Letters of the Month

LETTER OF THE MONTH:

July 2007

First of all a big Thank You to Sylvia Scott for all the efforts she put into setting up her Whispering Way 12-Step Total Training System and producing these DVD's, including the Round Pen Leadership DVD. The system is a thorough, complete foundation training program. I wish I would have had her DVD's two years ago when I had my first go at training an untouched horse. Watching the videos makes it so much easier to understand and then do it yourself. Sylvia was coaching me via email across the ocean for many months. She kept encouraging, teaching and accompanying me through all my ups and downs in training my horses in Papua, New Guinea. She's a great teacher and has an astounding ability to pick up the hidden problems - and gives her advice in an easy-to-understand way, not hiding away any "secrets." It's an unusual approach in training people via email, but it works! (-- and it's the modern age :o) !) Most amazing is that she doesn't even ask for pay for her email coaching! What you'll learn from these videos and her coaching is worth much more than the money you'll spend on the DVD's. It will change your way of thinking, about horses and people, and can bring you on the road to being a teacher yourself - for the horse and the human. Thank you, Sylvia, again for all the efforts. Without your coaching I would not be where I am now.

Gunnar Schillig - Papua New Guinea/Austria

LETTER OF THE MONTH:

July 2007

I am so excited with the Whispering Way 12-Step Total Training System program I purchased recently from you. My horse is a 4-year-old Saddlebred and is my first horse. I volunteered at a horse rescue for a year to learn all I could before getting a horse and I learned a lot. My horse had been gentled and had good ground manners, but had not been ridden. I worked with her and her previous owner and started riding her before she was ready and I learned a very costly lesson: I took a fall when she spooked and I broke L1 vertebrae, cocyxx fracture, and severe neck sprain. I am healed now and much wiser. I then ordered your Complete Package (which contained your Whispering Way 12-Step Total Training System DVD's, your Round Pen Leadership DVD, your Natural Horsemanship Halter/Lead Combo, Training Wand, and Training String) and started her training all over...and now my horse is calmer and I am more confident. Thank you so much for this program; it really works and I would recommend it to anyone with a horse!

C. W. - Chase City, Virginia

LETTER OF THE MONTH:

July 2007

Sylvia, thanks so much for your program. I adopted a 5-year-old Quarab gelding who had little to no human contact. He is my first horse and I wasn't sure I made the right decision in getting him, but we had a connection from the minute I saw him. With your Whispering Way 12-Step Total Training System program we have in a matter of weeks gotten him to actually want to be with people. The first time the rescue facility went to get him, it took 3 hours to catch him and another 2 to get him into a trailer. It's been amazing to watch the change in him following your 12-Step Program. Now I don't have to catch him; he either just waits for me in the pasture or even sometimes comes straight to me!

R. M. - Lowell, Indiana

LETTER OF THE MONTH:

July 2007

I have watched your Round Pen Leadership video about 10 times now. I have worked my gelding in the round pen using these techniques and he is responding exactly how Sylvia said he would! I'm so happy these techniques are working, and best of all, they work for my horse. It is his choice to come to me. I love it! It can't get any more natural than that!

J. B. - Calgary, Alberta, Canada

LETTER OF THE MONTH:

July 2007

Hello Sylvia. Just got your Round Pen Leadership DVD and had previously purchased your Whispering Way 12-Step Total Training System DVD set. I love the way you train! It is totally awesome! Love your tapes and the way you can change the horse's attitude! If I were a bit younger, it would be a great career! Thanks.

N. R. - Chiefland, Florida

LETTER OF THE MONTH:

July 2007

Hi Sylvia. Thank you for the link. I will review it for certain, as it is all fascinating to me to. I focused on bonding and leading last night. This guy learns so fast...that will be my challenge! My other horse was resistant, vs slow, but it equated to slow, as resistance keeps you going 1 step forward, 2 back, 2 forward, 1 back...trust was the key with that horse and confidence. He had very little left for the human. Amazing how a blank slate my other horse, compared to this horse, and his baggage, change the learning curve dramatically. But what a good feeling I have when I look at this horse and know I helped him come back into our world!

Thanks for being here! Your Round Pen Leadership and Whispering Way 12-Step Total Training System DVD's are amazing teaching tools and you are a clear and concise trainer that I have found very easy to learn from.

