The Royal Show 2009

Stoneleigh Park, Warwickshire 

This year was our third at The Royal Show, we again had much better weather and super horses to work with:

Tuesday 7th July

Midas
Midas came to us because he was very spooky. We worked with him over two days, first on the ground desensitizing him to plastic and tarpaulins and then ridden. Owner’s Comment: Very pleased and surprised – Midas is normally very untrusting of strangers and to see him having plastic bags all over him was fantastic. Thank you – ways of training I can hopefully take away with me. I liked the way safety was paramount and the discussion around not using violence or raised voices – a lesson everyone should learn.

Polly

Wednesday 8th July
Evita
Owners Comment: Evita was a starter who had never had a rider on her back. She accepted Dan as a rider with no problems after Grant had worked his magic! Everthing is done in a calm and efficient way with no stress to the horse. I was so pleased that Evita can spend another 3 weeks with Grant to be ridden away.

Kiki
Owner’s Comment: I am amazed how 15 minutes preparation ground work transformes my horses loading! The communication process seemed to make Kiki more trustful of being loaded. I am amazed how quickly he was submissive and co-operative. I liked the owner interaction and the insistence of safety. I have seen a lot of violence around the showground today – if only they would come and watch you!

Thursday 9th July

Grace
Grace came to us as a mounting problem, after some initial despooking and ground handling work, Grace even stood still for Dan to show off and swing up the side of her! Owners Comment: Fantastic demo, very infomative, I really feel I have the ability to continue the training! - Really thrilled!

Ollie
Ollie’s intelligence and willingness to learn was evident and his relief of finding out that people can talk and listen and move ‘horse’ was very clear. Ollie progressed through bags, poles and tarpaulins on foot to being ridden and finally standing still on a tarpaulin while Dan mounted and dismounted. Previously Ollie had been extremely sensitive to lines, scary movements etc. and did not choose to stand still whilst being saddled or ridden. The long lining was amazing and whereas Oliie previously had no real concept of steering or stopping, Grant and Dan soon had him enjoying his work on both reins and even learnt to back up a few steps! Fantastic start to a promising journey for Ollie and I! If anyone wants confirmation or reassurance from an owner then please forward my details – you’re fab!

Friday 10th July

Blaze
Owners Comment: Blaze worked well with Grant and Dan and formed a strong trust quickly. He was extremely fearful and sensitive to mount and dismount as well as being flighty and afraid of sudden movements. The end result of the session was inspiring and emotional. Blaze felt happy under saddle – Dan even mounted from the floor directly inot the saddle and Blaze trusted the situation and was not phased. It was brilliant to see those early steps and to witness the hope and promise of a creative future for Blaze was immense. I just want to learn so much more to enable Blaze’s opportunity to progress. I can’t thank the PH team enough for the faith they have given to me and most importantly, Blaze. Ollie and Blaze’s owner has since gone on to complete the 3 Day Basic course, and brought both horses along with her!

Jazz
Jazz was very fearful of loading into a trailer when the partitions were in. After training him to walk over tarpaulins and desensitizing him to plastic down his sides, we worked using a spare panel from the roundpen to get Jazz used to walking into narrow spaces. Owner’s Comment: The end result of Jazz going in by himself was just amazing. I couldn’t believe the transformation in such a short session, I will take the idea of walking him between to panels home!

The Royal Show 2008

This year was our second at the royal show, the weather was much better, we had great fun and worked with a brilliant variety of horses!

Troy (Our star of the week!)

Troy came to us for the four days of the Royal as a spooky problem due to the horrible things that had happened to him in the past. With previous owners Troy had been driven through electric fencing and the cart had turned over, he had ill fitting saddles, had backed into a car at a show and injured himself and had been beaten over the head. A few weeks before the Royal someone had let Troy out his yard onto the A40, two of Troy's friends were sadly killed, a third had to be cut out of some fencing and a fourth was found on the A40. Troy was found by a police search helicopter and had been galloping for many hours with many injuries. After he had been fulled Vet checked, Troy's owner brought him to The Royal and he soon became everybody's favourite!

On Thursday Dan and Grant worked with Troy desensitising him to plastic and by the second day he had already done lots of latent learning and was accepting the plastic much better. Dan and Grant found that Troy accepted the plastic better when he was walking, rather than blasting away. On the second day Dan and Grant also desensitised Troy to some very unusual flags! On saturday it was time to try re-introducing a saddle and rider to Troy. Although his owner had managed to ride him a year before with lots of help, Troy bucked with the saddle and was tense with dan leaning over and sitting on him. On the Sunday Dan and Grant wanted to do more ridden work with Troy but the ground was too slippery. The Practical Horsemanship students took him though some more work with flags, umbrellas and plastic bags and Dani demonstrated the Monty Roberts method of communication. Troy will hopefully go to Grant's yard to continue with this work.

Owner's Comment: I can't believe the huge improvement! When Troy arrived he was incredibly spooky and scared, trying to run away from everything. After the desensitisation process, he was calm and relaxed, even when faced with plastic bags on sticks, flags, umbrellas and a rider!

