Kelly Marks Demo......My horse is a guinea pig.....

[wizzi901]

I received a call from Kelly Marks the other day (and her assistant) asking them to use my horse in their demo at Wellington Riding on Friday. He is a nightmare to load, although I always get him on, it takes 30-60 minutes. Usually better on the way home although wasnt this week.

I wasnt sure but i have nothing to lose and I get to spend some time watching and learning myself to see if I can get inside this horses head. He is one of those that isnt scared at all but will argue until he knows he cant win. Unfortunately he is a lot stronger than me!

Has anyone had their horse on one of the bad loader courses at all for a demo? - do you know if they use trailer or lorry?? he needs lorry!!

Other than that I dont think the other methods would work for him, he would laugh but it should be interesting if nothing else.

Do you think it will work?? (I know they will be able to get him on easily after 20 go's but I am not sure it would help the non loading from friends at the yard each Sunday morning)...

 

[Its_A_Rollover]

How did she end up contacting you? I would love my horse to be a guinea pig for a fair few things! Sort out some of his problems for free!

 

[moocow]

Got Grant Bizan out to work with my non loading mare. It wasn't a demo but it might as well have been as the whole yard turned out to watch him. It definately works, I have never looked back. Mare gone from refusing point blank to trotting into the box to him in about 30 mins. She still loads and travels a dream for me. Best thing I ever did for my mare.

ETS : Grant does a lot of work with Kelly

 

[wizzi901]

if you email her on her site, give location, contact details, problem with your horse....

I did it ages ago and forgot!

 

[welshied]

I know someone whose horse she used and he use to be really bad when he was on and even like 6 months later he was really good to load and relaxed about it all. They used a lorry then

 

[Skhosu]

It sounds like your horse will go on when the dually is put on, wheter or not it will keep going on is the question!

 

[chickeninabun]

I saw Kelly at a demo with Monty Roberts last year. She loaded some problem ones with a trailer and he did it with a lorry, so not sure but you might get a choice.

 

[Darkly_Dreaming_Dex]

My cob was a complete nightmare- getting him on was the easy part- the second the ramp shut he would explode and throw himself around until he was wedged on the floor

Wrote off 2 trailers and did extensive damage on a friend's lorry

after a session with Kelly, he was loading brilliantly

The travelling problem took another couple of months but he has been perfect for 10 years now

 

[Annagain]

I've not seen a Kelly Marks demo but went to a Monty Roberts one a few years ago. A horse who was infamous in our area for being a complete witch that nobody could tame and plenty had tried was there. She would rear manically and hit her head on the stable roof if she even saw a saddle coming towards her and she was being ridden quietly within 20 minutes. I then saw her out being ridden round the area perfectly happily for years afterwards. I didn't know her owner but stopped to chat one day and she said she hadn't had a moment's trouble from her from that day on. She said as well that all the people with the demo horses that night kept in touch and the one with loading problems (they had hacked it for 4 hours to get it to the demo as it was that bad) never looked back and was loading in a trailer first time every time.

 

[Bosworth]

I have to say the ones I have seen that have been loaded by either kelly or Monty work - and stay working as long as the owner is not a complete numpty who fails to understand how to do it and reverts back to the only loading when going somewhere under pressure.

I teach mine to load in the same way as they do and it works every time. Even for one horse who came to me with an absolute phobia of loading into a trailer - he now self loads. I just have to get the back bar down and in he does. Once I get there he self unloads backwards, nice and slowly so really easy to do. I worked on the same principle then with a lorry and now he loads into both with ease.

Go and enjoy, ignore the sceptics and I am sure you will have a horse that loads. If he continues to load is totally up to you. If you listen and practice then he will do. Have fun

 

[wizzi901]

Thanks for all your speedy replies. He is an odd horse this one, on Sunday he loaded first attempt, no issues, nothing different other than being at the "end" nearest the ramp of the lorry (no friends either!). Thought oh better cancel the demo, then on way back he didnt want to load which he normally does fine after a few attempts.

He goes out without fail most weekends and gets fed on the lorry every couple of days, makes no difference he knows when its proper going out time. He makes no connection between rewards and going up the ramp....

