T Touch

bit · T Touch

I wasn't sure where to put this. It's not that it's woo woo, but it is so far off the map of traditional, not even on the same planet. Body work. Who has the time?
Here was a big a ha for me this morning while reading my t touch book. Did you know that horses aren't just our mirror...their brains actually sync with ours and will assume the same brain pattern. When you do body work, and it feels good to the horse? Your brain syncs with the good feeling brain waves of the horse, and it benefits you because your brain changes to match the horse, which changes to match yours, which changes to match the horse...are you starting to see how important what you think, feel, and see touches your horse?
I'm reading The Ultimate Horse Behavior and Training Book, thank you Amazon. I got it on the used site, but it came almost new.
Did you know that my mare, Bit has overdeveloped muscles under her neck. I knew that, and I knew that it comes from stress. She's a bit right brained. It also means the muscles on the top of her neck are underdeveloped. It all snowballs into a spooky, unconfident horse. Did you know t touch can heal this? Change the horse, physically?
Did you know you can change the mind of the horse who is barn sour through t touch?
My centered riding instructor is also a L 2 t touch instructor. We will be doing a 1/2 hour riding, and a 1/2 hour t touch. I'll keep ya'll posted. So far, Bit is loving it. Melting into it like she's been waiting her whole life for someone to do this for her.
Eclipse is barely able to tolerate it. She needs air touches. Tiny bits of time. It's like that for her with everything. She seems like such a bomb proof horse. She's so sensitive, so raw to everything. I'm starting to understand how she must feel on the inside. How pressure of any kind can feel like road burn.
My responcibility to my horses is becoming clearer. It's not just about feeding them, providing a piece of ground, water...they literally go where I go, body, mind and spirit. This isn't just about being a mirrior. Me. I touch them right to their very soul. I can change us both, just by the way I touch them.

jackspark

You are touchin' me for sure, I sold that freakin' book last summer without really lookin at it

Didn't think I needed that "junk". I am a completely different person this summer and now see so much more than I ever did before. Don't know if I'm ready just yet but I am certain that I am closer every day! Thanks for the heads up, I chew on everything posted here.

merle

That was very beautiful and eloquent. Lately I have been thinking about this, but not on such a deep level. I volunteer at an organization that pairs rescued horses with high risk girls. My mule has been a phenomenal teaching, insisting that I become a better person. A person who has patience, empathy, sense of humor, good attitude... She has demanded that I change my self, my approach, my brain. Recently I have been seeing the difference this makes with all horses. I'll play with a horse, get some nice things going, then hand the horse over to the instructors and it all falls apart. I had been trying to figure out the difference in what I was doing and what the instructors were doing. I spent a good bit of time focusing on mechanics - where are the looking, how are they swinging the rope, timing of release... I found I could get them to look like clones of me but still not have the same impact. Finally it dawned on me, it was differences in presence and attitude. The horses were feeling that difference, feeling the frustration, the derogatory attitude, the direct line thinking... I was there, in the same place as the instructors, I can understand how they feel, think and act. The challenge is that I want to hurry up and change them - give them a pill to get them to speed through the journey (BTW I'm still on the journey, still have much to learn and develop of myself). I think time, awareness and desire are needed for the change to occur. We have all had the thing we need for growth to appear, but not be ready for it. Then later it appears again, and again, and again until we are ready to grasp it and learn from it.

bit

one of the cool things about t touch, you do it, the horse feels good, and it brings you along. Your brain matches the horse's feel good feeling. Might be worth a shot. T touch can be a pretty simple thing. Just a swirl, clock wise, 6 o'clock back to 9 o'clock. One hand on the horse, one hand doing the circle. Index finger, middle and ring doing the circle, thumb is your anchor. Do a line of swirls with the pads of the fingers, go back and smooth the hair where you swirled with a long stroke of your hand.
I was looking at Bit's tail thinking, dang it used to drag the ground. I did one tail ttouch thang with her, and her tail was back on the ground. It's pretty powerful stuff.

merle

I'll start doing T Touch and bring that information out to the instructors - I can add it in at times when I see them starting to get frustrated, direct line...use it to bring them back. I like that idea. Thanks!

