2007 April Demo Blog

Welcome to our April tour blog!

Lands End Riding Centre - 19th April

Arnie
Arnie was a black cob who was ready to start. He was very relaxed to begin with and accepted the saddle with little fuss. In the middle of the demonstration he became distracted by a friend in a different stable block but Dan and Grant continued their work and at the end of his slot, Arnie was happily walking around with Dan at the helm.

Archie
Archie was from the venue and was extremly sensitive to things, especially the clippers so we went to work on desensitisation. Within a short space of time his tolerance levels were raised and he was able to stand as we moved plastic bags around him. When we turned on the clippers for the second time, he stood as solid as a rock to accept them.
Owners response: I thought the work with him was very good. It was nice to learn new ideas to deal with his problem. I'll try to progress further from what you have acheived. Wish me luck!

Alfie
Alfie was a huge Clydesdale that made Grant look like he was riding his first pony. Alfie was big and he knew it. On the ground he walked when he wanted to and it was the same when in the saddle. We worked on ground manners with him and in the saddle showed the use of a giddy up rope to which he responsded to very well, encouraging him to move forwards with no pain.

Lulu - Lulu was our final non loader of the tour. She was only little but she showed great resistance in entering the trailer. After her session though she was happily loading in the trailer, both empty and with the partitions in and at the end of the night she popped straight into the trailer very happily. Owners response: Very pleased as now we will be able to do a lot more with her. The demo was a brill evening!

We'd just like to put in a special thanks to Jo Stock here and her team who made us feel very welcome and did a great job in promoting the demonstration!

The Grange Equestrian Centre - 18th April 

Spirit - Spirit was a gorgeous cremello gelding who was our starter. He accepted everything with ease and high intelligence and is going to be a wonderful riding horse. Owners response: Very pleased, thank you. I enjoyed the whole demo.

Shantia - Shantia had bucked her owner off numerous times. After doing some groundwork with her, Suzi our volunteer rider got on board and helped her to understand about having someone riding her. When Dan jumped up on her, her true colours came out and she set off around the pen with a buck and a kick. When she did so, Dan was able to move around, making things uneasy for her. When she walked, he went quiet and rewarded her for keeping her feet onthe ground. At the end she was working in three gaits without a single hint of a buck (note physical checks had been completed, as with all of our remedial cases). Owners response: Very pleased with the way you worked with her. You've helped me regain the confidence to start working with her again - thank you!

Kismit - Kismit was a lovely little grey pony who didn't like trailers, even though she had acres of room in the lovely trailer. After some leading work, we were able to get her to want to load and she was popping on and off of the trailer like a true pro (and with an up the ramp walk the "ministry of silly walks" would be proud of!). Owners response: Really pleased with the calm approach to everything and the relaxed way everything was done. Fab, thank you.

Plumpton College - 17th April

Lucy - Lucy was our starter and she was fun! She had a good time with her first saddle, showering the crowd and sound desk with wet sand. After a few laps of the pen though she settled and went on to accept Dan with little fuss.

Harry - Head Shy. Harry was head shy and the owner couldn't put a bridle on him without breaking it into pieces. Grant worked with him and successfully desensitised him to having his ears handled, along withgiving the owner and crowd some tips on how to carry on the training after the demonstration. Owners response: Very, very pleased. Amazing progress.

Billie - Billie had issues with standing still at the best of times, but especially for mounting. We worked on desensitising him to begin with and then Dan got into the saddle to help him realise that he didn't need to bomb off if the rider became unbalanced. In the end he was able to control himself and was standing still to be mounted. Owners response: Excellent demonstration and we will take a lot away with us. The loading was exceptional.

Bella - Bella was an older horse and the owner had given up loading her but ongoing health issues required her to load to go to the vet. So we demonstrated a way of safely and calmly loading a horse in an emergency before moving on to training Bella to want to load. After a short time she was happy to load on and off and at the end of the evening popped right on to the trailer to go home. Owners response: Extremely pleased at the way the whole thing was handled with no stress to Bella. The end result was fantastic with her loading willingly - 1st time in 7 years!

