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Nervous animals?
Glenys Williams, College lecturer and trained therapist asked us if our animals were anxious when visiting the vet, before entering
the show ring, or in crowds, etc?
She reminded us that many of our animals nerves were 'caught' - that is transmitted from us and taken up by our pet. So if we can be helped with our
nerves, our animals will behave more as we want them to.
Glenys Williams said she can help with NLP, a method of helping people replace unwanted feelings
with more appropriate feelings from your own memory. This way you can clear unwanted nerves out of the way
so you and your pet can enjoy everything.
Animal Behaviour Problems
Roger Mugford
Roger Mugford explained why animals behave in ways we do not expect or do not want. Occasionally due to pain from undiagnosed
illness, injury or chiropractic problem, problems are often the result of a collision between an animal's instincts and his owners expectations.
Much of his work concerns dogs, particularly as a result of the Dangerous Animals Act. This lead on to there being two sorts
of problems, according to severity – the dangerous and the nuisance.
Many behaviour problems can be managed once the owner knows what to do about it and has the appropriate equipment for the
job. Often it is a matter of guiding the dog in ways that he will learn. This means clear signals and gentle persistence. In the long run, encouragement works much better than punishment.
In serious and potentially dangerous cases, stronger measures may be needed. In the nuisance situations, distraction may work
better than trying to tackle the problem head-on.
In our little shop, we now stock a variety of behaviour management aids. These include:
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treats to encourage and confirm positive behaviours
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methods of guiding behaviour on command
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ways to prepare animals for anxiety-provoking situations
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harnesses and leads to stay in control without harming the dog
Alexander Technique for Riders and Dog Owners:
Susan Cheek M.STAT.
Susan passed around a large bowling ball that is about as heavy as a human head. This was quite a surprise as most of us aren’t aware of how much weight sits at the top of our spines.
Once we know that, we can appreciate that if the head sits at an angle, it will strain muscles and tendons down the neck and back. This will affect almost anything else we do!
A good seat on a horse is very difficult with your head in the wrong position. Fluid movement showing an obedience dog is equally difficult.
Training to recognize the best position for various parts of our bodies will help our performance. Practice will then allow us to let go of old habits that interfere with the natural
balance of the body.
The Truth Inside:
Kay Humphries talk about saddle-tree problems
Vav Simon believes that a lot of the horse work she receives is due to badly fitting, and badly made, saddles. She invited Kay Humphries, saddle-fitter of national repute, down from
Beckensfield, Bucks to talk to us.
Kay showed us the insides of a dozen saddles, which had everyone shocked. Metal bars, wooden struts, foam held together with tacks, nails, bolts, sellotape and even cling-film. The
insides look nothing like the nice textured leather outsides.
And she showed us the problems. Straps that pulled in different directions. Nails and bolts that stuck into the horse’s back. Metal bars that poke into the horse’s shoulder. Hinges
that bounced on the horse’s spine. Broken bits of wood that move the rider’s weight about unpredictably, leaving both horse and rider anxious.
The manufacture of saddles is obviously done on the basis of “what the eye don’t see the heart don’t grieve”. It seems they are made in factories by people who aren’t trained or
equipped to make a balanced, symmetrical shape. Uneven girth straps and misaligned stirrup bars twist the saddle on the horses back and create undue pressures on the horses shoulders from the points of tree.
Most manufacturers usually don’t ride and have no empathy with the horse. But saddlers living in the country often do. And yet they can ‘repair’ a good saddle and end the horse’s
comfort and destroy the saddle too.
The result of this is unhappy and unhealthy horses. Pain and discomfort diminishes performance, and can make horses dangerous. This is not their fault – the only way they can
communicate their pain and distress is through bucking, rearing and biting. The saddle is supposed to spread the rider’s weight and help the union of the team, not torture the animal who happens to be underneath!
So what can be done? There is no inspection or regulation body, and complaints are usually fobbed off. She has held a conference with manufacturers, but little or no progress is
evident three years later. One organization, however, has heard, and put a lot of effort into responding. The Walsall Equestrian Society has achieved a Quality Standard for their symmetrical saddles – BS 6635 2003.
There are other exceptions as well, Kay said, but couldn’t really name more because of fear of reprisals. She is prevented from publishing her findings by commercial pressure on
magazine editors. So she just continues to talk to people to show them the truth inside.
Kay will lend a tree-less saddle to those seriously wanting to compare them with the traditional type. Enquire here or phone 566009.
Kay has written a Quick Guide to Checking Saddle Fit which might be useful.
"Where
natural therapies meet modern technology"
Roger Meacock MRCVS
Roger showed a packed audience several new machines, starting with the SCENAR. This is a hand-held Russian device that measures the body's natural electrical pulses and responds in ways that change the pattern for the
better. Turning off the lights, he showed us acupuncture points on his arm lit up by the SCENAR, to demonstrate that it does 'see' the body's health.
His first quip was that he had been born in 1835 gone to University and then got anti-ageing treatment that was still working quite well... His talk was entertaining and judging from the
questions asked by the audience, he kept everyone interested.
Next, he showed us the 'e-Lybra', a type of electronic homeopathy machine. There is not much to see - a desktop box with two steel pockets in the side. In
one, he puts a sample of the animal, and in the other he puts blank homeopathic tablets. The machine then 'reads' the sample and electronically tunes the tablets to the appropriate homeopathic remedy.
More details at: www.naturalhealingsolutions.co.uk
Roger holds a monthly clinic here, for humans, horses and dogs, charging about £45+VAT per hour-long consultation.
Book here or phone 566009. |
