Dan The Man
Equi-Ads England & Wales, September 2001

Kuchina Johnson continues her series on her relationship with her friends in the animal world the results of which can be seen in her displays that have audiences enthralled.

The love of my life is horses but I also have a very soft spot for dogs. Dan the Man, named thus because he can walk on two legs as well as he can on four, is the greatest display dog I have ever owned. It could be said, though, that he owns me. It took just nine months to train him and he has become my best friend and helper. He is out with me every day helping with the young horses. Many three year olds are afraid to walk through water but I send Dan through and, nine times out of ten, the young horse follows. If there is hesitation on the part of the horse Dan will stand there in the middle of the river and wait until the horse feels safe to join him.

Some horses are spooked by paper or plastic blowing around. To deal with this I get Dan to hold a plastic bag in his mouth and walk beside me. I have seen a horse walk around us up to five times but by the end of the exercise the animal becomes quite matter of fact about it and the problem is solved. The fear is conquered and we can proceed with the next stage in the training. This method is continued in the yard. I get Dan to carry as many everyday objects in his mouth while walking around the yard under the watchful eye of the horses. He will carry bottles, old rubber rings and even one of my toddler's dolls. These things that can so often scare a horse, become familiar day to day objects carried by someone they trust. This pays off so that when they come across things like these when we are out hacking it is a case of "So what!".

Dan is about to become a proud dad and if his offspring are half as intelligent and trustworthy as he is I will be forever grateful. Dan is at my side as I write this article and I dread the day he will not be there so I hope he will be a long lived dog. I hope to meet some of the readers of Equi-Ads during what is left of the showing season.

Be back soon, Kuchina.