Whole Horse Power
| WHOLE HORSE POWER 63 Longbow Ln Wimberley, TX 78676 |
Ernie
BERT AND ERNIE came home with me one day after work. My fiancé knew they were coming. Still, he wasn’t
quite prepared for my new fascination.
Bert & Ernie first appeared in my life when their owner came to the pet clinic where I worked part-time. She
was looking for a new home for them. She was preparing to leave for the Florida show circuit for a few
months, and had decided that she just didn’t have enough time to spend with them. She said that she’d had
the lovebirds for years. Ernie was at least 13 years old and Bert was 7.
It was immediately obvious that Ernie had some type of disability. We kept them at the clinic for a few days
and observed their behavior while waiting to see who would become their new owner. Bert appeared normal,
although extremely unwilling to be handled. He would go to the far side of the cage and stay away whenever
the cage door was opened. Ernie was more gregarious and was the “protector”. In spite of his handicap he
would attack any hand that entered his domain.
As the days went by we saw that Ernie was in bad shape. Dr. Carter recalled the occasion, almost a year
earlier when his owner brought him to the clinic after finding him in this condition. He could not move
normally. His right side was seriously impaired. His right wing had a large bald patch. He could not walk, just
vibrate, and fall on his face. In order to get from his perch in the top center of the cage down to the food he
would hang from his good leg until he was as close as possible to the floor, then fall, landing with a thump on
his side or back. This was followed by seizure behavior, then trance-like behavior and finally he would pick
himself up and climb slowly and with difficulty to the food perch, and totteringly eat his food. Any movement of
his perch would send him into fits of shaking and wild tottering and usually plop onto the floor. We all felt sorry
for him, but admired him, because no matter how many times he fell, nor how difficult climbing and walking
seemed to be for him, he just kept trying. When he tried to fly, even though his wings were not clipped, he
could only fly backward, or flutter forward and fall on his face.
I knew that if anything could help Ernie it would be TTEAM, so Bert and Ernie came home with me.
That night I changed their perch and added “stair step” perches to make it easier for Ernie to make it down to
the food. I caught the little “protector” in a leather-gloved hand, and gave him his first TTEAM session. At first
he shivered and bit while I used long strokes and tiny one-finger circles, but after a few minutes he stopped
shaking and relaxed. Soon he was lying nestled in my hand in that relaxed state we see so often with TTEAM,
and when I had to return him to his cage he was not all that interested in going there.
Each day I spent at least one 15 minute session doing circles and long strokes on Ernie, nestled in my hand.
Within 3 days he would fall asleep and rest soundly there for as long as I, or Mike would hold him.
Six days after I took him home he went back to the vet for x-rays. The vet was amazed at how much his
balance, strength, coordination and movement had improved. He could now climb down from his perch,
climb onto his perch and hold on without wild tottering and falling. He no longer fell to the ground with a thud
when getting down.
Jan 27, 94, his one week anniversary with me and TTEAM he allowed me to turn him on his back and do
circles all over his front side. He stayed calm and relaxed and loved it. Ernie has been with me now for 3 ½
months. He gets TTEAMwork a couple of times a week. His seizure behavior has disappeared, as well as his
curl to the right. He can now make short flights upward and forward. He climbs up and down in his cage, and
can walk. He continues to improve all the time. Although he is not functioning at 100% he has regained about
75% function. He is a happy bird who at first glance appears pretty normal.
A few weeks ago I took him to work with me to use as an example of the things that can be accomplished with
TTEAM. I was giving a short seminar to our vets and technicians on the uses of TTEAM. Dr. Carter had seen
Ernie when he first became dysfunctional and thought that he had probably had a stroke. He really thought
that Ernie was done for, and certainly never expected that he would regain function. He was absolutely
amazed at the changes we had made with TTEAM.
I’ve been using TTEAM since 1987, mainly on horses. This is the first bird I’ve worked on and one of the most
amazing recovery stories that I have. As nothing else was changed in this birds’ life, as far as nutrition,
medication, or environment, I cannot attribute these changes to anything other than TTEAM; nor can the
veterinarian.
Penny Stone
April 5, 1995
Ernie has been with me for a little over a year now, and he continues to improve. Last October his companion
Bert, met an accidental death and Ernie was alone. I had stopped working at the pet clinic and was bring
home another lovebird, Romeo, on weekends to give him a break from the caged non-interactive life he lead
at the pet clinic. This gave Ernie some interaction as well, and in the long run has contributed to his
continuing improvement.
I continue to use TTOUCH on Ernie as often as possible. This averages out to a couple of sessions a week,
sometimes as long as 20 minutes, sometimes only 5 minutes. Balance continues to be a problem for him,
and until recently, his flights ended in landings that looked like a plane that bounces off the runway several
times, then falls on its side. More often than not he would almost make it to his target landing site, lose lift,
run into his objective, then fall to the ground. Although his balance improved he still had difficulty grasping
evenly and strongly with both legs, and would always hold onto the side of the cage with one foot and perch
with the other foot.
