Richard Maxwell - what a star!!

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Dreckly

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Some of you may remember my post recently about a problem I was having with my boy lifting one back leg.

Well after seeking recommendations from the fountain of all knowledge (HHO!) I bit the bullet and booked Richard Maxwell for today.

Well, I was very impressed with him. He was an extremely nice man, very easy to understand explaining everything clearly in a way that made complete sense.

He started working on getting him to accept the principles of pressure release which was very interesting and then moved on to the specific problem area of the back leg. All did not go smoothly to start with ( I never knew he could rear so high!!), but Richard calmly persevered having an answer to all his evasions. The amazing thing was that you could almost see him stop and think about what his actions were achieving - nothing - and coming to the conclusion that he might as well accept it and get on with it.

After some time my farrier arrived (which was the main problem), and he fitted the new show without incident or any repeat of his behaviour at all!! Success!!

I now have work to do with him when picking out his feet, and a routine of work to follow before shoeing for the next few times which will hopefully sort it!!

I am absolutely delighted with the way this was done - he sufferred no trauma or anger and by the end was busy watching what was going on round the yard rather than worrying what was go on with his leg!!

Can't praise Richard highly enough!!
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I'm really interested to hear that - I have been reading his books and of all the horse behaviour people around he strikes me as being the most down to earth and sensible. I'd love to see him working in person.
 
Inmydreams - it was absolutely amzaing to watch him work - he had quite an audience with all the liveries observing.

What really struck me was that he could so accurately predict what his reaction would be to something - he knew exactly how to counter this - my boy could do nothing to out fox him. But you could tell he wasn't frightened by it - angry and perhaps a little tense. And then you would see him stop - think and realise that the best thing for him to do was do as he was asked!! He was also very strict about not over praising or placating the horse - he only got a rewarding rub when he did exactly as asked.

Truely eye opening - and the great thing is that now I know how to do the ground work of pressure and release I can use this with any problem that comes along - the basic principles are the same.
 
I still had to send my horse away for a behavioural problem after trying Richard Maxwell. He is a nice man and undoubtably helps many people but I felt disappointed with him considering how much he charges in comparison to the man who actually succeeded in getting my mare working. Glad he has helped you though.
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i've been to 2 of his demos and he is really amazing
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he got a massive shire X to load into a trailer within half an hours ground work. the owners had taken 3 hours to load it to get to the demo!
i was thinking about getting him to have a look at my rearer - its just that i'm in Scotland and it's quite expensive. its probably worth it tho.
 
You may find that he can recommend a student of his that is more local to you - spending two days with one of his former students was how i learned some of the techniques and they have continued to work with a number of horses.
 
I have to admit it wasn't cheap, but I was getting to the end of my tether! We had tried everything to sort this out, and it was becoming a worry to me as to what I would do if he had an injury to that foot and it needed treatment. There was no way I would be able to get near him every day with a twitch to be able to lift the leg and poultice every day!!

So although expensive - it was worth the money for me!!
 
I've watched him a couple of times and he definitely impresses me. I love the way he is with the horses and also he has a great sense of humour. A thorougly decent guy, and deals in common sense which particularly appeals to me.
 
Dreckly, does he still travel to people's horses? I thought he was concentrating on his own yard? I'd love to get him out to do some basics with my rescue mare but not sure if he'd travel to S Wales for a day or how much he charges?
 
he has been to our yard in the past few days, i have heard nothing but great things about him so would def use him if i needed to
 
I had Max out to one of my horses who was napping & rearing. In fact you couldnt even sit on him without him going vertical he had also gone over on one occasion. He would do this on the lunge & longlines also. I had Chiro, vets & bone scans done to make sure this horse wasnt in pain which he wasnt.
Im an experienced horseowner but this horse had me stumped.

I booked Max to see him in June 07, he was fantastic my horse had the shock of his life when Max had an answer to all his quite nasty evasions. Max left me armed with a load of new tools & now my horse is fully back in work hardly naps & is a joy to be around.

I couldnt recommend Richard Maxwell highly enough he's a lovely guy with loads of knowledge. Max really helped me, but it was also up to me to keep the work up that Max had done with him that morning. Max gives you the tools its up to you to use them but WOW do his methods work.

So glad you've had Max out OP you couldnt of got anyone better out to help you imo.
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Richard is fab, he sorted out my horse which others had told me to
shoot cos he was dangerous, he went off to max for six weeks and came home transformed. I would recommend him to anyone.
 
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Wow sounds good. Still considering getting him out to sort out my mares loading problems, but so expensive
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How much is he?

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I'm wondering the same thing - anyone?
 
I have had him out twice now... The first time was because Hannah would not load for four years because she was absolutely terrified. Richard was absolutely fantastic, and I have never ever had loading issues with Hannah since, even when she had her foal with her she loaded immediately and never stressed or worried
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I then had him out to my foal... not for any other reason other than I wanted to be put in the right direction and get things perfect from the beginning. The stud where he is now cannot believe how fantastic he is to handle, the vet praises his behaviour and he is an absolute sweetheart to be around
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I've had max out to my mare for loading & she now loads perfectly. I would recommend him to anyone, he's a very talented horseman & has a lovely manner with horses. Definitely the best money I have spent on my horse
 
Richard Maxwell is now £400 a visit. I did all the follow up work he advised and I still knew my mare would not be safe to mount unheld - even repeating all his ground work and de-sensitisation techniques. She got well used to and accepting of a lunge whip lash flicked over her back and over her head but the tension remained and even worsened when it came to being mounted as she got less mentally tired by the ground work. He thought she'd be safe to mount and walk round on in 10 days to a fortnight from his visit but she showed no improvement after a month. Jonathan Parrott has taught me how to work with my mare's deep-rooted issues and while she remains quirky and not safe to just let anyone ride, she is now bringing me some enjoyment not sending me to hospital! I much prefer his direct approach to problems and he was much more reasonably priced.
 
ive enquired about getting to come and see my horse who has some loading issues (we had an unfortunate incident the other day while loading her ) . i was told the cost is £400. expensive but if he sorts her out it will be well worth it
 
Hi all - yes it was £400 for the visit - but that was for 4 hours work.

I suppose it really depends on how big an issue the problem is to you.

My boy's problem was becoming a really big issue - shoeing the one foot was becoming almost impossible and he had come to realise when the twitch was coming to do that foot. Also I would never have been able to poultice the foot if he had an injury and that is a serious welfare issue to me.

So on balance in my eyes I was running out of options, and luckily it seems to have paid off. He picked his foot up beautifully to be picked out today.

I am in the lucky position where the cost is not an issue to me but I can well understand other people's reluctance to pay out that much!
 
I completely agree with you all Max is a true horseman and very easy to explain everything you will need to give you the right tools to carry on even after he has gone. I would advise anyone to get him out I would rather pay him to sort any problems out than carry on having the problems and nearly 100% of the time your horse will be transformed.Couldnt recommend him more highly
 
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