September Neva Say Neva - Natural Equipment online … and on the way home you are thinking about what you have learnt and what your plan is ... being into horses myself, ... I had

Welcome by Lee Woodland

Neva Say Neva

Hi Everyone, Wow, yet another month has flown by! I have had an awesome month with finally finding some time to spend with the horses. I feel so much better for it, so I am very determined to find even more time as the days get longer. The ‘Cow Camp’ with Owen Gwinn was just fabulous; I had a fantastic time. I took Danny’s horse ‘Mate’ and we had a whole lot of fun. Of course it would not have been as much fun if it wasn’t for the fantastic people, awesome instruc-tion, beautiful property and the delightful cattle ☺. We learnt a new game, got to play with the mechanical cow, and played with real cows. Putting principles to purpose certainly made a huge difference. I found that I took things in so much easier when I had a purpose to put them too. With Mate I really found that his turns, backups, and stops were so light when he found he had a job to do, he really switched on and it was a heap of fun. Owen really had a heap of patience, he was always very, very helpful and you felt like you could ask questions, which was great. It was really fun to ride with my NHS friends again as I always enjoy the social side of these courses as well. Camilla Davidson was also teaching a group of students, so we got to socialise with some of them of an evening as well. It takes me seven hours to drive to Braidwood, but I have to say I don’t regret that time at all. On the way there you get to think about the things you would like to learn and go over in your head what you want it to feel like in your hands and body when your horse is working as your partner. When you are there you are so glad you drove that distance, as it is really well worth the effort to be at such a fabulous facility and with such a great instructor. Then you drive home and on the way home you are thinking about what you have learnt and what your plan is going to be when you get home. I got home feeling very relaxed, tired yes, but it was such a great trip I am more than ready to drive that seven hours back to attend the Cutting Camp with Richard Webb and Owen Gwinn in October. I hope to see you there! Please see page 8 for some photos that I took while at the camp ☺ Grab a drink, sit down, and enjoy this month’s newsletter.

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September 2006 Volume 1, Issue 4

James Elsbury and Owen Gwinn, and of course it would not be a Cow Camp without the cows.

Articles and Adverts for the newsletter.

When sending in your ad-vert or article it would be appreciated if you could attach it to an email in a

Word document.

Photo’s are also best sent as an attachment .

Remember !

It is FREE to advertise and free to receive the news-letter, so let your horsey

friends know about it!

Deadline for next issue is

20th October

Email-

[email protected]

Last Months Competition Winner is-

Niki van Buuren

Congratulations! You have won a Natural Equipment 22ft

Line valued at $80.00

Read the Winning Entry on Page 3

As we had so many great

entries, we decided to reward some more prizes. So all en-tries that are published in this months newsletter will also

receive a ‘Free’ Think Like A Pony Book, vauled at $30

Congratulations to all!

Page 2 Volume 1, Issue 4

Before we get into it I just wanted to say a big…

Thank You! While I was preparing our most recent newsletter to send out this month it dawned on me that it’s been a while since I really said ‘thank you’ for being with us. It’s your support that has enabled us to grow the way we have and it’s all thanks to you! I’ve recently embarked on an Online Wealth Coaching Program with Lynn Pearce which is just fantastic because for many peo-ple the subject of ‘money’ and ‘finances’ makes them want to hide in a hole, but Lynn has developed a way to make her teach-ing easy and fun to understand and implement. So in speaking with her team I’ve been able to organise a FREE E-program for you to receive called “The 7 Essential Keys to Wealth – ignore these and you’ll always struggle financially”. I have chosen this gift because, firstly I wanted to say thank you, and also because, being into horses myself, I know how expensive they can be! Lynn’s program will guide you through the 7 steps you need to take to begin creating more income and financial stability for yourself… which ultimately means… MORE HORSE TIME! Something I’m sure all of us would love, I know I would! To receive your FREE Gift from me all you need to do is go to www.onlinewealthcoach.com.au and on the side bar there is a field to enter your name and email address, simply fill that out and you will receive your “7 Essential Keys” course via email. Thank you again for supporting Natural Equipment, we value you as a client and look forward to having a lasting relationship with you.

Enjoy your Gift!

Kind Regards,

Lee Woodland Natural Equipment

P.S You can get your FREE Thank You Gift at www.onlinewealthcoach.com.au enjoy!

Natural Horsemanship Clinic In Murchison

with JAYNE GLENN www.wranglerjayne.com

Email- [email protected]

Discover how Natural Horsemanship would work for you!…. Have a FUN, SAFER & MORE ENJOYABLE RELATIONSHIP WITH HORSES

DATES: Saturday 14th October

LOCATION: Murchison…venue to be decided. 9.00 am registration …. 9.30 am Start - Finish 4.30pm

Organisor : Leonie Quick - ph 0438 262509 / 58262358 Email-

[email protected]

Volume 1, Issue 4 Page 3

The most memorable day with my horse By Niki van Buuren I am bouncing off the walls tonight. No, I didn’t drink too much coffee again. I didn’t even eat a candy bar with enough sugar to make an entire room of 8 year olds hyperactive. I’m happy because my little mare actually greeted me happily when I went to visit her this afternoon. I can hear a plethora of people out in cyberspace wondering what all the fuss is about- horses greet their humans all the time, right? Right. Of course they do. Kahlua is different though. The poor little thing hasn’t had much reason to greet humans happily in her life. Earlier this year a friend of mine started taking me out to visit and play with her horses. I had met them before, a couple of years previously, all very friendly, well handled animals that seemed to really enjoy human company.

She had another horse though, who was quite a bit different. The little ASH mare had had a sad history of abuse with a previous owner and several years later was still having issues dealing with people. My friend had been trying to re-home her for a while but so far the right person had not come along. She asked me if I was interested in doing some work with the little girl as she herself did not have the time. Given the mare’s past I was a little sceptical that I would have the confidence and, well, savvy to handle such a horse. I had not really handled a horse to much extent since I lost my ASH gelding in the 2003 bushfires. I nearly lost my own life try-ing to save him and for the past 3 and a bit years I have been horseless while I struggled to get my own life back on track, riding once a week at Pegasus RDA and instructing at my local pony Club to get my horsey fix. Possibly not what I really wanted, but better than nothing I guess.

I still am not sure what prompted me to accept the offer. Maybe it was morbid curiosity. Maybe it was the lure of a challenge, a chance to prove the naysayers wrong. I dunno, and in the end it doesn’t matter. The little mare took to me straight away. I have been confidently working with Kahlua since March, and in mid July I bought her, much to my friend’s delight- finally the right person had stumbled in, a little hesitantly and aware that she had a LOT to learn and re-learn. As to what has been the most memorable day with my new equine partner, well I don’t think I can pinpoint one. I could be the day I first met her and discovered a horse with a huge heart and a beautiful temperament. Possibly the day she allowed me to put a halter on, or the day she allowed me to walk up to her in the paddock. Might even be the day I first scrambled onto her back, or had my first lesson with an NH instructor. Every time I see my little girl I come away with a grin on my face and another happy memory. I’d like to think one day she will overcome her scepticism and do the same. Today was another step, I think. ~Niki van Buuren and Kahlua Oxley, ACT

Congratulations Niki on winning last months competition!

We are sure with such a great attitude you and Kahlua are going to have lots of more memorable

days together.

WANTED: QH type for lady rider wanting to regain confidence. Prefer gelding 15.2hh aged around 8-12 years. Must be very quiet and reliable. Main activities will be trail/pleasure riding, horsemanship games and lots of atten-tion! An excellent, long term natural home is assured, south coast NSW. Please phone 02 44486226 or email [email protected].

OLLIE - AUST STOCK HORSE - FOR SALE Ollie is a Registered Aust. Stock Horse. Rising 6yr, 16hhs, well bred for most performance disciplines. Has won at shows and events. Trained in both dressage, jumping and camp drafting, has had 8 weeks training in cutting, trained and handled with NH. He has a very solid training foundation to go into most disciplines. Ollie has a confident, laid back easy going attitude with very good looks and a big presences about him. With this confidants comes a good play drive. For people interested in either Cutting or Camp Drafting he has a natural instinct to work cattle or other horses. Ollie is very safe to be a round with no negative behaviour and easy to do anything with. Ollie has an unflappable nature! Which makes him a joy to travel the trail on, along busy hwys, across deep creeks, down steep descents and through thick bush or just to lope in the wide open spaces. Ollie is an all round very sound & versatile horse that has had a broad range of training in his 6 yrs. I have been asked to sell Ollie, on behalf of a client, who has no time to either ride Ollie or to sell him on, being in a full time work. $5,000 For more information on this wonderful horse, please give me a call or email.

