​Melanie Watson uses the herd language of wild horses to tame disturbed equine creatures. Will Ramsey discovers the part cows played in her training – and learns why Melanie hates the term ‘horse whisperer’ . . .

Melanie Watson will soon be demonstrating her skills on TV. “I want to be the Charlie Dimmock of the horse world,” she says

Horse-whispering conjures the image of an earnest, quiet conversation between man and beast. But mention the term to horse trainer Melanie Watson and you’ll get a roll of the eyes.

“It’s a terrible phrase – it’s that Robert Redford film, isn’t it?” she says in the kitchen of her Skidby home.

“I don’t whisper to them at all.”

Melanie, who runs Instinctive Horse Training in the village, does use language to rehabilitate disturbed horses from across the country.

But instead of a thoughtful chat, her methods are more direct – using the “herd language” of the wild.

“Horses need a leader, before they need a friend,” said Melanie, who has run her Main Street business for the past 24 years.

“In a herd there is an alpha mare and what she says goes.

“If any of the herd do not go along with her, then they get left behind. If they don’t conform they get bitten, they get kicked and chased, so they learn they have to follow along and be a good little member of the herd.

“That’s what I do when I am retraining horses – I put myself up as the leader.”

Her methods use none of the aggression of the wild but rather simple, attention-grabbing, psychological tactics that help the horse “unlearn” its previous behaviour.

With the use of a halter rope – which features a series of small knots around a loop at the end – Melanie has helped calm “hundreds and hundreds” of horses that have become unmanageable.

The looped end of the rope is placed around the horse’s head, with the small knots corresponding to pressure points on the face. During the retraining process, a short, sudden tug on the rope jolts the horse to attention.

“It’s not about punishing the horses and it’s not about hurting them,” she said.

“To them, it feels like a prod and it gets their attention – and once you’ve got that, you’ve cracked it.

“All them time the horse conforms, the rope is loose. If the horse tries to tug away, he will push on the pressure points. It applies tiny little points of pressure, which drop off immediately. The second the horse reacts, you say ‘good boy’ – it  teaches the horse to relax.

“You go through a series of moves where you end up controlling the horse. That’s why it doesn’t need physical strength – I’m only 5ft 4in – it’s mental strength. It produces that herd mentality.”

Melanie Watson, of Instinctive Horse Training, at her stables in Skidby

Melanie, who went to Hessle High School, has developed her techniques during a well-travelled life.

Born in 1962 in Kenya – where her father was the chief fisheries officer – Melanie’s early years were spent in East Africa, Kent and Edinburgh, before her father’s job took the family to Hull.

“There was no interest in horses in my background at all,” she said.

“But when we moved to Kent, my new best friend went pony riding on a Sunday and I was fascinated. I wasn’t allowed to go because I sang in the church and my parents didn’t know anything about horses.

“But the more I was told I couldn’t, the more I said I wanted to because I’m an obtuse character. I’m sure it’s because my parents said no that I became hell-bent on doing it.”

After training in Scarborough and then spending 18 months at a dressage yard just outside Vienna – where she was taught by head riders from the Spanish Riding School – Melanie returned to England.

She began working at a stud and dairy farm in Gloucestershire, Berkeley, owned by Janet Chaplin, and began observing the herd mentality of the livestock.

“I remember one morning at 5am, watching the cows as they were starting to go off to milking,” she said.

“I saw the body language of the herd. The head of the herd was always at the front, then the henchmen, then the scaredy ones at the back. They always came in that order.

“It’s amazing what you learn just by watching, that’s where the interest came from – having that time to watch them interact. It’s what gave me the empathy.”

Melanie taming another horse

She returned to East Yorkshire, aged 23, to work for a Skidby farmer, George Foster.

Melanie was something of a trailblazer at the time: “I was a very slim, very pretty young thing going around East Yorkshire in a huge tractor, cutting hedges.”

But despite sneers from some at a woman doing a “man’s job”, she soon became noticed.

A short contract with the show-jumping owner Trevor Banks from Bishop Burton, drew her back into the world she loved.

And with an Enterprise Allowance from the Tory Government – which paid £30 a week for a year to those starting up a business – she set up stables in Skidby.

But it was the unannounced appearance of an Australian horseman, Mike Barker, which changed her perspective.

“Mike had come over to England because his sister was dying of cancer at Dove House,” Melanie said.

“He simply marched into my yard one day – as bold as brass, larger than life – and said ‘G’day mate!’. He was about 6ft 3in, ever so thin, with these great big whiskers. He was one of the nicest people I ever met. He started showing me Australian stuff. It’s cowboy training, but without the harshness – using herd language.”

Mike continued to visit every summer for eight years, inviting Melanie to help out at his demos.

“I learned the basics from him and modified them for myself,” said Melanie.

These days, the influences she has drawn from her travels around the world have made her much in demand.

Her website receives queries and appeals for help from across the country to deal with horses that are traumatised – or simply bad tempered.

“I go off all over the place – Brighton, Cumbria, Nottingham – but I can only do that because I have a cracking head girl, Carlie, and a great staff – it’s a team,” said Melanie

“Working as an island is never nice.”

Melanie enjoys promoting her work and, after a visit to the television conference, MipCom, at Cannes earlier this year, she secured a series of short television films.

Set to be shown on the satellite channel Horse and Country Television in the spring, these 15-minute segments will see her visit “problem” horses throughout the country.

“I want to be the Charlie Dimmock of the horse-world – without the obvious appendages!” she said, with a laugh.

“It’s going to be a bit like Supernanny, in that she doesn’t just help the kids – it’s also helping the mum change.

“I want to make the owners rethink their behaviour and give them the confidence and knowledge to keep the horses in check.”

It’s all part of her understanding that the relationship between owner and horse is vitally important.

“I put the owner in charge,” she said.

“Horses need leaders, they don’t need a best friend. A lot of people try to be a best friend – then the horse walks all over them.”

 For more information, visit www.instinctivehorsetraining.co.uk