Equestrian Network Magazine

A TTouch of Trust

It commonly believed that in order to "tame" horses that has never been haltered it's necessary to run them around a round pen until they figure out that they're supposed to come to you. It does work, but it often takes a good deal of time and too often the horse doesn't figure it out until he's in a dripping sweat, with sides heaving. For more than 20 years I've been successfully teaching people to gentle their horses using a square or rectangular enclosure, and gaining a horse's trust without running them around. Although I used a round pen for many years, I find that horses learn faster when there are corners. They also learn faster in the presence of another horse instead of being alone. It makes sense when you remember horses are herd animals. Training centers like the Spanish Riding School in Vienna have been successfully training in groups for centuries.

I was recently asked to demonstrate how I would go about gentling a two year old Paint filly, named Lilly, who had never been haltered, and was described as dangerously tense. Lilly had been raised in a small herd of horses on a ranch where her owner, Karen, had not had the time to handle her when she was younger. She was very skeptical of people, just like her 12 year old dam. Karen had spent a lot of time

attempting to gain Lilly's trust so she could treat an injured eye that needed attention, but without success.

Karen had not been able to touch Lilly's head and was very concerned that haltering her would be traumatic and difficult.

Fortunately, Karen had recently built some pens where Lilly and another filly could be separated from the herd and fed, but Karen had not been able to touch Lilly's head and was very concerned that haltering her would be traumatic and difficult.

I went quietly into the paddock with the two fillies and stood with my back to Lilly while I ran my hands over the neck of the other filly who was completely gentle and loved any attention. Lilly was wary and kept her distance at first, but in a matter of minutes I was able to get my hands on her shoulder.

Over the years I've observed that horses relax just from watching another horse receiving quiet TTouch work on the body.There is new research, listed in the archive section of the New York Times January 10, that I believe explains why horses learn from watching. Apparently "mirror cells", present in all animals, and of course, humans, cause us to feel what another is feeling. When I worked on the other filly and she obviously enjoyed what I was doing, Lilly came closer and allowed me to do some light TTouches on her shoulder. I combined circle TTouches and soft scratches.

That was the key! Once she got the idea that I could do something nice for her, she let me work on other parts of her body with a combination of light scratches, zig-zags and Raccoon TTouches.

One of the noticeable characteristics of this filly's conformation was her high-head carriage and ewe-neck. Over the years I've have come to realize that so long as the underside of the neck is tight and the head high, horses tend to stay spooky and stand-offish. Once you can get the head down and the horse relaxed enough to allow you to gently rock the underside of the neck, the attitude will change. That is exactly what happened! With ten minutes Lilly allowed me to do some gentle neck-rocking, her eye softened, and she allowed me to work all over her. I worked about twenty minutes total and the filly was absolutely trusting. When I finished, the underside of her neck was soft and no longer ewed.

1. My first approach to Lilly. I like to begin a contact with a wary horse without a halter.

2. Lilly moved away and I followed quietly, managing to make a few short zig-zaggy, scratchy moves on her back. She was skeptical as you can see from her ears and eye.

3. I find that making myself small like this is less threatening to a horse. Perhaps that's why horses are so often quiet for children. This was an itchy spot and Lilly loved the combination of circular TTouches and light scratches.

4. Lilly stood stock still as I did light circular TTouches around the base of the tail.

5. When I went back to her neck she turned her head and sniffed me and that's when we made a lovely connection.

Karen called me three days later to say the filly was completely different the next day. She was able to treat the runny eye and the filly followed her around as though she had always been gentle and she trusted enough to be haltered without trauma.

Linda Tellington-Jones has been an innovator in the horse world since the 1960s. For ten years from 1964, she directed The Pacific Coast School of Horsemanship - a 9 month residential school for riding instructors and trainers with students from 9 countries and 36 states. She show career included Combined Training, dressage, hunters, jumpers and English and western pleasure, and she was an NATRC and AHSA rated judge in the 1960's. In 1964 she set a record in 100 mile in one-day endurance riding that was unbroken for 7 years. She has presented at veterinary conferences in the U.S. and Germany and at the multiple times at veterinary conferences and at vet schools at the Universities of Minnesota, Zurich, Vienna, and Hannover. She has been a key presenter at more than 50 equine expos in the U.S. and Europe.

Her contributions to equine behavior, health and communication are recognized and acclaimed around the world. Today there are certified practitioners of the Tellington Method in 26 countries. Linda has authored 12 books in 11 languages and 18 videos of her work with horses, dogs, and cats, as well as a book on TTouch for humans. Her book, "Getting In TTouch: Understand and Influence Your Horse's Personality," has been on the publisher's Best Seller list for five years. When she and her husband, Roland Kleger, are not traveling, they reside in Hawaii with their Westie, Rayne. For tips and information on her books and videos go to www.ttouch.com.