He simply plants himself at the bottom and any pressure makes him rear. He always goes on, and we get out and about all the time, but its always a bit of an effort or worry that we will be late so needs sorting. Its pretty much a habit now I think!

As soon as he knows he is in a no win situation, he happily trots up the ramp!

Not sure why he wants to be near the ramp end as common sense would say this was more enclosed, but maybe he feels safer like that?

This is however a horse that was involved in losing a rear axle off a lorry on the M23 last August/September time so whilst I know he is not shaking outwardly, who knows what is going on in his head...it makes no difference if he has a friend on board either....except he doesnt drag me around in the chifney over the muck heap several times if another horse is around!!

I shall look foward to it!

 

[Sugarplum Furry]

My daughter's pony was used as a loader at a Monty/Kelly demo a few years ago. The pony had been a nightmare up to then, my daughter missed out on 5 years of competitions and fun rides due to Little Missy refusing to load. It took over two hours of tears, sweat and tantrums to load her into a trailer to get to the demo.

kelly and Monty did their magic, and the pony now happily and willingly loads straight away, every time, ordinary headcollar, no Dually, slack lead rope...

 

[Toby_Zaphod]

She'll get him to load, I saw a demo of hers a few years ago & she used a 'Be Nice ?' head collar on the resisting horse. He eventually loaded & then loaded a few times afterwards without any resistance. She received raptuous applause.

I saw the horse after the show & the massive dent in his nose that had been caused by all the pressure the 'Be Nice' halter had caused with Kelly marks swinging on it & I was horrified. The actual display plays down the amount of pressure & discomfort the user is causing, I was disgusted. I haven't been a fan of hers since. Good Luck with her using your horse, she'll get him to load.....but at what price.

(Braces himself for a tirade from Kelly/Roberts etc fans)

 

[moocow]

I have to say it was the dually headcollar that was used on my mare to get her to load and I was surprised at how harsh it was. I would well believe it but I think its a better option and beating them into a box which is what others told me to do and since ten I never have to put the same amount of pressure on her so its never a problem. They are very severe particularly if the horse resists. I suppose its all down to experienced hands and all that. But yes, its not a magic fix and its not as "horse whisper-ish" as you may think.

 

[mealrigghallstud]

I agree with Moocow - they are not as 'natural' as they make out, I know a lady who used one of those halters to stop her mare barging out of the stable. The horse barged past and she pulled back on the rope as you would with a normal head collar and not very hard either as it only got a few feet and it took all the flesh off its nose right down to the bone - they are basically like using cheese wire!!!
I rang up a Marks demo years ago with a problem 3 yr old we had bought and after chatting with them they said they would not take an actual problem horse - they only took ones that had a few owner issues that looked impressive for a watching audience!!!

 

[moocow]

I should add though that the results were brilliant and in knowledgable hands the dually is very effective and didn't leave any mark on my mare. My mare is head shy and they worked with her in a firm but gentle way. I dread to think what damage a dually could do though if used roughly.

 

[eoe]

Congratulations. Kelly used my Hanovarian in one of her demos at Towerlands at number of years ago because she wouldn't go in the lorry and if she did it took anywhere between 2 and 4 hours. Kelly is very nice to work with and very helpful, my mare now loads herself and we don't even have to use the Dually unless she is in one of her strops so we always carry it just in case. Good luck on Friday and let us know how you get on. Just remember its a simple case of pressure is bad and no pressure means good.

 

[wizzi901]

QR

For those worried about any damage, if you saw what I have to kit him in now including martingale, roller, chifney the lot and the arguements we have for over an hour (this horse goes out every week!) the dually sounds a much kinder option than the stress we both endure!

He is stocky, neck is pure muscle, stubborn and fast section D, no amount of being fluffy, food, practice, lunge reins, friends etc works when loading from home........he has dragged me many a time over the muck heap WITH the chifney!!

Will report back!! xx

 

[ru-fi-do]

Lucky you!

I sent information for our rescue pony who we are re-starting. He is really nervous and there is quite a few things I listed on the form so I think I may have put them off because I haven't heard anything

When did they ring you and what day is the demo? I applied for the Brooksby one.