relationship building

I’ve been working with a clicker-savvy horse and rider. The horse has a history of being balky and unwilling. The previous trainer had the owner use a whip and spurs to get him “motivated.” We have a different method. When I see the horse going forward at the walk, I […]

Respect?

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Take a poll of horse people and ask what’s the favorite part of your horse? This is the answer:   The nose and lips are rubbery, flexible, soft, and expressive. Above that, nostrils flare, snort and snuffle. Horses greet friends with breaths. They’ll say hello like that to you too, if you let them. But […]

Gelding Play and Mouthy Horses

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It was not quite three years ago that I brought Tonka home. He’d had a wonderful owner who taught him the basics, but she hadn’t had the time to do much with him. Mostly, they explored the woods and fields in Maine. That was okay with me. I’d told everyone I’m never […]

End Of The Show Year

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Note: this blog is the third in a continuing series about training Bailey, and her person, Lisa. You might want to start here. It was a month before I could return to work with Lisa and Bailey. It was a hot and humid August, not the best riding weather, but the pair […]

More on Retraining a Barn Sour Horse

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Note: this blog is the second in a continuing series about training Bailey, and her person, Lisa. You might want to start here. Lisa’s barn is a 2+ hour drive from mine, so I can’t get there on a weekly basis. My first visit was at the beginning of July. […]

Retraining a Barn Sour Horse

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Getting a horse to go where you want is not about respect. It’s not about dominance. It’s not about the horse fearing the rider more than fearing what’s ahead of them. It’s about clarity and trust. You build this relationship through training. Lisa asked me to help her with her […]

Training Polite Hand Grazing

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We get a lot of joy from our animals, from their companionship, to their antics, to the attention that they give to us. There’s also the joy of touch – for them and for us. Back when I thought I wasn’t riding anymore I got two goat brothers, Pip and […]

Grooming Goats/Grooming Horses

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Tonka is not a horse that likes to get his feet wet.  Some horses like to roll in mud. He does not. As far as Tonka is concerned, dust is fine but muck is yucky. It’s not that he’s scared of water, he just doesn’t like it. When on the trail, […]

Water Play

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Tonka was sold to me as a horse that was safe out on the trails alone and that’s been mostly true. Of course, no horse is spook-proof 100% of the time. It turns out that although Tonka doesn’t bolt at the sight of deer, he is afraid of hopping frogs!   I’ve […]

Tonka Frets and What To Do About It

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