Empowering you and your best mate. R+//Fear Free//Science informed That’s where training comes in.
Having animals in our lives is a hugely rewarding experience, but often it is also hugely challenging. Training is not only fun and rewarding, but essential to good animal care. We all want our animals to have the best life they can, and training not only helps us to bond with our beloved pet, but also teaches them the skills they need to thrive in our world. Regardless of your animal, we are here
to help you achieve your goals in a fun and positive way! We offer the following:
*1 on 1 training and/or behavioural consultations
*Group training classes
*Education and information sessions and advice
*Affordable rates
*A friendly, experienced team dedicated to helping you achieve your goals
Trainers at Nighthaven Empowered Learning are members of on or more of the following professional organisations:
*Association of Pet Dog Trainers (APDT)
*Pet Professionals Guild Australia (PPG)
*Animal Training Academy (ATA)
Education & professional development:
*All teams members have, or are currently completing Cert IV Companion animal courses as well as being qualified in other nationally credited courses
*All team members attend regular training and other associated animal related conferences, seminar and educational courses to ensure our skills not only remain current, but are ever increasing
04/07/2025
🛻 OUT OF OFFICE 🛻
Just in case anyone is looking for us, we are out of office until Thursday 10 July.
We hope you are not as annoyed by this as Mithril who was not impressed at being left behind!
We'll see you all next week 😁
02/07/2025
🐶 Whippety Wanders🐶
So proud of these two absolutely smashing their Wednesday wanders 💕
28/06/2025
🐾 Beautiful Skadi 🐾
Skadi is the sister of our little chaos witch Eevee and another shining example of what love, patience, and the right match can do.
It was so special to see her all grown up at today’s adoption day!
Another foster-to-furever success story thanks to Ollie’s Legacy 🐾✨
26/06/2025
💯
😅🐈⬛🐈🩷
26/06/2025
🐾💛Sweet BB is taking the world one paw at a time💛🐾
This soulful Mastiff x pup finds life a little big and busy right now, but with his loving family by his side, learning how to guide and advocate for him, he's already making brave steps forward.
26/06/2025
Celebrating this gorgeous being in all her pure chaos glory 💕
25/06/2025
Our feisty fosters are officially up for adoption!
We'd dearly love to see them be adopted together as the girls have a close bond and Arya has some special needs. If you, or someone you know might be interested in adopting two certified Sass Queens, read on & reach out to our mates Ollie's Legacy Incorporated to enquire ☺️
22/06/2025
🐾💥Meet Hugo the heart-stealer 💥🐾
This bouncing baby boxer pup is full of beans, slobbery kisses and is absolutely *smashing* his training thanks to his amazingly dedicated family 👊🐶💖
21/06/2025
❄️ Happy Winter Solstice ❄️
14/06/2025
I wish I could say I was surprised by the video circulating of Health Ryan. I wish I could say I was surprised by his response and justification of the abuse.
But I'm not.
The sad truth is that this kind of behaviour is rife in the horse world.
➡️It doesn't need to be!⬅️
We can do better. We MUST do better.
Because horses deserve better.
Horses, like every species, have some basic biologically driven needs. These are described and encompassed beautifully in the Five Domains Model by DJ Mellor.
While we should always have these needs in mind when making decisions regarding our horses, we must especially consult them when having issues with our horses.
We must also consult the Humane Hierarchy by Dr. Susan Friedman.
Seemingly neither of these paths were explored by popular equestrian Heath Ryan before he allegedly used a whip on a warmblood gelding by the name of Nico, in excess of 40 times.
The PPGA is strongly against any use of force or punishment in training, and is dismayed and appalled by the video footage of Heath Ryan on Nico. There shouldn’t be a world where this behaviour is tolerated, condoned, justified or thought appropriate. EVER.
In the most basic sense, a horse's needs can be drilled down to the 3 F’s
Friends
Forage
Freedom
In Heath Ryan’s response to the video, he explained that Nico had been well cared for but had always been a ‘problem child’. He expressed that Nico had been rugged, regularly ridden, and had his own paddock, to say that Nico had ‘wanted for nothing’.
When examining a horse's needs per the Five Domains Model, we can see that Heath Ryan’s examples don’t align with what we know to be true.
While under specific circumstances rugging might be advised, it is not necessary and can often lead to more problems than it solves. While freedom to move is needed, what’s really required by the horse is the freedom to express normal behaviours. Riding is not the only way to achieve movement and isn’t suitable for every horse. As horses are herd animals, the freedom to move should encompass its social needs and enrichment. Individual paddocks are strongly discouraged.
The possibility of Nico’s behaviour being health related isn’t addressed by Heath Ryan in his facebook post about this situation. But a thorough medical assessment should be conducted well before any training methods are employed as per the Humane Hierarchy. Some of the things that should have been done include the horse being scoped for ulcers, x-rayed for kissing spines, lameness tested and more.
This situation also brings up the simple question of horse ownership. The horse Nico was given two options - perform, or be sent to slaughter. This gives the impression that a horse like Nico only has value if he’s able to be ridden to a competition level.
It’s unfortunate that anyone who’s met a horse could feel that way.
The unridden equine is still a sentient being who is infinitely capable of bringing joy and value to those around them. And more importantly than what they can do for us, is what we should be doing for them.
Every horse deserves to live with freedom from pain and punishment, in a species appropriate way.
Mellor DJ. Operational Details of the Five Domains Model and Its Key Applications to the Assessment and Management of Animal Welfare. Animals (Basel). 2017 Aug 9;7(8):60. doi: 10.3390/ani7080060. PMID: 28792485; PMCID: PMC5575572.
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Having animals in our lives is a hugely rewarding experience, but often it is also hugely challenging.
That’s where training comes in.
Training is not only fun and rewarding, but essential to good animal care. We all want our animals to have the best life they can, and training not only helps us to bond with our beloved pet, but also teaches them the skills they need to thrive in our world.
Regardless of your animal, we are here to help you achieve your goals in a fun and positive way!
We offer the following;
1 on 1 training and/or behavioural consultations
Group training classes
Education and information sessions on a range of topics
Practical, easy to follow suggestions and advice.
Affordable rates
A friendly, experienced team dedicated to helping you achieve your goals
***Please note - all consultations and educational sessions are currently conducted online via Zoom in accordance with Covid-19 guidelines***
Team members:
Emma - Owner & Head Trainer: A self professed nerd and animal lover, interested in all species particularly horses and dogs. Being a nerd has led to an ever expanding knowledge base including training, behaviour, nutrition, enrichment and socialisation creating a truly holistic training approach
Tash - Trainer: Currently owned by an Aussie Shepherd and bearded dragon, Tash has an interest in animal nutrition and is dedicated to helping owners achieve their training goals
Mia - Trainer: While completing her studies, Mia developed a love for all things training. Mia is now the proud dog servant of the beautiful Marley, a young black Labrador and has an interest in assistance dogs and puppy training.
Chantal - Trainer: Growing up with German Shepard’s lead to an interest in training, particularly agility training. Chantal is also our cat expert and determined to help people better understand their feline companions.
Tessa - Trainer: A self professed introvert, research geek and animal lover, Tessa has a particular interest in early canine development, scent/nose work, assistance and working dogs.
More about us:
Nighthaven Empowered Learning is a proud member of the following professional organisations:
Association of Pet Dog Trainers (APDT)
Pet Professional’s Guild Australia (PPG)
Animal Training Academy (ATA)
Education & courses
All team members have or are completing Cert IV in Companion Animal Services as well as other nationally accredited courses
All team members attend regular training and other associated animal related conferences. seminars and education courses to ensure our skills not only remain current, but are ever increasing