We also started Basil in the afternoon, another little character but all went well and he accepted Dani as his first rider with ease. Owners response: Over the moon! A great start for him, lots of good tips for progressing thanks!

Poplar Park Equestrian Centre - 16th April

Max - Max was an unsual starter for us as he had already had someone sit on his back in the stable but the owner asked us to start him so we obliged. We did a very short session with him as he needed more weight on him but at the end of the session he was happily walking around with Dan on board. Owners response: Very good demonstration, I enjoyed seeing different techniques being used on my horse.

Pepi - Pepi was a pony who was incredibly sensitive and spooky so we set to work with desensitising him. When the session was over Pepi stood quietly with all manner of scary things floating past him. Owners response: We were very pleased with the result and surprised how quickly Pepi settled with the plastic.

Smarty - Smarty is a bay gelding (no matter how many times Grant called him a she!) who was scared of loading. He showed his fear but after working through this with him, his owner was able to load him herself with no problems at all. Owners response: Very pleased with the response, Smarty seemed alot more relaxed when loading than ever before.

Moulton College - 15th April

Moulton was Grant's home territory so we arrived with more excitement than normal. We had three cracking demonstration horses:

Jazz - Jazz was a 2 year old chestnut colt who had serious issues with his hind feet. If anyone attempted to pick up a foot or even put their hand down there his response was to kick and rear. Using a dummy hand, shiatsu movements to encourage flexibility and relaxation and other desensitisation techniques, at the end of the session, Grant was able to walk up to Jazz, run his hand down either leg and pick up the foot with little fuss. Owners response: I was very wary of how Jazz would react due to his age, although he is very good usually, but was excpetionally pleased and more than delighted with the results and will be practising every day at home.

Mission - Mission lived up to her name, she was going to be Mission Impossible. She was 10 year old bay mare who would fly through gates and small spaces, taking out any handler beside her. We set to work with plastic bags, increasing slowly in size until she could accept the large ball whilst standing still to desensitize her flanks. We then moved on to a configuration of the roundpen that introduced a tunnel to Mission which gradually got narrower as the session moved on and she became more comfortable with the situation. We finished with her being able to walk through the passage, stand still, back up and even walk through quietly without a lead rope on. Owners response: I was very pleased with the end result of the demonstration and it was nice to see her behaving alot less anxiously and looking happier when doing it. Thanks!

Missy - Missy was ridden to the demonstration, such was the severity of her non loading tendencies. Despite her size, being only 14.2hh, she proved to be one of the most tricky horses to load we have come across on this tour, starting out very reluctant to even approach the trailer without partitions in. She improved greatly throughout the session until we were at the point where we could close the ramp, this seemed to trigger a more negative reaction from Missy, so briefly she became sticky to load again, but with time and patience we got her back into a pattern of loading without resistance and closing the ramp. At the end of the night she was more than happy to walk straight on to the trailer with partitions and stand there happily whilst the ramp was closed. Owners response: Absolutely fabulous! Impressed with how the horse was always put first and none of the methods introduced any fear to the horse.

Rodbaston College - 14th April

The warmest evening of the tour so far! Photos courtesy of Rich Neale (c) 2007

Saffron
Saffron is a rising 4 dark bay mare who was at the demo for starting. We did a short session with her to introduce her to a saddle and rider which she accepted with very little fuss (she did have fun with her first saddle though!).
Owners reponse: very pleased with the end result. The session was short and sweet with praise and encouragement given constantly. The horse was not overworked and the session stopped on a good note before she started to get fed up or loose concetration. Good common sense horsemanship. The demonstration was kept interesting with 3 horses with completely different issues.

Casper
Casper was a large chestnut gelding who had some time off and had become very spooky. He was very distractable and was very worried about most noises and actions. We worked with him, gaining his confidence and the change that came over the big guy was amazing. He put his trust into Dan and Grant and began to believe in them. At the end of his part of the demonstration, Casper was accepting plastic bags all over his body, was walking over tarp without a lead rope on and was following Grant around, who was walking with his favourite pink umbrella.
Owners reponse: My horse is very, very sensitive and I am pleased with the result. It was most rewarding seeing my horse build in confidence and starting to relax and even enjoying himself!

