Years of University education could not have prepared me for the day when my beloved mare could no longer be separated from her stable companion without the fear of injury to myself and her. Worry not I thought, I am a scientist, I have a distinction at MSc in Equine behaviour I CAN resolve this!  The trouble was ... I couldn't!  That is, not until I discovered the work of Monty Roberts and Kelly Marks
In my opinion, the most successful equine behaviourist would start with what current theory (and I say current as we must remember that scientific theory is ever evolving), tells them and then add experience and trial and error to suit individual horses needs.

Unfortunately, this type of behaviourist is extremely rare. You usually find there are one of two options 'university educated' with little or no practical experience, or 'practical' with little or no theoretical understanding. I had the theoretical understanding but not the practical experience, hence me needing help. It was at this point someone mentioned 'Intelligent Horsemanship' established by Kelly Marks and mentored by Monty Roberts. I didn't need to be a scientist to see that their techniques worked and I wanted to know more.

I enrolled myself on the horse psychology workshop taught by Kelly Marks and was pleasantly surprised to not only to be acting out both positive and negative reinforcement (something we never did at university) but also being taught the practical application of our current understanding of horse psychology. I was in awe, an organisation which not only understood the theory but also knew how to put it into practice; I decided I had to be part of this organisation!

That was three years ago and not only am I am now proudly part of Intelligent Horsemanship as the horse psychology project supervisor but I can also say that with their practical guidance (thank you IH Recommend Trainer Sarah Weston), my horse is doing wonderfully well. Kelly Marks and Intelligent Horsemanship are probably one of the few that recognise the need for the synergy between scientist and practical behaviourists and have pioneered this synergy by incorporating science into their studies and teachings in order to advance our understanding of equine behaviour. Students are taught not only the how (practical horsemanship) but also the why (science theory).

Recently under guidance of scientists such as myself, Intelligent Horsemanship have begun to scientifically validate their methods in order to understand how and why they work, something which has never been done before. For example, recently we have undertaken a study investigating the science of a bad loader and its resolution. This study was the first in a line of many which has combined scientists and practical behaviourists and it is clear from the results what we can learn by such proactive relationships.

As scientists we all know the theory of our chosen subject area but do we really know how to effectively put this theory into practice? This is a question which has troubled me for a number of years. It is of my belief that every scientist instead of reaching for their text book companion which has helped them through university, should in fact be reaching for the nearest practical horseman in order to further their understanding. Theories are ever evolving and just because they are considered as 'fact' does not necessarily mean that they won't change. Horses are not computers or phones or even TVs that when they go wrong you can reach for the convenient 'trouble shooting page' and work your way through a standard set of instructions to resolve the problem. They are living animals and have 'minds of their own'.

For every single behavioural problem there are hundreds of possible reasons for the behaviour and perhaps hundreds of possible solutions. Who is going to get to the solution first, those that use theory or those that use practical experience? I would put my money on the practical horseman any day. Through my own experiences theoretical knowledge can never prepare you for the body language and timing required to positively communicate with a horse, only experience can provide you with this. Can you then imagine the progress we could make if scientists and practical horsemen worked together?

Continued in this column next week. For More Information on Monty's upcoming tour promoted by Intelligent Horsemanship in October, go to