Seymour’s Progress – May 2021 Yippee! What a fantastic day! It was trimming day and Seymour finally got his back hoof trimmed for the first time! (This is a donkey who came to me very frightened, head shy and hadn’t been trimmed in years!). For non donkey folk – donkeys are very good at kicking […]
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Separation Anxiety? Buddy Sour Herd Bound Destination Addiction What do all these terms mean? Separation Anxiety is one of the most common problems that horse owners face. It is a natural behaviour for horses – millions of years of evolution have taught them to be very scared if they find themselves alone and to rectify
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Do you have a horse or donkey that is really “in your face”? Do you have a horse or donkey that is really “in your face”? For example, are they always first to greet, even hunt you down, sniff, nibble, even push on you? But by the same token, they don’t seem comfortable when you
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Click for Action and Feed for Position I think it’s important to show real life training, rather than carefully edited, scripted and captioned training. I also have to live up to my own encouragement to everyone to be brave learners, be prepared to make mistakes and that ‘the animal is always right, so how can
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Autumn Magic I had a wonderful time with Seymour tonight. All clicker training was done, dinner was delivered via training and hay nets were hung and there was a lovely warm low lying autumn sun that Seymour was snoozing in, that he was glowing in, his hair was shining like fine expensive silk. Everyone else
When to Choose between Classical and Operant Conditioning There is one really important message I’d like every trainer to burn into their brain. If you are dealing with fear, trauma, phobias, worry, reluctance, avoidance, escape, “lack of motivation”, or any kind of difficulty around your horse training, consider Classical Conditioning, rather than Operant Conditioning (Positive
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Set Your Horse Up For Success = Errorless Learning Much like “force free” is part of the philosophy and mindset I embrace as a trainer, Errorless Learning is as well. It’s part of my overall approach to training and is always my AIM, much as force free is my AIM as well. Catchphrases are great,
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Glorious grass Some people may think the Paddock Paradise or track system concept is anti grass and anti grazing. It’s true that some horses just cannot tolerate grass, but there are many horses who just cannot tolerate grazing modern improved pastures. Therefore, we can work towards safer grasses and more diversity and allow dormant native
Helping a Horse Settle in a New Home – the 3-3-3 rule There is a 3.3.3 rule that applies to rescue dogs and I thought that we need something similar for horses. Obviously the ideal would be that horses are not continually changing homes, but the reality is very different. Therefore I feel that it
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The Mythology Around “Liberty Training” We can’t “train liberty”, because liberty is a state of being, with choices, control and freedom to express and to leave. Liberty:-The quality or state of being free:– the power to do as one pleases– freedom from physical restraint– freedom from arbitrary or despotic control– the positive enjoyment of various
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