Rio
Rio was 21 and boy did he look great, its fantastic to see the 'oldies' looking so superb and he was a complete credit to his owners. Rio is incredibly sensitive and in the past had been beaten at shows when he became sticky at loading - causing him not to want to load! In no time at all he was walking calmly through the trailer, standing in there when asked. We built the trailer to include the partitions and again he loaded with no problems. At the end of the night he trotted up the ramp to go home.
Owners reponse: I was very happy with Rio and the best part was when Rio trotted on to the trailer.

Birstwith Livery Stables - 13th April

After challenging circumstances, the Birstwith demo went very well. Photos courtesy of Rich Neale (c) 2007

Breeze
Because of the lack of stables, we turned things around for this demo and did the non-loading horse first. Breeze is a very pretty mare who was phobic of the trailer. We went to work with groundwork to begin with and then started loading her, which she adjusted to very calmly, walking in and out like a pro. 
Owners response: She was very relaxed throughout the session, I was very happy with how she was handled and with the end result and it has given me lots to work on at home.

Bonita
Bonita was a fun little horse who certainly liked to take charge of the situation but she accepted Dan as her first rider with little fuss and walked around merrily after some help from Grant on the ground. 
Owners response: Very pleased with the outcome - a great insight into what areas I need to focus on apart from just riding her - eg what  she is trying to control.

Lloyd
Lloyds story touched every single person at the demonstration. A beautiful 18hh big lad, Lloyd had been tied down and squished for a 3 hour clipping session with previous owners, leaving him terrified of them (not surprisingly!). He was a real challenge and had us thinking on our feet. We realised that by attempting to hold him still, the adrenaline levels came up and the memory of being burnt by the hot clippers came flooding back. So to make things easier for him, we began with the plastic bags whilst he was walking as he accepted them more easily that way. Once he was comfortable with that we asked him to stand and then after that we moved on to a small pair of clippers. At the end of the session he stood calmly on a loose line with Grant running the clippers over him. 
Owners response: I was very impressed with the way that Dan and Grant worked with Lloyd.  I
thought that they were both very calm and quiet throughout the demo, and I
was very impressed with the way that they changed their methods to suit him,
even when his reactions were not exactly text book!   I am really pleased
with the progress that they made with him.

Croft Top Equestrian Centre - 12th April

Heading North, we drove to the Rossendale and Hyndburn Equestrain Centre at Croft Top Farm. Photos courtesy of Rich Neale (c) 2007

Spirit
Spirit was a resident at the 'Animals in Distress' Sanctuary. A beautiful little chap who was scared to death of everything - earlier in the day he had given Dan skiing lessons. We weren't too sure how far Spirit could go in his training in the evening but we set to work in reganing some of the much needed confidence in him. After Dan and Grant worked with him, these confidence levels soared - culminating in him accepting a saddle with little fuss and long lining like a pro. We loved this little guy and can't wait to hear about his progress...
Owners reponse: I am very pleased with the demonstration, especially the patience that was shown in re-educating Spirit. The most I enjoyed was to see Spirit walking through the gate without running off and seeing Spirit wanting to be with the trainers as opposed to being off on his own.

Parsley
Even one clap from the audience sent Parsley over his tolerance levels and he would explode around the pen - even at the age of 17 (and he looked in terrific shape!). Dan worked with him on the Dually halter and with a great amount of audience participation, we began to work through this phobia. At the end of the session, he was able to control his fear, standing still with Grant riding him, whilst the crowd clapped around him.
Owners reponse: I am very pleased with what you have done with my horse and I'm very pleased with the ideas you've given me. I thought the techniques you used have been very interesting and useful and hopefully they will work in the show ring and at home with family and friends helping me.

