Bonding with your four-leggedfriend; horse WHISPERS.

Byline: ROSEMARY DUNNAGE

ALLEN out with your best friend? Don't know what to do?A phone call, a bunch of flowers, chocolates perhaps, will usually help build fences and smooth ruffled feathers.

But what happens when your quarrel is with your four-legged friend? This is a tricky one.

As we know from the song, your horse ``will never let you down''. So it's up to you. That's the first step,accept some of the blame, says Lavinia Mitchell,an equine psychologist based in Pwllheli.

She says: ``Horse lovers are finding new ways of understanding why their horses behave as they do. This em pathetic approach can also help them overcome problems with their riding.''

With a ten-year track record in horse behaviour and psychology,Lavinia, 28, is now sharing her findings with horse owners in a bid to find positive solutions to everyday problems.

Her lifelong experience around horses includes everything from the highly-strung thoroughbreds at stud in Lincolnshire to jolly farm ponies in Wales. She is positively evangelical when it comes to understanding horses and their needs.

A member of the Institute of Animal Care Education (IACE),Lavinia is there to help anyone from a ``happy hacker'',a dedicated competitor or simply a horse lover to release the partnership's full potential.

She says: ``It is simply taking everything we know about horses and translating it into everyday situations and scenarios. As soon as you can tell him what you want in a way he understands -at any stage in his life -the sooner the relationship will blossom into something harmonious and stress-free.''

It seems horses, unlike other domesticated herd animals,have a desire to bond with us. If we seem refuse to understand the horse's needs then it shows itself in what we consider ``antisocial'' behaviour -kicking, biting, napping, tanking off and objecting to being loaded.

Thanks to a Millennium Award Grant for a special community project, just announced, Lavinia is now starting to spread the word in Wales.

In the coming months she will be visiting some 30 schools throughout the Lloen peninsula and talking to primary school children about horse behaviour.

One of the teachers who supported the idea is Elin Owen,deputy head of Ysgol Llangybi, near Pwllheli, who said: ``We feel this project ideally suits the curriculum module which is concerned with ``awareness of others''.

``Youngsters can easily identify with the subject since the majority of children in the area have first- hand knowledge of horses or ponies.''

Since the path of true equine-human love is rarely smooth,Lavinia also offers one-to-one home consultations. These usually last a day but can spread over a period of time.

Lavinia,a free lance writer who runs the Pwllheli Seafood shop with husband Shaun,constantly updates herself on 21st century thinking in equine science through IACE and leading university research departments.

Since the launch of her service in February this year, Lavinia has already accumulated a wealth of successful case studies. It's a short step away from the world of marriage guidance, but for the time being she's content with repairing horse-owner relationships.

Lavinia Mitchell: 07980 059622. Rosemary Dunnage, who runs a farm and stables at Corwen,is a qualified Assistant Instructor,amateur hunter trials competitor,one-day eventer and a former member of Cheshire and Shropshire draghunts. A horse owner for 30 years, she ran her own school,including a riding for the disabled unit,in the grounds of Manchester's Belle Vue Zoological Park, where her husband Peter Grayson was Zoo Director and well known wildlife TV and radio presenter.

CAPTION(S):

Lavinia Mitchell with Banner at Blawd ac Ati Farm,Pwllheli; Picture: ROBERT PARRY JONES