Some time ago at a meeting in the UK the subject of ET terminology was brought up.
One practitioner apparently went along to a client and was shown the horses by the trainer that he wished the practitioner to ‘treat’. Oh said the ET Practitioner “ We don’t treat horses!”
As a result ET is no longer welcome at these particular stables!
What is the point if we do not TREAT the horse of the owners using us? Many times I receive a request “ Can you come and treat my horse?” My reply ,“ Of course I can.” I just never ever put the word treat into my vocabulary, just as I never say the horse has a specific medical problem. It is an area of concern, showing pain, showing reaction etc. That has always been good enough for any client who’s horse I have worked on from Royalty to Rodeo.
There is no point in lecturing a prospective client on our 'in-house definitions', they do not want to know, they just want us to try to 'fix' their horse. It is our language policy that we do not use the word TREAT, equally we do not use the word, DIAGNOSE or the words CURE, or THERAPY and of course we never ever use the word, FIX! Make certain you develop a natural way of talking to your clients, bring in the words working, relaxing, improving, observing, more movement, processing and releasing. Learn how to use them and where and when to use them, make your language sound natural, not I am doing Basic Body Balancing or Advanced Body Balancing or even Branding - make it natural.
Of course we TREAT, and under specific contexts we can be accused of DIAGNOSING, and in many people’s eyes ET is a THERAPY and does assist bringing about a CURE in many instances, but not in the law’s eyes, and not in the legal licensed medical world’s eyes, therefore we do not use these words in the marketing or promoting of Equine Touch. Some time ago I was taken to task on a particular web (B**** ) site where ET was rubbished quite simply because I did not use these words on my web site. Once again the intelligence of a jealous or feeling threatened, critic, where the mouth is put into gear before the brain, if it exists, is even switched on.
ET is taught and practiced world wide and so we must be aware of these definitions and the fact that there are many bodies out there, in power, who would like nothing better than to close down all types of complementary disciplines. In one Complementary Health (CH) enlightened state in the USA for instance, you may use the words Complementary Therapy, but if you use the word ‘Diagnosis’ or ;Diagnose' you will be fined $5000 each time you do so. In another you will be arrested. In some European countries if you use these words you may also be prosecuted. You must always remember that the law is based on words and their definitions. The corrupt EEC mandarins with their massive pharmaceutical lobby have stated on many occasions there is no place in the EEC for Complementary Health, and that is being proven now by their new litigation against food supplements and herbal nutrition that is apparently coming into force on the 1st of April in the human world. Start to look at the new descriptions on the jars of vitamins as the year progresses and watch the names of other successful supplements suddenly disappear from your local health store. That is the reason for our stand in these matters. We were awarded accreditation when that was available, but now we must wait for self regulation and formal recognition so it is important we have our own words and language locked in long before that day comes around.
Below are some of the official descriptions of certain terms.
• Diagnosis: Discovery and identification of a disease from the examination of the symptoms by a licensed medical practitioner.
• Therapy: The treatment of a named mental or physical illness without surgical intervention.
• Therapist: Someone who carries out a therapy on a named illness under the directions of a licensed medical practitioner.
• Cure: Make somebody well again.
In law it is what is written that counts, in practical reality it is what is read between the lines which matter.
Q: Why does my horse buck and how do I stop it?
A: This is a question which I cannot answer without passion.
I recently read the answer to a similar question from a famous horsemanship school which had me at first dumb struck and then unbelievably shaking my head in amazement. Their answer to “How do I stop my horse from bucking?” quoted right brain, left brain, ground work, sit back on the saddle, and do more training.
Although I am certain all this advice was considered sound from some trainer’s point of view, what alarmed me as an equine bodyworker was nowhere did it mention a vet, or the word PAIN. Not one word was mentioned about the cause possibly being PAIN or that bucking is simply the symptom of PAIN. When will trainers understand that not every issue with a horse is behavioral and requires the problem being trained out of him?
(I take that back slightly - I recently also read an answer to a similar letter on a Monty Roberts newsletter. He said ‘It sounds as if your horse is experiencing some pain. It would be wrong for me or any other trainer to give advice in a situation where pain may be involved.” Bravo, at last a trainer said it!) Then I attended a clinic held by Peggy Cummings and actually heard her tell a student that she could not use her horse on the clinic as it was not sound and was in pain. Bravo once more. We need more understanding and compassionate trainers in the horse world, not egoists. "Egotism the anesthesia that deadens the pain of ignorance."
Bucking is not bad behavior! It is a physical reaction to stimuli; a fly landing on a sensitive back can cause a buck, as can a burr under the saddle. One horse, who I ran across in the UK, bucked whenever the rider got in the saddle. His position and balance were perfect, the saddle was perfect, but under close scrutiny we found one thread in the saddle blanket that had gone into a whorl. This blanket whorl with the saddle on top and then the rider on top, was enough to induce discomfort, and elicit a bucking session.
