The Tellington TTouch® is a kind and respectful way of working with animals to help them overcome a variety of health and behavioural issues.  It was developed over 30 years ago by Linda Tellington-Jones and is now widely used around the world by trainers, sports and pleasure riders, veterinarians and vet-techs.
               

Tellington TTouch® recognises an inextricable link between posture and behaviour and uses body work, ground work exercises and specific equipment for work under saddle to release tension and to promote a feeling of calm and well being.  This in turn helps horses develop self confidence and self control and enables them to move beyond their instinctive and, often fearful, response and creates improved performance under saddle. 

Contrary to out dated beliefs, handling a fearful, defensive or reactive animal in a positive, mindful, calm way does not reward, and therefore reinforce, that behaviour.  The Tellington TTouch® has a profound and potent effect on the nervous system and has a powerful influence on responses and mood. Even well established patterns of behaviour often alter within a very short space of time and the Tellington TTouch has improved the relationship between horse and owner and even saved the lives of many horses whose behaviour has been deemed to be out of control.

Observations are an important part of the TTouch work.  Practitioners note the horse’s responses to stimuli, the posture, balance, movement and muscle development of the horse, his heart rate and respiration, the texture and appearance of the coat and so on.  They feel for temperature changes, coarse or dry hair, tension in the tail, ears, legs and the mobility of the skin.  They also pay close attention to the horse’s responses to contact on the body and his ability to negotiate the ground work exercises and adapt the sessions accordingly.  The focus is always on what the horse can achieve rather than what he can’t achieve and the aim is to work below the threshold at which the horse has to react, particularly when handling animals that are nervous and/or defensive.

Wednesday- I will post the next part of this article which will continue with the explaination of  what TTouch is all about…