Michael Peace - horse trainer, thoughts?

[Love]

Has anyone hired Michael Peace to come out to them in the past? I have contacted him to help with a loading situation after watching a lot of his videos and liking his approach - I think it will suit my gelding.

He has availability to come out to me however it is going to be pretty expensive (we are getting married in September so pretty maxed out as it is) so want to be sure before committing - any experiences please!

We had been making great progress on our own but have come across a hurdle that we just cannot seem to get over ourselves and I'm finally admitting defeat. Many thanks

 

[sbloom]

He was mentioned in a thread recently, do try a search on here too.

 

[planete]

I have just used my local Intelligent Horsemanship associate to get Woody over his panic attacks once in the lorry and it has been a huge success. Also much cheaper than M.Peace.

 

[Love]

He was mentioned in a thread recently, do try a search on here too.

thank you @sbloom will have a search! Havn't come across him before other than his videos

 

[SEL]

I've seen him in action twice (livery yard horses).

Once was a loading issue and he made it look so straightforward and easy that if I hadn't seen the owner try to load in the past I would have wondered why he was there.

 

[Red-1]

Yes, I have seen him in action and he was excellent, including saying that he couldn't help one of the horses (at least not in an hour!). To me, that spoke volumes in itself.

He was quiet and effective.

 

[cauda equina]

Yes, I had him for loading
He was brilliant and his quiet energy was perfect for that horse

 

[dogatemysalad]

Years ago, I sent a newly backed horse to him for consolidation training. He was brilliant. Part of the programme included lessons for me and he was one of those trainers that makes everything so simple. My mare absolutely adored him, as he adored her. Yes, it was expensive, but that investment was paid back in having such a bright young horse who benefited from a good foundation.

 

[lizziebell]

Ive seen him work with 3 friends horses.

One was for shoeing. It took one visit and even the farrier was impressed enough to recommend him. Perfect to shoe from that point onwards.

The other was for clipping, and although it was one visit, it did then involve lots of homework for the owner to follow and took a couple of clipping seasons for the horse to be totally relaxed at being fully clipped.

The last one wasn’t as successful, but that was all due to the owner. This was for napping, and MP got the horse going really well, but the owner then didn’t ride it for over a week, nor implement any of the homework.

 

[Rowreach]

He's one of very few I would spend money on.

 

[YourValentine]

Had him out for a loading issue, and was very un-impressed.
He made some progress but didn't leave me with the tools/skills to make the same progress myself, wasnt able to or didn't explain what he thought the problem was. So for the better part of 400quid I was no further forward after his visit.

I wasn't expecting a miracle and the horse to self load after 1 visit, but I did expect to be told what I was doing wrong, and basically given some homework.

So I would try someone else, cheaper who you can afford to have out more than once and is willing to train you as much as help the horse.

 

[The Xmas Furry]

He is one of the few that I'd happily recommend. As long as you take on board his training of your horse/pony and you.

 

[AntiPuck]

He sorted out my horse's issues with lifting her feet, as someone said above, if I hadn't had seen the issues myself prior to him working with her I'd not have believed that there ever were any.

 

[Green Bean]

Michael came out to help me with my (non)loading issues with my horse last year. I was at the point of giving up as nothing I did made any difference. As I am sure many other people have done, I stood back, folded my arms and thought 'he will never get my horse to load'. It took all of 5 minutes, I was shocked that he made it look so easy. He got her on and off several times and then handed the lead rope over to me. Horse would of course not load for me, but Michael worked with me and showed me what I was doing wrong and how to correct it. By the end of it, she was loading like she had never had a problem.
However, you cannot sit on your laurels and think the horse will be fixed forever more. I did loading practice everyday for quite a while. Boxed to a good hacking spot, took half an hour to load - realised that we can't have any distractions - in this case it was cars driving in to park around us. Continued with loading practice. Went to my first dressage show in 3 years - horse loaded perfectly on the way there but took 2 hours to load on the way back, and only did this when I dragged across some crowd barriers to put behind her to force her on. I was livid. I went back to practicing and the first attempt took half an hour.
The end of the story - I accepted that I had not followed Michael's way during the 2 hour saga, reverting, out of frustration, back to my 'old ways' of loading. I now follow Michael's way by the book and will get my horse to load through patience and love while being quite firm about telling her I know she can load and she knows what to do.

 

[Abacus]

I used him some years ago and he was brilliant - started by identifying the problem (the horse was nervous, and didn't understand what was being asked). It took about 20 mins of patient explanation (from him to the horse!) and he was walking on with ease. He put the horse back in his stable to relax in a familiar safe place before consolidating it for a little longer, and showing me what to do. Never had a problem again.

A fellow livery then got him out for what looked like the same problem but in this case Michael said that the mare was basically being evasive and knew exactly what she was being asked to do, just didn't want to. In her case, a lunge rope loop around her bottom worked a treat.

