Equi-nine UK

17/01/2025

Fridays bunch 🥰🐴🐾

Some interesting stories on the horses and lots to write up when times in my favour as I’ve spent lots of time on the road today.

Spending the evening sorting some exciting new equine programmes we are excited to launch🎉

Working between Llandelio and Pontypridd tomorrow, I’m soon going to be putting more ‘days at areas’ kinda like the zone days with the vets!

17/01/2025

Gwenni and Ivy like butter wouldn’t melt yesterday in their home session.

Their mum feared I’d think she was lieing 🤣 - trust me, I’m well aware and have been in many situations where the horse or dog has made me out to be a liar 🤣

When I arrived they went bananas, so I thought we’d work on people knocking the door, 1 bark, 1 no and we couldn’t get them to bark again, even got the police knock out and that didn’t work! 🤣

Someone arrived back at home and said ‘can you move in that’s the easiest entrance I’ve ever had’.

Impluse control - they haven’t really got a lot, Ivy will try and jump up to peoples faces, jump on the table and kitchen counter (good effort for something so small 🤣,but - it needs to stop) Place work is a vital skill for teaching the dogs how to control them selves and have a off switch, and once really learnt, you can use it in all kinds of situations, people coming in, dinner time etc.

We are often working on things that aren’t directly realised to the clients issues, like place work, but once these skills are learnt, the dogs become far less all over the place and the actual problems begin to fade 😍

Looking forward to seeing their homework! 🐾

16/01/2025

Mav says ‘good god what’s that yellow thing in the sky I can’t see’ 😆

Right now, I’m out in public working on exposure training with Maverick. Learning to switch off and relax in busy environments is such an important skill for dogs, and it’s something everyone should incorporate into their training. It sets them up for success in the long run.

Since Maverick’s hormones have kicked in, he’s lost a bit of his confidence. That’s completely normal for hormonal young males, but it means getting him out and about to see the world is crucial to help him regain that confidence and grow into a well-rounded, happy boy.

Do I love being in busy environments myself? Not really—it’s definitely not my favourite place to be. But Maverick won’t get better if we don’t put the work in, so here we are. Seeing him thrive makes it all worth it. 🐾

You all say how incredible our dogs are, but let me tell you this, I feel what you feel with your reactive and nervous dogs, I really doo! I feel all the emotions that goes along with it - and I’ll tell you why below.

This morning I won’t lie he was an absolute pain in the ass leaving the house. I’d say it was one of the worst with the Shepherd whine!! We actually woke Gareth up leaving, if I could have had the ground swallow me I would have 🤣

Soo.. it happens to me too on times- doesn’t happen to Gareth though, as you can imagine it infuriates me😆🙄…. but then he absolutely nailed out in public! One of his best sessions around lots of people I’ve had.

I’d be a complete fraud if I said everything is always perfect. The more difficult times, if that’s how you want to put it, are the ones in which we learn from to grow.

Training can be a rollercoaster, but the best thing you can do is have the confidence to continue to build, Small steps, big progress!🥰

16/01/2025

Found us in the papers! 🥰

CARLEY O’CALLAGHAN and Gareth Rees of Equi-Nine UK announced yesterday that they are named the winners of The Equestrian Business Awards’ Behaviour

15/01/2025

Pele the “Non-Loader” 🐴

When Pele’s owner got in touch, I could feel how disheartened she was. She’d tried everything, but every attempt to load him ended in chaos: rearing, striking out, and trashing anything in his way. (First picture). One day, took three people to try and even then, it was a battle.

Here’s the thing: why would a horse want to load⁉️

Their natural instincts are only to survive and reproduce, and stepping into a claustrophobic space, away from their herd, goes against every fiber of their being.

That’s why it’s our job to install confidence, not fear. Horses need calm, consistent communication to understand what’s being asked of them—without associating the box with stress or panic.

Pele was an absolute sweetheart. Within the first 3 minutes, he walked onto the box. It’s not always that quick, but Pele just needed someone to communicate in a way he understood. By rewarding his small tries and creating a calm environment, he found the confidence to load—no rearing, no stress, just a willing horse doing his best.

