Sometimes I use food to reward Tonka for doing what I ask. Like many riders, I give my horse a treat right when I get on. It’s a thank you for him being agreeable to having me on his back, and a nice way to set the tone for the […]
clicker training
I had a dog that needed something to do. Someone suggested dog agility. I joined a club. It had a policy of no aversives. In fact, we weren’t allowed to use the word no. I had difficulty with this. I was told to get a copy of . That book […]
Karen Pryor’s Stories
I am writing this while looking out at the Atlantic Ocean from my room at the Yankee Clipper Inn. I am here for two days with my good friend, Karen Pryor. A couple of times a year we go on these writing retreats. We hole up in our separate rooms […]
Don’t Clicker Train Your Horse. Yet.
For Tonka, 2017 was year of symptoms but no definitive diagnosis. It started with a slight head shaking. Then his back hurt. Then Tonka felt great and we had some rides where he did brilliant first level work. Then he couldn’t bend his neck. Then his back was sore again. […]
Getting Moving
I recently had to rework some sloppy training on my part. It took me awhile to notice that I’d let things slip. Tonka is a calm and amenable gelding. But even a horse like that is always adjusting their behavior to what their human is doing. Just because you’ve taught […]
Reworking Sloppy Training
All horses can potentially cause injury to us humans. Their vision, hearing and smell keeps them hyper-aware of danger, and their response to that is to put distance between themselves and the perceived threat. If prevented from fleeing, they will rear, kick and strike-out. Horses are especially wary of new […]
Desensitizing and Counter-Conditioning Horses
As I’ve written about before, Tonka and I have been walking. Mostly, we’ve been in the covered arena, on safe footing, and sheltered from bitter cold winds. Two weeks ago, during a break in the weather, we managed to get down the road a bit. Tonka was on alert, but […]
Barn Sour Drama
Tonka and I have been going for walks. The walking is in addition to riding. Although Tonka is turned out during the day, he doesn’t move much. Not in the snow. Not when hay is right at his feet. A horse is designed to eat and move. Bite. […]
Walking With My Horse
This is what we’ve been waking up to. Some days it warms up to 12°F. The animals need to have full bellies to cope with this. At Tonka’s barn, they’ve been getting extra hay. Even more important than hay is water. If horses don’t drink, they get colic, which is […]