PasoBaby_CarolU

You know Deb, if Eclipse is in pain from an Ovarian Cyst, it could well be 100% of your problem with her.

Julie

I found it amazing to use and use it a lot - especially the 8 bandage. The colic treatment reall works, I used it at a show and the vet was not needed.

bit

At the clinic, we were going to do the figure 8 body wrap on a halfinger mare. The wrap consisist of 4, 4 inch ace banages, tied together and very loosely wrapped around the neck, crossed over the back and around the butt, then back. We noticed the mare was starting to get a little figity, and Carol decided to only do a 1/2 wrap on her.
It's important to be connecected with what's going on with your horse. If your horse is at their limit, you need to see that, stop and let them process. Even stopping for the day or two. This stuff can be overwhelming for the human and the horse.
We did a belly lift on Eclipse and her whole carriage changed. Did a body wrap and it was incredible. Huge results with just the littlest bit of effort. I really like this stuff.

Peeperpuppy

I have one or two of the t-touch books but have had a hard time getting into them, I suspect because I wasn't ready to go there yet. Have been hovering near the book now & again lately so maybe it's time. I've seen some amazing changes using T-touch. I've always favored bodywork for 2 reasons: gives me the chance to work on a horse in an intimate way & if there's a problem, I know what it is & the second is it gives the horse something to look forward to & gives them a

feeling provided that I know when to back off

Gotta dig the book out again... I wonder if it could help with a couple of issues my girls have. Hmm... Thanks for sharing Bit

bit

Bit's tail was 2 inches from the ground three days ago. It's draging a good 4 inches, now. T touch is pretty amazing stuff.
For all us woo wi whoa folks, check this out! I posted it on Shaun's thread, but this is really cool. We are pretty connected, unusually so. Part of it is because I spend so much time with him, part because the girls are barely tolerating him, but there is something going on...and I knew the first time I saw him, remember? This whole thing has been very woo wi whoa. Check out the orb.

jackspark

There are some bonds that just can't be explained

The book that I sold last summer......... It's on it's way back to me! I'll be studying the TTouch before ya know it.

misstux

I investigated TTouch years ago for my horse Dusty and kitty Tuxie. Didn't pan out for us. Yesterday I went to Half Price Books on my lunch hour because I accidentally left the book I was reading at home. What do I spy but The Tellington TTouch. Of course it jumped into my hands and went home with me. Will try it with the Striderman why he is on the disabled list.

jackspark

Just plain funny how things work out when you are ready. I had that damn book sittin' on my shelf for almost a year and then sold it, of course before reading it. It just didn't resonate with me at all......... now, YES!

appellativo

i have that book. I found it interesting but for some reason I haven't felt it really indicated to me. I'll have to give it another look over. I think that sometimes getting the strange thing somehow INTO your comfort zone is a leap that is a bit hard to get started. But I don't doubt its beneficence.

Peeperpuppy

I was reading some stuff on Tellington-Jones website & an idea popped into my head & kicked me square behind the eyes... I'm wondering if this is part of the piece of the puzzle as to why my very lovely little Gunny mare is perfectly polite & accomodating with me however if my husband or the farrier is there, she's kung-fu pony & totally wigged out about having her feet messed with. Last time they worked on feet - I wasn't home - & she came unhinged. She finally trained them. So long as they lay the halter line on the ground (NOT in their hands) she would stand for her trimming.

My husband was flustered with her. I wasn't. The answer was clear as day to me: she doesn't trust these men with that rope in their hands. This doesn't happen any other time. I can lead her & both these men can lead her, ask her to do things & she's compliant. They go for a foot & she's not having it. Now if it's just her & I, I can lift her feet using a rope looped around her foot. I can pick up feet like normal. I can massage her legs & anything else. Our horse trainer didn't have trouble with trimming & shoeing her. No freak outs with him either.