By the end of our session, he was loading on his own! 🥰

Remember, it doesn’t need to be a big show. Building trust and confidence goes a lot further than forcing them through fear. 💕

If you’re struggling with loading issues, reach out—I’d love to help. Together, we can make the trailer/lorry a calm, positive place for your horse. 🐎✨

14/01/2025

What’s my biggest pet peeve?! 😡

Complaining about a dog’s issues, yet they barely get walked a couple of times a week. Leads me to a new line…

“No Time to Train? No Right to Complain!”

Training your dog doesn’t have to take hours of your day, but it does take commitment. If you’re skipping the work, it’s not fair to expect results. An hour a day can transform your dog’s behaviour—and your relationship.

So, next time you feel frustrated that your dog isn’t listening, ask yourself: have I been consistent?

The good news? It’s never too late to start. Small steps every day = big changes over time!

Picture of Maverick doing great at focus and engagement and lose lead walking 🥰

14/01/2025

How cute are these pair? 🥰

I’m going to call them the “L”s. All their owners horses start with L and I get lost with all the names, especially when some of the humans also begin with L 😆

We are getting the fundamental basics right with these pair, working on preventing behaviours rather than reacting to them!

Our young horse programmes are set up to work through the basics and really helping them understand the behaviours we want from them, setting them up to succeed 🐴

Both foals done very well coming off feather light asks, and I’m looking forward to seeing them grow over the next few weeks 🥰🐴

14/01/2025

Ready to Transform Your Dog’s Behaviour? 🐾

Today, we had the pleasure of working with Nye and Efa on their first session with us. Both dogs are a little nervous, and Nye can be reactive, and may redirect his energy when he’s feeling reactive or overwhelmed.

Our focus today was on teaching them to bring their energy up and settle back down into calmness—a crucial skill for nervous or reactive dogs. We also started introducing leash pressure techniques and impulse control exercises to help them build confidence and self-regulation.

Efa says, I don’t know what personal space is and I love a cwtch 😆🥰

Whether your dog is reactive, anxious, or just struggling with some everyday challenges, we’re here to help. With our psychology-based methods, we aim to turn struggles into success stories—for both you and your dog!

If you’re ready to take the first step toward a calmer, happier life with your dog, drop us a message today. Let’s get started! 🐕✨

14/01/2025

Food for thought for you horsey people.. 🤔

Pressure… are you teaching them too avoid it?

I have a range of items in my tool kit, and spend more time lately taking any pressure tool off on loaders, rather than using them. 🚫

Why?

Horses are into pressure animals, and unless rewards with releases are given (teaching them what it means), then the horses go into the pressure, in this case, head tossing, pulling away etc. Pele’s owner hadn’t used her dually, and wanted me to show her how too, but he had had one used before.

Any tool, if not used correctly, can give you unwanted behaviours. You see trainers who understand how to use duallys, watch how there’s never really much pressure on, just light pressure for split seconds. But I do think people think ‘they were able to do that because of the head collar’, then buy one, without understanding how it’s used, which can make the communication issue much worse.🤦‍♀️

Rather than the pressure being used as a slight suggestion and a big release, I often see people holding pressure on which turns into a battle. Why are people battling with a horse? That’s not what it’s about. This also creates a negative association to the head collar. To much pressure can create all sorts of things, in Peles case, causing him to rear up and nearly over backwards in the past attempts.😭

We can do loads of ground work to teach Pele how to respond correctly to pressure, but for his loading session we just took pressure off, with very gentle suggestions then releases on the under chin clip of the halter, and it was as if Pele said ‘thank god for that’.

We talk a lot about how any pressure, should be feather light. A little suggestion, or ask (how ever you want to phrase it), and release. We want to teach people we don’t need a big pull, or a fight for example. It’s about us teaching the horse how to respond with the lightest of pressure.

I’m really glad Peles owner waited to use pressure, and waited for me to come before practicing loading. There were a lot of ‘lightbulb’ moments when we were discussing, that make perfect sense to her🥰 looking forward to seeing Pele updates!

I think people sometimes think it’s going to be a big ‘show’ when working with a non loader. Not in our case, why would we push a horse to being that stressed?