Discomfort is unwelcome and results in a physical or mental reaction - so the horse bucks. The reason is quite simply, pain! If the horse bucks when he changes into the canter or resists going forward, the reason is simple - it hurts. Pain! However in saying that, bucking is a phenomena that must be addressed immediately before it becomes a habit. Then you have major problems, you may ultimately remove the cause of the reaction but the muscle memory will remain as will the bucking. Learned anticipated reaction may have set in! Let’s get rid of the rider before the pain arrives. We would do it – why can’t they.
Looking beyond the obvious causes, such as a saddle that is not working for the horse, or the influence of bad teeth, bad feet and of course bad riding and training, and then we can look within. The horse’s back is a nightmare of a garden where pain can grow from the many peripheral nerves that run from the spine to the viscera and vice versa, as well as to the musculo-skeletal outer body. Any compromise of these nerves at all, especially the sciatic nerves, not to mention ulcers can induce bucking. Up to eighty percent of all internal problems can have a direct effect upon the external. This equation of course unfortunately leaves you with the possibility of only being able to on the external (unless you are knowledgeable in natural nutrition), and it is for this reason that more and more credible training organizations are recommending that riders learn some type of gentle bodywork such as Equine Touch so that they may assist their horse in addressing these problems in conjunction with their training. Simple holistic addresses such as asking the horse to arch his spine, to mobilize it from side to side, to dip all exercises designed to loosen up the thoracic and lumbar vertebrae. Easy to learn and easy to perform.
Mobilizing the limbs and their joints as well as elongating the soft tissue and educating the horse just what he is capable of achieving without pain. Very often removing the fear of pain, can have an amazing almost instantaneous effect upon pain and behavior. Remember that learned, anticipated, reaction has to be reprogrammed out of the body at both the physical and emotional level to achieve lasting success.
Bucking is not bad behavior; it is merely a physical reaction to stimuli. Get rid of the pain before you train, or ultimately you may find you will train the bucking into the horse as the ultimate reaction to getting rid of you. Kissing spine, the fusion of the vertebrae, fusion of the sacroiliac joint, kidney problems, ulcers, a worm aneurysm, a pinched nerve, castration scars, ovarian cysts, bad tack … the list is endless. So before such a question is asked of a trainer, the owner should have checked the horse for any such problems herself and then if unable to rectify the problem, the next missing step in the answer, the most simple, and the most important, is "Have you seen a vet?"
Over Christmas I was cleaning up my MAC when I found the following writings. I had a vague recollection of sitting down earlier in the year when I was at home in New Zealand and writing down my thoughts about ET from my non-western beliefs. Having done so I promptly forgot it and when this turned up by accident. I at first started to wonder if I in fact had written it, or stolen it from someone else, the effects of chemo making my usual short term memory worse than ever. So I asked around, sent it to Randi Peters at The Natural Horse Magazine and eventually we came to the conclusion that I did write it. Perhaps I was indulging in too much New Zealand Green, or Jack Daniels Black at the time as I do not usually ramble away in this manner, at least not on paper. However I hope you agree that there are some points of value in these 'thoughts' that will help you understand where I and ET are coming from.
• Unlike what I have seen as Bowen for horses, or even Shiatsu, The Equine Touch (ET) is not static - it is a discipline that is ever evolving and it places great emphasis on motion and the dynamics of movement. The body behind the hands applying the move is never still, moving with its ‘breath flow’ to enhance the Ki energy, which surrounds, runs to and courses away from the touch in the direction where it is required. When we sense and move with the energy that is manifesting throughout the universe, we find that we have a greater ability to help the horse enjoy a life that is healthy and fulfilling. • To use correct breath flow in conjunction with your move is of the utmost importance. To practice this exercise, extend your arms out in front of you; do not straighten them but instead keep them relaxed. Breathe in slowly for the count of seven seconds, hold it for the count of seven seconds, and concentrate on what you feel. Now as you exhale for the count of seven seconds, feel your Ki and ‘breath flow’ travel from your shoulders down to your hands fingers or thumbs. If you are performing the move away from you, visualize that you are sending out your energy to a target a mile away. If you are performing the move towards you, then focus your mind on a point behind you and allow the focus of Ki to flow in that direction, visualizing - if you like - the effect of a rower powering through the water.
• We could attempt to pigeonhole Equine Touch into a synopsis of X number of words, but that would not do it justice; that is why we leave the practitioners of ET to find out what Equine Touch is for themselves without any preconceived notions being indelibly imprinted on their brains.
• Upon closer examination, practitioners will find within Equine Touch that which they themselves are looking for, whether it is applicable as a therapy, a spiritual enlightenment, or peace of mind. Ultimately the moral and spiritual aspects of this discipline which, while placing great weight on integrity and intention, will allow for the development of harmony between the practitioner and the horse.
• I cannot help but emphasize the moral and spiritual aspects of this discipline, on which I place great weight, that develop harmony and aloha between yourself and the horse. The true meaning of the word ‘aloha’ is the harmony and joining of the spirit through the breath. The idea of a predator striving for total harmony with a prey animal may seem paradoxical but it is the most basic tenet of the discipline.