I have been doing lots of circles all over his body, python lifts on his legs and feet, long strokes from his head
to his tail, and “leg circles” with his wings by rotating them at the shoulder. (It is so interesting that the look in
the eyes, that “Mr. Blinky” look comes to every species that I have worked on; horses, parrots, emus, rheas,
lizards, snakes, cats, dogs and humans, when they are positively affected by TTOUCH). These sessions
always were followed by a period of improved balance and coordination, and gradually I began to see Ernie
make accurate landings, to perch with both feet, and to be able to grasp more equally.
A couple of months ago Ernie began to have “seizures” again, or perhaps a series of strokes. He would fall
off his perch, land on his back or side and flap, struggle and panic, crying and squawking piteously. The first
time I saw this I reached in his cage and grabbed him and immediately started in with the small circles all
over his chest. In a minute he relaxed and came back to normal. My husband, Mike, and I saw three of these
episodes and in each case used the same approach with the same result. (I had found in working with Attila,
the neurologically impaired emu, that TTOUCH could interrupt seizures) After this series of seizures we saw
no long term effects and Ernie continues to improve.
I often considered ways to give him the equivalent of “Learning Exercises”, as I had seen the improvement
that these affect in dogs and horses. It turned out that Romeo was to be the source of Learning Exercises.
Romeo eventually came home to stay. He is a very aggressive, almost hyperactive bird. Whereas Bert just
perched quietly, Romeo climbed and squawked, and shredded everything he could get his beak on, and got
into everything he could find. and groomed Ernie to the point of distraction. Within a month of Romeo’s arrival
we saw Ernie doing more climbing, more flying, with better landings, wanting to perch on my shoulder (like
Romeo does), shredding paper and generally being more coordinated and active.
Another change that we made was to give Ernie a nesting basket that he could sleep in without having to
perch. He needs a tremendous amount of rest and is always more coordinated when he awakes from a nap
in his “bed”. We keep he and Romeo in separate cages next to one another sot that he can have a retreat
from Romeo’s overbearing attentions.
We have added fruits, vegetables and nuts to their diet to try to make sure that they get a wide range of
nutrients. They are very resistant to new things at first, and we had to give new foods when the seeds in their
cups were pretty well depleted and not give new seed for a day or so. However, through that and feeding them
something new by hand when we are eating that thing, they now will at least taste just about anything.
The TTEAM approach has given me the ability to look at the problems by chunking them down into their
elements and dealing with each of the elements separately to positively affect the whole. It has also given me
the ability to look at these creatures as intelligent expressions of life and not reduce them to “idiot birdbrains”.
POSTSCRIPT: Ernie died in June of 1995. He had one final stroke on a sunny afternoon while he was out on
the balcony with his friend Romeo.
BERT AND ERNIE came home with me one day after work. My fiancé knew they were coming. Still, he wasn’t
quite prepared for my new fascination.
Bert & Ernie first appeared in my life when their owner came to the pet clinic where I worked part-time. She
was looking for a new home for them. She was preparing to leave for the Florida show circuit for a few
months, and had decided that she just didn’t have enough time to spend with them. She said that she’d had
the lovebirds for years. Ernie was at least 13 years old and Bert was 7.
It was immediately obvious that Ernie had some type of disability. We kept them at the clinic for a few days
and observed their behavior while waiting to see who would become their new owner. Bert appeared normal,
although extremely unwilling to be handled. He would go to the far side of the cage and stay away whenever
the cage door was opened. Ernie was more gregarious and was the “protector”. In spite of his handicap he
would attack any hand that entered his domain.
As the days went by we saw that Ernie was in bad shape. Dr. Carter recalled the occasion, almost a year
earlier when his owner brought him to the clinic after finding him in this condition. He could not move
normally. His right side was seriously impaired. His right wing had a large bald patch. He could not walk, just
vibrate, and fall on his face. In order to get from his perch in the top center of the cage down to the food he
would hang from his good leg until he was as close as possible to the floor, then fall, landing with a thump on
his side or back. This was followed by seizure behavior, then trance-like behavior and finally he would pick
himself up and climb slowly and with difficulty to the food perch, and totteringly eat his food. Any movement of
his perch would send him into fits of shaking and wild tottering and usually plop onto the floor. We all felt sorry
for him, but admired him, because no matter how many times he fell, nor how difficult climbing and walking
seemed to be for him, he just kept trying. When he tried to fly, even though his wings were not clipped, he
could only fly backward, or flutter forward and fall on his face.
I knew that if anything could help Ernie it would be TTEAM, so Bert and Ernie came home with me.
That night I changed their perch and added “stair step” perches to make it easier for Ernie to make it down to
the food. I caught the little “protector” in a leather-gloved hand, and gave him his first TTEAM session. At first
he shivered and bit while I used long strokes and tiny one-finger circles, but after a few minutes he stopped
shaking and relaxed. Soon he was lying nestled in my hand in that relaxed state we see so often with TTEAM,
and when I had to return him to his cage he was not all that interested in going there.
Each day I spent at least one 15 minute session doing circles and long strokes on Ernie, nestled in my hand.
Within 3 days he would fall asleep and rest soundly there for as long as I, or Mike would hold him.
