clicker training

I grew up with cats but the first year that I went away to college I developed an inexplicable and permanent allergy to them, which is why my children have had many animals in their lives, but never felines. My son, Daniel, always said that as soon as he could, he’d […]

Training Cats and the Incompatible Behavior

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We’ve all had them – the riding instructors that yell, harangue and nag. In 1975 I went to riding school in England. Gerry was one of my instructors. He was tough and wiry and had legs like nutcrackers. He could sit on anything. He pushed me hard to improve. Modern day […]

Teaching Riding Without Yelling

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The work that I do with animals uses, what I call, the clicker perspective. It’s not, however, always clicker training per se. Much of the time I don’t use the – a sharp sound that marks the moment the animal has done the right thing, which is then followed by a reward. That’s […]

Starting From a Safe Place

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As the saying goes, You can lead a horse to water but you can’t make him drink. Last July I discovered how true this is. Tonka and I were at a USDF dressage show where the temperature soared above 90 F, the sun was unrelenting, there wasn’t a breeze and there was […]

You Can Lead a Horse to Water And…

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The first thing that a new rider wants to learn, once they get up on this big, powerful animal, is how to stop it. (Well, there’s always one in a bunch who wants to gallop off, but not long after that they wish they’d learned where the brakes are!)   At […]

“Ho” on the Trail

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On Sunday we trailered an hour and a half to the Beland Dressage Show. Tonk and I have moved up to USDF recognized shows where the competition is stiffer and the judges are more exacting than the schooling shows that we attended last year. About 80% of the horses at these […]

Tonk’s Guy Crush

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I love horses and they’re the focus of what I do, but I openly admit that my absolute favorite animal to train is the goat. Goats are endlessly enthusiastic and always in the game. Whatever I bring to an interaction with them, they add to it, with great good cheer and always a […]

Training Goats

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For the last fifteen years, I’ve used “clicker training” on almost every animal that I’ve had any interaction with – dogs, chickens, fish, goats, children and even a husband. It’s a generous and effective perspective. You think through what you want, break that down to the smallest doable bit, mark […]

You Get What You Click

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The stuff that a horse wears so that a rider can securely sit on his back is called tack. Putting it on is called tacking up. I enjoy a style of riding called dressage, and for that and the frequent trail riding that I do, Tonka wears a saddle and bridle […]

Rewards, Not Threats

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