Please forgive me for typos and spellings - I am whizzing a quick update before I loose touch with my blog entirely from the uni library. I really should be reading up on body language and foot positioning during conversations right now, and I can't seem to work out how to spell check!!


Well, Monty Roberts Autumn tour is over now, and as always its flown by really quickly. I'm looking forward spending more time with my own horse, Harvey over the winter - although the weather isn't all that inviting today - sideways rain and gale force winds. I opted out of hacking and decided that Harv probably fancied a massage and some stretching work in the stable instead!
So, updates on the last two demos:
At Hartpury, we had a quater horse x mare for starting, whose name was Vision. Kitty was filming to make a backstage program (not sure if its for DVD or for Horse and Country TV) and so I tried to stay tidy all day, with only relative success!
 
Before the demo, Kitty asked me what I thought of the starter that Monty would be working with. She seemed quite bolshy and anxious (the starter, not Kitty!), and unsure about giving up her feet (she had entered the arena literally running circles around her owner and generally looking strong and highly strung). In an attempt to learn as much as possible from every demo, I always try to guess how the starters will react - its a little game I play with horse selector Linda Ruffle. Well, I got it thoroughly wrong withi Vision - and on camera too! I guessed she would hardly buck with the saddle, but object to the longlines and take a while to soften to steering, but be fine with the rider. I had put her firmly in the category of baby that is fine to do stuff 'to' but hard to do stuff 'with'. My goodness did she buck with the saddle! round and round the pen - and she was a little on the 'well furnished' side, so really not that fit - but she had some real stamina with trying to get rid of that saddle. She longlined pretty well, but was quite sweaty by the time it came around to putting a rider up. Her whole demeaner had settled a huge amount, but Monty still decided it wasn't right to put a rider right up for her, so I just leant over. I really respect the way he seems to make a choice that is best for the horse first, me second and the audience third. It's still early days for me riding for Monty, and so I'm still getting used to knowing what he wants (he communicates with a series of taps on my leg much like Morse code!!) and how far he will go. I came out of the pen worrying that perhaps he would have gone further with this horse if he had had one of the cowboy riders he is more used to - and hoping that it wasn't me that restricted him from putting a rider all the way up on this mare. But, later, I relfected on the horses stress levels during the demo, how much learning she had done and how Monty had absolutely chosen a good place to leave it for the horse. I suppose, when you have started as many horses as Monty, it never comes down to luck - it ALWAYS goes well. Why is that? because he always only gives the horse (and rider) what they can cope with, in the time he has. Its the first time I have ridden a starter for him and not got on, and it really has given me an insight into the way Monty works and thinks, and a respect and confidence in that.

At Towerlands, the starter was Lola - she was lovely, and pretty straight forward, and a really nice one for the tour to finish on for me. She bucked a fair amount with the saddle, longlines beautifully, and just felt like she might round her back up a tiny bit when I was sat on her, but I could feel her back settle and soften underneath me (the starter saddle we use is great for that!) and Monty turned her loose to carry me around the pen without a problem at all.
We get used to the demos running in a certain 'pattern' during a tour - at this tour, for instance, Monty quite often worked with a spooky horse using a plastic bag on a stick with great success. I was reminded at this demo that the pattern is consistantly there for a reason, because it works, and if the horse is different - Monty is very ready to adapt it. It is not set in stone. The second horse was spooky, and also difficult to catch. Monty worked straight away with the plastic, working on foot handling and dually work, control of feet and bravery, and then went to do the join up at the end of the session. The effect of this was that the join up cemented the relationship that the dually work and plastic bag work had begun - and was a beautiful join up. A join-up at the very begining of the session (as is normal) would perhaps have been a slightly trickier affair and made less of an impression on the pony who was tricky to catch. I am, of course, only speculating as to why the dually work and join-up came in a different order - I didn't have time to ask the man himself!

Jim drove us home after the last demo, or at least I imagine he did because I slept most of the way! In the morning we unloaded the lorries and packed all the kit away, said goodbye to tour and drove back down to Sussex to sleep it all off and start planning the winter activities.

We still have some spaces for the clinic on 20th november, so do get in touch if you would like to find out more!