Equi-nine UK

11/09/2024

Hunting for cows too over come the fear 🐴

I was hoping by standing infront of the cow i could use body pressure to keep him still, not that I have any cow experience😂 but, we have to do what we need to in our jobs.

Very grateful to Mr Cow who understood the assignment and helped George begin to overcome his fear of cows 🐴

10/09/2024

Toby… pushing the boundaries a little bit we will let him off this one 🙈

Teaching a dog not to run through doors and establishing clear boundaries is essential for their safety and the well-being of everyone in the household. A dog that bolts through doorways may end up in dangerous situations, such as running into traffic or escaping into hazardous environments. Establishing boundaries fosters self-control and discipline, helping the dog understand their place within the home while also promoting trust between the dog and owner. This training not only prevents accidents but also creates a calm and structured living environment where both the dog and the family can thrive.

09/09/2024

The bridge between fear and overcoming fear is curiosity 🐴 one of our favourite Kelly sayings!

We all know horses are natural prey animals, instinctively wired to flee from threats. However, when it comes to overcoming fear, one effective strategy is for a horse to follow the very thing that frightens them. This might seem counterintuitive, but it actually helps the horse build confidence and learn that the object of its fear may not be as dangerous as it seems.

When a horse is encouraged to approach and follow its fear, it enters a state of exploration rather than avoidance. This active engagement allows the horse to gather information about the feared object through sight, sound, and smell, often leading to the realisation that the threat is not as menacing as their instincts have led them to believe. Over time, this process fosters resilience and bravery, turning a once-scary experience into a manageable reality.

In essence, by following their fears, horses embark on a journey of discovery, transforming anxiety into confidence, and ultimately reinforcing their ability to cope with challenges in their environment.🐴

08/09/2024

Nip things in the bud, rather than wait for a long time to try and over come things, it will be much easier for you as an owner, the mental state of your animal, the safety of you both and your trainer 😁

The quicker you nip something in the bud and get on top of a behaviour, the less homework you need to doo!

Whatever the animal is repeating, whether it’s intentional or unintentional, they are learning and practicing, so think about changing the question if they are repeating an unwanted behaviour! 🐾

07/09/2024

Lovely Luna 🐾

She’s known for being a bit of a nervous Nelly. We are working on building her confidence and getting her in a super good head space 😊

Super cute in this photo, whether she was preparing to taste us or not 😝

06/09/2024

✨ Feel Good Friday! ✨

Today, spend time remembering the bond between you and your dogs/horses and remember to have a FUN weekend.

We often see people sooo focused on the goals or the negatives they forget to enjoy the journey and it’s important to have fun in the process, otherwise, what’s the point?!

Life’s so short and it’s important to enjoy it 🐾

Training your animals using psychology-based principles can lead to amazing relationships and we love being part of the journeys 🖤

This weekend, take a moment to train using love and logic—your horse and dog will thank you! ❤️🐕🐴

05/09/2024

Frankie Dachshund made sure he added his marks to our transporter certificates 😂😂

04/09/2024

After a couple of bad experiences loading, once moving for weaning, and the other for moving from his buddies he wasn’t happy about the lorry, understandably. Being tricky to load his owners wanted him to get some good positive loading practice under his belt!

Louie now self loads so his owners are super happy 🐴

04/09/2024

Halloween themed Spook busting! Let’s have some ‘spooky’ fun 😝

That’s about as funny as I can get….

🤩🤩NEW DATE🤩🤩

👻"Help your horse conquer their fears with our Spook Clinic!

Our expert-led sessions are designed to build confidence, desensitize your horse to common triggers, and create a stronger bond between you and your horse. Join us and watch your horse transform into a more relaxed and fearless partner."

Book here —> https://smugglers-ec.ecpro.co.uk/events/7391

Equi-nine UK

04/09/2024

Met little Maple yesterday as she attended for an assessment due to her nervous and reactive behaviour. She did super well after some slight changes in our assessment and was comfortable sat by our gang! Looking forward to starting working with her 🐾

04/09/2024

Last chance to book!! 🐴🐾🐾

We haven’t had much of a summer this year have we! To make things just a little better, we’re offering a huge 50% off assessments! Now is the perfect time to get your horses or dogs booked in and iron out the issues. With expert help, you’ll be in great hands 🐎 🐶

04/09/2024

'We Rise By Supporting Others'🐴🐾

Why do we love doing what we do?

Because we absolutely adore seeing people succeed and grow with their animals, it gives us this warm fuzzy feeling inside.

We may not all be in the same boat, but we are all in the same storm. Within our jobs, we see soo many different people, some overly honest, some withholding truth, some that will do anything to get it right, and others that are looking for a quick fixes, or someone to blame that it’s not working when the practice isn’t put in. Sometimes we aren’t animal trainers at all, we are human trainers. Sometimes we go through emotional rolllercoasters that are nothing to do with the animal in front of us, but the animal absorbs it all, and we turn into therapists or life coaches. It really is a big mixed bunch.

We think it's super important to remember in all areas of our life to be kind, supportive and helpful to one another, and that goes for the horse and dog world too. There are some super toxic people in this world, don’t lower to them.