My brain is ticking on t-touch & wondering if I can combine things from there & help this mare. I'm wondering if this has to do with her balance & fear that these 2 guys won't read it quick enough so she doesn't trust them to hold her line. Lots more questions than answers at this point but... I'm on to something. I feel it in my bones!!

bit

Bit is ewe necked, which means the muscles under her neck are more developed that the ones on the top of her neck. T touch book totally described my mare and how she can be helped. Said her whole personality will change, and gave steps exactly how to help her. I'm pretty excited about playing with everyone.
Peeps, I'll take a look in my book and see if it says anything that sounds like your mare.

jackspark

My gelding Rookie has the same neck and needs some help too! The mail is too slow.....still waitin for my book.

Peeperpuppy

I have 2 of her books. I have "The Tellington-Jones Equine Awareness Method" & then I have "Getting in TTouch with your Horse".

Bit, which of the books do you have. I'm suspecting "The Ultimate Horse Behavior & Training" is the one you're reading? I don't have that one yet but I'm thinking of ordering it.

jackspark

Ahhhhhhh after I bitched about the mail bein' slow......... I went out to the mailbox and there it was

Peeperpuppy

jackspark which one did you get

jackspark

Ultimate Horse Behavior and Training

jackspark

Do any of you ride with a Balance Rein? Might help rebalance ewe-necked horses? I'm lovin this book already!

Peeperpuppy

Jackspark, I gotta get a copy of it. I ordered it tonight. I'm eager to see if my suspicion is true. I keep getting this feeling the next step of help for my mares is just waiting.

Stay tuned

jackspark

Me too Peep. I went back to take a second look at this material because of Bit's post. I have a gelding that I am not finished with, if ya know what I mean. I need to keep looking for help for him.

Peeperpuppy

I've never been settled on the concept that Gunny's just funny about her feet. Gunny is funn about her feet but it feels like a giant puzzle waiting for me to unpuzzle it

bit

Yep, got a balance rein and will be taking it to centered riding lesson on the 22nd. Got the wand and just got the dvd from giddy up. With five horses, I spend a lot of time touching. Going to try a body wrap on Bit today. Don't quite have the belly life yet. I lift, nothing happens.

jackspark

Did you get the balance rein from her website and the white wand? Tell me how it goes...... I thought about making one out of an old lariat that I have.

Peeperpuppy

ladies,

I started another thread so as not to hijack this one. Would you mind taking a look & see what you think of my 3 mares & what you see that could lead to personality clues? Sometimes I just so miss the obvious. I tried to include photos that tend to catch them in their various moods.

Copious_Amour

I paid attention to the horses today after reading Peep's thread. Bodie's nostrils are crooked. I used to tie him with the rope halter before I read about headaches on here. He has pulled back a good three times. Pretty hard until he hits the rope and comes back and licks because that rope halter against your neck when you're pulling your weight on it? Can't be comfortable. He doesn't pull back anymore but I don't doubt I caused real damage there. His mane near his poll now flips to the left whereas the rest of his mane flips to the right. I took a picture today at the beach. His face shape has changed I think. I'm going to get a chiropractor out. His nostril's didn't used to be crooked. He also has two whorls on his forehead. I like it. Means he's spicy. Don't know what the whirl means that is on the right side of his muzzle. About four months ago we had problems with him sticking his tongue out and flapping it. We thought it was his teeth. Maybe it is headaches. Buddy? (Dylan is his new name) has a super long back and weak hind end. From the neck forward he is pretty. I'm going to look into an 8 wrap, I don't doubt it would help his poor conformation.

