On the 2nd of April The Equine Touch family of instructors, practitioners and students worldwide lost one of their most precious and stalwart members with the passing of Merrily. Merrily was more than 'just' a student, practitioner, instructor and horse lover, her care and concern for the horse and for the people who cared about the horse was unsurpassed and anyone who met her knows. She had a unique gift of just 'turning up' at the right second no matter where or when that second occurred. In the far south of New Zealand a lady's horse got stuck in a cow trap, the horse was in pain, a little car pulled up and a little American lady jumped out, walked over and started to do some funny wee movements on the horse, and the pain just melted away. That story has been duplicated all over the world, the problem occurred and all of a sudden the ET fairy godmother, Merrily Morgan was there, doing her thing. Already a cancer survivor, three years ago it returned and while Merrily began to undergo treatment knowing that the end was inevitable she amazingly continued to devote her life to Equine Touch and helping the horse wherever she found one needing care. Although her normal energy level was fast depleting, she attended the first Instructor Clinic in 2007 and after passing continued to travel the world promoting and teaching ET. As her energy slowly waned and the pain increased Merrily resigned as an instructor but continued in her role as an international ambassador for all of us, joking that pretty soon she would be an 'intergalactic ambassador'. Returning to her beloved New Zealand before last Christmas she found she was starting to lose the fight and the medicines, regimes and drugs were no longer working. Ivana and I saw her in Auckland a few weeks ago and the change was drastically dramatic and the pain was non stop. Determined to return to her family in Denver she was scheduled to fly out the following week. So that she would travel home in comfort, the ET instructors got together and bought her a new ticket and flew her home business class. Her last phone call to me as she sat up front on the plane with a glass of champagne in her hand was to say 'thank you' to all her ET friends, and 'thank you for giving her a purpose in her life'. Australia Instructor Jane Clothier shared this little Merrily story which summed up Merrily.
Merrily said something important to me in the UK when I was learning, when I wasn't sure that I could handle the pain of horses that was becoming overwhelming. "If not you, who?" Such good words, so simple and to the point. I still pull them out of my pocket when it feels a bit too much in this country where life can be so incredibly harsh for horses.
We will miss Merrily greatly, and in her honor and memory we will be introducing the annual Merrily Morgan Scholarship in New Zealand, USA and the UK.
Next week we say goodbye to Jovana for another seven months and start the long haul back to Czech across Australia, USA, UK, Scandinavia and Europe. As always we say to each other this will be the last, we are cutting down, but we still keep going. Meeting wonderful people who care about some amazing horses is ultimately our lives, though hopefully with the new system which will kick off in January 2010 some of the pressure will be lifted from our shoulders. This morning at 5am I woke up with pain, thought it was indigestion until I hit the deck and stayed therein agony like never before until Ivana picked me up got me in the car and to accident and emergency where after six hours and a barrage of tests they released me after I passed a 5mm kidney stone. Ladies, never again will I laugh at motherhood moans at childbirth.
Other than that our time down under has been excellent, the feedback from Equitana helped get ET out there. The feedback was felt not only in Australia but also down here in New Zealand. Loved the Hugh Jackman line at the Oscars" Last year I starred in the film Australia, with the economy the way it is, this year I am starring in New Zealand."
Both former colonies have been great to us this year and Equine Touch is growing from strength to strength with a great team of instructors, practitioners and students getting the message out to the horse community. Alas we could not hold the proposed dissection class in WA which we had to cancel due to the hidden costs which made it prohibitive and would have meant charging our students a fortune to attend. It has always been our policy to keep our charges as low as possible and to give as much value for money as we possibly could, but in today's economic climate we could not justify passing on these horrendous costs. However we will be holding one at Lincoln University in Christchurch when we return down under The dates are 5, 6, 7 December and the coordinator is Janice Clyma, janice.k.clyma@xtra.co.nz so if you are interested book now as the places are sure to be taken up very quickly.
The other point of news for the bush telegraph down under to spread about is that we will be opening a new venue at More Park Beach, 25k east of Bundaberg on May 1, 2, 3. We will be holding a Level 1 and a Canine Touch symposium and catching up with our old friend Dave Stuart at the same time.
The coordinator is Helena Botros e mail: HBotros@phoenixhouse.com.au There are still some places available on both classes, so let your friends know, and we will look forward to seeing some of you there.
