Why is he so dramatic 🤣 👑 He takes it very seriously when there is a target involved and kicked it clean out and of my hand 😅. #horse #horsetraining #horsemanship #liberty #libertytraining #clickertraining #positivereinforcement #cutehorse #christmas
The moment they join the dots and get 3 steps 💪🏻 the third step with the Spanish walk is always the hardest because they have to move their back legs too. I couldn’t get my camera on fast enough to get the first few but Melody had a lightbulb 💡 moment. Some lovely trot work at liberty too. Hard to believe that Melody wouldn’t trot in hand for years! It’s all about motivation 🥕 very proud 🥹 Gail is a wonderful owner and really puts the work in. #liberty #tricktraining #horsemanship #horsetraining #clickertraining #positivereinforcement
Clicker Training Demo
Come and learn how to read your horse’s body language and behaviour as well as how to start clicker training successfully to build communication, confidence and to improve your relationship. Learn how to teach your horse to be calm around food, how to use clicker training to teach new behaviours, build confidence with ‘scary’ objects and obstacles as well as how to teach tricks. Sunday at 1pm in the education arena at the Horsemanship Showcase - The Horsemanship Event of The Year This is Rai, a beautiful friesian mare whose owner, Sam Newman kindly offered her and her companion as my demo horses. She has been beautifully trained by Sam 🥕 and this will be her first show. Who’s coming to watch? 😍
Park at the Block
Last night ☔️. I wasn’t sure how Tao would be in the wind and rain as it was quite extreme - but I am determined to keep up his exercise. He was so chilled. I love that he tried to back up to reach me 😂 his ‘around’ voice cue is pretty solid so he understood to turn and then realised I was up on the wall. I should have given the ‘line up’ cue initially but assumed he had seen me (standing on the wall is the other cue for the same thing). Horses really are so intelligent and very capable of understanding cues without force as well as making decisions on their own. I want a horse who thinks for himself, not a robot. He knows there are no repercussions for not following my cues. Very proud of him ❤️ and how well he coped in trying conditions.
Sponsored by David Dyer Saddles
Change of Bend at Liberty
Very far from perfect. Just asking some questions and seeing what he says. Tao struggles a lot crossing his hind legs - always has. Really pleased with his effort here and calm response. This is very much a work in progress and the first time in many months I’ve asked the question. It’s a lot for them at liberty, real brain work as well as bodywork and I’m only asking for little bits as he’s still coming back into work. #liberty #libertytraining #horsemanship #horsetraining #clickertraining
Wait and Push
Love this happy video of Nikki and Pudz today 🤩 Starting to put together chains of behaviour. Wait, walk forwards & push 😂 Nikki is already preparing for next years client Halloween video. Again, it may seem like a pointless trick to some, but it’s cognitively enriching for Pudsy as well as being very useful to teach them to wait (at roads, the mounting block, on the yard, on the lorry, opening gates etc). The push is less useful, more fun 😂 Thanks for letting me share, Nikki. #clickertraining #liberty #libertytraining #horsemanship #horsetraining #horse
Happy Halloween 🎃
Happy Halloween! 👻 🎃 Imagine opening your door to Tao 😂.
This may seem like a ‘silly trick’ and some people might wonder what the benefit of teaching it is?
Firstly, it’s fun and cute! (No-one can disagree with this 😂).
Secondly, if we break it down, it’s not just one behaviour. It’s a chain. ‘Stand, wait, walk forward, pick up bucket, hold bucket, put bucket down’ - CLICK and reward. There are many useful and practical behaviours there that make more sense to a horse when you give them purpose and it makes it easier for them to generalise.
Thirdly, it’s enriching and confidence building for horses to do things like this and relationship building too. Tao really seems to enjoy this type of thing.
#halloweenvideo #horse #horsetraining #clickertraining #spooky #cleverhorse #funnyanimalvideo #horse
Lucy & Burley Archery
Lucy was told this couldn’t be done with positive reinforcement 💁♀️. It took time and hard work on Lucy’s part. We started in March. Burley is a very sensitive pony and can have big fear reactions so we knew it was a big ask, but Lucy also knew he would love horseback archery and I think she’s right. I can’t wait to see them proving everyone wrong! Good training (for the horse) should be boring - no big reactions, no drama. Thinly sliced in chunks they can cope with. This not only builds confidence, but the relationship too as they associate you with nice experiences. I absolutely love working on new things like this and having clients who put the work in and are willing to put their horse first, taking time to reach the end goal at the horse’s pace. Well worth the wait. Burley listens intently to Lucy’s ‘ready’ cue, which tells him what is about to happen, so it isn’t a shock. Love this partnership. A huge well done, Lucy. So happy for you, you deserve it and have worked really hard. (SD - systematic desensitisation. CC - counter conditioning) #horsebackarchery #horsemanship #horsetraining #clickertraining #kindtraining #evidencedbasedtraining #newforestpony #rewardbasedtraining
Bill Spanish Walk
Spanish horse or Welsh D? 🤔🤩 I just love Bill’s confidence and clear enjoyment of this movement 💥💪🏻 If Emma even vaguely makes a suggestion he gives a big YES. Such an impressive and expressive Spanish walk (especially compared to Tao’s 😂) but even more so when Bill has PSSM. Well done Emma and Bill. It’s been amazing to watch this develop. #spanishwalk #horsetraining #horsemanship #bitless #bitlessriding #joyinmovement #welshd
Christmas Events🎄
CHRISTMAS EVENTS! 🎄
Hi All,
I’m thinking of hiring an indoor arena for a day in December, where I can set up Christmas themed obstacles. So you can put all you have learnt into practise and have a fun/ relaxed trip out. Would this be of interest 😃? Pairs and groups an option too, but if you want to do liberty or bridleless work, it would have to be a private (could potentially do a 30 minute slot).
My next question is, can anyone suggest an indoor arena for hire, please? 🙏🏻 Location doesn’t matter too much as could potentially do a couple of these in different areas if there is the demand. Doesn’t need to be a big/ flashy arena but ideally under cover as if it’s wet or windy the obstacles will be flapping around/ falling over. Much nicer to be indoors too 😅🎄 I have my agility arch now and some new obstacles that will only be used for clinics/ camps or days like these as they take so long to set up.
On another note: Save the date - Tuesday 10th December, Liz has kindly offered to host a Christmas meet up for my clients. Come for drinks and nibbles at her place in Churt. 6.30pm-8pm. No charge, just a chance to catch up with like-minded people 😊 all welcome! More info nearer the time.
Katie and Barney
So proud of these two! Katie has done amazingly well with Barney who is a very sensitive boy and had some anxiety in the school and also with learning. You wouldn’t have known it in our session yesterday. So impressed by his progress and what he is able to cope with now 🤩 We introduced the hip target in our last session and I was blown away by the progress Katie had made. The first time we asked him for haunches in using the hip target cue, he just got it 💡 clever boy! No whip, stick or extension of the arm needed - especially for an anxious horse, it means he can be confident about what he’s being asked because he understands to move his bottom towards Katie’s hand, rather than trying to move away from a stick. The emotional response is completely different. He wants to do it and knows no pressure will be added or escalated if he gets it wrong, which has built his confidence to try 💪🏻. He’s such a sensitive boy. Truly a pleasure to watch his self- confidence grow and also his skills, he’s very talented. Well done, Katie!! #cob #liberty #horsemanship #horsetraining #clickertraining #clickertrainingwithhorses
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