Six days after I took him home he went back to the vet for x-rays. The vet was amazed at how much his
balance, strength, coordination and movement had improved. He could now climb down from his perch,
climb onto his perch and hold on without wild tottering and falling. He no longer fell to the ground with a thud
when getting down.
Jan 27, 94, his one week anniversary with me and TTEAM he allowed me to turn him on his back and do
circles all over his front side. He stayed calm and relaxed and loved it. Ernie has been with me now for 3 ½
months. He gets TTEAMwork a couple of times a week. His seizure behavior has disappeared, as well as his
curl to the right. He can now make short flights upward and forward. He climbs up and down in his cage, and
can walk. He continues to improve all the time. Although he is not functioning at 100% he has regained about
75% function. He is a happy bird who at first glance appears pretty normal.
A few weeks ago I took him to work with me to use as an example of the things that can be accomplished with
TTEAM. I was giving a short seminar to our vets and technicians on the uses of TTEAM. Dr. Carter had seen
Ernie when he first became dysfunctional and thought that he had probably had a stroke. He really thought
that Ernie was done for, and certainly never expected that he would regain function. He was absolutely
amazed at the changes we had made with TTEAM.
I’ve been using TTEAM since 1987, mainly on horses. This is the first bird I’ve worked on and one of the most
amazing recovery stories that I have. As nothing else was changed in this birds’ life, as far as nutrition,
medication, or environment, I cannot attribute these changes to anything other than TTEAM; nor can the
veterinarian.
Penny Stone
April 5, 1995
Ernie has been with me for a little over a year now, and he continues to improve. Last October his companion
Bert, met an accidental death and Ernie was alone. I had stopped working at the pet clinic and was bring
home another lovebird, Romeo, on weekends to give him a break from the caged non-interactive life he lead
at the pet clinic. This gave Ernie some interaction as well, and in the long run has contributed to his
continuing improvement.
I continue to use TTOUCH on Ernie as often as possible. This averages out to a couple of sessions a week,
sometimes as long as 20 minutes, sometimes only 5 minutes. Balance continues to be a problem for him,
and until recently, his flights ended in landings that looked like a plane that bounces off the runway several
times, then falls on its side. More often than not he would almost make it to his target landing site, lose lift,
run into his objective, then fall to the ground. Although his balance improved he still had difficulty grasping
evenly and strongly with both legs, and would always hold onto the side of the cage with one foot and perch
with the other foot.
I have been doing lots of circles all over his body, python lifts on his legs and feet, long strokes from his head
to his tail, and “leg circles” with his wings by rotating them at the shoulder. (It is so interesting that the look in
the eyes, that “Mr. Blinky” look comes to every species that I have worked on; horses, parrots, emus, rheas,
lizards, snakes, cats, dogs and humans, when they are positively affected by TTOUCH). These sessions
always were followed by a period of improved balance and coordination, and gradually I began to see Ernie
make accurate landings, to perch with both feet, and to be able to grasp more equally.
A couple of months ago Ernie began to have “seizures” again, or perhaps a series of strokes. He would fall
off his perch, land on his back or side and flap, struggle and panic, crying and squawking piteously. The first
time I saw this I reached in his cage and grabbed him and immediately started in with the small circles all
over his chest. In a minute he relaxed and came back to normal. My husband, Mike, and I saw three of these
episodes and in each case used the same approach with the same result. (I had found in working with Attila,
the neurologically impaired emu, that TTOUCH could interrupt seizures) After this series of seizures we saw
no long term effects and Ernie continues to improve.
I often considered ways to give him the equivalent of “Learning Exercises”, as I had seen the improvement
that these affect in dogs and horses. It turned out that Romeo was to be the source of Learning Exercises.
Romeo eventually came home to stay. He is a very aggressive, almost hyperactive bird. Whereas Bert just
perched quietly, Romeo climbed and squawked, and shredded everything he could get his beak on, and got
into everything he could find. and groomed Ernie to the point of distraction. Within a month of Romeo’s arrival
we saw Ernie doing more climbing, more flying, with better landings, wanting to perch on my shoulder (like
Romeo does), shredding paper and generally being more coordinated and active.
Another change that we made was to give Ernie a nesting basket that he could sleep in without having to
perch. He needs a tremendous amount of rest and is always more coordinated when he awakes from a nap
in his “bed”. We keep he and Romeo in separate cages next to one another sot that he can have a retreat
from Romeo’s overbearing attentions.
We have added fruits, vegetables and nuts to their diet to try to make sure that they get a wide range of
nutrients. They are very resistant to new things at first, and we had to give new foods when the seeds in their
cups were pretty well depleted and not give new seed for a day or so. However, through that and feeding them
something new by hand when we are eating that thing, they now will at least taste just about anything.
The TTEAM approach has given me the ability to look at the problems by chunking them down into their
elements and dealing with each of the elements separately to positively affect the whole. It has also given me
the ability to look at these creatures as intelligent expressions of life and not reduce them to “idiot birdbrains”.
POSTSCRIPT: Ernie died in June of 1995. He had one final stroke on a sunny afternoon while he was out on
the balcony with his friend Romeo.
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