Yesterday I accompanied my friends Sandy Rakowitz and Robin Bernhard to Cedar Creek Stables to give a clinic in TTEAM and TTouch® to the volunteers and employees of Ride With Pride, a therapeutic horsemanship program in Staunton, Va.
At the intersection of therapeutic horsemanship and Tellington TTouch lies my dream. When I grow up, this is what I want to do, and I think that Sandy and Robin, with their incredible expertise in science, horsemanship, riding instruction and Tellington TTouch, may just be the partners I’ve been looking for. In comparison to these gifted women, I may bring only gumption to the table. But every undertaking needs gumption, right?
Sandy had planned an afternoon introduction to basic TTEAM and TTouch concepts for the fantastic volunteers who work with the horse heroes at this NARHA facility. A colder day than we expected, it nonetheless proved very fruitful, as TTEAM tools revealed themselves to be very effective in changing undesirable attitudes of some of the horses.
One of the most pleasing outcomes of the day was the result of using the body wrap. For years, Tellington TTouch has used a body wrap made of two or more 4″ Ace bandages to give fearful or anxious horses or dogs a sense of support and confidence. The benefits last beyond the time spent wearing the bandage. The scientific reasons for the success of this wrap are as yet unknown, but at present they are being explored. Temple Grandin lends credibility to the concept of body wrapping in her book, Animals In Translation, where she describes a self-constructed “squeeze machine” used to calm her mind. According to Grandin, many autistic people benefit from wrapping or tight pressure. It is said to increase calm, relaxation, and to promote feelings of compassion and empathy, which in autistic people is desired–social feelings don’t come easy. Sandy and Robin have completed a pilot study with traumatic brain injury survivors in which the participants both report and demonstrate increased emotional and physical well-being when wrapped in various ways. The final report has yet to be published, but the results of both the EEG studies and the body wrap experiments are definitive. (click on the link in the previous sentence and then drop down to 2007 TTouch Classes for Traumatic Brain Injuries for a link to a precis in pdf form).
Two horses in particular benefited from the body wrap, each for different reasons. Here are their stories:
The Fjord was adorable and very spunky.
Feisty Fjord
This horse resisted being led, slowing down and accepting directions on the ground, and barged ahead of his leader at times. This made moving through the labyrinth and other ground exercises more difficult. I once saw an adult handler throw herself in front of the horse to stop him. One can only imagine how hard it would be for a handicapped rider to manage this horse on the ground and under saddle with this spunky attitude. After putting the body wrap on the Fjord, he settled down substantially. Almost immediately, he held his head lower, licked and chewed more, and took a lot of deep breaths. It became clear that his resistance was mediated by anxiety. The simple support of the body wrap seemed to calm him, and he moved more slowly, paying careful attention to the cues from his handlers.
The Belgian was afraid of everything. We had the opportunity to watch him go under saddle in the covered arena as we set up for the clinic. He inverted and ran, tossed his head, skittered away from every stimulus, and trotted fast. He did everything but move around the arena a few feet off the ground. He presented the picture of a horse with zero confidence. It was all Sandy could do not to ask the rider to get off and allow her to try to wrap him so he could calm down!
Taking a deep breath and lowering the head a little
The minute we put the wrap on him, he settled. We were so relieved, we allowed him to stand there for a few minutes, getting accustomed to the feeling of support on all sides. I didn’t know what would happen when I flipped his tail outside the wrap (take cover!!!!), but he stood still. In a few minutes, he was taken through the assorted ground exercises, a changed horse. His confidence and ease were so increased that he no longer displayed any of nervous tics such as head tossing, stamping, moving around on the ground, or barging out in front of his leaders. His head carriage was immediately lowered, and he also licked and chewed as he went through the exercises. His anxiety level was low enough to allow him to process what he was doing and to learn. I was pretty impressed! I was disappointed to be unable to stay and see him go under saddle with the same rider. I plan to call to ask Debbie Winters, the director of Ride With Pride, what changes she sees in him under saddle.
I don’t imagine for one minute that receiving TTouch from volunteers and a half hour wearing a body wrap will change the behavior of these horses permanently. But it’s a start, a head start. They are already doing the best job in the horse world. If we can increase their confidence with TTouch and TTEAM so that they can do their jobs happier, then that’s what matters to me.
enlightened horsemanship through touch 