Calm, low adrenaline, relaxed environment and we set him up to succeed 🥰

13/01/2025

Monday complete 🐾🐴

Today started with the usual morning routine (minus Gareth - left him in bed with Manflu) 😆—our horses sorted and Maverick stretched his legs with a good run before stepping into his role as trusty truck dog for the day! 🥰

Jessie the Collie was up first.🐾

This girl used to be incredibly nervous, but, what a transformation! She’s now engaging and playing with her owner, walking calmly on the lead, and even having fun with some agility work. Today, we made another big step forward by swapping to a longline and practicing recall, and she absolutely smashed it, untill she was to tired and decided to lay down 😆👏. Watching her grow in confidence is so rewarding!

Next up was Pele, the non-loader. 🐴

After loading well for a while, he suddenly decided he was done—so much so that he needed sedation and multiple people to get him on a box after his last show. Today, his owner kindly shared all the things that could potentially go wrong (always appreciated—it’s crucial to know these details!). These included, he would go up in the air and strike out, go over the top of the sides and really get himself in a tizzy, But Pele surprised his owner all with a lovely his low-key, chilled session. He loaded calmly, no fuss, no drama, just a few little hesitations then “yep, I’ve got this”, in under 3 minutes, A great reminder of how much calm atmosphere and the write questions can acheive! 🐴

Finally, Biscuit the Sausage Dog—no work for this little one, but honestly, she’s way too cute not to snap a picture of. Sometimes just being adorable is enough to earn a feature!🥰

It’s days like this that remind me why I love what I do. Each animal, each challenge, and each victory—big or small—makes it all worthwhile. 💕

13/01/2025

Happy Monday! What a beautiful sunrise 🌄

Mav on his morning exercise before work🥰

Meeting their physical exercise needs first leads to a much more trainable, less wired dog, setting them up to succeed ❤️

11/01/2025

We’re Back from Iceland and Ready to Conquer 2025!🎉

What an adventure we’ve had, but there’s truly no place like home – especially when home means coming back to eight kids (the kind with four legs, of course 😆). There’s nothing quite like that tail-wagging welcome 🥰

2025 is shaping up to be a massive year, and we couldn’t be more excited. Our January diary is already bulging at the seams (much like my trousers after three weeks of indulging, let’s be honest🤦‍♀️), and we’ve got so many exciting plans to share with you. New programs, bigger projects, and fresh ideas are all on the horizon.

This week, it’s all systems go with early starts and late finishes – and we wouldn’t have it any other way. There’s nothing more rewarding than helping someone on their journey, whether it’s a bitey, nervous dog learning to trust or a dangerous horse finding its confidence again. Seeing the transformation in both animals and their humans is what fuels our passion.

Carrying over the title of Behaviour Trainer of the Year into 2025 is an honor that still gives us goosebumps, and I’m kicking things off with a full week of horses ahead for me whilst Gareth’s got a busting week of dogs. From ground manners, leash pressure, loading issues, reactivity cases, to the more complex behavioural challenges, I can’t wait to dive in.

It’s almost embarrassing how excited we were to come back to work while still in Iceland, but they say if you love what you do, you’ll never work a day in your life – and we’re living proof of that❤️

Here’s to an incredible 2025 filled with growth, breakthroughs, and the incredible moments that come with helping both dogs and horses thrive. Let’s get stuck in! 💪

10/01/2025

Head on over to our instagram www.instagram.co.uk/equinineuk and see our Q&A story. We’ll be doing one every single day going forward, so don’t miss it!

10/01/2025

Very limited spaces left for Jan and Feb for behaviour work for both dogs AND horses guys, with bookings going all the way to December.

Please message now if you need help, even if it’s just advice (which is always free), or a future plan. We got you 💪❤️🐾🐎

Here’s me with an Icelandic horse 👀

09/01/2025

One of the new things we’re rolling out this year - 🌟 Refer a Friend and Get Rewarded! 🌟

Love our service? Share it with your friends and enjoy amazing rewards together!

🐾 Here’s how it works: 🐎
1. Refer a friend to Equi-nine UK
2. When they make their first purchase, both you and your friend will receive 50% off a 121 or assessment, or 30% off a half day!
3. There’s no limit! Refer as many friends as you like!

🐾 Why Refer Us? 🐎
- Quality service
- Great value for your money
- Proven results time after time

🐾 Get Started Today! 🐎
Simple show us proof of your referral and enjoy the rewards!

❤️ Thank you for spreading the word! ❤️

Visit our website too at www.equi-nineuk.com