Coming when called
Just a short video show how I want my horses to turn up to a training session. I use reward based training with lots of choice. If she doesn’t fancy engaging with me I’ve got to figure out why. I also want horses to know when they are not being trained. I don’t want all the horses rocking up
If you are interested to learn this sort of training then it might be worth checking out www.conniecolfox.com. I have a 12 week live online course starting in September. If your horse is having problems and you don’t know which way to turn I would love to help you.
#horses #horsetraining #positivereinforcement
F£@king Pheasants. Good pony as he can get alarmed by the unexpected
#horses #pheasants #sciencebasedhorsetraining #positivereinforcement #horseriding #horsemanship
Just love raw groups of horses ready for some gentle training
Horses
Coming down from the hill for some training
#horses #horsetraining #positivereinforcement
Thresholds and options
The horse world has had a massive upset. These incidents are what help change
My videos are for the keen beans who really want to delve deep into how their horses really feel about their training
I have been training using positive reinforcement for around 20 years. If people knew the power of this training there wouldn’t be the unattractive videos we see on the internet because people wouldn’t want to risk their connection with their horses. It doesn’t mean you can’t ride a horse in a traditional fashion. You will learn what motivates your horse to feel good about things. And how to help him cope with things he struggles with
If you are interested in being part of the change for horses where we can gauge how they feel about what we do with them you might want to check out my live online course www.conniecolfox.com
#horse #dressage #eventing #showjumping #horsetraining
Loading
If you want to make loading simple you need to understand
How your horse feels
Does your horse understand what you want
Which in most cases is does he understand the guidance of the rope you are leading him with.
Where does it go wrong. It’s the balance between how much he yields to the pressure, with what he feels about the trailer. So if he is very responsive to pressure because it worries him when the pressure is put on then he might load even if he’s not that keen on the trailer.
This 2 year old has had minimal handling. I’ve just brought her in because she has a foot abscess. She’s probably had a head collar on less than 12 times in her life and is a bit clueless but most of the times we’ve handled her we have rewarded with food for relaxation so she has a fairly optimistic view point when we are around. She has never been asked to load or set eyes on the trailer and this took 19 minutes
The important thing is not to lure them with food until you’ve established that they feel calm at each stage. If you lure them because they are greedy they will go in and not have a good feeling and so although the food helps better than being pressured in, it still isn’t that productive. Often you can lure them the first time and not the second so make sure they are happy on the ramp or looking inside but don’t let them in
I’m not saying you should load with no head collar. It has its potential problems if not done carefully but I am just showing how you can motivate a very green horse using natural curiosity and reward. I didn’t use a head collar at all
I do online courses www.conniecolfox.com. Starting in September.
We start and retrain horses using mainly positive reinforcement.
Teaching them to understand pressure and release and negative reinforcement.
The horse world needs to learn this stuff for the future of the equine industry
#horses #dressage #horsetraining #eventing #younghorses #loadinghorses #Loading #trailerloa
How does your horse really feel? Do you want to find out?
For any keen horse training beans out there
When training one of the most important things for me apart from having the horses feeling safe is them listening and being connected to me. That’s when the magic happens.
This sequence is trying to give you a glimpse of how this lovely horse feels at the start of the training and how I am thinking of progressing her training
All the horses I train will go through the same basic steps. Which build
Confidence connection and understanding. I am wanting to share these steps with people who want to understand how their horses really feel and help them feel that the world they live in is a good one .
I do Iive online training courses for people who are stuck and not sure where to turn. You might have been following a high pressure type of training with nothing really in it for the horse and you just aren’t getting the results you dream of.
If this interests you register your interest www.conniecolfox.com
If yoou want more people to understand how to train horses in a gentle way then please share this post
#horses #horsetraining #younghorses #eventing #showjumping #dressage
HOW DOES YOUR HORSE REALLY FEEL? DO YOU REALLY KNOW? WOULD YOU LIKE TO FIND OUT?
How on earth do you know how he feels. He might be seriously pissed off or frightened but how do you find that out? And what do you do about it?
I have been training horses for over 40 years, Yawn, 20 badly and over the last 20 years I have been working out a system of working with horses with each step of the starting/restarting process where the horse can tell you what he likes and what he struggles with . I am now ready to share this with as many horse people as possible. It’s what the sport needs.
This system helps you understand how your horse feels about what you are asking him. If he’s not feeling that great then we help them feel safe, understand what we want and we then want to motivate them without scaring or threatening them.
We are assertive and we do use pressure and release and negative reinforcement but the bases for the training is positive reinforcement and training when under threshold of anxiety
Horse will go over threshold at times when training, which makes learning more difficult. That is a normal occurrence even if there is no human around. That is what helps animals survive. But it’s how we manage it and help them come back down and feel ok again is what matters
I have helped all types of people from international riders and Olympic medalists to people who just want to have a lovely time hacking or just being with their horses
Online courses start in Sept www.conniecolfox.com to register your interest
#horses #horsetraining #eventing #dressage #showjumping
Foals first trim. Let’s just chill #horses #foals #farrier #trimming
The sport needs us to change. Not just change our image but to actually change from the inside out
Back in the day when I was starting horses using more mainstream methods I used to think if the owner saw their horse now I don't think they would have liked it very much. I remember thinking I want to be able to retrain difficult horses where every step I could show anyone and no one would get an uncomfortable feeling. No bucking when the saddle first goes on, no moments of containing fear etc.