We all have horses and dogs for one reason - for the love of them.

Equally, It's important to THINK before we speak:
T - is it True?
H - is it Helpful?
I - is it Inspiring?
N - is it Necessary?
K - is it Kind?

Peoples journeys are all at different points. You can't compare your start with someone's middle, they are incomparable. If you are comparing your middle, with someone's start, remember how you felt at your start.

Be kind, Be Supportive, Be Honest.

Super cute photo of how small Mav once was🙈

03/09/2024

Backing up through the L-Shape is an excerise we love getting people to doo to start thinking about the whole horse.

It’s often people are focused on what the front end is doing but forget about the back in narrow spaces etc, so it’s super good to think of the horse and how the head position effects the whole horse!

Comes into good practice for exiting a trailer, stable etc! Give it a try!

03/09/2024

Some pole work for Stan! 🐴🖤

Stan is new one of the new ones into our programmes, and before we got started we wanted to make sure he was in a good bill of health, so a full MOT was done. Remember we don’t train pain!

What came up with his osteopath with was how tight he was in the shoulders and neck, which corresponds with how he was previously worked, rather than working over his back and engaging his core he was just pulling from his front end.

Polework is such a great way to improve your horse's performance and get them engaging their core. Helping Stan think for himself and to make changes to his posture naturally. Helping him maintain balance whilst toning muscles, and develop rhythm. 🐴

03/09/2024

Alfie’s enjoying a variety of work mixing hacking and schooling with Courtney, Hacking solo like a dream 🐴

03/09/2024

What’s your dogs baseline behaviour?

We often hear people say ‘he’s great at all the tricks and when we have cheese’ but when the dogs not getting any kind of command or reward they are like lunatics, and this is what we want to work on.

Having a good baseline where the dog knows how to behave in general without commands or cheese in their face every two minutes is where we want to be🐾

We aren’t knocking commands or treats here, because we will use both in training, but if we are on a long off lead walk with others, apart from the odd recall we are just able to enjoy the walk knowing the dogs are just sticking with us and ignoring passing dogs etc 😊

What’s your dogs baseline?

03/09/2024

That head tilt 🥰🥰

02/09/2024

Top tip 🌟 Clear Communication and Consistency in Training Horses and Dogs will achieve far better results 🌟

Effective training of horses and dogs hinges on clear communication and consistency. Just as we rely on vocal cues and body language to convey our thoughts to one another, our animals require precise signals to understand our expectations. Without this clarity, progress can be frustratingly slow or even counterproductive.

Consistency in training routines, commands, and expectations reinforces learning. Animals thrive on predictability; when they know what to expect from us, they feel more secure and are more likely to succeed. Inconsistent cues can lead to confusion, anxiety, and ultimately, behavioural issues that undermine the training process.

Equally important is our attentiveness to the animal’s behaviour. While they may not speak our language, dogs and horses communicate through body language, vocalizations, and actions. Observing these signals allows us to gauge their understanding and comfort level, enabling us to adjust our approach as needed. An attentive trainer who listens to the animal nurtures a stronger bond and fosters a deeper understanding, paving the way for more effective learning.

In summary, success in training horses and dogs is firmly rooted in clear communication and consistent practices. By listening to our animals and interpreting their behaviour, we can cultivate a positive training environment where progress thrives. Remember, while they may not talk, they are constantly communicating—let’s make sure we’re listening! 🐾🐴

02/09/2024

Romeo 🐴

Gaining confidence out on the roads on his own whilst getting the excerise he needs for his rehab from kissing Spine.

Romeo lives near one of the BUSIEST roads! He has horses passing him at 60 mph and he’s totally chill about it. His owner always says if you have clients worried about traffic bring them here 😂

He’s going to be moving soon to a quieter part of wales, and I can’t imagine how different riding out will be without any cars! 🙈

02/09/2024

Home work… how important is it? 🐶

VITAL!

If we go on the basis of - ‘what ever the dog is repeating their learning’. We will only spend 4 hours on average a week with your dog, compared to you spending the biggest amount. So if nothing changes at home, they are learning, then unlearning, and vice versa, will they get better this way? For us Yes.. for you, no.

We stresss soooooo heavily the importance of homework. Let’s look at leash pressure as an example - we get to a super good point where the dog has no pressure on lead, so the dogs now learning, you fall into the ‘it’s a lot better trap and you get a bit complacent’ so the dog has a little bit of pressure on the lead but you don’t mind because it’s not much… is the dog learning to pull again? Yip. It has to be black and white and constant for the best results. 🐾

Get the fundamentals right before moving on, and get them practiced and practiced and practiced.

We do get people say, I haven’t got time really, so Let’s work on average figures…

There’s 168 hours in a week.
45 of that you’ll spend working (9 hours a day).
56 of them you’ll spend sleeping (9 hours a night… we wish 🙈).
3 hours a day cooking and cleaning (pretty generous).
That leaves us with 46 hours.