Prince
Prince would take up to 4 hours to load him and had been ridden to the livery yard when the owner first bought him as it was easier than trying to get him into a lorry - he wouldn't even entertain the idea of getting into a trailer. He was very nervous to begin with but with some circular work and repetative loading, he was soon happy to load in and out of the box with anyone who wanted to load him.
Owners Response: I was really pleased with Prince, I thought it would have taken a lot longer than it did but he has now proved a point that he can actually load without a problem. The demonstration was brilliant, I really enjoyed every bit of it. I thought that the techniques you used were good and have been very useful for the future.

Thanks to the owners, helpers and the audience!

Clwyd Special Riding Centre - 11th April

After a marathon drive through Wales, we arrived at the Clwyd Special Riding Centre, a wonderfully set up yard near Wrexham.

Darcy - was our starter. He was certainly a very sure of himself so we started working on his ground manners and then set to work establishing a communication with him. He quickly accepted Dan as his first rider and worked confidently in a figure 8 pattern around the roundpen. Owners reponse: Very pleased. He was calm and happy and obviously enjoyed the experience!

Will - Will is a bay gelding who came in for ground work issues. We worked through many techniques with him, teaching him personal space to begin with and moving on to desensitisation work and finally with an L-shape with poles on the ground. Owners reponse: I'm very pleased!

Trigger - Trigger was fine to mount if you had a leg up, if you attempted to mount using a mounting block or from the side on your own he would rear, spin and/or buck. We began by working on ground work with him and then moved on to tackling the mounting issue by starting with what he was comfortable with and then slightly moving the goalposts each time. By the end of the session, he was stood in the middle of the roundpen on his own with Dan vaulting on and off and using the mounting block with few issues. Owners reponse: The ground work was amazing as it made Trigger so relaxed and respectful. I will definately act on this in the school at home. I really enjoyed the demonstration, I found I picked up useful pieces of information from the other horses shown too, which I will put into practice at home.

Again, we would like to thank all the horse owners and helpers for the evening and Lynn and Chris for looking after us so well.

South Wales Equestrian Centre - 10th April

We headed West to Wales to kick off the large part of the tour and ended up at the South Wales Equestrian Centre with gorgeous views of the surrounding countryside. We had four horses during this demonstration:

Murphy - a piebald gelding who certainly had fun with his the first saddle of his life, but he was quick to learn and by the end of the session was walking around merrily with Dan on board.Owners reponse: I can't believe how Murphy accepted his first rider, thanks a million! A very interesting and entertaining demo.

Recital - a rather stunning black gelding who had been sent away for starting for driving and had come back terrified of everything. Grant and Dan went to work in regaining some of the trust. They worked with the plastic bags to help him to begin to overcome his serious phobia of anything touching him on his rear end and a definate 'no' to anything on his back legs. By the end of the session though, Recital was calmly walking around the pen with long lines behind him, touching his flanks and legs with little fuss. Owners reponse: Recital is extremely nervous about anything behind him. Very pleased with his progress during this session. It was a very good demo throughout, interesting and informative.

George - George was a rearer so we did a short session with him to give the audience a roadmap of the different techniques you can use with rearers. With George we went down the tarp route, laying a piece of tarp on the floor and asking him to step over it. When he refused and started to back up, we showed the audience what to do instead of just applying pressure and causing the horse to go upwards.

Peaches - a Cremallo mare who bucked. Peaches had been started but developed a bucking habit, causing many people to fall off. Medical checks had ruled out anything physical so we set to work in trying to break this habit. Peaches lived up to her name and had a good buck with just the saddle on, with Suzy our volunteer rider and once Dan was aboard the rodeo started again. Dan stayed on and worked through the issue with her, giving her no reward for bucking (ie by falling off!). At the end of the session she was walking around the roundpen with Dan holding a rather fetching pink fairy umbrella with no problems. Owners reponse: The advice was helpful re; dealing with the bucking myself, it is reassuring to know that Dan and Grant can support me if I don't make the progress myself. Peaches being ridden by the dummy was very funny!

We'd like to thank horse owners and helpers and Sophie for putting us up for the evening!