If you have a mailing list of upcoming clinics that you allow auditors, please include me. Any chance I get, I try to go to clinics to absorb the good, and remind myself to not "do" the not so good.

T. G. - Marshall, Virginia

LETTER OF THE MONTH:

July 2007

Thank you sooo much. My foal has responded to your techniques quite well. I'm sure I will have more questions when he gets older. I actually introduced a "saddle blanket." It was really a piece of fabric. He didn't flinch, freak or pull at all. And his leading has gotten much better due to your tips. Thank you soooo much!!!

S. S. - Des Moines, Iowa

LETTER OF THE MONTH:

July 2007

I am introducing 2 new horses to my only horse and your ["Introducing New Horse to New Pasture Mates"] article was very helpful. Not only with what to expect, but how to handle it and resolve any problems quickly. Thank You!

T. H. - Draper, Virginia

LETTER OF THE MONTH:

July 2007

Sylvia, I wanted to check in with you and thank you for your advice regarding my mare. We are the pair who suffered from the static electricity here in Nevada. Things are going great! I stopped for a moment, last night after a workout, and realized that we are back to normal. Thanks again! Sometimes it's nice to just have someone reassure you that things will get back to normal soon.

K. G. - Wellington, Nevada

LETTER OF THE MONTH:

July 2007

Sylvia, Hello, I just wanted to Thank You for the free info on your site. Most sites you would have to pay to receive such information. I haven't owned a horse since I was 15. I am now 26 and I needed some refreshing. The training with Doc on your web site was a godsend. After reading your pages, I went to the field and tried some of your bonding techniques and it worked! It was great. Thank You! I want you to know that being able to read a little of what you do and trying it myself (and seeing it work) is why I want your videos. As you know, everything with owning a horse is expensive, but as soon as I get everything I need, I will be buying your training videos. Thanks Again,

K. P. - Wind Ridge, Pennsylvania

LETTER OF THE MONTH:

July 2007

Hi Sylvia,

I just came across your web site to try to find some help with a number of training needs for my new 5-year-old Haflinger. She had not been ridden before we got her in Nov last year, and it was really easy to get her used to tack and get her backed (nice and slow) and we were at pony club within 10 days (only a bit of walk and trot, mostly on the lead rein). She is ridden mainly by my kids (10-15) who are not very experienced, and I now realise that I maybe rushed her and how much more I need to work with her myself to get her ready for the kids...and of course include them in the training. She is really lovely, but gets upset when having to leave my 15-year-old Icelandic. On your web site, I read about backing up, and today when the older mare left for a ride, the young horse got very upset and I was trying your advice re backing up, with the youngster. In the space of less than 5 minutes, she changed from a crying, stamping horse, ready to rear or even just run me over, to a calm and relaxed baby ready to graze in peace until the older mare returned. I will now try the molasses to get her to make friends with the bit and hope to get her to keep her tongue under it. Thanks!

K. D. - Northern Ireland

LETTER OF THE MONTH:

July 2007

Hi Sylvia, I ordered your Whispering Way 12-Step Total Training System DVDs a few days ago, and am really looking forward to watching and listening to you "at work." In the meantime, I just want you to know how valuable I'm finding the Training Tips section on your web site. Really, really good, practical advice that is helping my confidence a lot. I love your philosophy of patience, and trying to understand what the horse is feeling and how he sees the situation. Plus keeping things fun. I'm a first time owner with a very nice six-year-old QH gelding, and I've taken lessons for the past year (not on my horse) at a riding facility quite a distance from where I live. (Hard to get an instructor to our remote location). It's just great to have you as close as the computer to help me figure out how to deal with some not overly serious attitude/respect issues that arise every so often. I've been using "Shhhhhh" for the past few days, (instead of NO!), when my horse does something he shouldn't, and it gets his attention right away. I've always wanted our learning together to be a positive experience for both of us, so your approach of patience, a sense of humour, and positive reinforcement feels like a perfect fit for me.

I really appreciate how you are able to empathise with both the well-meaning but confused/timid/frustrated etc. owner, as well as the horse. I've added you to my "Equestrian Support Team."