Kind Regards Camilla Davidson

Natural Horsemanship

02 48461002 0429 461 002

[email protected]


For Sale Wintec Western Saddle , wide gullet, good condition, suit QH or any heavier breed. $700 ono Kent 18 inch Dressage Saddle as new, too wide for my TB, also suit wide barrel horse $ 300 ono Phone Fran 02 49886031 Email- [email protected]

The most memorable day with my Horse by Christina Beresford

It's hard to pick the most memorable day with Monty, as we have lots of fun together. I've had Monty and Anglo-Arabian type gelding for 2 years now. We are about to get assessed for level 1 and are having fun playing with level 2 tasks. When I rescued him the previous owners couldn't even catch him, so I got him for a song. One day will forever stay in my memory though. I just went in the paddock to see the horses. We got 6 horses. I sat down in the grass and it wasn't long before Monty came over to say hello. He nuzzled me for a while, then just stood there over me like a mare would do with her foal. No eating grass and when the other horses walked away into the next paddock I thought he'd surely go with them. He looked over at them dis-appearing, took a few steps, then he changed his mind and came back to me. He stood over me again for quite a while. It mightn't seem like a big event, but to me that moment was magic. I felt honoured and happy beyond words, that he chose me over his paddock mates. I'll keep working on myself and maybe one day we can have a magic moment like that again.

Your Horses Star t & then the continuation– an impor tant t ime by Chip Johnson KIWI SAVVY


Horses are started under saddle or broken in daily and not all of them have issues or problems, but some do. Not all of them have a harmonious relationship with their human partner, but some do. And for some even after they have been started the ongoing relationship is not always ideal, but some are. Some of the things that affect the quality of the start, whether it is by yourself on your own horse, or by a profes-sional (or not) are as follows: Horse and human personalities; the horse human combination can be a great match or a mis-match. That can be a hard pill to swallow when Flossy your first home bred foal grows up to be a 16hh fire breathing monster! Sometimes it’s not necessarily human induced, it’s just the way it is. Also, people underestimate the time invested in starting a horse and continuing that relationship. It should be a proc-ess that is taken at the horses pace not the human’s. It doesn’t necessarily matter how much time the young horse has had invested in it prior to being started, as long as those interactions have been positive. However, after the start, when they have been exposed to a consistent process this really needs to be continued. At least for the first little while when they go home. This is such an important relationship building time and shouldn’t be underestimated. For people that have recently started horses, or those that have been ‘off’ for the winter, Kiwi Savvy is offering a three day course to get yourselves back on track for the summer months. See the website or contact us for further de-tails. Enjoy the young horses you are lucky enough to encounter. www.kiwisavvy.co.nz Upcoming courses with Chip Johnson: October 3,4,5 Kids camp at Matakana Country Park October 7 Float loading – 1 day and get it sorted October 8 One day intro to horsemanship October 13 Evening demonstration at Wintec, Hamilton October 14,15 Two day horsemanship course, Hamilton October 21,22,23 Three days getting your young horse going October 27,28,29 Waikato A&P show demo and stand Chip will be in the States for most of November, if anyone would like to book courses with him on his return please let us know asap. There will be a reduced number of teaching weekends available as we are concentrating on starting and foundation training for horses.

The last NH Fun & Support day held down the south coast @ Cobargo on the 26th August, where another enthusiastic group of NH students spent a beautiful day together playing with their horses under the watchful eye of NH Instructor & trainer Camilla Davidson. The next NH Fun & Support day is booked for Saturday the 18th November, all welcome. Followed on Sunday the 19th Nov by a NH Riding dynamics workshop (a study into balanced, fluid riding). Book in with Camilla - jembaicum@aapt,net.au

SOUTH COAST N.H FUN & SUPPORT DAY


NATURAL HORSEMANSHIP GROUPS & CLUBS… Central Coast Natural Horsemanship Group Our group meets monthly at Warnervale NSW with a NH instructor. Please contact Karen on 02 4362 3859 for further details. Upper Murray Horseman's Association meets on the 1st Saturday of each month for Natural Horsemanship clinics at the Al-bury Wodonga Equestrian Centre at Thurgoona NSW. Bookings essential. Ph Coral on 0260712855 or email: [email protected] NH Play Days held at Lobethal Polocrosse grounds, Kuitpo forest or Tilling Hill in the Adelaide Hills, SA Contact Michelle on 08 8339 2759 or [email protected] to be added to the mail out list. Nambucca Natural Horsemanship Club– Contact Secretary Cheryl Hasson– Ph 02 6569 3244 or Email [email protected] Central West Natural Horsemanship Group Inc. Our Group meets at the Geurie Racecourse at Geurie, NSW. Contact Trish via email– [email protected] Southern Tablelands & ACT Natural Horsemanship Fun & Support Days - Run By Camilla davidson @ Bungendore show grounds, August 12th, September 9th, October 14th All welcome, come along and join in with us in having Fun with our horses and friends whilst learning & being inspired by each other. Contact Camilla [email protected] Natural Horsemanship Fun & Support Day News: SOUTH COAST For the South Coast students, be looking out for the Milton and Cobargo N. H Fun & Support days to be held soon. We ran the first fun/support day at Milton in late June @ Tracey Wakefords place with 8 students attending, we all had a great day and look-ing fwd to more with new students attending, if you are interested make contact with Camilla at [email protected] South Coast Cobargo NH Fun & Support day is on Saturday the 18th November followed by a NH riding dynamics workshop on the Sunday the 19th Nov. contact Camilla for more information and to book in, e-mail: [email protected]

ARTICLE BY STEPHANIE BURNS Move Closer Stay Longer–

Don’t let fear, keep you from getting what you want. Part 3

We have a great article from Stephanie Burns, up on our website, just go to www.naturalequipment.com.au or go to http://www.naturalequipment.com.au/newsletters.shtml


Memorable Day by Belinda Whitehall My story is probably more memorable and sad for me then to others reading this… I have 5 horses on my property 2 in particular are the best of friends, Frankie (8yr Stallion) and Sammy (11 yr mare) who are inseparable. One Saturday morning I was going out for my morning ride with Sammy through my property out to the National Park with Frankie following and prancing around the paddock wanting to follow Sammy and I. While riding through the paddock - getting Sammy's mind on the game, Sammy tripped on a wombats hole and broke her leg, being at least 10 mins walk/jog from the house and wasn't sure whether to leave Sammy (Sammy was so quiet and so was Frankie knowing that his mate was hurt)...... just to bring you up to speed Frankie has had work on the ground however never had a rider on his back........ I knew I needed to get home and call a vet and the only way I could get the vet out ASAP was the attempt to ride Frankie bareback, but with Sammy on the ground in pain I had no other chose but to at least give it ago. I called Frankie over to the fence and got on (I WAS ACTUALLY ON), both Frankie and I both were amazed, I held onto his mane and taped him slightly and we moved away from the fence into the open. Frankie moved from the steady walk straight into a canter and headed for home, the feeling of riding a horse who has never been ridden and with no bridle was unbelievable, he knew where to go and headed straight for the main gate heading to the house, I called the vet and he came out and assessed Sammy...... unfortunately Sammy's leg was never going to mend and she was later put down.......(she is waiting in horseman's heaven, until Frankie and I get there)!!! I have never been able to ride Frankie again and have tried many times without success, I have decided to leave him be with the other horses to be a stud. Frankie and one of my other horses Timor foaled a beautiful filly which we named Sammy! This was both a memorable day and sad day, I'll never forget the feeling of riding Frankie for the first time and I will never forget owning such a beautiful girl called Sammy!!!!!!! I miss you Sammy!!

Spring 2006 Courses At Exeter Farm, Braidwood

26 – 29 Oct. Cutting/Stockmanship with Richard Webb (Cutting Horse Trainer) & Owen Gwinn 26 - 27 Nov. Smooth Moves with Sue Elsbury and Kate Gwinn For further explanation, information and bookings contact: Kate and Owen Gwinn [email protected] au ; 48461169

