I felt it was so important for him to be allowed time just to be a horse and catch up on his social skills. I did very little with him for a couple of weeks. When I did start working with him again, the change was remarkable. He allowed me to approach using advance and retreat and give him a lovely deep rub with my hands. I began bringing him onto the concrete yard during the day with my big Irish Draught horse, who comes in on a daily basis to keep his feet in good condition. Whereas it had previously taken as long as half an hour to get the head collar on I was now able to achieve this in just a few minutes. So much of the pent up frustration had disappeared.

Jack enjoying a cool shower on a warm day, spring 2012

Jack is now 3 years old, and through gentle work, on a 'little and often' basis it would be difficult to know he was once a semi- feral pony. I rasp his feet which are in great condition. He now long lines confidently through the lanes and bridleways, and I have started gently bellying over him. He enjoys a shower and is the first one to investigate anything new- you can't leave anything within nibbling distance! I try and designate at least one day a week as 'Jack day'- and aim to continue to incrementally build his confidence and trust to nurture his naturally bold and inquisitive nature.

Jack relaxing with friends

Long lining calmly past the cows

Long lining on the lanes

Long lining through fields