Frielander Equestrian

25/01/2023

I am excited to be completing my training for Equine Facilitated Learning (EFL) which means that in the future I will be able to offer EFL sessions to people of all ages and abilities.

EFL is great for building confidence, self esteem, focus and concentration. It is also an approved activity for NDIS funding and it is especially beneficial for children with anxiety or who are on the spectrum.

My degree in Equine Science and my extensive experience with training and working with horses provide me with valuable skills that I can incorporate into the EFL sessions I provide. EFL sessions include grooming, bonding with the horses and activities on the ground so clients can learn to effectively communicate with their equine partner.

We have a range of beautiful horses for clients to work with at Frielander Equestrian, our horses range in age, size and horseonality and I will make sure to pair each client with the most suitable equine partner for sessions. All our horses are also very loved and cherished and life long family members.

Emily

07/10/2022

Positive and Negative Reinforcement

Reinforcement training is when we want to encourage a behaviour in a horse. In contrast to this is punishment which is used to discourage a behaviour. There are two types of reinforcement, positive and negative. In simple terms, positive means you add something to reinforce a behaviour and negative means you take something away to reinforce a behaviour.

Positive Reinforcement- This training approach involves adding a reward when the horse finds the correct answer. The reward could be a food reward such as a carrot or it could be a scratch for the horse. Clicker training is a common form of positive reinforcement training which uses a click to mark a behaviour. This bridges the gap between the horse performing a desirable behaviour and getting a reward. An example of positive reinforcement is when the horse stands still at the mounting block for you to mount, you can give them a treat or scratch to reinforce the behaviour.

Negative Reinforcement- This method involves using pressure to motivate the horse to perform a task then removing the pressure when the horse responds appropriately. An example of negative reinforcement is when teaching your horse to back up, you apply a light pressure to the lead rope then as soon as the horse takes a step back, you release the pressure to reinforce the behaviour.

Timing is very important for both methods, whether it’s giving the reward at the correct time or removing pressure at the right moment. It’s this timing that lets the horse know that he has found the right answer and motivates him to try.

06/09/2022

17/08/2022

Luna- Andalusian cross mare owned by Elouera Andalusian and Warlander stud. Lightly started under saddle in 2021.

17/08/2022

Monty- Warlander stallion owned by Elouera Andalusian and Warlander stud. Started under saddle 2021

12/08/2022

Indi- Friesian cross mare. Restarted under saddle in 2015.

12/08/2022

Chicky- Warlander mare owned by Elouera Andalusian and Warlander Stud. Started under saddle 2020.

11/08/2022

Lenny- Connemara gelding. Started under saddle 2020/2021

11/08/2022

Isabella- Andalusian mare owned by Elouera Andalusian and Warlander Stud. Started under saddle in 2020.

15/07/2022

Lucy (owned by Elouera Andalusian and Warlander stud)- started under saddle in 2019

01/07/2022

⚠️If your horse bucks, rears, pins his ears, kicks, naps, balks, shies, spooks, refuses, runs out, broncs, bolts, bites, etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. please read this post.

If you're always asking "what do I do with a horse who [insert unwanted behaviour here] you'll probably always end up with a horse who [insert unwanted behaviour here].

❌Because, you're asking the wrong question...

If you want to get the root cause, and solve the "problem" behaviour-

you need to be asking:

"how do I *help* my horse who [inset unwanted behaviour here]"

[Look for another post from me where I talk about there being no such thing as naughty horses: only horses who are fearful, frustrated, confused, or in pain]

✅ When you come from a place of "how can I help", not only can your horse feel that change of intention, but you start looking for actual solutions instead of bandaids and quick fixes to cover up underlying issues.

To truly help your horse overcome their "problem" behaviour you need to:

✔️ Learn how to look at situations from your horse's perspective which requires an understanding of horses as a species, how they learn, and what motivates them

✔️ Know how to break down training into small achievable steps which requires sound understanding and application of equine learning theory

✔️ Have the right attitude & energy: patience, compassion, curiosity, and confidence (to name a few) because the same "technique" applied with a bad attitude can have a different outcome.

If you agree but have no idea where to even start- check out my free connection & communication mini-course at www.amaliadempsey.com

23/06/2022

Elsa- Friesian cross mare started under saddle in 2019.

09/06/2022

09/06/2022

PRE Andalusian mare started under saddle in 2017.

03/06/2022

Introducing beautiful baby Arya born on the 4th April 2022 💕 She is now almost 2 months old and I am just starting to bring my personal horses back into work after being out of action throughout pregnancy.

11/07/2021

Luna and Opal are progressing nicely under saddle. They both understand trotting under saddle well now and have been practicing some figure 8’s and loops at trot 🐴😊

20/06/2021

We had some lovely weather here this week 😊 Opal and Luna have both been relaxed during their rides. I’ve now started asking them to move forward under saddle. I use turns to help the horses understand the idea of moving their feet when I ask, then I progress onto walking forward. 🦄

15/06/2021

Luna and Opal are both gaining confidence and are now comfortable having a rider on board 🐴

04/06/2021

My Friesian, Sedrick. I bought Sedrick when he was a foal at foot and he arrived home when he was 6 months old. Since then, I have trained him on the ground and under saddle. He has been a fantastic partner for me and we continue to grow as a partnership each day. In 2018-2020 stringhalt affected our progression, but we are back on track now and earlier this year, we had our first bridleless ride.

03/06/2021

Opal having a go at the figure 8 pattern to develop our communication and to practice our sending energy versus drawing energy 🙂 This is just on a 12ft line, but we will also practice from further away with a 22ft line.

30/05/2021

Lovely Opal arrived recently here at Frielander Equestrian and will be started under saddle over the coming weeks. Our first sessions have been focused on getting to know her and pre saddle training. She has settled in very well 😊🐴

29/05/2021

Sorene and Luna have been progressing nicely during their first couple weeks here. Luna was a little anxious during her first few sessions, but has now relaxed in her sessions and is doing very well with groundwork preparation for riding. Meanwhile, Sorene has just had her first sit with me after working on groundwork skills. They are both enjoying their sessions and always want to be the first horse out!😄
Elouera Andalusian & Warlander Stud

26/05/2021

My personal horse Ash (he sadly passed away in 2020). I got Ash when I was 13 years old. Ash is the horse that I learnt about the value of groundwork with and he taught me many things about horse behaviour and how horses learn. Together we enjoyed and learnt about groundwork training, liberty, bridleless riding, trick training, dressage and jumping.

26/05/2021

Meisje, one of my personal horses. I started her under saddle back in 2016. We now enjoy doing a variety of activities including bridleless riding and dressage training.

11/05/2021

Beautiful Monty went home recently. Here’s a little video of Montys training progress throughout his stay at Frielander Equestrian 😊🐴
Elouera Andalusian & Warlander Stud

10/05/2021

We had 2 new horses arrive on the weekend, beautiful Sorene and Luna from Elouera Andalusian & Warlander Stud here to be lightly started under saddle 🙂🦄

26/04/2021

Warlander mare Lucy’s first time having a ride without bridle or halter 😊 She did wonderfully for her first time and only needed a few corrections to help with direction. She is a beautiful, kind mare to work with.
Elouera Andalusian & Warlander Stud

20/04/2021

Monty has been a pleasure to start under saddle the last couple of months 😊🦄 Elouera Andalusian & Warlander Stud

16/03/2021

Beautiful Meisje’s canter 🙂🐴

16/03/2021

Brian, a lovely Warmblood gelding recently arrived for me to continue starting under saddle. Max and Millie were very happy watching my first ride on him.