This project was instigated by Turid Rugaas through her desire to gain a better understanding of the communication between horses and humans. Her passion on this subject inspired me to bring this project into fruition. Her passion became mine as well.
Turid is clearly the most suitable person to motivate and advise me through my study of horses. Turid carried out a similar project with dogs. For many years she has observed dogs along with her colleague Ståle Ødegård. This research was then used to study dog language and she has, thankfully, continued to work with dogs and people for the decades that followed.
Her continuous thirst for knowledge and her love of dogs, has enabled Turid to gain extensive data on the behaviour of dogs and behavioural changes in animals and humans in general. Her inquisitive nature and ability to maintain an open mind in common situations, has led to her vision of what a dog needs to be happy and, what people should do to live in harmony with their dogs.
There has been a strong interest in Turid’s work since 1992 and over the last few years Turid has become so integral to the dog world that she now focuses her time on educating instructors worldwide – with 50-60 trips per year, she is very much in demand!
Turid’s work with horses is less well known, hiding in the shadows of her work with dogs. But, although Turid is no longer able to work with horses, these animals remain very dear to her. For years she has been trying to get research in calming signals of horses off the ground, thus she offers her expertise to support this project, in order to improve the lives of horses.