If you spent two hours a day training your dog for example, 1 hour each end of the day, that’s 14 hours training you’d get done over the week. Still leaving you with 32 hours to play with and a progressively easiler life because your dogs having the training they need.

I’m a top procrastinator so I understand totally about how managing time is super important, but when I need something to improve it’s about prioritising time efficiently🥰

01/09/2024

Happy Sunday! ❤️ What a crazyyyy week! 🙈

600 mile week with a good variety of horses and dogs, a vehicle back on the road after a mystery smashed window, from equine loaders, nervous and inexperienced horses, remedial horses and confidence building. From bitey dogs, rescue dogs, reactive/nervous dogs, super excitable dogs and more.

We have sadly had a trend of missold horses😭, lots of interesting people who state they’re off lead dogs are ‘under control’ running up to our clients on lead dogs who are training to become less reactive 🙄, we have run back-to-back from dawn to dusk this week to fit people in 🥰, and we’ve had our Equine transport Certificates through.. which the dog ate 🙈

Missold horses from dealers - from horses sold ‘been riding for years’ - information from previous owner 3 months before states untrue sold as broodmare, and horse was drugged for viewing. ‘totally sound, no bucking etc’ when the truth again drugged, horse had kissing spine 😭 Becareful who you buy from and make sure bloods are run!

Random humans out in public - dogs come running over into other dogs space - what is it with people shouting ‘he’s friendly’? Do they not consider the dog on the lead maybe intimidated by their dog racing over into their space and may react? 🙄🙈 there’s such a serious lack of consideration out there!

We’ve come a full circle with a horse that came to us a good while ago with kissing spine, progress onto a fun ride today and they had the best time 🥰🥰

The photo of a true representation of how bonkers the family is, here’s Missy and Mav Bomb diving the ferns at 6.45 this morning 🙈

01/09/2024

STABLE DUTIES

Don’t forget, our freelance groom Courtney is available for yard duties too. Available Monday to Friday (weekends available with notice too!) and for a super affordable price. Handy if you’re on holiday or unwell!

She travels wide and far already with her riding work, so if you need stable duties added on, let us know as you’ll get a discount too 👏

31/08/2024

Days off are for pony parties 🐴

30/08/2024

Keeping up with the ‘L’ theme today!

Louie 🐴

We are really working on getting the fundamentals really well set in on the lovely Louie. He’s only 18 months and was pretty on top of his handler when we met him.

Keeping sessions super short and sweet is which is much better to set him up to succeed not fail, Louie’s leading has improved loads! He’s really now understanding the communication 🐴

30/08/2024

There’s an ‘L’ name theme going on with todays posts 🙈

Lara 🐾 rescued from the streets of Romania, Lara’s owners were a little stuck on a few of her traits. She was scared of the sky when it was cloudy (welcome to Wales!) nervous of people and if pushed too far with the wrong questions would bite.

Lara has come on Leaps and bounds over the course of her tailor-made plan. We’ve slowly increased the difficulty of her exposure work when it was right for her, and she’s had a good walk around a busy area. Paired with lots of adventures with her hoomans, Lara now barely remembers the sky was scary and is living a far easiler more comfortable life 🐾

We have lots of nervous dogs in, and we love seeing the differences over time ❤️

30/08/2024

The lovely Las!

She’s working sooo nicely at the moment and right on plan to get back to ridden work in October! 🎉

If last found a question to hard, her go to was Rear and Nap and she was also pretty bitey in the stable. Anything pain related has now been sorted and this week was much of an improvement than last ❤️

No rearing or napping and next week we will start heading out onto the roads getting her seeing more in preparation for lots of hacking work 🐴

28/08/2024

Tiggy! 🐾

Not the best photo I know… 🐶

Tiggy again has reactivity issues, but has been super awesome at learning to ignore other dogs and we are seeing her confidence increase every time.

Throughout the programme we have challenged her to more dogs each time and she’s been awesome! She’s really learning to control her impulses and co-exist with other dogs 🥰

28/08/2024

Duke 🐴

Dukes been a little concerned about coming off the front of the ramp, so much so he would shot off the trailer backwards super fast! He has once exited the front of the trailer - but his feet didn’t touch the ramp he jumped it 🙈

Nevertheless, it was our job to help him understand we can walk off the front and not shoot out backwards. Loading on grass for safety - there’s no way id risk loading a horse known to jump out of the box on a hard surface.

He was a little sticky at first but it didn’t take long before Duke was understanding the communication and built confidence walking down the front ramp and repeated the process multiple times 🐴

It’s sooo important we are repeating successful behaviour. Whatever they are repeating they are learning, which can be the best thing or the worst if they are repeating the unwanted behaviour for example!

Video of duke pending! 🐴🐴

28/08/2024

Ahhh Bruno 🥰

This lovely had has joined our exposure programme!

His owners cause of concern was with his behaviour and reactivity to other dogs. He would bark and 'go for' other dogs.

These kind of reactive dogs are what makes us be so appreciative of our dogs, who have been trained to completely ignore and just chill around reactive dogs, which helps give our clients dogs confidence. Video of Bruno pending who done super well around other dogs on his first session 🥰