Wednesday, September 9, 2009

Andrew McLean

The boys in the danger paddock. Even though we taped off every hazard we could find I am still grateful neither of them got hurt.

I've heard his name bandied around forums and such but kept forgetting to research him. I finally Googled him the other day.

Wow, now this is what I'm talking about. Here is a man who's training principles are totally synchronised with what I am wanting to achieve. And I said I would never drink the Koolaid LOL.
The website that I have linked to is for his facility in Australia so a lot of it is not really relevant training wise and he is selling DVD's and books but hey, you can't win 'em all. Check out the article page though. Loads of information on training principles and it's free!! Eat that Pat Parelli and Linda Tellington-Jones!! Nothing makes me more frustrated then trying to find out about a particular practitioners theories and methods and coming to one of these sites. Pretty much the only way you can find anything out is by paying money and I actually want more information before I part with any hard earned cash.

Here's what Andrew McLeans principles sum up as:

The AEBC approach is unique in that it combines classical training with a strong emphasis on scientific understanding of animal psychology and horse behaviour.

I think the really key thing here is that his training is based on horse psychology and behaviour and that the welfare of the animal is paramount. (Though the picture of him with Anky Van Grunsven is a bit if a downer, I do not like that lady!) There is no point training a horse in a way that it doesn't really understand so I like the fact that he has thought about how a horse thinks and acts which makes a lot more sense than some of the other garbage I have read.
Best of all, he does clinics in NZ! Not that I'm going to have any money to go to one anytime soon but it will definitely go on my wishlist. And I'm going to put his book 'The Truth About Horses' on my birthday and Christmas lists. LOL he's really got me hasn't he!!! Well just take a look for yourself and you'll see why :).
On another note, I've been treating Fox's thrush with copper sulphate out of a drink bottle. Boy he hates it. It's a real struggle to get it onto his feet. To do all four I'm looking at at least 40 minute at the moment. My process is pick up the foot, clean it out, very gently squirt liquid on then wait while he has a spazz then try and pick foot up again which takes ages. And once I've done the first one, he's leery of me picking up any of the other ones. It is so exasperating. I've tried squirting it on a cut of mine and it doesn't hurt so I'm not sure what his problem is, maybe the sensation. I'm hoping after a while he will get desensitized.
I'm also hand walking Fox a couple of times a week now in preparation for finally getting some riding done and to work on his leading. Because his legs are so long he does have a tendency to leave me in the dust even though I'm a pretty fast walker myself. This is frustrating because one of the things I'm trying to teach him is where he should be walking and that is definitely not pulling me along!! Work in progress though as everything is.

1 comment:

  1. Raven, decide where you want his head to be when you lead him, i.e. at your shoulder. Whenever he starts to move in front of that point, turn quickly and start walking the other direction, 180 degrees. Make sure you are prepared for pulling his head around with you as he comes to the end of the slack, and use the free end of the lead rope to swing at his butt to encourage him to move it around faster. This is completely non-aggressive and non-threatening, but will teach him to pay attention and not surge ahead of you. Hope this helps. And I am reading your blog from the beginning, so you may have already solved this yourself :)

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