Now we do still use pressure and release and negative reinforcement, and I am not an amazing rider or trainer. I just knew along time ago for me to survive starting and retraining horses I needed to get really good at the training side. If a 5 star rider sends me a horse, I can't out ride him, I have to out train him.
By that I mean make my horse as happy as I can, doing what I want, that even I can ride him. So basically help him feel SAFE, UNDERSTAND AND FEEL MOTIVATED to do what I want.
If you want to train your horse to do great things, you still can. If you want to learn an approach that will change they way you handle your horse forever then register your interest www.conniecolfox.com
Video of 5 star riders horse who had a problem bolting
#gentletraining #horsetraining #dressage #horses
Let’s shout out for Pro riders who are ahead of the curve with their training ethos
Let’s support the prof riders who are looking at methods of training horses in a gentle way.
James Winter
Chloe Reynolds
Alex Bragg
These riders have sent horses to be trained here using very gentle methods and the results speak for themselves. Sometimes something bad has to happen to make a big change.
I am lucky enough to have been working with all levels of horse using positive reinforcement over the last 20. It is the way forward for the future for the sport and if you want to move with the times and fast track some serious knowledge I have a course that will open you mind to the possibility of a sport where horses can actually have their say. I have been running on line live courses for the last 18 months. Times have changed so if you want credibility in this sport you need keep with the times
Sign up if you are interested
Www.conniecolfox.com
#horses #horsetraining #dressage #eventing #showjumping #gentletraining #positivereinforcement
Horses emotions
This lovely pony is here to be started. He's been struggling with the starting process elsewhere.
This really doesn't necessarily mean anyone has done anything wrong its more about the horses thresholds and how he can convey them to those around him.
This guys thresholds are very delicate, he has gained confidence with people previous to coming here but he really struggled right from the word go with me.
To me it was SUPER important that I introduced my self as a totally trust worthy and predictable person and so I was wanting him to be very clear about what he found pleasent and what to him at this time was intolerable.
A lot of people will think I'm messing about and just to get on with it, but i know to give this chap the best chance to have a comfortable life (ie not sharp reactive which really means fearful) going forward I need to give him the emotional stability then robustness to navigate a good life in the human world.
The longer i spend at this stage the more chance he will have but don't worry I run a business so I need happy customers so I will have that very clear at the back of my mind but also I know i will be wasting all their pennies if i do a bad job. So I can't just brush over this very clear bit of communication
Iff you are interested in this sort of training I teach Online courses with small groups of people over 12 weeks www.conniecolfox.com to register your interest
#HorseTrainingTips #horses #positivereinforcementtrainer #startingyounghorses #horsesemotions
Stupid me. Business pages only let you have 60 second videos. The full one is on my personal page Connie Found
This is just for the keen beans. Not very exciting and a bit long but to me very relevant when trying to figure out what horses aren’t happy about
This chap is horse shy in the collecting ring. I don’t even think about the horses big problem. I just start at the beginning, do they come when they are called? Then start at the beginning. Can they stand happily unaided and what happens when you add equipment.
This sequence just shows to me he is happier being saddled than bridled. Why? I have no idea but I will work on his acceptance of being tacked up and respect his communication with me
#horsetrainingtips #positivereinforcementtrainer #horseriding #positivereinforcementworks #horsemanship #horses
Did this a few days ago. I like them to learn their name if possible not just come because they hear the gate or see you coming. Then if you have a field full of horses you can start to ask one to come out or a crowd
For me it is important to
Make sure every aspect of a horses training is comfortable. If they have anxieties over one area this can seep into other parts of training
This horse is horse shy in the warm
ups but I’ve put most of my efforts into mounting. This will make training the next stage easier as he will come to the horse shy training with no baggage. He will come to it with more connection to me and a calmer outlook to the question I ask him
In this video he still isn’t 100% no anxiety but he is getting there.
I do online live horse training courses www.conniecolfox.com
#retraininghorses #horses #bitless #bridleless
Consent
If you are asking for consent. It’s not really consent for this chap. As asking is pressure for him as he always wants to deliver. This guy was showing conflicting behaviours over being mounted. He is here for other reasons but I can’t get to his other problems before he gets rid of any neg association of being mounted. He is getting there. 💕🐎💕
#horses #retraininghorses
Reinless riding why do it?
First time bridleless
Why train your horse to go bridleless?
Because you have nothing else to do?
I do it because sometimes horses have got a lot of erratic thoughts about past training and I want to introduce being ridden in the totally different way. I will try and make sure they feel safe. I’d be mad to get on them if they didn’t. I need them to have some understanding and space in their heads to concentrate on me and I want them to want to do it. So if I take the kit off and there is a good line of communication then I am on the road to changing the way a horse feels about training.
I have added a reinless section on my live online course which starts next month. I don’t have all the answers but if you want to learn, over 3 months, how I help rehabilitate horses who aren’t keen to do what we want, or young horses to start or just learn a way of training horses where they can tell you a few things about their thresholds and then you can work on helping them feel braver and safer then sign up www.conniecolfox.com. We start in June.
#horsetraining #horses #horsetraningcourses #bitless #bridleless #lovehorses