Photo’s taken from the Cow Camp with Owen Gwinn Sept 2006


THE YOUNG HORSE / FOUNDATION COURSE @ EXETER FARM BRAIDWOOD

DOWN IN THE SOUTHERN TABLELANDS OF N.S.W by Camilla Davidson

We have just completed a fantastic three day YHF course at Exeter Farm Braidwood, that many of you would know as Kate and Owen Gwinn's most beautiful Cattle property, and it was looking particularly beautiful after the rain and being spring, as some of the photos show. I, Camilla Davidson, ran this course, running it again concurrently with Owen Gwinn's Cattle Camp. We have run these two courses together a number of times now with great success. My students get to watch at chosen times some of what Owen's group are doing, and so get a deeper under-standing of how the principles of a strong foundation, through building trust and communication with confidence, can lead to the practical side of horsemanship, working cows from horse-back. The seven very enthusiastic students learnt about building their horses’ confidence through the 7 Games, and fun yet purposeful exercises, to supple the horses’ minds, which leads to suppling the horses frame, which creates agility. The students discovered and experienced how this builds their horses’ confidence, which builds their own confidence, which leads to both horse and human being safe, and how the basic skills and yields of the NH program develop into higher level education of whichever discipline is cho-sen. From dressage, or jumping, to cutting cattle, or the good all round trail horse. The students followed sequential steps to build the horses’ confidence in them and their surround-ings, both from the ground and ridden, and had a program to take home with them to continue on, with confidence. They also got to spend time learning and understanding the important study of saddle fit and fitting saddles, a talk on bits, fitting them and when to use them. The focus for the three days was all about the Very Big Responsibility we have to our horses and the importance of being not just a good honest leaders, but the best honest leader for our horses, if we are to expect them to follow us and interact with us on a mutual level. Not to forget the great benefit of students hanging out together with their horses for three uninterrupted days. With the two groups combined of 25 students, there was much laughter and fun had by all. Not to mention the fun while learning that the cow camp group had. In ending this story I would like to mention and give a very big thanks to both Kate and Owen Gwinn. They never cease to support and help so many NH students, offering their beautiful prop-erty, fantastic facilities and their wealth of knowledge and experience, to all that have the heart and desire. This includes me in so many many ways. There are lots more exciting camps coming up at Exeter Farm so keep reading Neva Say Neva. Ideal horses, are the devil’s play ground Kind Regards Camilla Davidson Natural Horsemanship

Saddle fit discussion

Camilla & Rob with Beau

Cathy & Bubby

Karen & Shadow

Kristy & Larry

Marilyn & Ben The YHF Group Chris & Feather

Lizzie/Rosie & Heifers


Natural News From Tasmania – September 2006 by Cynthia Cooper

Wrangler Jayne Clinic – having fun with refining: Jayne Glenn’s first clinic in Tasmania was an advancing and refining level 1 course over 2 days which was attended by seven riders and sev-eral observers. It was great to experience Jayne’s understanding, sensitivity and patience towards horses, showing us that true leaders are all those things and more. All the horses and riders made real progress with their yields and by the end of the clinic were doing some lovely liberty moves, many for the first time.

Whole Horse Workshop: Cynthia Cooper’s second Whole Horse Workshop for this year will be held over two days at her Golden Valley property on November the 4th and 5th. Topics to be covered will include Natural horse care and health, feeding, natural therapies, barefoot hoof care, saddle/ tack fit and natural horsemanship on the ground and in the saddle. Participants will be able to see Cynthia’s version of Jaime Jackson’s ‘Paddock paradise’ where the horses live on a track around the property perimeter. This encourages much more movement and enables grass intake to be restricted for part or all of the day depending on the time of year and the horse’s needs. It also ensures the horses cross various types of terrain (water, gravel, bush tracks) and are fed hay around the track 24 hours a day to keep them moving in order to help with hoof and body conditioning. The horsemanship section will feature some foal handling as well as riding from basics to practical levels for fun and recreation. For just $75 for the 2 days it’s a weekend worth booking in for – Ph. Cynthia on 63 695177 or email her at [email protected]. Pony Pals For Kids and Adults too: This keen group of kids and their parents get together on the third Sunday of each month and aims to help parents and children develop a safe and happy relationship with their ponies, while enjoying the company of like-minded people. Adult riders are also encouraged to take part, as some of the parents do, and the afternoons are free for them to play with and enjoy their horses too in a relaxed and helpful atmosphere. To find out more please call Steph. on 03 63624474 or email her your contact details to get the regular news – [email protected]. The next play day is on Sunday the 15th of October at ‘Harveydale’, Birralee Rd, Westbury. Group Lessons at Lilydale: Cynthia will be instructing two groups at Lilydale on Sunday the 8th of October. The beginners group will feature ‘Getting back in the saddle’ and the advanced group will focus on ‘Finding a purpose to suit your horse’. Bookings should be made with Liz on 63 951590 so be quick as there is a limit of six in each group. Are You Interested in Fun Focus Days? Cynthia is going to hold some Fun Focus Days on topics such as Jumping Naturally, Natural Cow Play and Natural Challenge Courses. She would like to know the number of people interested, to schedule two Focus Days for October and November this year. Possible dates are Oct. 21st or 29th and Nov. 18th or 26th. If you are interested please let Cynthia know which dates and topics would suit you the best. Natural Horse World Newsletter The next newsletter update will be published in the first week of October and will feature a new article by Dr. Robert Cook about Bitless Bri-dles. There will be photos of new babies (horse and human) and more classified adds so if you have any contributions, please email them to Cyn-thia at [email protected] before the 29th of September. You can view or subscribe to the latest newsletter by going to www.naturalhorseworld.com

Ben & Amy with Charlie & Benjio at their first clinic. Jayne helps Pauline and Skye Belinda & Kerry with Angel & Sidney


Welcome to this month’s trailer talk. In this issue we are going to have a look at towing – and if you read last month’s issue then your trailer is all checked out, well maintained and ready to go! So lets go…. Hitching up – this is an operation best performed by the driver, so that going down the road they aren’t sitting there thinking – “Did I put the chains on? S**T! I forgot to check the coupling!” If you’re coupling the trailer for some one else, get them to check over everything for their own piece of mind. A few simple things you can do:

• When reversing up to the trailer, watch your mirrors. If there is the same amount of trailer visible past the side of the vehicle in each mirror then you must be in line. A simple thing you can do is set up your trailer, hitched up in a straight line, and look at what you can see in your mirrors, e.g. I can see both mudguards evenly in the side mirrors, and the front window of the trailer is level with the tailgate of the towing vehicle. Remember this and hitching up will be less of a hit and miss!

• Check that the coupling is secure and the latch that holds the hand down is locked in. If you wind up your jockey wheel, the tow vehicle should lift, without separating the coupling.

• Check Chains are connected to the tow vehicle. • Check that the electrical connector is connected and secured. Most trailer sockets have a locking flap that secures the

trailer plug. A quick hint on where to put the cable so that it doesn’t drag on the ground – I put the cable through the handle on the hitch.

• Check that the breakaway cable (if fitted) is attached to the towing vehicle, and that the breakaway unit is functioning. The units that we use have a test button, which you press and get a pass / fail indication.

• Check your lights. Moving Off – so you’re hitched up, loaded up, tailgate is latched (is it?) and you’re ready to go. Check that your brakes are working and the electric control unit is adjusted properly. By using the manual switch or slide on the brake unit you should be able to feel the trailer “dragging” on the tow vehicle, without locking the wheels on the trailer. If you can’t, the brake controller output needs to be adjusted. Due to the range of units available, you will need to refer to the owner’s manual for the unit installed in your vehicle. If you’re reading this and haven’t got a clue what I am talking about, or haven’t got a brake controller, and your float has got electric brakes, then you need to have a brake controller fitted to your ve-hicle. Sorry if this sounds a bit obvi-ous, but we come across this all the time! After a couple of minute’ driving, I find it is worth-while to pull over and check things over again, check the horses, and have a walk around the trailer. Do this at the end of the driveway, or end of the road, where ever there is a safe spot to pull over. Do this every time you take your horse out, so it becomes a habit. If you have been stressing out, horse wouldn’t load, running late, whatever, still do it! Even if everything is OK, it gives you a chance to calm down, and be confident that everything is OK.

Next issue we will have a look at getting out on the road.

Trailer Talk by Andrew Williams (Distinction Horse floats) This month– Towing!