• Since ancient days there have been numerous masters of the horse: Xenophon 293 BC. Attila the Hun, Tom and Bill Dorrance, and Ray Hunt but there have been none who have completely accomplished all that they set out to do with the equine. Perhaps it is that the years that it took them to learn the talk left ultimately so little time for the walk. I myself am still immature and yet I have stumbled into this equine world and now I find myself in the middle of the greatest adventure of my life, though regretting always that I do not have the years left to discover and read the chapters that I will miss.
• Equine energy training begins with the assumption that "a field of energy exists in and around each horse body, extending out to over 3 yards". This energy is ki, "a single manifestation that includes emanations that can actually be measured by our present science”. One of the exercises that a practitioner may use to develop his skill in this area is called, in Aikido and Kahuna, "sensing the energy body" where partners rub their hands together joining their ‘Aka’ then stand with their arms and palms extended towards each other. When one 'feels' the energy from one's partner, one is asked to move their hands apart to find out how far away one can stand and still sense the energy connection.
(This can be equally well performed with the horse, firstly by making certain that you have a good handler. With eyes closed hold the horse to you, and then slowly step back off slightly and focus on feeling the energy from the body in front of you. As your competence and sensitivity develop, the distances can slowly be increased. Once you have perfected the feel for the ‘aura or aka’ then you can begin to train yourself to feel the subtle sometimes drastic changes from area to area.)
• When you balance and relax your body, unify your thoughts and actions, and calm your thinking mind, you move from an experience of duality to an experience of commonality. Then it is not you and the horse (me and you) - it is simply just ‘us’. Only upon the creation of such a phenomenon will you eventually come to understand and experience what is truly meant by ‘in harmony with the universe’.
• Do not allow Equine Touch to become a contest between you and the horse. In any contest, there must always be a loser. If it’s the horse, he will not be happy and will reject the work, or if it is you, your ego will suffer as well as your confidence. Instead of trying to fight to overcome the horse to satisfy your ego, simply overcome your ego and try to win the horse over to you. Never put yourself in a win-lose position when trying to help.
• One of the necessary components for successful adaptation of Equine Touch is that as experienced practitioners, we move away from a concept of "that was right or that was wrong" and instead consider what will work best in the particular instance. We should welcome and acknowledge the process of trial and error, knowing that all learning requires that we make some mistakes along the way.
• Empathy helps us to be responsive to the needs, and desires, of the horse. When we are sensitive to the thoughts and feelings of the animal, we soon realize that ET is not THE ONLY way. ET is not THE RIGHT way. ET is but one of many good ways that we have to help the horse. It is mandatory that we always recognize and appreciate the importance of different opinions and beliefs, and respect that we are not the only people in the equine world who have the same goal.
• Respect is an important component in fostering our connection with the horse, because it leads to the manifestation of acceptance and hopefully trust. Our task in joining our life force with the horse is not easy. The ultimate humbleness comes when the horse itself invites us in and asks for our help. Then truly comes that glorious moment when we realize how wonderful it is to be alive and in harmony with another living creature.
• If there were a discipline on the human plane that the philosophy of Equine Touch resonates with, it would have to be Aikido. The word itself: Ai - To harmonize; Ki -The Universal life force; Do – The way.
In the philosophy of Aikido, it states that a victory may be achieved by:
1. Brute Force but your opponent will never forgive you.
2. By intelligence or by trickery and in the horse world as in the human, very often the trick never works twice and so it will not forgive you.
3. By winning the person or horse over by showing him respect. But it is essential to show respect first before one can expect to earn it from the other side. That is true victory and it can only come from the heart with honesty and integrity leading the way.
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HORSES AND HUMANS IN HARMONY IN THE MOUNTAINS OF NEW ZEALAND
By Jock Ruddock
1st published in The Natural Horse Magazine 2007
Many of us remember the story of the enchanted village set in the highlands of Scotland that was locked in time. When Ivana and I set out on our travels last weekend with Maori Television to film ‘The Horse Listener’, a program about our work on horses, little did we expect to find our own Brigadoon nestled in the Mangapohatu Mountains in central North Island New Zealand (Aotearoa).
The first inkling that we were in for a unique natural horse experience came only an hour or so after we left Rotorua and headed up into the mountains on a loose gravel road into the tribal lands of the Tuhoe Maoris. Rounding a corner we suddenly came upon a stallion grazing contentedly at the side of the road, not phased in the slightest at the TV vans pulled up alongside him, just accepting us as a natural part of their ‘environment’.
These roadside wanderers, alone or in small groups grazing in clearings in the bush or drinking in the clear mountain streams, became more frequent as we drew nearer to and ultimately arrived at the small village of Ruatahuna. One general store, one gas station, no gas, the pumps had been dry for years, horses don’t need petrol.
Over the past seven years Ivana and I had been preaching ‘Horses and Humans in Harmony’ and in turn had been preached to about so called ‘Natural Horse-man-ship’, however it was not until this moment that we actually saw it in action: Horses wandering in the streets, children riding bareback on the roads, two tiny ones sitting back to back laughing as their horse trotted and clambered over the uneven ground. A young hunter passing along the road, rifle strapped to his back, perfectly balanced on his horse, looking at us as just as curiously as we were looking at him.