I copied this many years late with my current horse, who would just plant, and again it worked immediately. He now walks on every time without needing the persuasion.

I really liked the MP approach, and his attitude to both horses - kind and very patient - and also to the people. He was never dismissive, just supportive and helpful. I wouldn't hesitate to use him again and believe he is well worth the money.

 

[estela]

I had him out for a difficult loader a few years ago and was very impressed. Horse loaded very well after whilst I had him. So I would definitely recommend.

 

[onemoretime]

Ive only ever heard good about Michael Peace.

 

[poiuytrewq]

Yes I was lucky enough to be present when he came out to work with a mare I was looking after at the time. She had huge issues with picking her feet up and was seriously dangerous for the farrier.
He was fantastic! Really impressed. Sadly the owners didn’t keep it up so she quickly reverted.
For a week after anyone could just walk in and pick all 4 feet up with no issues.
He said it was vital that she had her feet picked up a few hours after he left and then on daily but she didn’t.

 

[Rowreach]

It beats me why anyone would spend hundreds of pounds on getting Michael (or anyone) out and then not do the necessary homework. And I don't for one moment believe he's ever left a yard without explaining what needs to be done going forward.

 

[TPO]

It beats me why anyone would spend hundreds of pounds on getting Michael (or anyone) out and then not do the necessary homework. And I don't for one moment believe he's ever left a yard without explaining what needs to be done going forward.

Ditto but I've seen it happen with several trainers who have similar ways as Michael P.

People are weird

 

[Tiddlypom]

He sorted out a friend's very stubborn sec D with loading issues at a demo. That was a long while ago. The horse stayed sorted.

As said above, if you hadn't known how difficult the horse was before you'd wonder why he was tricky enough to need MP's help, but he really was bad to load before.

 

[Ample Prosecco]

It beats me why anyone would spend hundreds of pounds on getting Michael (or anyone) out and then not do the necessary homework. And I don't for one moment believe he's ever left a yard without explaining what needs to be done going forward.

I am tearing my hair out re mounting friend! Joe said 'do not line horse up at block. He now needs to always come and pick you up. If you line him up he will comply for a while but then it will slide. If you bring him to you from up on the block it will stick'. Has she done that? Has she heck! I am meeting her tomorrow to watch her mount and will be tapping her with the flag myself if necessary. She is delighted because he is letting her on, but that's not the point!!

 

[Rowreach]

I am tearing my hair out re mounting friend! Joe said 'do not line horse up at block. He now needs to always come and pick you up. If you line him up he will comply for a while but then it will slide. If you bring him to you from up on the block it will stick'. Has she done that? Has she heck! I am meeting her tomorrow to watch her mount and will be tapping her with the flag myself if necessary. She is delighted because he is letting her on, but that's not the point!!

I have the same with someone at the moment. She has the tools, she rang me in despair saying it wasn't working, I went round and watched and she was doing the polar opposite of what she'd paid a lot of money to be told. Grrrr.

 

[Ample Prosecco]

Why, just why!!

 

[Rowreach]

Why, just why!!

mainly because one of the other liveries had told her to do it differently

 

[j1ffy]

Another here who had him out for loading and he was fab. My horse had slipped getting into my new lorry for the first time and it freaked him out - MP had him quietly loading and standing, then showed him how to stand more comfortably. He left with homework, which I followed and (touch wood) not had an issue since. I do some practice if I’ve not been anywhere for a while and try to follow his approach every time.

I also had Kelly Marks out for a previous horse. Her approach was different, we started in the school working on a consistent forward / back / sideways response (including over a tarpaulin) then applied that to loading. Also effective, and cheaper, but if pushed I’d say MP’s results have been more consistent.

 

[poiuytrewq]

It beats me why anyone would spend hundreds of pounds on getting Michael (or anyone) out and then not do the necessary homework. And I don't for one moment believe he's ever left a yard without explaining what needs to be done going forward.

He explains very very clearly and the soul destroying thing was he did such a good job in such a short space of time.

 

[Sealine]

As other people have said you have to do the homework and follow instructions to the letter. A friend had a natural horsemanship person out for loading issues. She used a pressure halter and he walked straight on the trailer no questions asked. A couple of days later the owner was practicing with a pressure halter AND a chifney

 

[rextherobber]

I think it will be money well spent, cull a bridesmaid ( not literally!) if necessary...he's brilliant!

 

[YourValentine]

If

It beats me why anyone would spend hundreds of pounds on getting Michael (or anyone) out and then not do the necessary homework. And I don't for one moment believe he's ever left a yard without explaining what needs to be done going forward.

If that comment is aimed at me, having read everyone else's comments I'm wondering if I had the same person out...
Because I got no explanation of what he did or what I should do/shouldn't do, so that I could repeat and re-enforce by myself afterwards. I wasn't ignoring advice I wasn't given any.

I'm glad so many people have had great success with him. I was just spectacularly disappointed for the sum of money I forked out on someone with otherwise good reviews.