My most memorable day with my horse by Deanne McCrea The story of my most memorable day starts with meeting my horse for the first time. I had always been horse crazy as a girl and was fortunate enough to have some riding lessons and even attend a residential riding camp as a teenager but alas due to living in the suburbs the pleasure of having an equine friend of my very own was only a dream. Every chance I got to ride was snapped up. We even jumped a fence and attempted to ride horse bareback and bridleless whist our fathers were racing their go karts at Grenfell one time. (I still to this day don't know who owned the horse but being kids we didn't care. It had four legs, a mane and a tail and was stand-ing their almost begging us for company). Adulthood came and I moved out of the city to a more country lifestyle and along with it came an assorted collection of animal friends like goats, geese, ducks, alpaca etc but alas still No Horses. Along came marriage and settling down and a lovely baby daughter who seemed to share my love of horses. When she was about 4 she started nag-ging me about getting a horse so I took her to a riding centre and asked them to put her on the biggest horse they could find, hoping to scare her off as my husband was determined in the stand No Horses. Unfortunately the horse was the quietest one they had and she was hooked. As the number of school friends with horsey tendencies grew so did her desire of horse ownership but unfortunately we still couldn't swing dad around so still No Horses. The poor kid just kept longing and playing with the horses next door until one day the phone rang and my neighbour said come over here but don't tell your husband. When we got there he proudly presented us with a 10 month old colt. We told hubby that we were just agisting him but he worked it out pretty soon that he wasn't going away. As everyone will know owning a breaking a youngster can and often does lead to tears and we certainly had our share of those with him. To try and encourage my daughter to ride him, a couple of months ago my neighbour started to loan me a horse on Sundays and take us out on trail rides in the surrounding bushlands. This was always an ad-venture as my daughter's pony was still green and I hadn't ridden for nearly 30 years and seemed to get stuck with pogo stick renta nags. Somehow a grown woman on an 11h Shetland just doesn't fit but I felt secure in the fact, that being able to nearly touch the ground with my feet I could bail at any time without risk of injury. Well back to my memorable day, It was a lovely sunny July day and not too cold. It was also my birthday. I was 46 that day. We tacked up the young one and walked next door to join the ride. Expecting the usual "renta nag" I was absolutely floored to be offered a 15.2h bay gelding to ride. After the little ones he looked like a huge scary monster. Tentatively I was helped on (well pushed actually) and I sat there totally frozen. How was I going to ride this big thing. After a bit of encouragement and several panic attacks we were off, up the road and onto the trail. One of the kids started to trot and my mount decided he wanted to join. Being scared I had a bit of a hissy fit and everyone slowed back to a walk again. Phew I was back in my comfort zone!!. Along the trail we encountered some very large puddles and my guy just took them in his stride walking through as if to say, "what puddle?" We got to our destination and had a lunch break and then back on the trail to head home. Around the first corner and some clouds built up so one of the girls stopped to get a jacket that was tied onto the back of her saddle. For some reason the horse spooked and pulled the reins out of her hands and took off. Naturally, horses being horses, our little herd took off in chase, including my mount. Here I was not having done much but a slow trot in 30 years, cantering up a tar road and not knowing if the brakes worked. After getting everything back under control we walked quietly until reaching an uphill dirt section of fire trail. It was at this point that my neighbour encouraged me to have another go at cantering. This time with instructions on how to control the horse. Wow, what a liberating feeling. Cantering along a beautiful bush track on a beautiful smooth horse. He has such a lovely even canter and it felt like driving a Mercedes Benz. We came home, I groomed him, rugged him and went home to get ready to go out for dinner. At the restaurant all I did was talk about him and my day. That night I was tired and sore but dropped into bed and slept like I never had in my life. The next weekend my neighbour told me that he had actually brought him home with the intention of me owning him and as my daughter had seemed to have lost interest in the young one we did a swap and now I am the owner of the most beautiful, gentle 9yo gelding in the world.


GETTING STARTED ON YOUR HORSEMANSHIP JOURNEY by Cynthia Cooper

So, you’ve made the decision to look into this ‘natural horsemanship’ way of training horses… but where do you start? There is a huge amount of information available in this age and accessing it via the internet is so easy. Do a search on Natural Horsemanship and you will find over a million pages and references to a vast array of information and horsemen, all offering similar types of methods based on horse psychology. While there is a new awareness that to get along better with horses we must know how they think, about their social structure in nature and what language they use, there are still many different and varying ways to ‘communicate’ with horses. The common theme is that you need to become the ‘leader’ or ‘alpha’ herd member, or as some put it, be the boss to develop the control needed in the relationship. Some horsemen (that includes women too) put more emphasis on control and domination than on forming a partnership so the style of learning you will be attracted to will depend on your attitude to the horse. Do you see your horse as a willing partner, taking into account his/her moods and emotions, or do you see your horse as recrea-tion for you, or even as a means to obtaining status by winning competitions? Whatever is most important to you will influence the method of learning/teaching you will be attracted to along with the way information is available and presented. Whoever you choose as a mentor and/or instructor, will most likely have some sort of system to follow now that we have multi-ple ways of absorbing information so readily available. We all learn a little from either reading, seeing, hearing or participating in learning activities, but each individual will take in more information from one or two of those sources. If you know how you learn best then spend more time studying that way. For example some people learn a lot from reading so… read lots of books, articles and as much information you can get your hands on. Others may learn more from watching, so videos, DVD’s and observing clinics are a good choice, and then there are those who learn best by doing – getting hands on help, so participating in clinics and lesson are ideal for them. When you’ve identified your preferred learning source, do some research to find out where you can access the information you want. The internet is an obvious starting place so search for clinicians/instructors in your area, home study programs, support groups (including discussion groups) videos & DVD’s or books written on natural horsemanship. Then immerse yourself in learning by buying those books, ordering a DVD set or that home study program and better still, at-tending a clinic. Doing all three is better still as even if you do learn best by participating, you will still need some reference ma-terial to fall back on when you’re at home, alone with your horse again. Try to get involved wherever you can to soak in ‘savvy’ as Parelli says. If there’s a local study group then join and go to as many events as possible. Buy or borrow as many DVD’s as you can lay your hands on, subscribe to newsletters and find clinic organiz-ers who can help you get into a starting out clinic. Even if there’s not one being held at a suitable level for you right away, attend higher level clinics to get an idea of where you are aiming. If the clinician or instructor has a home study program or DVD’s then get those so you can continue to learn after they have gone. Find out if there is a local instructor who follows their methods so you can get help if needed. By being involved in a program that has achievement levels, you can be motivated to stay on track and keep moving towards the goals you set. If there is no achievement program or you don’t want to participate in that, then write a list of all the things you’d like to im-prove with your horse and yourself, and find out what you need to do. It helps to have friends or family who are supportive so share your dreams and find someone to join you on the journey. Even if it’s just a discussion group member who shares your passion, having someone to talk things over with and share the highs and lows of your journey will be essential. Stick to sharing your journey only with those who support you and are positive about what you are trying to learn. If you fall into the trap of defending yourself or trying to justify what you are doing to non-believers, the negative energy will drag you down. Some people will feel threatened by your new skills or interest in something different and will try to undermine your beliefs so spend more time with positive people and just be polite without trying to push your new found skills or information onto them.

Continued on page 11


Often our enthusiasm for wanting to ‘show others a better way’ is not understood. Rather than trying to tell people what you think is best, just become a great example and they will see, then ask when they get curious. As a result they may be more open minded about what you tell them, and could actually become interested too. Choose the partner (horse) you wish to share your learning journey with carefully. Many people look for better ways to train their horse because they have problems that either they have caused or that the horse came with. If those issues or problems are too dangerous for someone of your skill level to solve, then enlist help to determine if your horse should spend time with someone more experienced first. Or, find out from a reputable instructor, what small steps you could do to work through the issues safely. You may need to take more time and also learn some more skills with another easier horse, before you are ready to tackle a true ‘problem horse’. In fact, if you can learn some skills with a horse who has been naturally educated, your progress will accelerate by many times. Then you will be more prepared to work with a horse that knows nothing at all or has issues. Try not to put yourself into a situation where it’s ‘the blind leading the blind’ or ‘green horse – green rider’. One of my favorite Parelli-isms is ‘(Experienced) Riders teach horses and (Experienced) Horses teach riders’. Above all, enjoy the journey and be prepared to ‘take the time it takes’.

GETTING STARTED ON YOUR HORSEMANSHIP JOURNEY by Cynthia Cooper Continued from previous page

FOR SALE: Thermaflex English Airpad & 1/4" Shims

Purchased new in Jan 06 and still in very good condition.

Price $350 including postage.

Please Phone Karen (Bus) 02 8254 3229 (H) 02 4362 3859.


Would you like a horse that is Honest, Educated, Trustworthy?

Dave Stuart will show you how an understanding of horse behaviour can solve most problems people face with their horse.

David will be in the Orara Valley area in February 23rd 24th & 25th

This wonderful retreat will be a great setting for the summer course; we will start early, be able to rest and swim in the middle of the day & with day light saving hours be continuing later in the afternoons

To do the above in a way that would help with improving those horses that are bored or loosing their ex-pressions and also through the use of a horses natural instinct.

Please Phone Deb Collins on 02 66528798 or email on [email protected] Course Fee Is $495 + Camping & Yard fees extra (Luxury accommodation available at a separate cost depending on course numbers)

Within the 3 day advanced course, I would hope that we would be able to cover the establishment of ridden patterns that would help to improve the riding of straight lines and circles. I would also like to touch on the beginnings of under-standing and improvement of engagement within the horse. From the ground I would like to try and help people get a better handle on the use of longer lines on the ground and an understanding of liberty. To help in the establishment of purity of gait and to help with those horses that may still have impulsion issues.

Course with Jayne Glenn Just a reminder about the Natural Horsemanship clinic with Jayne Glenn

www.wranglerjayne.com here at Waterfall Creek www.waterfallcreek.com.au in Tallangatta Valley.

Dates are Saturday 28th and Sunday 29th of October.

Start time on Saturday is 9.00am. And finish both days when everyone has had enough (about 4.30 to

5.00pm).