A few minutes later we realized the reason for the curious looks when we were invited to a meeting with the elders of the community to discuss the film project, which without their input and interaction could not happen, to find that we were the only pakehas (Europeans) there. We were introduced to the committee headed by Tangiora Rangiua (Tangi) a striking lady whose imposing dark eyes appeared to have the gift of searching deep inside us as though trying to find out what Ivana and I were all about and what we wanted, rather than listening to the words of Ruth, our producer.
We were then joined by and introduced to the leading horseman in the area, Lenny Te Kaawa, whose presence was almost like that of a master sensei in a dojo. Lenny sat at the back, out of the circle, saying nothing, just listening to and assessing what Ruth was saying about the project.Ultimately the success of the project was going to hinge on the participation of Lenny, and knowing the pride of such a man and feeling his presence, I decided to interrupt, and dropped the bombshell. “Neither Ivana nor I ride, or train horses! We are not here to criticize, comment or teach anything to do with your horsemanship skills. Already what I have seen with your kids blows away anything I have ever witnessed with the so called masters in America and Europe. We are here for two purposes only: to see if there is a place in your horse community for the Equine Touch, and hopefully to learn some gift that we may take out to the rest of the world to help improve the quality of life of their horses. We would like to make this weekend an exchange between people who care about horses.”
Somehow the ice was cracked, the confession that Ivana and I did not ride evoked exchanges of eyes, reminding me of the Japanese ‘reading of silence’ and only then did Lenny join the circle. It turned out that Lenny, as well as being a horse trainer, the local minister, and policeman, was also a shepherd who spent sometimes more than ten hours every day in the saddle moving sheep and cattle around the valley.
Introductions over, we were taken to assess and work on an injured paint; they wanted to see ET in action. The horse had been badly kicked in the hock 8 weeks before and the joint was still badly swollen, the entire muscles of the left hind wasted and atrophied, the horse unable to maintain any weight on the leg. In the mountains there are no vets so Ivana did her best to assess the horse which without the benefit of X-Rays could only be an educated guess, the worst assessment being a fracture of the tarsus or the splint bones. A few onlookers had turned up along with Lenny and Tangiora, though conversing with us out of politeness they remained suspicious, standing well back, removing any chance of interaction between us or giving the appearance of condoning our work.
The reaction to ET from the paint was excellent: relaxation, jaw self-adjustments, soft eyes, sighs, shaking, and then a snorting session as its back relaxed allowing it to get rid of copious amounts of gunky fluid through its nostrils. After the work was completed we tried to elicit opinions and conversation, but the cultural and suspicion barriers had not yet come down.
The following morning the crew had arranged to film Lenny as he started off on his day’s work shifting a herd of cattle down the valley. There were wide eyed looks among them as Lenny pointed out that he rose at 3.30am, prepared himself, then attended to his prayers, had breakfast, and would start saddling at about 4.30am. Ivana and I as the ‘talent’ were not required for the early morning shoot and were allowed to lie in until 6.30 at our cabin alongside lake Waikaremoana before driving over the mountains back to Ruatahuna to work on our first horse.
There we were introduced to Moeparangi Te Kaawa (Moe), Lenny’s 17-year-old daughter whom he had proudly told me he put on a horse before she could walk, as it taught children good balance when they came to do so. Already an accomplished horsewoman, ‘Moe’ had started her own stallion, Johnny, (whom I was scheduled to work on) when she was only 15, and had started and trained countless others. I was later informed by several elder horse men that already ‘Moe’ was respected along with Lenny in the horse community as a ‘Horse Whisperer’.
Ivana in the meantime was starting to make contact with the local ladies headed by Tangiora, and found that they both had an interest in using herbs for remedial purposes, and very soon an in depth discussion was in progress regarding the use of local herbs for remedial purposes for both humans and horses. With no vets available in the mountains it was obvious that the locals were using some handed down systems for helping their horses maintain soundness. Unfortunately the time spent with them was too brief for Ivana’s inquiring mind, so she has already booked a holiday there next January in the hope that she can learn more about their knowledge in the usage of local herbs.
As with most stallions I work on, especially ones with a recent injury (Johnny had severe fresh wire cuts on both rear legs), I made my approach with a degree of fear and respect for what he could do to a pale skinned stranger wearing a big white Stetson. 'Amazed' is perhaps my best description of this session - no sooner had I put my mark on him and bonded when I found myself with one of the most gentle and well behaved horses I have ever worked on. I just had to look him in the eye, tell him what I wanted, and there it was, left foot, right foot, lower head, whatever, a truly safe horse who was so in harmony with humans that when two horses at liberty went charging up the road in front of us he did not even bat an eyelid. A marvelous compliment to an amazing young horse woman.
