Tom’s Equine Behaviour Solutions

25/06/2018

Hallo österreichische Pferdefreunde!

Ich bin im Land und plane gerade die nächsten zwei Wochen. Wenn jemand Interesse an etwas Horsemanship Arbeit hat dann schickt mir bitte hier eine private Nachricht.

Danke und bis bald

Tom

17/02/2018

Here is another important topic for discussion:

https://www.facebook.com/tom.rammerstorfer/posts/10215765456633114

I recently shared this Buck Brannaman meme, saying it was my favourite Buck quote.
It's my favourite because it basically says to have your safety protocol in place , before you place yourself in a life threatening situation.
It was mostly well received, but there was a small percentage of the population who called BS, and had a fit over "how dare he say that", I imagine by people who do go into places where they will need safety precautions, and don't have them in place.
I don't feel there is another activity anyone does where this level of animosity towards preparedness happens.
I was reminded of this today when talking to my sons best friends mum. Her son has been in the coast guard for about 6 months and she said they are sending him to "dunk school".
He is stationed on the west coast of the US, and the coast guard is sending him to the East coast for this "dunk school".
What happens at "dunk school" is they have a ship, set up in a giant swimming pool, and the coast guard men get on it, and then the coast guard mechanically capsizes it and make it roll completely over.
In a completely controlled situation......
They dont wait to find out what its like to be capsized when there is 50 foot waves, and you are trying to save peoples lives. They set it up. They do their arena work basically.
I have a similar tale from a clinic in Arizona several years ago.
I was talking to the clinic organisers father about parachuting, and he said he learned on a static line.
Which is where, instead of learning to jump first in tandem, strapped to an instructor, he learned to jump out of a plane with a rope attached from your rip cord, to the plane. So as you move away from the plane, it pulls your ripcord.
BUT.
You have a "dummy" ripcord, which you are required to pull. You are not allowed to move on to jumping out of a plane with no static line until you can jump out 3 times in a row, and pull the dummy ripcord before the static line takes effect. This ensures that when you are in a life threatening situation, ie, no static line to pull your ripcord, you have the safety protocol in place.
A bit like Buck (and me ) suggesting you perfect a lot of stuff in the arena, before you go for "just a trail ride".

16/02/2018

I recently shared a video regarding careless drivers on roads. With horses.

My friend Warwick pointed out that a bigger factor for staying safe on roads with our horses is how well we prepare them mentally and psychologically for the things to come.

And although I still hate stupid drivers with a passion I have to say, Warwick is right.

Have a look:

https://www.facebook.com/tom.rammerstorfer/posts/10215764649572938

How to prepare your horse to be ridden on the road with traffic. Warwick has hundreds of full length training videos filmed with REAL horses, REAL people, RE...

09/02/2018

Enjoying my austrian holiday...

18/01/2018

A word about ulcers:
If a horse displays stress related behaviours it is obviously not uncommon that this is associated with gastric ulcerations.

Here is the million dollar question: what comes first, stress or ulcer?

Unlike the “chicken or egg” question, the answer is usually quite simple: stress comes first and leads to gastritis and gastric ulcers.

Diagnosing and treating them is the right thing to do, no doubt - however, it is also crucial to recognise that the ulcer is the tip of the iceberg and the treatment of the horse must not stop at the stomach.

How do we keep our horses, how do we treat them, how do we ride them?

And how do we miss the fact that they are stressed enough in the environment we give them and around us to develop such a severe condition?

18/01/2018

In a recent discussion about a horse with behavioural issues the remark “this (problem behaviour) is an arab trait” was mentioned several times.

I can assure you all that this is absolutely NOT the case.

Arabians tend to be quite sensitive and intelligent.
That is a trait.

If our husbandry and horsemanship does not take this into account they will suffer sooner than other horses.

It is our responsibility to do our horses disposition justice, and if we do then the relationship with an arabian horse will be deeper and more rewarding and dependable than anything else.

Calling a certain problem an “arab trait” completely negates the humans responsibility and the great potential of these wonderful horses.

10/12/2017

Just saw this. This thought is the essence of good horsemanship.

https://www.facebook.com/trtmethod/videos/781801092011509/

27/11/2017

Owners of “strong” horses, considering a harsher bit: have a look at this.

A horse that hadn't been cantered in a year because he bolts at the canter and afraid of a dressage whip. After a couple days Warwick is able to ride him wit...

27/11/2017

This is a video that I show many of my clients - it illustrates... well, Warwick explains it best really.

Enjoy 🙂

https://youtu.be/eYIU72KaLUw

A horse that hadn't been cantered in a year because he bolts at the canter and afraid of a dressage whip. After a couple days Warwick is able to ride him wit...

27/11/2017

Enjoying the welsh winter sun

31/10/2017

Travelling in Austria, here the very north, right next to the Czech Republic, helping a worried Friesian

23/10/2017

Dear horse people:
If you were to attend a talk on equine behaviour which questions, subjects and issues would be your main interest?

13/10/2017

When our horses display an unwanted behaviour we ask: “why is he doing that?”

The answer in 9 out of 10 cases is: “because we have inadvertently taught him to do it!”

The better question therefore is: “What did I do to teach my horse this behaviour?”

08/10/2017

I will be in Oxford on Thursday, 12th of October.
If anybody in the area has horses that might require my attention let me know! 🙂

28/09/2017

Here's an interesting article about a rational approach to your horses fears and anxieties.

https://winter2017.iaabcjournal.org/relapse-conditioned-fear-horses-four-rs/

by Robin Foster My 18-year-old thoroughbred is a warrior in most respects. He barely flicks an ear at a motorcycle speeding past as we cross the road; he nods politely and winks at a large coyote standing at the trail’s edge (in truth, the wink may just be a tic in his bum right eye); and he grazes…

27/09/2017

Using the environment: teaching Ruby some shoulder gymnastics.

25/09/2017

Helping horses overcome fear, resentment, misunderstanding and other behaviours deemed unwanted by their human.

If your horse is head shy, bucks, bolts or rears, doesn't load, is "cold backed", cinchy, etc.
I can help.

You think it might be a pain issue? Sore back? Tense muscles?

Due to my background (horsemanship/equine behaviour, veterinarian, chiropractor) I am in a unique position to differentiate between a painful process and a behavioural issue, and to disentangle the often complicated combination of the two.