Katharine

Another T-touch book that I have found helpful is Know Your Horse Inside Out by Sarah Fisher. She runs the UK office of TTEAM/TTouch. The books is a mix of Tellington-Jones and Peggy Cummings' Connected Riding techniques. She leads you through how to physically assess your horse, interpret what you find, and then she includes exercises for the horse and exercises for the rider. I don't have a TTouch instructor nearby, so this book has been a great help to me.
Katharine

bit

Went to a centered riding lesson with Gunner yesterday, and ended up doing a t touch body work session instead. You know, you go out with the intention to ride, and then the horse either wants or needs something else to happen? Happened to me.
We did a body analysis, starting with the head. That little swirl at the top of the head under the forelock isn't that important. His right eye is smaller and in a different spot than the left. So I'll be doing the headache release for him today. His ears are wider apart at the top than the body, which indicates he is a bit hot. He was sold to me as a very calm horse. He keeps his "stuff" inside and then goes reactive. Can you say introvert? He can be very reactive, especially outside his comfort zone.
I sent him up to Kip's to get some good trail time. I tend to blame myself when things go awry with a horse. Maybe it was my leadership? Gunner is a sweet horse who is reactive, spooky, and is a textbook horsey for headaches. I'll let ya know if April Battle's work makes any difference for him. www.youtube.com/watch?v=yiWxetXQjIY
I don't know if Carol had thought too much about the symetry of the face. She did that hmmmm, sideways german shepard head thang. Looked at him and then we started noticing more and more stuff. He relaxed in the laberyth (sp). He loved the mouth work. Dropped and got very "happy" when she did this zig zag thing down his side. Very responsive, but inbetween, still right brained. New arena, new smells, very windy outside, and hay cutter was moving around in the field next door.
Eclipse would have just hung her head and been thankful I wasn't asking too much of her. Calm, cool and probably dozing. Not Gunner. Just like out on the trail. He needs his feet and mind busy. Learned tons! Love this stuff.
Oh, and she said "you don't have to keep a horse forever", suggesting Gunner and I might not be the best of matches. She's right. If I ever get another horse, I'm going to know how to take a good look, just from their body, on how they might be on the inside.

bit

About 1/2 way to Topeka, I realized I had forgotten my saddle pad for my centered riding lesson. It's what I get for washing it. So I could kick and scream, or relax and go with it. Told Carol when I got there, and we decided to just do body work on Eclipse. I had Amanda video it, and man it was amazing. Just what she needed. Did a lot more mouth work, leg work, and it totally changed how she moved. A lot of releasing. I worked on Shaun after I got home. He just melted into it. It's funny, I have a different kind of connection with every horse. I've had Shaun the shortest time, and have the deepest connection.
Here's a plicture of some nostril work we did. Can you tell which one we worked on?

Peeperpuppy

awesome bit. I did a little body work with Mis tonight although it turned into a fly chasing ceremony. Believe it or not, I think I won

I did some belly work on her. For whatever reason she seemed to be trying to be really pleased to have me work on the girth area & between her front legs. She got very dreamy eyed very quickly & I alternated between the brush & t-touch.

bit

My most challenging horse, Hawk was apart from the herd by the shelter, choosing to keep company with me. He's a bit challenging picking up his feet, still. He tends to lean on ya. Even will go down on one knee.

We did leg work today, picking up the foot, tilting the hoof up with the thumb, using the whole body, moving in tiny circles just off the ground. First one way, then the other, about the size of a quarter. Then, tap tap tap in a circle on the ground both ways, being careful not to move the hoof away from the body. Yeah. Hawk. Hmmmmm. What the hell. I started him with the mouth work. Carol said mouthy horses love it. He did. Amazing. Did the circles on his muzzle, and this is after the Desitine chase today. I was shocked he let me near his nose. He loved it. What the heck, I did his legs. He started that lean thang, and I gentle vibrated his hoof, and he stopped. It grounds them. wow. On the back leg, he tried to pull away, vibrate, he relaxed. We circled. He was wonderful. Did mouth work on everyone but Shaun. He had his body work earlier. I tell ya, this stuff is amazing.
I asked Carol what her routine was before she rode. Not surprising, not a lot of ground work. The mouth and ear work relax the horse before you ride, so if they are buddy sweet, it helps them. The nose is their emotional center, which isn't surprising considering how much attitude a left brained horse carries in zone one. My little lbe loves mouth work! Inside mouth work! OUTSIDE mouth work! RUB. MY. NOSE!