Crofton Manor Equestrian Centre - 4th April

After the highs of the first demonstration, we packed up the truck and headed to Crofton Manor Equestrian Centre in Fareham which is a beautifully setup yard and school. A huge thanks to Marissa for making us feel very welcome!

The horses for this demonstration were:

Merlin - a 14hh skewbald pony (and hairy little chap!). Merlin was our starter for the demonstration and he took everything in his stride. He had a cheeky little buck with the saddle but went on to accept Dan as his first rider with very little fuss. Happily walking alongside myself and starting his riding career. Owners reponse: Absolutely fantastic! :)

Kerrick - A 16hh bay gelding who was extremely nervous about things and phobic of clipping. When we introduced him to the plastic bags to check his response to something moving in to his side his immediate response was a big fat 'no chance' as he shot around the round pen. We set to work de-sensitizing him and by the end of the schooling session not only was he accepting the plastic, he was standing happily whilst being clipped in the round pen with no lead rope. Owners reponse: It was fantastic to see Kerrick who is genuinly scared, start to trust and make us think twice about selling him.

Fergal - a very handsome 16.2hh gelding. Fergal was our first loader of the evening, his owner said his party trick was to plant at a trailer and just take in the view. After some round pen work we set about schooling him to the Dually Halter and by the end of the session he was loading like a trooper, with his owner loading him with ease. Owners reponse: Very nice to see Fergal is quite capable to loading in a trailer!

Dexter - was our final horse of the evening and was another non loading horse. To show a different technique for loading horses, we went straight to work with Dexter using grid work to gain some control over his directions. He was extremely quick to learn how the halter worked and within a short time, he too was loading merrily in and out of the trailer, leaving his owner with a smile.

Once again a huge thanks to our helpers and those who came along, we hope to head back to Crofton later in the year for a clinic so keep checking back to the website for dates!

Blewbury Riding Centre - April 3rd 2007

We started the tour at Blewbury Riding Centre with a crowd of public, friends and supporters - we hope those that came enjoyed the night as much as we did. We had three fantastic horses to work with:

Solly - a three year old starter who had had handling issues and was generally nervous. Using a combination of techniques, including a dummy rider, he was happy to accept Dan riding him whilst walking around happily with no bucking or abject behaviour.

©Simon Palmer - ITL 2007 (joinup@mac.com)

Dan - We then worked with Dan, a 16hh ex-racehorse anglo-arab with a real fear of clippers and head shy. He was incredibly expressive but using pressure and release we were able to get him to accept a small pair of clippers, even up between his ears in a relaxed fashion.

©Simon Palmer - ITL 2007 (joinup@mac.com)

Tinks - Finally we had the star of the night, Tinks - a 12hh pony that had loading issues. After demonstrating his reluctance to load and working through his extensive routine we were able to not only load him but to get one of his riders, 6 year old Amy, to load him herself.

©Simon Palmer - ITL 2007 (joinup@mac.com)

A big thank you to all of our helpers for making it such a fantastic evening and to all our owners for bringing such great demonstraton horses.

Can't wait til our next night!

Demonstration Thanks

Our heartfelt thanks to Mr Monty Roberts for the numerous learning opportunities and experiences that form the basis of our techniques. For his support, advice and interest in our futures and his ongoing enthusiasm and input to Practical Horsemaship. We’d also like to thank him for passing on his flu to Dan and Sam and for their subsequent passing to the rest of the team. Also thanks to Kelly Marks.

To those who gave us beds, stayed up until the stupid hours of the morning and then fed us in the next day:
Hilary Miles, John & Pat Bazin, Sarah Dent, Lyn Dixon & Chris, Sophie & John, Adrian & Sue Semmence, Perdy Sobey

For promotion and support:
Michelle Dannan,  Rosie Jones, Queenie Wenwick, Sophie Easterbrook, Lyn Dixon, Sarah Dent, Shelley Foster, Gary Bosworth, Tracey Wilson, Di Wilson, Dido Fisher and Cat from Penzance.

