Tellington Method

[moka]

I just came home from a three hours introduction to the TTouch by Linda Tellington-Jones. It was very interesting. We unfortunately could not bring our own horses and the horse that were/are there are used for therapeutic riding. So it could be that the effect was not as dramatic as it might have been in "behavior challenged horses".
I was wondering if anybody has some experience? If so how?
The other thing I was kind of thinking is, we usually do not spend an hour or so just touching our horses. Could it be that a lot of the desired effect just comes from the fact that someone just spent an hour or so touching the horse? And taking the time to do work through a Labyrinth?

[FredRock]

Do you have anywhere I could read up on this? Or could you explain it a little bit more? I've never heard of this before, and it sounds interesting.

[WashingtonBay]

You probably have a good point in that spending an hour doing anything that is calming and feels good might have a good effect. My only experience with it is watching a video on it a long time ago... can you go into the details of what you do?

[cloedoll]

moka - I have never personally tried TTouch, but I do notice the more time I spend out in the pasture with my horses, the more happy they are to see me the next time I visit. So, maybe it is just being there with your horse, I can't really say since as I said, I have never tried TTouch.

FredRock - Here is the website: Tellington TTouch Training (http://www.ttouch.com/).

[FredRock]

Hm, it's definitely interesting. At a glance it sounds a lot like Parelli's method, you use ground exercises and such to strangthen the trainer-animal respect. Other than that it makes sense that touching and being around/in contact with a herd animal like a horse would strengthen the bond between the horse and handler. You could also say that grooming would have about the same effects, seeing as how you're touching the horse.

Now would just being around the horse for a while fix a lot of problems, maybe. I guess it would depend on the reason behind the problem.

edit thanks for the link cloedoll

[cloedoll]

FredRock - I agree with you. :p Also, it claims it solves the following things:

* sore backs
* stiffness
* stress
* nervousness or tension
* inconsistent performance
* lameness or unevenness of stride
* cinchiness
* resistance to the vet and farrier
* bucking and rearing
* clipping, pulling manes, giving shots
* head tossing and tail wringing
* biting
* kicking
* pulling back when tied
* trailering
* resistance to grooming or saddling
* stubbornness or laziness

For anybody who has read the books, watched the videos, been to a clinic, etc. does she ever mention that you should check for saddle fit, teeth needing to be floated, or any pain-related issue first? I'm not against it, but as FredRock said, it sounds like Parelli to me, I'm really just curious. :)

[Horserider]

I had a book about TTouch at one point that I got from the library. Look for books by Tellington-Jones, Linda in a local library or bookstore. The ones in my library are called Getting in ttouch : understand and influence your horse's personality, The Tellington ttouch : a breakthrough technique to train and care for your favorite animal, and Improve your horse's well-being : a step-by-step guide to TTouch and TTeam training. It sounded really cool to me. I've never gotten to see the techniques in person before. That would be cool.

[moka]

Yes, she does mention saddle fit etc. She goes into a lot of problems horses can develop and suggests different T Touches and ground work exercises you can use and also exercises in the saddle for you to do.
So yes, in some ways it is like Parelli but I think the T Touch is an element that is different from the other NH trainers.

[cloedoll]

Interestin'. Well, I guess whatever works for the owner and horse is what works and if you are getting the results you want, doesn't matter what method ya use! (:

[FredRock]

I agree that it does have an added element that's pretty different, but I had to go over to dogs and cats to actually learn what TTouch was. All the horse links gave me was the ground exercise program, so I wasn't sure if she suggested that for horses. It does sound pretty interesting.

[Cat]

Interesting.

I do know the best days I have had with my mustang is when I do nothing with him but pet and love on him for an hour or more. He especially enjoys fingers running down each side of his spine (thumb on one side and pointer finger on the other) in a slow methodical way with medium pressure. Makes Mr. Hyper boy about fall asleep. LOL.

I would love to learn more about this, might have to look into it more.

[walkinthewalk]

Linda Tellington-Jones has been around as long or longer than Parelli. I could easily say longer because I have known about her a lot longer, but that might not be the facts, so I won't:)

I went to one of her seminars back in the early 80's and therapy horses were also used then. I can't remember whole lot, but I do know I walked away satisfied that I got "value received" for the money I'd spent, which included buying her book that has probably had many revisions since then.

The following Spring, I went on a four-day trail ride up in the Allegheny National Forest. My Arab/Saddlebred came up sore near the end of the second day. I remembered some massage techniques from her book, got out the Absorbine and massaged the muscle "knot" right out of Sonny's leg. He was good to go for the rest of the ride, like he'd never come up sore.

I have not seen a Linda Tellington-Jones seminar since that time, so I do not know what her current Mission Statement is. I have seen Parelli and certainly wouldn't put her in his category. I liked him fine until I saw him give his own horse a good jerkin' back in the practice arena during intermission.

[AppyLady]

I tried the Tellington method back in the 80's. It worked really well. I had a horse that was lame in his hock, but after doing her touching and leg stretching exercises, the horse was sound for the first time in four years. I was pleasantly surprised.

[Remali]

I have two of her books, I really like her! I would love to go to one of her clinics.
I spend a lot of time just touching the horse, and lots of groundwork, it really paid off with my Arabian mare Kara, and now I'm doing the same with Koko.

[Vegashorselady]

I saw her at the horse expo in Sacramento last year. It was interesting. I wouldn't mind learning some of those massage methods.

[Durango]

I just bought a book of hers (fairly new, I think) that has her method indexed and cross referenced. Sorry, can't think of the name of it right now...I'll have to check after church and post it for you. She has specific exercises for lots of different things and while I think just the time spent is helpful, she does address things like exercises to strengthen the horses back and abdomenal muscles...can't remember what else. YES...she's been around way longer than Parelli.

[SedonaThunder]

I have "Getting in T Touch" on the bookshelf behind me... it was recommended to me but I must admit that I haven't ever opened it.:( Now that I'm seeing all these great reveiws of her work I'll have to get it down and start using it!

[ImaBronsonBear]

I have two of her books, "Getting in T-Touch" and "Improving Your Horse's Well-Being." I've tried some of her massage techniques a couple of times, but i must admit that i don't have much patience for stuff like that...:rolleyes:

[magayle]

the t-touch is very calming for animals and people, i've used it for years. never got all the other touch methods but the small circle one really does get a calming response...like givin' a hug with your fingers

[42many]

I've heard of TTouch but really know nothing about it - however, I do firmly believe that spending an hour with your horse touching and communicating with them will likely get results no matter what method you use.

A lady I knew had a horse psychic "commune" long-distance with her horse from a picture. The psychic told her that the horse had a sore back and if she spent at least an hour every day for a couple of weeks the horse's attitude would improve (she had been getting pretty nasty on the ground).

So, she went from seeing the horse for 3/4 hr or so every 3/4 days (mainly riding and fighting with her) to seeing the horse for a MINIMUM of 1 hour (usually more) every day. During that time she not only massaged the horse, she also worked on being able to touch it everywhere and general communication (keeping her from biting, getting in her space, etc).

Lo and behold, 2 weeks later the horse made amazing progress in how she behaved on the ground. Of course, I had been telling the lady for months to do pretty much the same thing for the same result. I always felt the horse wouldn't be such a flake if she was worked with on the ground more often, period.