By this time Lenny was returning from his cattle drive so we accompanied him home to watch him unsaddle and check out the condition of his horse’s back after having carried him for the best part of ten hours. Once again, amazement - no fancy saddle, no fancy pneumatic saddle pads, rather an old blanket on top of a foam blanket, no shims - the horse snobs would have rolled their eyes at what came off the horse's back. However it was the horse's back that Ivana and I were interested in. There was no way this horse could not show negative effects. I suppose egotistically I was waiting for the horse to show pain so that in front of Lenny I could amaze him by removing it with ET. The horse did not even twitch, flinch or buckle! I was at a loss for words, Ivana was at a loss for words, I walked over to our car, took out my brand new Equine Ethology lead rope and Cherokee halter, and presented it to him.
Lenny then ‘pampered’ his no name horse by getting out his garden watering can, and using it to give his horse a shower and rub-down before turning him loose. Putting away his stock saddle, Lenny explained that he has a remuda of ‘he thinks’ seven or eight horses. He will use one for a week and then turn it loose for a couple of months then bring it back in for another work session allowing it plenty of rest and recovery time between sessions.
We then watched Lenny’s shepherd partner, Tom, unsaddling. Tom used a basic Wintec Western saddle on top of a standard pad and a quilted waterproof covering. Once again I was hoping for a reaction as I prodded and poked. Again nothing, ten hours under saddle and not even a yawn! In these few minutes these two shepherds had blown away all the promotional guff I had heard in the hype and promotion of different saddles and saddle pads and taken me back to what Len Brown said to me in Texas, ‘It’s not about whether the saddle fits or not, it's about whether it works that is important’.
Ivana took a break to work on a six-week-old foal they had found in the bush alongside her mother who had been dead for a month. The foal had quickly learned to eat grass to survive, and though not in the healthiest of conditions with a three finger width hernia, was quite happy to wander in around the film crew and allow Ivana to ET her as she assessed her possibilities of survival.
That afternoon saw us at the local swimming hole with youngsters from 7 up to 17 bringing their horses in for Ivana to teach them carrot stretching to limber up their necks and to assess whether or not they had a problem in that area. The only problem was many of the horses had never seen a carrot before and so some of the ‘Tamarikis’ (kids) ended up eating what was meant for the horses. Eventually one little boy managed to get his horse to perform all the exercises, his serious face turning into the biggest grin ever as his horse was the first to reach down between its legs and capture the prize.
At last the ice was really breaking, the kids and the community were starting to accept us. Moe and Lenny were becoming more and more interested in ET and were now opening up to us, and Tangiora supplied me with some of the history of the Tuhoe horses, explaining that they had originally been brought to the valley by the settlers 250 years earlier to build the roads and work in the forest. The original horses were Clydesdales and Shires used to pull logs and clear the trails and build roads, as well as various riding mounts used by the workers for personal use. Some of these horses escaped and some were just turned loose; eventually they started to breed and form their own herds, ultimately breaking up into three or four recognized bunches from which the horsemen of the community drew their original stock.
The valley itself, an hour-and-a-half drive over rough roads to any town or city, survived in isolation; very rarely if ever was a horse brought in from the outside world, or one of theirs taken out, though we were offered our pick if we wanted one. When I asked how much for a beautiful palomino, they said ‘Nothing. We’ve got plenty”.
The beliefs and skills were passed down from generation to generation without influence from outsiders. While a few of them had been to see some ‘Cowboy Horse Whisperers’ they did not really think much of them, but rated Ray Hunt as the best horseman they had seen. They knew no promoted techniques yet all their horses did whatever they asked of them without fancy ropes, halters or training aids, and other than accidental injuries were on the whole pretty sound.
These factors of their relationship with the horse stood out among all others for us:
They bring their horses from nature into servitude (Nature breeds, and the people appropriately enlist what is naturally available and capable).
When their horses' time for retirement comes along, there is no sending them to the lion park or to the canning factory; they are simply returned to nature to grow old in nature. They may go on for years as there are no predators in NZ.
They deworm regularly with herbs, and the horses are cared for and looked after as old friends until the day they are no longer there.
They shoe their horse only if the horse in work is unable to carry the load naturally
That night Ivana and I and the whole crew were invited to sleep on the Marae, (the sacred ground and ceremonial lodge of the tribe) this meant another barrier was broken and in truth can be considered nothing less than an honor for us two pakehas within the Tuhoe community.
On the last morning of filming we again noticed the changes in the attitude towards us and the Equine Touch when we returned to visit the first horse we had worked on. The owner, who had trimmed the feet as Ivana suggested, was vocally enthusiastic about the changes in his horse and wanted to know what he could do to continue the healing process, talking away quite happily in front of the cameras.
The next session in the middle of the village saw a crowd of young horsemen, including the young hunter we had seen on the first day, bring their horses down to be worked on. Although the hunter felt there was nothing wrong with his horse, he was open and understanding when we showed him that one of his mounts - which two days before had been carrying two deer and a pig as well as himself - had sciatica and was suffering from a contracted castration scar. Both of these were relieved with ET. Puki was extremely interested when Ivana showed him the imbalance on his horse's hoof due to the influence of the castration scar, and showed him how to return it to medial lateral balance now that the problem had been addressed. His other horse he also thought was OK, until Ivana pointed out that the teeth on one side had hooks, which was the reason the rider was finding it difficult to turn the horse in one direction. This also was having a compensation effect upon the sacrum. Puki an architect student, translated Ivana’s information into his own understanding and it immediately was as though the lights switched on.