Thursday 3rd July

Ossy

Ossy, a remedial starter, was our first horse this year at The Royal Show. This year the sun was shining brilliantly and Ossy put on a great show bucking with the saddle. He had previously been ridden a few times but both Ossy and his owner had lost their confidence after the owner was bucked off. Ossy was sensitive to the desensitisation with the plastic bags but the demo finished with Ossy relaxed while Dan was riding. We hope Ossy will go to Grant's yard for more training.

Owner's Comment: I was very pleased with the outcome of Ossy. He seemed very relaxed and at ease with the trainers. I was suprised to see him adapt so quickly and i will definately be carrying on with his training. I thought the demonstration was very interesting and helpful. I'm pleased that all their techniques were carefull and considerate of the horse's emotions.

Georgie

Georgie, a 2 year old gelding came to us as he kicked out when the owner tried to handle his back feet and he also had a problem loading. Georgie proved difficult to move out of Dan's space and kicked out at the plastic when Dan moved him round the pen. He learnt alot about respe.cting Dan's space and proved to be good with having his feet handled and then loading onto the trailer.

Owner's Comment: Absolutely thrilled that we have a way forward with him. Enjoyed all the demo and found it educational and interesting. Thank you Grant, Dan and the team.

Friday 4th July

Peter

Peter was a 14h Gelding with us for starting but known for being sharp. He responded well to Monty Roberts method of communication and bucked hard with the saddle. By the end of the session Dan was riding him but he was still quite tense. We would like to continue working with Peter to help him relax with a rider.

Owner's Comment: Peter, Dan and Grant were unbelievable. The whole demonstration was calm, relaxed and very successful with his first backing. Excellent atmosphere, calm but fun!

Phantom

Phantom was a gorgeous 16h gelding who was competing at The Royal Show, but the owner has had problems loading him. He had little respect for Dan when we began working with him, but by using the Dually Halter and he soon became responsive on the ground. By the end of the session we had established clear boundaries with Phantom and he was loading well.

Owner's Comment: It was a fantastic experience and i learnt alot about how to handle my horse in a better way. He showed no resistance when i loaded him into the trailer, recently i havent been able to get him on at all. Excellent!

Saturday 5th July

Luke

During the fist half an hour on Saturday we worked with Luke. This handsome 16.1 gelding had a serious problem with the farrier. Although his owner could pick his feet up, as soon as the farrier arrived Luke became very hard to handle, reared and jumped away. Luke had a series of farriers who ended up in hospital or managed to put shoes on with heavy sedation. Grant worked with rotating his legs and feet until he became more relaxed and rewarding Luke's positive behaviour. We will now hopefully continue with this work at home, helping his owner to gain the same levels of respect.

Owner's Comment: Extremely pleased with the results - he showed such respect in such a short amount of time, it's hard to believe he ever had a problem! (although I know it won't be solved from just today) - Thanks for the opportunity to change things!

I found the demo with the second horse (Troy) quite amazing and moving. You are all such an expert team.

Llewelyn

In the afternoon we worked with Llewi, a stunning 16hh gelding that would only load at home. The owner could only load him at shows with a pony companion, and wanted to be able go to shows on her own. Llewi behaved initially as expected but after a few times loading he was trotting up the ramp, leaving Dan at the bottom! When his owner loaded him, he practically pulled her up the ramp!

Owner's Comment: Very pleased, lovely to see my horse so relxed about something that usually has us both very stressed. Commentry good and the  feedback to owner at the end was most welcome - thanks!

Sunday 6th July

Kiah

Kiah is a little New Forest X pony who came to us for starting. She happily accepted her first saddle and Dan as her first rider with very little fuss.

Owner's Comment: I was extremely pleased with the work that Grant and Dan did with my pony. It was great to watch her being ridden for the first time, very grateful for the experience. I was impressed by the handling and gentleness of the team.

Dan

Dan is a gorgeous Welsh Cob who had handling issues on the ground and problems loading onto a trailer. His owners travelled him down from Cheshire for us to work with him. Dan was an unusual loading problem as he would only load from the side of the ramp. With the help of ground exercises, Dan (the trainer!) could start to control his feet. The use of panels when first loading him, helped to direct him to walk straight up the ramp, he was soon loading from the bottom of the ramp without any fuss.

Owner's Comment: I was impressed with the way that Dan started responding whilst being loose schooled and that he wanted to follow the trainers. The difference between loading him to get to the show this morning, and at the end of the demonstration was amazing. Although he still shows a tendency to move to the left of the ramp, he walks on without any of the usual battles and will power.

And now the thanks!

First and foremost we'd again like to thank David Barry - The Chief Equine Ring Steward who remained helpful, and a complete pleasure to work with. Thank you again for all that you did for us.

Thank you to the owners who brought their horses, and thank you especially to Helen for letting us work with the wonderful Troy all week!