For those attending with their horses, (8 places only) there are plenty of paddocks near the venue with shade, grass and water. And bring a rope halter that fits the horse plus a 12' lead rope. You can buy these in anyhorse shop or from www.

naturalequipment.com.au Plus a 'communication' stick (carrot stick if you have one or Jayne sometimes brings a couple of spares). For those observing, please bring a chair, hat and cameras. Plus a note padwould be handy as well. It's amazing how

much is covered in a two day clinic.

Several of you have already confirmed with a deposit. The other places will be filled on a first in - best dressed basis. i.e. Con-firm your attendance with a deposit please ASAP. Clinic cost for two days is $250. Fencesitters $50 per day. Meals and accom-

modation (Saturday lunch, dinner, bed, breakfast and lunch on Sunday) is $100.

I am really looking forward to having Jayne Glenn do her 'stuff' in ourpatch. Tell your friends about this clinic and look forward to seeing you here on the 28th and 29th.

Glenn Wilson

Natural Hoof Care Specialist 149 Waterfall Creek Rd

Tallangatta Valley VIC 3701 ph 02 6071 0210


How good is it!! Sitting in the sun on a winter August morning, the ambiance of the Bush’s Retreat, rolling green hills, sounds of the herd,

friends, laughter & the opportu-nity to watch Barry talking horse with a young Brumby. Mr Ed taking it in his stride, en-couraging in his calmness “ It’s OK little filly, come play with us” The first day could not have been better excepting, that it was followed by the second day!

Rachael & her family invited us to relax, eat well & soak in the experience of the Orara Valley House. Speaking of good feels & retreating, Barry Christopherson shared with us his knowledge and humility both with horses & humans. Making a connection with Jess’s filly “Indigo”. Being the more placid of the two horses Barry was handling over the weekend, he established how quickly the trust could be built & was able to progress to where Indigo would accept blanket, saddle & rider. The youth in our group, clowning around, Jess poking fun with Barry, Charlie hanging from the bow of the overlooking tree & Ed teasing about jumping on the new Brumby for a ride! Christina gave us an excellent display of laying her horse down, to the Wow of onlookers a 2nd time as well. Time for lunch, taking shoes off at the door, a warm feel through your feet, especially taking a wander up the long corridor filled with exotic art & sculptures, the main area sat about 28 of us for flavorsome & tantalizing meals. Kylie prepared & Lauren waited on us, Thank you it was all yum! In the afternoons it was down the hill to the playground, plenty of fun on the river flats, honeycomb, see saw great training facili-ties. Barry imparted some great information both collectively & individually, helping with valuable practicing tools to go home with. The end of the day wound down with a few drinks, another great meal, a lot of laughs and video of the mornings session. Up early to feed the horses and a little play before breakfast. Sticky black rice was the talk of table, along with beautiful fresh fruit & home made muesli. Sunday morning Barry worked without trusty Mr. Ed and showed us some roping techniques, The Buckskin from the first day showing ‘Paris’ Lauren’s brumby how it’s done. Since arriving at Orara, from Guy Fawkes the brumbys had minimal handling, brought in with the main herd for the occasional feed. The two brumbies having rather different personalities which made for a diverse demonstration. Barry explained different uses of confidence building and retreat, resulting in an optimum finishing point when the filly would just stand and be petted. A very special thanks to Barry for all his time over the weekend, and to Rachel for welcoming us all into her glorious home and grounds and along with her helpers supplying us with such memorable meals. To Vicky & Howie, your efforts are appreciated by us all, to all who put this wonderful weekend together, THANKYOU.

Brumby’s, Barry & Orara by Deb Collins NNHC

Above: Orara Valley House Mr Ed, ridden by Barry &

Indigo

Barry on the Saturday morning finishing with the

saddled buckskin.

Barry with the buckskin & chestnut fillies.


In my capacity as an EFA coach and EFA dressage judge I attended the FEI regional dressage forum in October 2005. This forum was a meeting of the top trainers, coaches, riders and veterinarians in the dressage world. The theme of the forum was to encourage the development of “the happy athlete”, the athlete being the horse. The wel-fare of the horse was also high on the priority list and to my delight that meant emotionally as well as physically.

Every speaker had eluded to the fact that we need to come back to classical principles of lightness, softness, and grace. The judges talked about harmony, the vets talked about suppleness, and the trainers talked about working with the horse’s natural movement and understanding their mind.

The last speaker was Jean Bemlemans, the coach of the Spanish Olympic dressage team. Jean is himself a German who has gained the highest level as an instructor in the German system. I nearly fell off the chair when Jean said “Has anyone heard of natural horsemanship?” He went on to explain the benefits of understanding horses mentally and emotionally as well as physically. He told the group that he used natural horsemanship techniques with all his horses from novice to grand prix.

Here are a few more quotes from prominent dressage riders and trainers.

“After 30 years of professional experiences as a rider and trainer, and having achieved the preparation of 10 European Junior and Young riders Championships as a trainer and two Olympics, Atlanta and Sydney, as a rider, I have realised that in the training and developing the different skills of our dressage horses and riders , we need seriously to improve in mental and emotional knowledge of the horse.

To discover the mental and emotional control of our horses and improve our leadership using the right language coming from the natural behaviour of the horses are the keys of this extraordinary method that Linda and Pat of-fered me.

From here I invite to all riders and horse lovers in what ever discipline they are in, specially those from the Dres-sage world that I know deeper, to know and practice Parelli natural horsemanship to achieve a new level of rela-tionship with the horses, never imagined before.”

Luis Lucio member of the Spanish dressage team

“Natural horsemanship teaches people first about the horse, about how the horse thinks and why he acts the way he does. This really should be for all of us, no matter what discipline we participate in. One should play with their horse.”

Walter Zettl german dressage master

So what has natural horsemanship got to do with dressage ? Everything

Natural Horsemanship teaches people to understand horses from the inside out. It develops the qualities of rhythm, suppleness, relaxation, confidence, impulsion. Online techniques help to build the horse emotionally and physically, and riding “naturally” develops independent seat and light aids.

Natural horsemanship is the base for all types of competitive riding, but it is more than that. When the base is strong your natural horsemanship techniques will also become the backbone of your riding, as you and your horse develop.

Many of my students now combine their natural horsemanship training with classical dressage training. The interest-ing thing is that they are not separate identities. Both methods fit hand in glove to produce “ a happy athlete”.

Fran is happy to talk to you about using your natural horsemanship skills to develop your horse for dressage competitions.

Fran offers group and private lessons at Glen Oak NSW or gather your own group together for a clinic anywhere in Australia. PHONE FRAN : 02 49886031

What does natural horsemanship have to do with dressage ?

By Fran Griffen EFA NCAS coach, NOAS dressage judge & NH instructor

Leanne Akers & Talon


PARELLI THERAFLEX PAD WITH SHIMS, hardly used and in perfect condition (includes instructions for use). The new price for these items would be over $700. My price - $400. Contact Rosemary Hams on 02 6767 0284 or email: [email protected].

WINTEC WIDE ALL PURPOSE SADDLE with CAIR panels, 46cm (18"), black. Hardly used and in immaculate condition. Still under warranty. Includes 5 different sized gullets & Wintec saddle cover. More photos available. $780.00. Phone Rosemary Hams on 02 6767 0284 or email: [email protected]

My memorable day with my horse– by Linsey Cleary

The most memorable day IN A GOOD WAY!!! Was just recently. We have only had our boy for 9 months we rescued him from a guy who thought tying his front leg up so he could get on him otherwise he got bucked off & who thought gelding him by hands with no anaesthetic was the done thing plus who used to catch him by getting 6 of his friends to chase him into a corner. Needless to say we took him on as a RIGHT BRAIN white eyed sceptical horse. We have spent up to 3 hours on one occasion getting him to catch us, we have had him try to kick & bite in the gen-eral grooming procedure & the thought of grooming him under his belly let alone clean his sheath…….well teeth bared comes to mine!. So this Monday started out with my husband going into catch him only to find him lying down in the paddock (normally he would stand up straight away with us entering the paddock) he stayed lying down while my husband sat beside him then he (my husband) slowly moved closer so he was sitting & leaning on him!!! What a way to start the visit. It just got better from there we are working on our level 2 PNH at the moment we decided to try getting him to put his foot on something not only did he get it the first time when I asked for the right foot I got it & when I asked for the left I got that too all the while he had both eyes & ears on me asking is this what you want it melted my heart!!. After having an awesome session it was time for the friendly game with the sheath !!! Not only did I get close I had my hand halfway inside his pouch with a handful of Vaseline!!! With only 1 x swish of the tail & no teeth bared!. It’s been 9 months of hard work & some days of frustration but this day made it all worth it. NATURAL HORSEMANSHIP ROCKS!!