To the helpers who endured cold nights and heavy round pens….
Doreen & Alan White, Juli, Owen, Abi Little, Nikki, Laura, Claire Liddiard, Catherine, Grayson, Tina Gibson, Liz, Nikki Calphas, Joey, Jenny Learny, Sandy Coates, Ellie, Leanne, Debbie Coe, Kate Reece, Ally Sixsmith and an especially huge thank you to Lisa Tucker who went above and beyond the call of duty and has been a massive asset to the tour.

To the ladies at Equine Touch (Emma, Liz and especially Lara for keeping the team ticking over with her numerous treatments and responses to 'could you just flick my shoulder'), Bioflow (Julie) and Bill Lomas.

Our photographers:
Simon, Miranda and Richard for not sleeping for 3 days to get us some cracking shots.

Fellow Recommended Associates who have supported us:
Lyn Dixon, Suzanne Marshall, Gary Bosworth, Sarah Dent, Rosie Jones, Sandra Williams, Lynn Chapman and Zoe Chipman.

To our venues and the staff help at:
Blewbury Riding Centre, Crofton Manor Equestrian Centre, South Wales Equestrain Centre, Clwyd Special Riding Centre, Croft Top Equestrian Centre, Birstwith Livery Stables, Rodbaston College, Moulton College, Poplar Park Equestrian Centre, The Grange Equestrian Centre and especially Jo Stock and the team at Lands End and Emma at Plumpton for their extra effort and support.

For bringing their fantastic horses:
Sue Armstrong, Debbie Coates, Mary, Alison Cottle, Fiona Vernon, Matthew King, Mrs Bradshaw, Charlotte Thomas, Carolyn Poulter, Tracey Bertarelli, Amanda Davies, Rebecca Green, Gemma Albiston, Kelly Oldcraft, Mrs Duffin, Melanie Dunn, Jade Priddle, Sara Love, Diana Wilson, Louise Penny, Amanda Fuars, tracey Murdoch, Sandy Cotes, Hannah Lindsey, Dawn Spicer, Tracie Lavelle, Angela Owen, Richard Geldof, Tom Manning, Laura Foster, Lyndsey Goldsmith, Gill McPate, Marie Askell, Brenda Smith, Owen & Natalie Davies, Kate Bailey, Pauline Hewburn, Terry Salone, Vicky, Zoe, Milly Tilly and Sarah Roskilly.

To our audiences, who have sat through freezing temperatures but patiently responded so fantastically to the demonstrations, courses and information. Thank you for coming to see us and your lovely comments - we hope to see you and your friends on the next tour! (details to follow)

To Col for letting us have Sam for three weeks, to Tracey for being a superwoman - lending us Dan for so long and managing the kids, horses and promoting demonstrations,  to Leanne for looking after New Leaf, Ian Vandenburghe for the loan of the heaviest (but safest) round pen known to mankind, to Tracy Barnes for being our internet connection, to Helen Aitkins for her printing and computer skills and her horse care skills, to Simon and Faye, Helen Stevenson, Ash and Nigel for the tickets, Joss for letting us use the Big Blue Bertha, Emma at BBC Cornwall, to Suzie our volunteer rider and her branch for letting her have the time off and to the policemen in Worthing Constabulary for not nicking us at 3am and allowing us to continue on our route after a routine stop….

To the people that make Lucozade Hydrowater, Brunchettas, Wotsits and Mash Pots and the people at Beechams for sustaining us through the tour - if you want to sponsor us on the next tour then we’re more than happy to enter into negotiations :)

We wrote this list at the end of the tour so if we’ve forgotten anyone we are very sorry but very grateful for your help - if you get into touch with Grant, he’ll thank you personally :)

And apologies to:
Anyone who was hit by a paper aeroplane flyer whilst standing at the bus stop in the North. The lady in PVC in the Bury Travelodge Reception who we obviously disturbed, anyone that has had to swerve out of the way of a big blue horse box and the numerous trees and branches who were felled in the name of progression.

The End of the Tour...........