Why the Yawn? What horse people tell themselves:- “She’s so relaxed she’s sleepy!” “She loves being lunged/ridden/round penned, because she yawns right after, so I know she’s super relaxed!” “She yawns after I take the bit out and saddle off, so I know she’s had a good time and is super chill!” But what are […]
Progression of Equine Fear “The key themes that emerged throughout several of the questions were: that fear and/or anxiety is very poorly recognized by horse caregivers; that the more overt signs of more extreme fear are more likely to be recognised than the more subtle signs; and that fear and/or anxiety is often misinterpreted by
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Desensitisation, the good and the bad (don’t get them mixed up) There seems to be a lot of confusion about Desensitization. People are either thinking it’s great to try to desensitize their horse, de-spook or bomb-proof their horse. OR there are people saying NOT to use Desensitization because it’s cruel and mean and it floods
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Both Operant (Skinner) AND Classical (Pavlov) are “on our shoulders” Positive Reinforcement is one of the processes known as Operant Conditioning. It’s a way we learn by operating or behaving in our environment in a way that we try to gain things we like. When we do that and are successful, we enjoy that or
Both Operant (Skinner) AND Classical (Pavlov) are “on our shoulders” Read More »
Clicker Training Mythbusting “They can just walk away if they want to.” Who has heard this statement? I have, many times and it always gives me pause. I find with equines, that they don’t usually leave to enjoy their alternative food, which I always recommend having nearby when training. There’s a funny saying we use
Clicker Training Mythbusting – “they can just walk away” Read More »
What kind of foods? One of the most popular questions on clicker training groups is – what treats do you use? What ensues is a barrage of helpful advice about things people feed their horses, which range from Cheerios, peppermints and sugar cubes, to grapes, carrot coins and chamomile flowers, eek! One thing I always
What kind of foods? Read More »
What does a happy horse look like? Some of you may have heard of the 3 Fs or the Five Freedoms, maybe even some of you have heard of the Five Domains, if you’ve followed my page for a while. The problem with the Five Freedoms is that it focuses on the absence of negative
What does a happy horse look like? Read More »
Protected Contact The concept of training in Protected Contact (PC) is unique to Positive Reinforcement (R+) Training. PC means training with a barrier between the trainer and the animal and originated in zoos and wildlife parks, where a keeper’s safety was paramount. It’s essential for beginner horses and humans, but also for more experienced trainers
Is your horse a rescue? I’ve been tossing this subject around in my head for quite a while now. It’s a delicate subject, as there’s a fine line between a couple of different factors. One, is trying to avoid blame and shame, because I really don’t find that helpful or productive and we simply don’t
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Horse Training, get creative and change something Have you ever made a definitive statement about your horse? “My horse is not food motivated” “My horse doesn’t like being hosed down” “I have a spooky/aggressive/dominant/submissive horse” I’ve talked previously about how labelling our animals is not helpful in our training or how to solve problems. But
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