Rosemary & Andrew Mackay Gundaroo Horse Park

Ballalaba's American Saddlebred Horses The Elms

190 Wurungul Lane Gundaroo NSW 2620

Australia Tel. No. +61 2 62368498 (h)

+61 2 62368497 (fax h) +61 2 62137447 (w)

0407662386 (m) [email protected]

[email protected] www.gundaroohorsepark.com.au

A constant build-up of tension in the muscles from regular activity may lead to stresses on joints, ligaments,

and tendons, as well as sore, tired and torn muscles. This can restrict movement, reduce performance and have

a negative impact on temperament. Massage, is the most effective therapy for releasing

muscle tension, restoring balance to the musculo-skeletal system. Received regularly it can even prevent injuries, future muscle strains, tears and any resulting lameness.

MICHELLE WEIN Phone; 0401 447 329 Email;


Horse Colour by Glenn Wilson I once met a horse owner who had her horse dream fulfilled. A palomino. Cute as a button this horse was and she (the horse)

knew it. Well, that was according to her owner. That this horse had very little respect for her human was a moot point. Not only

did she show bad table manners when it came to dinner, she was also reluctant to stand still when having her feet picked out (pity

the hoof trimmer), wouldn’t stay still while tied up and/or being saddled (great use for baling twine) and generally became a less

than ideal riding horse. But she had nice colour – on the outside. It’s funny how some humans prefer a ‘good looking’ horse to

one that is well behaved and respectful. It’s also funny how the human who chooses a horse for its colour and looks, often has a

history of owning quite a few horses. The others just didn’t work out, you see.

If the truth were known (my truth), I’m a bay man. Probably because my first real horse is a bay. Gosh she’s gorgeous! Well I

think so. Although some say her ears are rather large and she does have a roman nose; but these (n someone else’s mind) im-

perfections are more than offset by her demeanour, her soundness, her willingness, and the ease with which she learns new

things. I could add her patience, her trustiness, her stamina, her great feet, her lack of problems both physically and mentally,

and the fact that she just produced a perfect foal. Oh and she’s a powerhouse in harness and a delight to ride too. Sounds like I

am bragging here. Maybe I am. But then the other horses that live here are all, by and large, great in most of the ‘important’ as-

pects.

It wasn’t always like that though. Most horses that came to live here in the herd had problems. Plus I had to learn about horses

and still am learning (the more you know, the more you don’t know). In the wider world, many horses are bought and sold be-

cause they have problems. Those willing and capable of ‘fixing’ the problems snap up a lot who are sold with problems. (Some

horses are even sold with the ‘problem’ not even rating a mention: Caveat emptor!) Once fixed, most of these horses are then

sold on to other humans, some of whom resurrect the said ‘problem’ or manage to create new ones. And so the horse-trading

goes on.

Does horse colour have anything to do with ‘horse problems’? Not on the outside but the emotional (inside) colour may have.

Light temperature is the true colour of natural sunlight as it is filtered by the atmosphere, or in the case of artificial light the source

and makeup of the light. Also, colour film usually captures the colour temperature of light better than our own minds because our

brains actually fool us into ‘colour correcting’ when the light seems weird. However, at late sunset or early sunrise, the warmth of

the colour temperature is too strong for our brains to compensate or correct. And did you know that the light from a normal fluo-

rescent tube is bluey green? But our brains can correct this too and make the colours under such light seem normal. Well, sort

of normal.

Light temperature is universally measured in degrees Kelvin (Kº). This probably came about because of a horse named Kelvin

who clearly displayed the full spectrum of colour in his moods and emotions.

To have the worldwide scientific explanation of the colour temperature of light named after Kelvin made his owner very proud.

Although, it has been suggested that Kelvin’s horse person was partly responsible for Kelvin’s amazing range of moods and emo-

tions. Kelvin’s horse person vehemently denies this assertion and blames all of Kelvin’s wild and wacky behaviour on the way he

was handled by humans in his life before they teamed up. It’s not about the human! Or have I got that wrong here?

So what is emotional colour and what is the range of colours available in the horse emotional spectrum? I would suggest that just

(Continued on page 20)


(Continued from page 19)

about every colour, hue, and intensity could be attached to horses’ moods and emotions.

Try this: If moods and emotions are represented by colours, what colour would your horse be when he is grazing in a paddock?

Maybe green, blue, mauve, purple, even sky blue. Nice and calm and at peace. Similarly, what colour would he be when he re-

fuses to do something? Before answering that, we must first determine why he has given a refusal. Could be he is scared, lazy,

unmotivated, in pain, hungry, full, or any number of other reasons. So his emotional colour depends on his state of mind and

what is making him act/react the way he is.

A horse can have an emotional attack or mood expressed with tense muscles and, often, a BIG snort! His emotional colour?

Red, bright orange, bright yellow? Alert/Danger/Oh Shit! If you are on his back, how are you going to react when he has this kind

of reaction? Tense your muscles and take a big breath? What colour is your mood or emotion if that happens to you?

One aspect of horse ownership that really fascinates me is ‘colour coordination’. My riding pal has made a point of collecting and

applying to her horse a brown halter, brown lead rope/reins, brown treeless saddle and she made herself a pair of nifty leggings

(brown of course), which all looks pretty smart. (I really don’t think she is serious about the ‘outside colour’ thing, but then you

never know.) Though, her pet hate is matching rug/neck rug combos in padded synthetic. Colour coordinated and as uncomfort-

able as hell for the horse. But the horse ‘looks good’ to its owner. My concession to rugging is that the rug has to be dirty,

patched, breatheable and only used when absolutely needed. About three days a year at most! My choice, after consulting with

the horse, of course.

The most spectacular colour clashes though are those between rider and horse, and the colour being emotional colour - the one

on the inside, not the outside. Oh boy, when this happens, does the brown stuff hit the fast spinning blades of the fan, big time.

And the combinations are endless in number and effect. The horse gets scared - the rider gets scared. The horse gets scared -

the owner gets angry. The owner gets frustrated – the horse panics. The human gets angry and the horse wants to run away.

The horse is relaxed and the owner wants to win. The horse is sore and the rider is inconsiderate or unaware. The horse is unfit

and the rider is too lazy (or more unfit than the horse) to get off and walk. The horse doesn’t want to load up into the float

(because of the rough trip to the event) so all the predators gather around and try to scare/push/force it back into the float. And

you could probably add many more such emotional colour clashes between human and horse.

The outcome of a lot of these ‘clashes’ are problem horses, or horses with problems. It could be argued that in a lot of cases the

horse’s problem was in fact the human, though very few humans with horse problems can see this. And don’t tell them either.

Stick around and acquire some very nice (cheap) horses, take them home, treat them with kindness, firmness, fairness, under-

standing, and respect for being a horse, ask for their forgiveness for the way they were treated by the other human and more of-

ten than not you have a friend for life. If you decide to part company, just be selective though, to whom you sell the horse, if that

is his/her destiny.

To overcome most of these ‘colour clashes’ the human can do plenty. Like a great artist you can develop feel, sensitivity, appre-

ciation, technique, and creativity for good colour e-motion (energy in motion) in both you and your horse. Learn what needs to be

done and what needs to be changed in both yourself and your horse to achieve positive change and emotional colour harmony.

And do it! It’ll make a rainbow look pale!

© Glenn Wilson Sept 2006


My Most Memorable Day by Maria Beresford The most memorable day with my horse was the day that I was doing passenger lesson. I was doing passenger lesson with the Parelli bareback pad, just before I rode I had done some squeeze game over some barrels that were approx. 60cm high and I left them lying down not expecting him to do anything with the barrels when I rode. Just when I did ride he trotted along straight towards the barrels, I thought that he would just turn or stop just in time but he jumped, I had never jumped before, it was my first jump and in the bareback pad too. I was so surprised I nearly fell over his shoulder when he got on the other side, then he though he could scare me by trotting up to the barrels, a couple of times he did that and stopped right in front of the barrel and I made him go back to a trot so he had to jump again. After that day he never tried it again, he thought it was too much work for him, and he blamed himself for doing it too.

