My Girl George

My Girl George, a beautiful dapple grey 16.3hh pure Irish Draught mare, had been mistreated as a youngster. This culminated in an attack while out in the field, when three men on motor-bikes chased and eventually cornered and stabbed her. She was terrified of her own shadow and, as is the way with horses, her instinctive reaction was to bolt for home. If only Georgie’s (then) owners had taken the time to rehabilitate her, to help her face and overcome her fears then her story may have been quite different and this wonderful creature spared so much misery. But thankfully I rescued and placed Georgie into Sally’s most capable care and so this tale has a happy ending.

Sally is the most incredibly intuitive person. She is ‘as one’ with animals, with all animals not just horses and dogs. They instinctively know to trust her and fall instantly, head-over-heels in love within moments of their first meeting. Sally is quickly acknowledged as pack leader with the animal only to happy to do her bidding. There is no nonsense allowed and bad behaviour will not be tolerated. But Sally recognises there is most always a reason for this, due to ignorance, bad practice or down-right cruelty, with the animal rarely at fault. So Sally’s every word, each order, is given quietly but firmly and, as her routines and structures come into effect, so even the most aggressive, the most fearful or terrified of creatures will soon be eating passively from her hand while eagerly awaiting their next instruction.

Sally quickly recognised not only Georgie’s great potential but also her weaknesses and many foibles. She immediately set about winning her trust, her loyalty, and in no time at all had convinced Georgie that, actually, there was nothing to be fearful of. Soon it was possible to fire-up a powerful motor-bike standing right beside Georgie, while the horse calmly snuffled for yet another polo mint from Sally’s copious pockets!

Under Sally’s tutelage and with her insightful, hugely knowledgeable and sympathetic training methods, this huge, some might say, ungainly creature was transformed before my very eyes into the sleekest, most finely tuned powerhouse and against all the odds - she became a dressage horse! As Georgie learned to channel her strength, her well-toned muscles, she appeared to glide across the arena, as light as the proverbial feather. This transformation was a sight to behold and best of all, I had a healthy, happy, secure horse that could go anywhere and perform to the highest levels.

Yet this was no fluke. This was not a one off achievement, for I have been fortunate to observe Sally work her magic on a number of horses (not forgetting their riders of course, including me) and, more latterly, dogs over the past 12 years or so.

Sally is the ultimate horse and a dog whisperer who can and will work wonders! She did this for Georgie and for me. Now Sally can do this for your beloved, yet challenging, horse or dog and for you.

Jilly Swanson