Pedestal*Pony

Ok, I'm gonna ask

What is T Touch?

jackspark

http://www.ttouch.com/aboutLinda.shtml

bit

You can rent dvd's on giddy up flix, too. My centered riding inst. is also a t touch instructor (boy is she a God send) so I can do a mini clnic any time I want. t touch uses different hand positions to do small circles in a clock wise directions, start at 6 o'clock, end at 9 o' clock, on various parts of the body. It's the smallest of tries on me humans part and it gets huge results. Big releases for the horse, and it comes in real handy in a lot of ways. I've been doing mouth work and then found some of my horses are sunburning and need sunscren on their muzzles. Sun screen is now massage oil. There are t touches that intensly relax your horse, and that comes in real handy before I ride. Some of the leg work is helping Hawk relax when you work on his feet. Horses are moving better, relaxing more, and the horses that don't especially enjoy being touched invite your company, as long as you are doing t touch. I think it's changed my intent when I do touch them, too. I'm giving, not asking for comfort when I touch them. Otherwise, I limit my touching of these horse to "hello" and one stroke down the shoulder.
It's easy to learn, easy to do (no heavy stuff like some massage) with big results. Seems to be energy work/feel good/massage/body work.

ElaineW

Bit I really like what you said about giving comfort instead of wanting to take it all the time.
I would love to learn this so I can convey how I feel..to know where to touch.
gonna check this out! Great thread!

what books do I need to get ??

ElaineW

oh i wonder if the t touch willwork on dogs?
poor little peanut could use this i thihk!

bit

Have one of her dvd's. Not so instructional as imformative. Ya'll can start passing it around if you like. Sign on up and when the last person has viewed and done, you can send it back to me. Who's first? I like the, Getting In Ttouch with Your HOrse, book. You can easily read your horse from ear position, size, width apart, swirls, nose shape, chin shape, jowls, etc. Evaluates character, personality traits, health:effect on personality...lots of good stuff. She has several books. Helped a lot to go to a clnic. I'm trying to talk Carol into doing a part ll t touch clnic when it cools off. IF it ever cools off. Maybe this is hell. I have five horses and it's too hot to go outside.

ElaineW

me please!! I had to drop giddyup,,c an't work cause of surgery and all..
would love to see it bit!
Elaine Wailgum
210 Meadowlark ln
GrandRivers Ky,42045

carefreegirl

I would like to see it after elaine if I can please.

bit

k Elaine, it's in the big manilla envelope, and sitting by the door to be mailed tomorrow. Also including A Day with Tom Dorrance. Yep, I want that one back, too. It has so many pearls, I thought ya'll would enjoy. Deb

ElaineW

Copious_Amour

Deb, glad you got that back okay. Elaine, you'll love A Day, it helped me see Bodie's pawing 'issue' in a whole new light. He doesn't paw anymore. Least he didn't when I saw him a month ago

jackspark

Pedestal*Pony

I would like to be added to the list of viewing Debs DVD.

Does anyone happen to have any books they would be willing to lend? I am trying to buy a new truck and I have to quit spending!

bit

Just send me your address and I'll get you a book that should get you started. Please get it back to me once you are finished.
I think Hawkie tried to get Gunner to do mouth work with him last night. Hawk had his little upper lip all twitchy and tried to get Gunner to rub muzzles last night. Gunner, my somewhat short bus gelding, tried to remove Hawk's face mask instead.
From a, if you even think about it I'm otta here, to, please put on the suscreen...that's what t touch has done for Hawkie and Gunner. Gotta use the back of the hand, at first. They really love it. Makes for nicey nice time in the evenings. Gunner asked for leg work, too. Once they know you know, they won't leave you alone. Kinda like giving the husband a good back rub. Only I don't mind with the horses!

ElaineW

I am done with the dvd's Bit loaned me,,
I tried to pm who was next but have not heard from her.
But then again I might have messed it up, the pm..
who ever is next let me know!!!