“Circumstances, Consent and Connection” – Email 6

Hello ,

I once asked my brother why he couldn’t do something and he messaged back ‘Circumstances’. Which I thought was an excellent reply and have used it quite a bit since.

There’s not much to report on the horses since last week as due to ‘circumstances’ and the super hot weather they’ve had a few days off.

This doesn’t mean there hasn’t been time for connection though. All three have appreciated having a spray down and there are many roads to Rome (didn’t I say that last week?!)

It reminded me I didn’t show you Hugo’s Join Up at the Lambourn ‘Valley Equine’ vets for his post op soundness check. He had to do a trot up on hard ground and a trot and canter in a circle so I made the use of their nice roundpen to turn it into a Join Up.

He'd done two on the course at Hartsop in September and tellingly the changes of direction were explosive which, of course, we realise now were a sign of his discomfort and he had a lameness work up with Dr Jessica Kidd the very next day.

I’m just showing the follow up circles at the vets here.

I haven’t had a reason to do another Join Up since but have used similar communication in the field a couple of times by using eye contact then dropping my eye contact and moving away. I must get some video examples. I’ve read in books about people trying to use a ‘sending away’ system to get horses to submit to something they are frightened of which is essentially an aversive stimulus. No! That is not how you build trust and start to make a connection!

Recently Dr Rosie Jones did a webinar on Consent – 'Should Horses Have a Choice in Training?' and although I’d say the jury is out whether asking a horse’s consent is viable in all circumstances (I mean why would a horse say yes to an injection when he has no idea what it’s for?) it’s certainly another way to think about showing empathy to a horse alongside allowing processing time and acceptance training.

Do you remember when you particularly felt a moment of connection with your horse?

The latest Join Up was a lovely moment of connection but also when I took Hugo to the Equine Dentist Clinic in Dorset, I remember there was a lot of hanging about, so I just sat outside Hugo’s stable a while and he sort of rested his head on me. He wasn’t sedated and he hadn’t been that sort of horse before and it felt very sweet.

In other news… there’s been a big Hoo Ha and insults thrown around on Facebook recently on what the difference is between ill fitting saddle atrophy, high fitness, lack of condition, genetics, bad schooling – probably more! My aim is to get together an article for the Autumn/Winter IH Magazine to help us all be able to judge these things for ourselves – without any name calling 😂

My physio told me that Hugo appeared to have 'under saddle atrophy' when we first got him. She has described this to me as a notable 'dip' in the muscle underneath a high pressure area of the saddle (the front of the saddle around the points of the gullet in Hugo's case), in comparison to the surrounding musculature.

Here is another quick look as Hugo's progress photos…

Physio Abi was happy with his progress from January to March… But can we progress more?

Photos can be hard to judge but you can see how his core is tighter here (?)

Before you go, don't forget to sign up to the July prize draw with Meadowmania if you haven't already, only a few days left to go!

And save the date for Dr James Cooling's 'Bad Science' Webinar in next Wednesday at 8pm.

Until next time…

Lots of Love,

Kelly xxx