Getting the Trot with Positive Reinforcement
Getting their equids to move from a walk to a trot can be frustrating and elusive for many people. Most often, the equid is not offering the trot because the handler is not breaking down the behavior enough or being clear in what they’re asking. Jumping straight from a walk into a trot is a considerable jump in criteria (what you expect from your learner) when you’re in the early stages of training and developing movement. Mark and Reinforce for Clear Communication When you’re working on changing gaits, it isn’t… Continued
How to Train Your Equid to Stand for a Foot Soak
From softening the hoof so that it’s easier to trim in dry weather, to drawing out an abscess or treating a hoof condition, there are many reasons why you might need to soak your equid’s feet. Here is a brief guide to training your equid to stand for a soak. Step 1: To teach your equid to stand for a foot soak, I like to start with training them to stand on a mat. This behavior is useful for many different things, and the more you strengthen this behavior, the… Continued
Training Your Equid: The Many Benefits of Protected Contact
What is protected contact? Protected contact means that there is a barrier between you and the animal you are working with or training. This term comes from zookeeping, where zookeepers often work with the animals in their care through the confines of the animal’s enclosure. The barrier keeps both the human and animal safe. How will protected contact benefit me? Protected contact keeps you safe from behaviors that may make you uncomfortable or put you at risk, like your horse bumping into you, pushing you with their nose, or nipping.… Continued
Animal Training Foundations for Future Success
I’m very much into practical training and tend to focus on building behaviors that make managing and handling animals easier. Practical Training Foundations The benefit of this approach is that most of the behaviors I focus on build a foundation for the more advanced behaviors that people ultimately want. Teaching your horse to line up at the mounting block is great, but not if your horse is throwing his head up when you try to halter him in the stall, or is cutting you off when you’re trying to walk… Continued
Daily Dog Training Conversations
by Michelle Martiya “He knows you’re the treat person.” Do you know the easiest and fastest way to get your dog to respond to you like they respond to me? BECOME THE TREAT PERSON, TOO! Do you know how I know if you’ve been stingy with the treats or tried bribing your dog instead of reinforcing your dog? Your dog ignores you when I’m there and only pays attention to me! I know when you’ve been doing your homework and generously offering your dog treats because your dog either pays attention to… Continued
Understanding Horse Training Videos
There are tons of horse training videos all over YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, and other social media platforms. It can be very challenging to determine which videos are worth following and maybe practicing with your horse, and which ones should be avoided. I often receive videos from students asking if what the trainer in the video is saying is correct because it sounds like it might be but they have doubts. Or someone posts a video in a Facebook group asking how the horse was trained because the horse “looks” happy… Continued
Managing and Training Fearful Equids
Fearful Equids Caring for fearful equids brings its own special challenges but can also be exceptionally rewarding. Here are a few simple tips to ensure your success. Move how you naturally move, but slower. One of the things most people do when they start working with fearful animals is to tiptoe around them and move hesitantly. Instead of helping, this can actually make them more anxious and it makes you seem suspicious. Instead, try moving the way you naturally move, but slower. As I often tell my students,… Continued
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