Jock and Ivana
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 By now virtually all the horse world knows that one of the greatest natural horsemen ever, Ray Hunt, passed away recently at the age of 79. Very few of us truthfully become legends in our own lifetime - Ray Hunt was one of the few. Along with Monty Roberts, and the Dorrance Brothers Tom and Bill, Ray changed the way we all thought about our horses. I remember having breakfast one morning with this great horse-humanitarian on the occasion of his 75th Birthday in Wales. Apparently totally focused on his bacon and eggs he was listening to some of our students making comments as Dave Stuart went to help load a troublesome thoroughbred some 100 yards away. Everyone clapped as Dave took charge and led the horse into the trailer. Without even looking up Ray said "Hell be out again." Sure enough less than a minute later the horse led Dave back out. This process was repeated three more times, and each time Ray, still focused on his breakfast said, " He'll be out again", and sure enough he was. On the next try Ray said as the horse walked up the ramp " He'll stay in this time." The horse stayed in. Everyone just stared, Ray had not given the situation more than a glance as he ate. "How did you know?" I asked him, when no one was around. "That time it was the horse's idea," he said. "The sound of the hooves on the ramp was different." He will be missed! When I remember Ray's thoughts on the horse and some of them I have printed below, I find that when we adapt them to Equine Touch, perhaps we are all coming from the same place after all. Read them, see what you think. Jock |
 Q: Why is the observation/processing time so important? A: You will remember right from level one all of you were taught AII. The A for the horse stands for awareness. As you become more and more proficient in using the Equine Touch you should instinctively know when to insert these observation/processing times from the horses reaction to the touch. Just as the horse at both a conscious and subconscious level must be aware of the challenge and the intent and integrity behind it, so the cellular and indeed the subconscious level must be aware of what is now happening as a result of the glide and the resonating recoil that it evokes. Several years ago in the USA as a busy Equine Bodyworker I had embarrassingly allowed my principles to drop and was out there 'chain working', by that I mean lining them up and moving from horse to horse going through the motions, ten horses in a morning - great, good business. Then one day I stopped and during a break I watched one horse process like never before, it was amazing. The horse came over to me rubbed me up and down with its nose and went to sleep in my arms. I had lost my integrity and it took a horse, just like my original teacher to give it back to me. It is during these processing times that you will see and feel the link between us and the equine even more strongly. Watch for the signs as the horse realizes that his pain has reduced, that a spasm has relaxed, that he can move his neck and TMJ and watch the onion slowly peel as he gives that message to his whole body. The processing time is when this begins to happen, sometimes it is instantaneous, sometimes it takes a while for all the dominos to drop. I once spent ten minutes observing a horse waiting for him to process, and when he did it was profound, eyes inside out, yawns, tongue out and head on the ground. Feel it, connect with the horse, listen to your inner voice and your experience then observe and allow the horse to process and watch your success rate go sky high. If you have questions for Jock which are not vet related and will help you with ET then drop him a line and ask.Next month Ivana's Q and A column will start so get your questions in. |
The words of RAY HUNT August 31st 1929 - March 12, 2009
Working with the horse is a way of life for me. He's my livelihood, my hobby, my passion. If given a little thought, a little understanding, and a little common sense, the horse gives back in full measure. If the human can give 5%, the horse will come from the other side with 95%. The horse never ceases to amaze me with what he can get done with very little help from the human.
When the horse is in trouble and the human doesn't know how to help him, the human lets his pride get in the way and the first thing you know - it's a contest. The human makes it a win or lose situation, and if you're not real careful, the horse comes out the winner. The horse doesn't know what win or lose is, or what a contest is, until the human shows it to him.
I'd like to help the human understand how much less he can use and how much more he can get done. The human is so busy working on the horse, that he doesn't allow the horse to learn. They need to quit working on the horse and start working on themselves. They might get it done, but they don't get it done with the horse in the right frame of mind. The horse usually gets the job done in spite of us, not because of us.
You need to notice the horse making changes for the better. Expression is extremely important. The horse has body expression and mental expression. You must learn to read the horse's expression. The horse has multitudes of actions and reactions. They are all separate, yet inseparable. The horse will always tell you the facts. The horse is very honest. We can teach him to cheat by not filling in the blank spaces for him, but that comes from the human, not the horse.
Practice doesn't make perfect. Perfect practice makes perfect. We need to be more disciplined within ourselves so that we can present our objective to the horse in a way that he can understand. Allow them to learn; allow them to work at things; allow them to figure things out. Make the wrong thing difficult, the right thing easy.
As time goes on, all the little things will fall into line. A lot of times, it is darkest before the dawn. Sometimes the horse might get a little worse before it gets better. We should be adjusting to fit the horse. Fix it up and let it work. You can't make it happen and you can't put a time limit on it. Sometimes the slower you go, the faster you learn.
Only seven weeks to go until Jock and Ivana are in Solvang, CA at Monty Roberts world famous farm "Flag is Up". Tell your friends as this is the first step in a new and exciting journey for Equine Touch. If you have friends in CA let them know. Jock and Ivana's symposium will feature Level 1 for Rookies as well as an all new Level 4 for those who have already completed the Level 3 or are working practitioners and who wish to learn the latest developed procedures in our discipline.
The clinic will be held on Saturday, Sunday, Monday May 9, 10, 11 registration is at 9am on the Saturday. Please remember that all bookings must be done through Raian Kaiser at the National Coordination Center: mail:equinetouchusa@yahoo.com not through Flag is Up farms. ______________________________________________________________________________________________
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