Some things never change!

Very funny!! I was searching for something else and found this written for The Western Morning News weekly equine column and dated February 2011:

Why are people so unoriginal? Having just surfaced after the copycat behaviour from The Man from Down Under I was alerted the other day to someone who had copied my website in Holland. It was a moment worthy of reality TV as I stared at the screen to see my words carefully translated into Dutch and the beaming face of a young girl proud of her achievements. 

‘What!’ I shrieked (John Cleese style), ‘You highlighted my text, clicked copy, moved the arrow over to your page and pressed paste! PROUD! I could teach a three year old child to do that, come to that a three year old child taught me in the first place! What is the matter with people?’ 

A carefully worded email sorted the problem in a few hours but I’m afraid I find this behaviour beyond my understanding. Not only because it’s infringing the laws of copyright it’s just so unimaginative. Here are these people copying me when I have so many ideas everyday I cannot possibly ever have time to develop them all. I think it’s the pride with which they present their finished work which bemuses me so much. Do they not think someone might notice? 

I suppose if you get a good idea people will want to copy it. When I was a greetings card designer (previous life and no less uneventful) people would copy my designs but never very well. They entered the market place with a substandard product and just as quickly left it! If I ever had time to copy someone I would at least try to improve the product otherwise what’s the point? But maybe people who need to copy will never improve on it because they just don’t have the skills. I’ve always said that if you’re a copier you’ll always be in second place. Beyond me I’m afraid so time to move on.

What a day!
Started early helping out an ex-racer who seriously kicked someone last week (hospital job, she'll be OK) the owner absolutely knows she missed all the signs and really wants to get this horse right as does the poor injured person. We had a great time bringing out a few skeletons but in only an hour making a huge difference. I always say it takes the most challenging horse to make you start to really look at what is TRUE in your relationship with your horse and this lady has just found that horse. I'm so excited for her because it's such a wonderful journey towards the truth.

Back to the office to answer a million emails from magazine queries (the usual writing yet another article for some far flung magazine) to the member's Social Hub questions through to the Exmoor Pony Festival asking me to get involved this year and onto being asked to present a series of teaching programmes for an international internet based TV channel. Yippee! My Mission Statement of Year 2000 to teach a thousand people who will each go on to teach a thousand people is slowly getting there.

Packed up and sent out all the rosettes for the December course, delayed as we had completely run out of rosettes, this Club just gets bigger and bigger.

Then did my sweep of the internet to see what's going on in the world of Horse Agility. The usual stuff, some good stuff some not so good but hey it's out there... and then this:

An active member of this very Horse Agility Club is setting up a rival Club! I loathe unoriginal people, I have so many ideas I just don't have time to get on with them all but here is someone quite prepared to look mediocre by just copying someone else.

I wonder what the members would think about this?

Well that's my day, off to finish proofreading the thirteen courses due to go out on February 1st, after I've mucked out, groomed the horses and fed round.
Well it's better than being bored!

Beauty

I've been working with a really beautiful black horse called Beauty for a few months now and she is constantly teaching me new things. When I first met her she was totally out of control. Dangerous on the ground and only ridable when trussed up like a chicken, it was tragic because she is such a magnificent horse when she is allowed to move. Unfortunately when Beauty moves IT IS HUGE and IT IS DANGEROUS whether you are on the ground or riding. The sudden bursts of wild behaviour are less now but when they do come it is tricky for the owner to cope.

I have been studying Beauty very closely to see what happens before she bursts away. It isn't just when she is spooked (pheasant three field away!) it has become obvious that it happens when she is prevented from doing something she has her mind on, in other words whenever she feels uncomfortable she reacts by exploding.

Beauty was brought up in a show jumping yard and was sold on because she 'wasn't forward enough'. (I'll talk about that in another blog, she has a stuck left fore and when it's allowed to move she can shift!)  When the current owner bought her the advice she was given was this:
When Beauty is in 'one of her moods' run her into the arena and 'free school her' until she's run out of energy (in other words chase her round with a lunge whip!).

My theory is that Beauty has 'learned' that going into flight always gets her out of trouble, she has been allowed to choose flight every time the pressure builds up, she's never been allowed to learn that these minor 'spooky' incidences are actually safe.
I was with her yesterday and she thought about flying a a few times but I can see it brewing now and I just simply moved her feet, very quietly but deliberately to my tune not hers! It's important that it is not a punishment or difficult, I just put her feet to work. If I put too much pressure on she'll just push through it, she's certainly helping me learn to be light AND get my timing right! As long as I catch the moment before she blows all is well. I 'll keep you posted on this one but after only a few minutes a big change had come over that beautiful horse.

What's all the buzz about?

So this is my first blog...EVER! 
I think it's high time I started to write down my daily thoughts for those who just might be interested. My daily routine, my rants, my raves. I keep a daily diary of course but I'm not famous enough to publish that one (yet) it's a bit too honest! But I thought this sort of public diary might be of interest to those who wonder what I do all day. Maybe you don't care, well that's fine off you go and spend a bit more time on wastebook.

So a little bit about my day first. I have three jobs so the days vary a lot.

Job 1
I run The International Horse Agility Club. That takes up about four long days a week and I don't do the equipment sales and the membership. Every now and again someone tries to copy me, (we do a daily sweep of the internet) the record length of time anyone has tried to set up a Club is 10 days, yup ten days.
Too much like hard work.
You see this is my brainchild, my passion, my core belief that the handling of horses on the ground is an art form not just something you do so you can ride. Everyone who has thought they would copy me have never done it well enough and are not prepared to work hard enough, sorry guys but it's true.

Job 2
I write books. I've three non-fiction books in print but now I'm moving into fiction too. Young Adult fiction, my it's challenging but I LOVE IT! I get completely lost in my characters and the story, it's my own little world. Even if they never get published I just love writing these stories.

Job 3
I go out and help horses with their people. Anything from straight 'How to Ride' lessons right through to saving a horse that's facing the bullet. It can be extremely challenging and that's just the people!

So my three jobs keep me busy but I also have a horse (Secret) and three Exmoor ponies (Ollie, Fudge and Ricky) and they need loving too, everyday!
That'll do for my first ever blog. Even if no one else ever reads it it's been fun seeing what it's like to write one down.
Hoping to record some interesting case studies from my teaching and share the triumphs of having my first fiction novel in print so watch this space!