The last barrier then came unexpectedly crashing down when Ruth called me over, and I saw Lenny - who had refused for the past three days to talk in front of the camera - being fitted with a microphone. I was asked to stand in front of him, and with a dignity that I have only ever seen from the true Maori elder, he presented me with a ceremonial ‘Teko Teko’, a beautiful stick or wand carved by nature which had been in his family for many years. Lenny explained to me it was a gift of respect, an extension of his family and people, an invitation to be part of the Maori culture and an exchange from his people for the gift that Ivana and I had given them by coming to their community and working with the horses. He told us that years ago his grandfather and father had talked to the horses the way I did, but that the art had been lost. (Tears, go away.)
The gift of the ‘Teko Teko’ and the possession of it signified that the people recognized me as a Tohunga, a medicine man, a teacher. (Tears, go away!) In my life I have had several honors, but none as emotional or as meaningful to me as this bestowed upon me by this dignified horseman. Ivana was so proud, a touching moment to be remembered throughout our lives. As one other Maori artisan said, “We had talked the talk, and walked the walk and we had earned their respect.”
With an invite to return echoing in our hearts, Ivana and I will one day hopefully be heading to Ruatahuna not only to teach the people Equine Touch but to learn from them, to enjoy their culture, and perhaps, who knows - even going riding with the Horse Whisperers of the Mangapohatu Mountains.
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In the first issue I did an article on the quotes of Ray Hunt, a gentleman who although I only managed to spend one week with taught me so much just by listening to his stories and sayings. I myself like to teach from telling stories and as I swapped tales and ideas with Ray I was amazed to find that we were coming from the same place, though he was the rider and I the bodyworker. So when I printed his quotes I asked myself and others to put themselves in the place of the rider and switch the words to bodyworker and look at it from that perspective. What did I find? Equine Touch.
Now I present to you a collection of the sayings of the legendary Tom Dorrance and once again I ask you to read them and understand them as Equine Touch students and practitioners. You should be able to see what working with a horse , whether it be as a cowboy herding cattle or a bodyworker trying to help it have a better quality of life is what we are all about. Try to look at each quote and see where it can fit in or adapt to your ET work from the equine psychological point of view. I sincerely hope you get as much education and enlightenment out of these quotes as I did
“Before you ever start to reach to ask your horse to do something you should have in mind what you are asking and where you are trying to go.”
“I didn't use to elaborate on the third factor, spirit: I only just mentioned it. But I’ve begun to wonder about it in the last few years. Maybe if people got to realizing the importance of that part of the horse, they could get more understanding from right in the horses’ innards. Then they could try to figure out the mental and the physical parts.”
“Wait for his feet. No matter if you miss your lunch, just hang in there. He is trying to push and get you to yield. He is on his own pressure; you are just fixing it. Don’t try to move his feet. Leave that to him.”
“Once the horse gets to responding, then you try to get the response you are asking for with less. You try to cut down what you are applying and get more response with less pressure, until it almost gets to be just a thought.”
“The rider needs to recognize the horses’ need for self-preservation in Mind, Body and the third factor Spirit…….he needs to realize how the persons approach can assure the horse that he can have his self-preservation and still respond to what the person is asking him to do.”
“I spent a lot of time alone with them and when I was alone, that was when I learned a lot of things. If I made a mistake, there wasn’t somebody to clean up after me. It was important that I get the job done.”
” I’m just living. If anybody gets any good out of it, that’s great. I don’t want to force it on others. I don’t work with a horse that way and I don’t work with people that way.”
"What I know about the horse, I learned from the horse."
”It’s so simple, it’s difficult.”
“Having said that, this ‘simplicity’ is loaded with subtleties.”
” It seems like people expect the horse to know what they ask it to do, while the horse has no idea what is being asked. They expect the horse to already know.”
“You’ve got more than you started with and that’s good.”
"Adjust to fit the situation, which best fits the occasion"
"When I hear somebody talk about a horse or cow being stupid; I figure it's a sure sign that the animal has somehow outfoxed them"
“As I think back through the years, I don’t know if I have ever really gotten this thing that I am talking about clear for anyone that I have worked with. Some people have put some part of it to use, and they use that much to drift over the part they don’t have. I’ll add right on to that - I don’t know how much there is I haven’t discovered yet - how much there is that could be. ”
“It is never the “big thing” that we should focus on, but all the little things that come before the big thing, and then the big thing will take care of itself.”
“If you give people more than they ever thought they would get, you don’t need to advertise.”
“It seems to go in pieces. That's how it seems to go even for a horse. There's "time" in there; it's just as well not to crowd the horse if he isn't ready for it. You keep offering, trying to help as much as you can, without troubling him too much about it. Then, there will be a day when it will just clear right up.”