You sent me a very nice email about a year ago shortly after I got my horse, telling me about your Nova Scotian connection. You would have loved it in this part of Nova Scotia this morning! The Bay of Fundy was glassy calm, and the air was thick with the fragrance of wild roses. The only sound was song birds singing, and as I looked at my beautiful, gleaming horse against the backdrop of blue ocean, I wondered how I got so lucky that I live in Heaven without having to go through that dying business! All the best,

C. C. - Freeport, Long Island, Digby County, Nova Scotia

LETTER OF THE MONTH:

July 2007

Hi Sylvia. Thank goodness for your web site. You have helped me out a great deal with some problems I have been having over the lst year with two new horses. Hoof cleaning and kicking out, your rope trick really works. A mare who was being twitched in the past for deworming by the previous owner now eagerly awaits her apple sauce treat, with only slight hesitation. She figures that she gets apple sauce more often than worming paste so it's worth the risk!! Thank you.

A. - Internet

LETTER OF THE MONTH:

July 2007

Hi Sylvia, I'm writing to say a huge thank you for your reply and your web site. A friend of mine had your DVDs and lent them to me (sorry, I couldn't afford them after all my horses bills, but I will get some when I can!), which helped immensely and I've now got a fantastic relationship with this horse.

After sending you an email and having no luck with other instructors, I struggled with my horse alone for nearly 6 months, partly having to undo the damage done by my first instructor! I was convinced there was something wrong with his neck, but various equine 'professionals', including 3 instructors ( I won't name them!), 2 chiropractors, 2 physios and one vet told me he was either a bully and having me on or too difficult and should be put down. I persevered and managed to persuade Leahurst Equine Hospital to x-ray his neck and found he had OCD - quite marked bony changes to the vertebrae. They think the problem has been present for some time and he will have been in a lot of pain. They (and I) are quite convinced his behaviour will have been down to this issue. Now, after anti-inflamatories and physio he's a different boy. To be honest, I'm amazed he didn't hurt me and in retrospect I think he's a saint for putting up with the trauma!

I am very disillusioned with the equine industry in this country, and I have to say, on the surface it seems people are more prepared to consider the 'alternative' option in the USA than here. The natural horsemanship instructors I've encountered (2 recommended on your website) will not come to you unless you're in a 10 mile radius, and were quite dismissive and unhelpful - it's a sad situation. I finally spoke to Richard Maxwell who did come out to me and taught me more in a couple of hours than I've learned in months. He was a massive help and between him and your web site tips I got through the bad patch and now have a horse on the mend who trusts me. I have a wonderful, intelligent horse that has been very misunderstood. My faith in both my horse and myself is restored thanks to you both. Thanks again,

J. H. - United Kingdom

LETTER OF THE MONTH:

July 2007

Dear Sylvia, I must share this with you and the rest of the equestrian world! I narrowed my horse's trailer loading problem down to the ramp -- the clanking sound terrified him, so we decided to put a wooden door on the ground and he wouldn't go near it. This morning my groom had the brilliant idea of putting the door in front of the stable, with his feed in the stable. He hesitated, but one foot went on and then he put in a huge stride across. At lunchtime the door was put right up to the stable entrance mimicking an actual ramp as the stables are slightly raised; he walked onto the door and in. We made him come out again and back in he went! No pulling or even a lead rope involved! We will continue this excercise every feeding and then move on to the trailer again! I can't tell you how pleased I am! Please feel free to share this with anyone with similar problems, I certainly will! Your advance and retreat methods have really helped too; out on a ride yesterday he didn't spook once. Normally he jumps at anything, and it was a new route! I will let you know how it goes when we move back to the trailer! Best regards,

T. N. J. - Choma, Zambia

LETTER OF THE MONTH:

July 2007

Hey Sylvia, I watched your Round Pen Leadership and Whispering Way 12-Step Total Training System videos last night. Your videos are very practical and really take the ego mentality out of horse training. You truly present the Natural Horsemanship concepts in a way that anyone young or old can understand. As you say in the video "you can do this!" I really walked away with the understanding that anyone can do this!

Chris Mitchell - Salem, Alabama

If you have a horse problem or question and you

don't see it addressed in TRAINING TIPS or if you

would like to share your success story with our

natural horsemanship training methods...

Contact Sylvia Scott

Email: Sylvia@NaturalHorseTraining.com

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