We'd also like to thank the team - Tracy, Dani, Mike, Lisa, Sam, Ryan, Christiana, Gabrielle, Susannah, Craig,Vikki, Rich (for the photography) and Jenny (there in spirit!)

The Royal Show 2007

Stoneleigh Park, Warwickshire

We've just returned from a series of demonstrations at the Royal Show and despite the weather, we worked with some cracking ponies and horses and really enjoyed ourselves!

Sunday 1st July

Jasmine
Jasmine was our first horse of The Royal and we hoped she would kick the demos off with a good demonstration and we were certainly not disappointed. She took in the show ground and all the comings and goings like a little star and had great fun with her new saddle. After a few circuits though she quickly settled and accepted Dan as her first rider with no fuss at all - despite the downpour as he got on!

Photos by Rich Neale  © 2007

Nookie
Nookie is a gorgeous little chestnut chap who was a sticky loader and had some issues on the ground. We set to work with Nookie on some ground exercises such as the L-shape, using the Dually Halter and he soon became light and responsive on the ground. Once we had established clear boundaries with him on the ground the loading problem practically disappeared and he loaded onto the trailer like a pro.

Photos by Rich Neale  © 2007

Monday 2nd July

Harry
Harry was our project pony for The Royal and we were going to take our time with him so his first session was short and sweet. He was introduced to the roundpen with an audience and the hubbub of the show, all of which he was nervous about but soon calmed as we set to work with him. We did a small session with some plastic bags which started his education off in a calm and pleasant way.

Basil
Basil was competing at The Royal but his owner had put him forward previously because he didn't like to load in his horse box. He had a loveable charcter but was worried about the space around him and the space he had in his box (which was more than big enough for him!). Basil displayed all of the aversion tricks to loading but as soon as he realised he could fit in the box comfortably and go up the ramp safely his confidence levels soared to the point of him trotting into the box, beating the leader in!

George
George was a stunning Appalosa who was ready for starting. He was a classic text book starter, having fun with his first saddle then readily accepting Dan as his first rider with very little fuss.

Secret
Secret was our surprise of the day. At 1.30pm a lady came to our stand and asked for our help. She had competed successfully at The Royal, having got a second in her class - but after 2 and a half hours of attempting to load her Cleveland Bay mare with little success, she was desperate for help. Because it was so close to our demo time we offered her the opportunity to enter Secret into the demo. Secret shoed her full non-loading skills to the audience and was pretty ademant that she wasn't going home. After testing us to a high degree she jumped onto the box and we went to work loading and unloading until she walked up the ramp with no problem. After a short time we had her tucked up safely with her donkey travelling companion, ready to head home.

Tuesday 3rd July

Scary
Scary is a little Welsh Section C pony who came to us for starting. By this time the ground conditions weren't the best so we didn't make her work or put too much pressure on her. She tried a little buck with her first saddle but happily accepted Dan as her first rider with very little fuss. We then went to work in desensitizing her, working with umbrellas and tarp. Dan also set to work to get Scary used to a young rider by slipping and slidding over her, shifting his weight in the saddle to start her education as a 'bombproof' pony.

Harry
Our afternoon slot was filled with Harry, our spooky horse and we carried on the work from the previous day, helping him to understand that everything wasn't out to hurt him. We worked again with the plastic bags and progressed onto the umbrellas and tarp work, all of which Harry thought about but he decided to put his trust in Grant and worked through his phobias. We moved into ridden work and used an aerial with Harry to see what he would be like with something on his back - he was showed signs of not particularly liking it! Afetr some pressure and release work with him we managed to get his heart rate down. Harry showed great nervousness when being mounted so we worked quietly with Harry to get his confidence back, culminating in him being ridden around the pen comfortably - even when the Jousting Team came past!

And now the thanks!

First and foremost we'd like to thank David Barry - The Chief Equine Ring Steward who remained cheery, helpful, pleasant and a complete pleasure to work with - even when conditions were less than favourable. Thank you so much for all that you did for us.

Thank you to the owners who brought their horses, we had great fun working with them all.

A special thank you to Keeley for helping us get ready for the show and making sure we had everything we needed.

Next we'd like to thank the team - Tracy, Mike, Sam, Dani, Ryan, Di, Leanne and Jenny for spending nights in tents and days in mud.

Talking of tents, we'd also like to thank whoever made our tents - they withstood the torrential downpours and rivers that formed around us and made sure we were dry and happy!

A special mention should be made here to the groundstaff at The Royal who did their very best to keep the ground conditions as good as possible and dumped trailerloads of woodchip and straw down for us. They were working under difficult conditions and we appreciate all that was done.

To the lady who sold us sausages on the first night, to the mashpot people, to the people who made funny gingerbread men and women and to the Soupery people who made the most delicious soups known to mankind...

And finally the lady who cause us much mirth who obviously didn't like camping but bought a whole new catchphrase to the group...

'Memories of The Royal mud'

Photos by Rich Neale  © 2007