“The best thing I try to do for myself is to try to listen to the horse. I don't mean let him take over. I listen to how he's operating: what he's understanding or what he doesn't understand: what's bothering him and what isn't bothering him. I try to feel what the horse is feeling and operate from where the horse is.”
“It has to come from the insides of a person and the inside of a horse.”
"I encourage people to draw on themselves, experimenting and exploring. That's what will help you keep your horse entertained and learning different things. A horse should be learning something new all the time. You can't get it all. It's an ongoing learning experience, an art or science; I prefer to call it an art. It all has to come from within."
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BY TRISHA WREN - ET PRACTITIONER, NEW ZEALAND
Trisha was born in Scotland, rode throughout her childhood and teens and bought bought herfirst horse in her early 20's, and switched to Western riding after attaining BHS Stage 3. She became the first resident representative in Scotland for the Western Equestrian Society, and spent several years promoting western riding in Scotland, and won the Scottish Open Hi-Points twice, with 2 different horses. When she began having problems with a home-bred horse she looked in a different direction, and discovered Mark Rashid, hosting clinics with him in Scotland over the next few years, as well as with other eminent US clinicians - Leslie Desmond, and Peggy Cummings. She worked in the US as Mark Rashid's apprentice in 2001 and 2002, assisting at clinics all over the US and in the UK, an invaluable experience. Since then she has trained primarily with Peggy Cummings, creator of Connected Riding and is now an instructor. She emigrated to New Zealand in 2005 and qualified as an ET Practitioner in 2010. You can visit her on her web site
What Equine Touch Means To Me
I first heard about Equine Touch from Peggy Cummings, of Connected Riding®. Some of her Connected Riding students in the US (eg Trudy Johnson) had studied Equine Touch, and she was impressed with the results that she’d seen and the way it fit with the philosophy of Connected Riding. When I realised that Jock and Ivana spent part of their year here in New Zealand and that learning Equine Touch directly from them was within my reach, I signed up to find out more!
I enjoyed the Level 1 course that I attended, and on practising at home had immediate results. One of the reasons I felt that Equine Touch would be valuable to me was to give me extra tools to work with on clients horses. As a Connected Riding Instructor I also often take clients horses in for schooling, rehabilitation (teaching them correct posture and balance), or starting. On the odd occasion that there is something physically ‘off’ with a horse, my options had been to either send the horse home (since I won’t continue working with them if they are lame, unsound, or in some sort of unidentified pain), or have them sit in my paddock doing nothing until the owner could arrange for an Equine Bodyworker to come and work with the horse. Suddenly I had something I could do instead, and it worked! The main example I remember after the Level 1 course was a Quarter Horse gelding I had in for some schooling. He was a bit grumpy, and once we started working on trot I noticed that he was quite short behind – there was no real reach with his hind legs, and he seemed tight and restricted in his loins. I did one ET session with him – the next day you could see the difference as he walked around his paddock, as all of a sudden his back was swinging and his hind legs were reaching! That was very cool, and of course spurred me on to learn even more. I did the Level 2 course only a few months later, which gave me more knowledge and tools, and spent the next year practising what I’d learned to date.
When I did the Level 3 course, at first my intention was really just to ‘complete’ my training; I figured that I might as well have all the information available, to ensure that I had the complete picture and further tools and skills. At this point I didn’t really intend to carry on with the Practitioner track, but by the end of the Level 3 course I was of course hooked again and wanted to see it through to the end. When I discovered what was involved in becoming an Equine Touch Practitioner – 20 case studies, 3 sessions each, plus this essay, plus the question paper – I gulped and wondered if I could actually do it…! It seemed much more involved than I had expected, and looking for a very high level of understanding and competency; I really wondered if I was actually good enough. However, I have found that doing the case studies is actually a vital part of the process for me, as it forces me in the best possible way to look at the whole horse, to consider all of the outside influences that might be affecting the horse, to slow down and really listen to the horse, and to really think about what Areas of Concern procedures he needs. Because of my work as a Connected Riding Instructor I have an unlimited supply of clients who are happy to let me work on their horses for free, so I have been able to do several sessions each week. This has been fantastic for giving me more practice, and I can feel my competency growing. I’m getting more able to work smoothly without having to look up the move in the manual all the time, or puzzle over which Areas of Concern would be appropriate. I can also feel that the technique itself is getting better and more effective. Without doing the case studies I think I might have continued doing Equine Touch a bit mechanically, getting stuck doing the same moves all the time, and not really taking into consideration the whole picture.