FOR SALE- Parelli Theraflex Pad with shims English style - as new ( instructions for use included ). To buy new it would cost over $700 with shims, bargain at $400. No longer needed horse sold. Contact Laura on 02 67821772 or e-mail [email protected]


I'd like to tell everyone about our savvy kids, who right from the start are learning natural techniques, an assertive attitude, and to enjoy the time they spend with the horses. We teach kids from the age of four years old and it’s amazing to watch them progress so quickly be-cause they are learning from savvy ponies. Within only a few sessions new kids are able to play all of the games and basically understand how horses think, feel, and interact. A lot of the children at Brumbies Run don't have their own horse, and live in the suburbs; many have non-horsey families. They love to come out into the country and play with, then ride our ponies. The ponies are all very good at the seven games but won't play unless you have the right attitude, feel, and timing. Pretty soon the kids learn the feel and timing they need to use to get the results that are enjoyable. Balance of course is something that comes with time and especially in the saddle we take things very slowly, with passenger games at the walk, stay by the rail, and playing on line. Our most advanced students have been coming to Brumbies Run for several years and are learning to jump with confidence, to ride with a soft feel, to play some gymkhana games with a natural lean and competing in small hack and jumping shows. This year my daughter Jessie (13yo) and son Jackson (8yo) have joined Pony Club and it’s fun to watch them apply their savvy in such an environment. We also sell kids’ ponies and horses that have had a good natural grounding, have jumped, trail ridden through water and rough country, and been to shows and club days for a rounded education. If anyone wants to look, we have a website at http://www.brumbiesrun.com that has lots of pictures and information about what we do. Here's to savvy ponies!! Regards, Michelle Carter Email– [email protected]

Savvy kids - Savvy Ponies at Brumbies Run by Michelle Carter

The Revolution in Horsemanship and what it means to mankind

Robert M. Miller, DVM and Rick Lamb BOOK REVIEW BY TRISH MADDEN This book is simply awesome in helping put a context into the development of Natural Horsemanship. It provides an historical overview so you can see how the natural horsemanship movement has developed. It discusses the various leaders in the current natural movement and why we, as students, have embraced this concept far more today than previously in history. Dr Miller has been a long time supporter of natural horsemanship and the quest to develop relationships with horses (and mules) that are natural and based on trust and understanding rather than intimidation or mechanical means. This book has clearly devel-oped from his life time study and observation of horsemanship and goes further. Although having an American focus this book brings so much to recent developments in horsemanship and adds significantly to the dialogue of what is natural horsemanship and why its practice has the ability to polarise discussion so very much. The book is not a ‘how to’ book but instead allows the reader to develop an understanding of the various clinicians who cur-rently teach the natural way, previous practitioners and then some discussion on other ‘natural’ type topics such as nutrition and hoof care. I think the best thing I got out of this book is an understanding of what each practitioner has brought to the advancement of natu-ral horsemanship. Dr Miller and Rick Lamb don’t advocate one over any other but what they clearly state is that each teacher has something to bring and that rivalry is a disservice to the horse industry. I think reading this book will allow me to be a bet-ter student as I can clearly see what each teacher brings to the table and the debt I owe them all through their dedication and willingness to share their knowledge and experience. BOOK AVAILABLE THROUGH NATURAL EQUIPMENT


Equine Touch Courses in Australia With Jock & Ivana Ruddock www.theequinetouch.com

Level 1 course in TAS 24th,25th & 26th January 2007 Course being held at Browns Road, North Lilydale Contact Mary Hitchcock Ph 0428 627959 Email- [email protected] or Liz Stanfield Ph 63951590 Level 1 course in NSW 16th, 17th &18th November 2006 Course being held at Glen William (near Dungog) Contact Lee Woodland Ph 02 4996 5500 Email– [email protected]

Level 1 course in WA 19th, 20th & 21st January Course being held at Perth Hills, Darlington Contact Linda Yoxall Ph (08) 9299-6021 or 0407 090 166, Email: [email protected]

Level 3 course in NSW 16th, 17th,18th &19th November 2006 Course being held at Glen William (near Dungog) Contact Lee Woodland Ph 02 4996 5500 Email– [email protected]

What is Equine Touch? Equine Touch is a non-diagnostic, noninvasive, energy and connective soft tissue discipline which works at a complete holistic level; that is, it addresses the equine as a whole without paying any particular attention to any named problem as such. On a practical level it consists of a series of gentle moves performed over specific points in predetermined patterns which are inter-spersed with waiting periods to allow the equine to recognizes and process the effects of these subtle procedures. These procedures when performed with Accuracy, Integrity and Intent (A.I.I.) have the effect of inducing deep relaxation, releasing hypertonic and traumatized muscles, encouraging muscle tone recovery from injury and atrophy, reducing the pain spiral, and assisting in detoxification and lymphatic drainage. The horse through these series of gentle moves is trained to rebal-ance not only physically but emotionally, energy blocks are released, unwanted structures appear to dissolve, and the flow of Ki is stimulated through the meridians, allowing the equine to attain and maintain the ideal state of homeostasis in which its own innate healing power is able to work to its maximum potential. The Equine Touch is not designed or intended in any way in whole or in part to be a substitute for orthodox allopathic veterinary practice. It is not a therapy as such but a holistic gift to the equine which is as complementary to allopathic address as it is to chi-ropractic, homeopathy and herbal medicine as well as the horses own healing system. The Equine Touch has been described by leading equine vets as the 'ultimate hands on therapy for horses'. It is important to repeat that First and foremost the Equine Touch is not a 'therapy' under the definition by law which sates that 'Therapy' is defined as being the treatment to heal a specific medical problem by means other than surgical intervention. Simi-larly a 'therapist' is a person who tries to fix a specific problem usually under the direction or control of a licensed medical prac-titioner. The Equine Touch is quite simply a discipline, a set of pre ordained procedures that the student or practitioner applies to the horse no matter what problem the equine presents at the time. The fact that the equine is able to deal with long standing problems after a session of ET and that there is undeniably a remedial and therapeutic effect, wherein the horse is, as a result of its own innate healing system, freely able to process and ultimately dissolve unwanted structures while in the balanced state of homeostasis. Is Equine Touch Compatible with recognized therapies? While having the unique ability to stand on its own as a positive corrective system at all levels, one of the most valuable assets of the Equine Touch is its total compatibility to work in a complementary and harmonious synergy with many recognized equine healing modalities including alopathic, acupuncture, homeopathy, herbs, Bach flower remedies and chiropractic. The Equine Touch is not only compatible with equine therapies but with all types of equine address such as trimming, shoeing, sad-dle fitting and correction, balanced riding, training, rehabilitation and nutrition, all essential elements in creating and maintain-ing stability and health in any horse. Equine Touch was developed in 1997 by Europe's leading Bowen consultant and pioneer of the Vibromuscular Harmonization Technique (VHT), Jock Ruddock. Jock originally addressed the equine's body by transposing his VHT soft tissue moves from the human to the horse using his own unique aikido based muscular vibration move. Later however, after he was joined by his veterinary surgeon wife Ivana, he studied and researched the mechanics of the animal as an individual species as well its associ-ated energy patterns and the emotional armor. Subsequently he amended and evolved his approach to where the Equine Touch is now recognized as a premier equine care discipline taught world wide from Norway to New Zealand.


2 Beautiful Horses “FREE” to a Loving Home

My two are both currently agisted in Eumundi, QLD. I moved to WA about a year ago to be closer to my family and since then have not been able to bring them across. “Tango” is a 7yrold, 15.3H, proud, and very good -looking quarter horse gelding. Liver chestnut, very affectionate and easy to train. He is still extremely green, only been ridden 10 times- at a walk and a little trot with a rope halter and Cherokee bit in his mouth. Needs more handling and has huge potential. Great stops, but also very forward going. “Soul” is a beautiful 15yrold, 14.3H bay Anglo gelding. Has done Parelli 1 and a little level 2. Very responsive (almost phase 0!), athletic, friendly and has spirit. My heart breaks to have to let him go, as he has been my teacher, friend and companion for 6yrs. He can only be ridden in a Cherokee bridle (rope bit) and neck reins. I am holding my breath in positive anticipation for someone who is interested. Please contact me (Tanja) on: 0423 276 971

email: [email protected] During the period of Oct 17th til Nov 20th, I will only be contactable via email or mobile text message.

Above– Photo of Soul Above—Photo of Soul & Tango

The Australian Savvy Forum The Australian Savvy forum is a great place to discuss Natural Horsemanship and gain advice and support or just have a good ole chin wag and keep up your motivation. We mainly have PNH students posting on here, however, we welcome all NH

students to the discussion boards. We also have a classifieds section for anything you have to buy or sell (but not commercial - busi-ness advertising). We accept no responsibility should someone get hurt as a result of following suggestions put for-ward on this forum. You ride and participate at your own risk! Please note, this website is not sponsered/authorised by Parelli Natural Horse.Man.Ship TM nor are we affiliated with the Parelli Natural Horse.Man.Ship TM organisation. We are simply keen students. We invite you to join us for a chat!

http://z13.invisionfree.com/Australian_Savvy/index.php?act=idx

The Accidental Horse

I’m a bit of an addict when it comes to rural TV and radio and on a recent report some weeks ago there was a statistic of on-farm accidents; tractors, ATVs and the like. But what was really interesting, was that of the 11% of these injuries caused by horses, 44% of those happened to adolescent girls. This made me think; if it can happen to girls who presumably have grown up with the animal, what of those who buy or are given a horse without that experience?

