training with food


Last week Tonka’s veterinarian, Monika, and her vet tech in training, Sara, came out to do some work on him. Tonka was due for maintenance to keep his body functioning well: shockwave over his back, and hock injections. Because Tonka recently has shown signs of that intermittent left-front lameness returning, […]

Training Horses for Veterinary Visits


Steve often comes to my lessons to take photos or video. It’s great to have a record of our progress. But for someone like me who is self-critical and analyzes details, it can be hard to have concrete evidence of all of those things that I need to improve (those […]

What the Ears Say


I’ve had Tonka for seven years and there hasn’t been a day with him that I haven’t worked on a certain behavior. Actually, it’s more of a mindset. I call it connected relaxation. With attention to this goal, and consistency in training, it has come to underlie everything that my […]

Connected Relaxation



Last week Tonka was feeling wonderful. He was going sound and letting me know that he felt good. I blogged about it. Jinx! I had that fun jumping lesson, and then two great rides over the weekend. Tonka was forward, balanced, doing enthusiastic canter work, and was supple across his […]

Calm Hoof Soaking


I’m writing this while a nor’easter blows through. Currently there’s a hard, cold rain pelting down. In a few hours it’ll turn into wet, heavy snow. But last weekend it was sunny and 40°F, which is remarkably good weather for southern Maine in the winter. I knew it might be […]

The Trail Less Traveled


As part of Tonka’s search and rescue training (we’re members of this team), we have to get used to out of the ordinary situations. You can’t train for every scenario, but you can train for confidence around, over and through novel obstacles. Last week a few of us met to […]

Combining Curiosity and the Touch Cue



Here is how to catch a horse: Don’t. I’m not being flippant. Your horse associates being caught with what comes after. If every time you walk up to your horse the consequence is less rewarding than what they’re doing at the moment, then they’ll keep their distance from you. Are […]

How To Catch A Horse


For most of my many years with horses I didn’t think much about cross-ties. All of the barns that I’ve been in have them. Cross-ties keep the horse centered in the aisle. With lines clipped to both sides of the halter, a horse will stand where needed while the farrier […]

Teaching Ground-Tying


Sunflower and Nymph are two little burros. Sunflower is the mama, Nymph the baby. A few years ago, when Nymph was still nursing, they were in a horrific hoarding situation, but were saved by kind people, and made their way to a forever home at a rescue. They’ve had loving […]

Donkey Leg Handling