Most of the people whose horses I have used as case studies have been very supportive, appreciative of having their horse worked on for nothing, and positive about the results. There have been a couple, however, who are obviously just doing it because it’s free, and otherwise aren’t very invested in it. For some people, because Equine Touch is so subtle (and, likely, because they are pretty unaware of themselves and of their horse), if they are not seeing a huge change in their horse or having all their problems magically fixed they are not convinced it is working or that there is any merit to it. I find those attitudes a bit of a struggle; especially as, if magical results aren’t happening, it’s probably because of something either the rider hasn’t divulged, or something they are unwilling to change, eg bad hoof trimming or a badly fitting saddle. I get quite frustrated in those circumstances. I do also worry about helping a horse to feel better via Equine Touch, only to have the rider continue doing whatever bad thing they are doing and put him back in the ‘bad’ place. (Is it fair to wake a horse up to the possibility of freedom of movement and lack of pain or discomfort, only for that to be taken away from them again by an unfeeling or unaware rider? Or is it maybe better for them to carry on compensating in a way that works for them, until such times as the rider ‘sees the light’ and makes bigger changes?! This is why my preference will be to primarily offer Equine Touch only to my existing clients, who already have a holistic approach and are on board with what I have to offer.) It can be very annoying not to be taken seriously, or not being listened to – especially if you have gone to a lot of effort to investigate all factors and clearly set out the consequences for the owner. However, I guess I just have to accept that to some extent you can’t please all of the people all of the time, and that hopefully I have done my best and now it is over to them.
On the other hand, I have had an experience with one of my Case Studies where the ‘whole horse’ aspect of the ET address has made a positive change in my clients’ attitude to her horses. Both of this clients horses have shockingly bad feet, and haven’t had their teeth done in the last 6 years. The owner’s worry with one horse is lameness, and the other is an elderly horse that is no longer maintaining good weight… By specifically questioning the owner about hooves and teeth, letting her hear teeth ramps, and explaining the detrimental effects of not providing care in those areas, she is coming around to actually doing something about it. I also told her in no uncertain terms that once I’m a Practitioner and actually charging for sessions, not only would she would be wasting her money paying for ET sessions since the work is unlikely to ‘stick’ when there are such huge other factors working against the horse, but that I may even refuse to come back until those things are properly addressed! The next time I went back she was arranging a farrier visit, and had come around to the idea of getting their teeth looked at.
In some ways doing these Case Studies has clarified a lot of things for me, but the process has also created a lot of questions for me. In hindsight I wish I had, on each level when we were being taught a new procedure, asked ‘What would you use this one for?’! I find that the part of each ET session that takes the longest is deliberating over which Area of Concern procedures would be best to use. Am I worrying too much about this? I’ve written myself a bit of a checklist, which I can glance at to help me pinpoint AOC’s (attached). I’ve scoured all my notes for other clues, but I guess ultimately this kind of knowledge just comes from experience?
One interesting thing I’ve learned from the Case Studies is the benefit of doing a series of sessions; the affects of Equine Touch certainly seem to be cumulative. Several times I have had horses who show very little processing on their first session, but on the second (and subsequent) they process much much more, have a different attitude, and consequently the Equine Touch ‘sticks’ better. (My observation is that in these instances the horses concerned are initially quite ‘shut down’ for some reason, eg they have previously had a hard life and not much reason to trust people.) This has convinced me that in most cases if I am asked to work on a horse, it is more beneficial to recommend a series of 2-3 sessions rather than a one-off. Whether clients will see it the same way remains to be seen, as obviously that is more of an expense for them! (Perhaps the way to handle initial inquiries is to say that the number of sessions required will depend on how much their horse processes in the first session.) Once a horse has had one or more initial sessions, having a single session every so often for maintenance seems to be acceptable.
Another thing I’ve noticed is that the length of time between sessions doesn’t necessarily matter. I’ve had results just as good where the sessions were 1 month apart as I have when they were 1 week apart.
With regards to the horse handling part of ET sessions, I have found that if a horse is finding ways to distract himself, eg burying his nose in his owners arms, or nibbling on something, that this is a sign of avoidance in some way, and that the horse is not fully letting go. In these instances (I’ve had a couple so far) I ask the owner to stand further away, or position the horse away from things he can play with or nibble on. The horse then seems to settle better and ‘take’ the work better.
I have also learned that if I want to keep a photo record of the horses that I work with, it’s really helpful to always take the photo from the same side, and ideally in the same location…..! Otherwise you are not necessarily comparing like with like!
Since I already have a full time horse related job, my intention is not to advertise myself as an Equine Touch Practitioner, although I will be thrilled to be listed as one and very happy for people or horses to be referred to me. However, my priority will be to use my Equine Touch skills on my own and clients horses, as I see it as a hugely complimentary skill to add to what I already offer people:
• Connected Riding teaches riders and horses body awareness; how to identify and release bad postural habits and tension and learn balance, softness and self-carriage.
• I’m also a TTEAM Equine Practitioner, which enables me to start horses in the softest possible way; also to rehabilitate or re-educate horses regarding balance and proprioception, giving them confidence in their own space; healing and rebalancing on a cellular level with TTouches; and increasing their confidence using a variety of obstacles.
I believe that most of my existing clients understand and are open to this holistic approach, but I am a little wary of offering Equine Touch to complete strangers who may just be looking for a quick fix. My main concern, once I am actually a Practitioner, will be getting enough work / practice to keep my skill level up. I do have 4 horses of my own though so there should be no excuse!