(www.horsecouncil.org.au) The report went on to say that one of the reasons was risk-taking by this group in competitions, and asking the horse to do more than it’s capable of, and the lack of emphasis placed on safety issues. I’ve been to pony club days and other competitions, and the upholding of safety rules is paramount, so why are there so many accidents and how is the novice horse owner going to keep safe on an animal that’s ridden only sometimes? Not so long ago I was at a natural horsemanship fun day where the atmosphere is less structured, but safety aspects are expected and in the main adhered to, yet an incident occurred where a green horse broke away and went looking for its mate. The kafuffle caused minor scattering of horses in the vicinity but nothing unexpected by those used to this happening. The owner regained control of the lead rope but was still finding difficulty regaining the horse. I decided to offer help with some advice, as the owner was still in difficulty. Now the advice I always give to myself is observe first, and it was obvious that the horse’s focus was anywhere but on its handler; ears all over the place, snorting, and general agitation. “More friendly game”, was the phrase I uttered in an effort to bring the adrenalin levels down,

to which the owner responded with an unconfident attempt. However, the horse did quieten somewhat. “She’s not listening to you, look where her ears are”, I said, “try some driving game, get her to disengage her hindquarters”. The owner’s phases were less than convincing and the horse didn’t understand. I should have stopped there. Though it was easy to read the horse, it was the owner I’d misjudged. I’m reminded of a line in the movie Horse Whisperer where Robert Redford says, “I help horses with people problems” but this owner wasn’t ready to be helped and certainly wasn’t ready for a horse like this, yet in my haste to assist I’d failed to recognise one of the fundamentals of horse handling. That is, that there are two quite different animals involved. I didn’t asked the question, could you show me what you’re trying to achieve? Then perhaps I’d have had a better insight into how to help. SO WHY DO HORSES DO WHAT THEY DO? Horses are responsive animals, evolution has designed them that way. There’s no time for thought when you’re about to be eaten. The gene pool ceased to exist for those who stopped to think, and although the animal has been domesticated for some 4 to 5000 years and humans have altered it physiologically, psychologically it hasn’t changed much. For the horse there are two fundamental stimuli - fear and irritation. Fear evokes the fight/flight response, irritation leads to random responses in an effort to find relief, and we use irritation in training. Tom Roberts, a noted Australian Equine educator in his book Horse Control, The Young Horse asks, “Why do you jump when you sit on a pin?” If your answer is because it hurts, you’re wrong. He maintains there’s relief when you get off. SO WHAT ARE THE DIFFERENCES? Human beings learn to behave in ways decreed only in part by their biological heritage and the immediate situation. We, along with objective reaction to the stimulus of irritation i.e. the pain of the pin, verbalise the fact, thereby passing on the experience and supporting the action. In this way rapid transfer of human knowledge occurs. “Horses have to be taught to do everything we want them to do”, Tom

Roberts goes on to say, “Just as a child is handicapped if he misses a grade at school, so too is the young horse”. By simple observation, and without going into masses of biological definitions, it will be evident that the horse is primarily a visual animal, communicating subtly through posture and usually without audible utterance. Horses’ eyes are 5 X 6.5cm in size andare amongst the largest of any living mammal. This immediately suggests that a horse relies heavily on sight. (Mills & Nankervis, 2002) Normally, the horse has monocular vision. That is, it has the ability to seeseparate things with each eye at the sametime. (Frazer, 1997)

As soon as differences are suggested between horses and humans, the words prey/predator spring to mind, but consider the perception of humans to those words creating subconscious fear and affecting the way the two interact. The horse is certainly a prey animal, but words like aggressive, dominant, and so on, affect human outlooks. But if farm kids are too familiar with their horses and they’ve forgotten the fundamentals, the weekend riders place themselves in danger by lacking familiarity. Does education help? Last year I attended an OHS accreditation course run by Racing NSW. There the statement was, “It’s taken legislation to require professional riders under OHS law to wear personal protection equipment” (PPE). If the key is THINK SAFE then there must be some basic commonsense rules to guide all horse enthusiasts; habits to adopt, like pilots use prior to take off where they check the aircraft before boarding. Horses are habitual, humans can be the same. Make it a habit to do nothing but observe the horses, and in my case the human. We’re so obsessed with time and achievements these days that we forget our horse don’t wear wrist watches.

Bill Raymond


Cyteck Shoeing.

Hi Lee and Danny, We recently at the NNHC had a cyteck shoeing school. As an advocate for the barefoot horse I was highly impressed with this unique and ancient form of shoeing. Every one I know that has had them attached has noticed increased comfort for the horse and better impulsion and lengthened strides. Horses want to move now and they move better. I am sending you this info as I am sure there would be people down that way that would be just as impressed with it. Paul Reeves is the guy that teaches it and he comes from Tamworth ( originally Britain.) His website is www.cyteck.com.au Everyone that was at the clinic had a great time and about 15 people got their horses shod and a few farriers actually converted. Unbelievable. I have never had much to approve of about shoeing but now with my horses new abilities I do. Regards Tanya Atkins

Stallion—Romerito SO473 Pure Spanish Andalusian By Poderoso (Justiciero IV Imp/Corveta Imp) out of Romera (Encantador/Ordinara Imp). Sire of multi national champion pure and part andalusians. Passing on his calm, intelligent gentle nature, straight movement, trainibility and magnificent colour. Service Fee $660.00inc Chilled Semen available More photos available on request Viewing by appointment Contact Trish Buchan 0418 600 742 Dubbo NSW [email protected]

My most memorable day with my horse. By Jodie Heald I used to work for this trail riding place as a teenager, and instead of getting paid for the hours I worked, I was given this won-derful young anglo mare. I remember us being the best of mates, riding everywhere, dinking everyone everywhere, hooning through the bush as I practiced my bush racing (discovering later that I wasn't allowed to compete in this,that and my mare was too small for it). So yes, I did a wonderful job of revving up this little girl and turning her into a most extreme emotional lit-tle horse. A few years later, I was told to reduce my number of horse (I had gradually built up to 5 horses on the family farm!). I had just begun the sport of Cutting, so I was keeping my trained QH, my 30 yo (first horse), and another horse which I was given (never to sell), needless to say, that my mare (Gypsy) was one that I sold. A couple of years later, I met my husband to be, we purchased our own piece of land and I mourned about not having Gypsy. To my surprise, for my birthday, my husband had managed to buy her back. He'd never seen her before, and neither of us realized the bond that Gyp and I had until we went to pick her up. Gyp was in a 200acre paddock with one other horse (I was told she was very hard to catch and separate from this horse), I also warned Troy that she wasn't very good at floating and that we could be here for a while. Anyway, I could just see them at the far end of the paddock, I was getting really excited, I called out as I climbed through the fence..the next thing, she called out and came GALLOPING all the way up to me. I was stunned, she rammed her head into the halter, I walked her out of the paddock, and as we approached the float, she nearly gave me rope burn as she barged onto it! Troy drove and I cried the whole way home as I watched Gypsy through the back window - Troy couldn't understand how I'd given up a horse who I had such a special bond with (sadly I never realized it until that day). Gyp will now stay with me till the day she dies, we have so much fun together, although she now has arthritis and I have retired her from riding, she still gallops to greet me when I call her, and canters & rears on the spot beside me (at liberty), I am so grateful to have my best friend back - I will never forget the day we brought her home!


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Special from Natural Equipment for the month of October

FREE postage within Australia for the month of October

Natural Hackamores Save $20.00 RRP $100.00

For the month of October $80.00 ea

Natural Equipment Lee and Danny Woodland

PO Box 43 Clarence Town, NSW, 2321

Phone (within Australia): 1800 081 541 Phone (international): +61 (0)2 4996 5500

Fax: +61(0)2 4996 5513 Email: [email protected]

Web: www.naturalequipment.com.au

Hackamores available in all

colours and sizes!


October Competition

Write about your favourite Natural Horsemanship DVD. Let us know why you like it and what it is all about.

(doesn’t have to be one that we sell)

Winner receives a ‘ a free DVD!’

You can choose from any of the dvd’s on our website– www.naturalequipment.com.au

(offer only includes single or double dvd’s, does not include sets)

Simply email Lee at [email protected] Subject– October Competition

Winner announced in the October newsletter

Camilla Davidson

Teacher of

Natural Horsemanship

In the Southern Tablelands, South Coast of NSW &

the ACT Area

Qualified N. H. instructor Trained in the art of

Natural Horsemanship Horse Starter and problem horses.

Book in now to accelerate your horsemanship 02 4846 1002 or 0429 461 002

[email protected] Please call or e-mail your interest as the group in this area is growing strong &

would love to welcome new members into Natural Horsemanship. If you have any question what so ever, please contact Camilla for more information on courses &

our Fun days

Documents

September Neva Say Neva - Natural Equipment online … and on the way home you are thinking about what you have learnt and what your plan is ... being into horses myself, ... I had