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Chakora Equine: Trauma-Informed Equine Services offers horse training, horsemanship lessons, and more via trauma-informed methods, utilizing a combination of biomechanics, mental health & psychology, and science-based energy/relationship work.

This month, I have a couple openings for private sessions! I will have openings for group sessions in the next month or ...
05/01/2023

This month, I have a couple openings for private sessions! I will have openings for group sessions in the next month or so.

Private sessions available are: Thursdays at 11:30am, and Fridays at 10:30am or 12:30pm. I am currently booked outside of these spots, but if you would like to be wait-listed for other days or times, please reach out to me!

✨ Happy 2023, everyone! ✨

24/11/2022

Stop thinking your horse is being anxious. Instead, see your horse as FEELING alarmed.

Why? Because it gives you more direction.

When we think of anxiety WE tend to associate that with worrying thoughts, but horses tend to respond to the world based on how they FEEL. We are the complex thinkers, they are not. Therefore, they feel in danger because they FEEL threatened because of pain, discomfort, sense of isolation etc.

For example:

A horse that gets "separation anxiety" is feeling ALARMED because it feels isolated and unable to cope with what it is experiencing. Alarm triggers the horse into what is called "flocking". Flocking is hardwired and is the need to draw closer together with other horses when they feel threatened. Hence, we see the desperation of the horse to return to their herd.

By seeing it this way helps you understand that you have to help the horse NOT feel isolated or that isolation is dangerous. And to feel successful at being able to navigate what it is experiencing - to NOT feel alarmed by what it is experiencing.

A horse that is hypervigilant, reactive and worried about the world gets labelled "sensitive" but this indicates the horse is stuck in a chronic state of alarm which means they are feeling uncomfortable. Things that can make horses feel chronically uncomfortable are pain; management practices that are physically, mentally and emotionally damaging; and handing that is making them suffer and feel frightened.

They are horses struggling to regulate their stress responses. They are easily triggered and then struggle to return to a state a relaxation because there is something interfering with them being able to feel completely comfortable.

Seeing this behaviour this way might be confronting for you but it means you need to ensure this horse is comfortable and can experience comfort and a sense of safety when you handle and ride them.

Just because they don't limp does not mean they are sound. Just because a vet cannot find anything does not mean they don't have a problem. Just because you think you are not doing anything to disturb them does not mean you aren't!

21/11/2022

How many times have you had a bad training session with your horse and got stuck in the loop of:

“We’re not making any progress”

“Our training is going backwards”

“We’ll never be able to achieve this goal behavior”

Full stop. 🛑

Remember where you started. Sure, you may have had an off day, but take a moment to look back and see how far you’ve come. Setbacks happen to us all, but they don’t mean that you’re not making progress!

Maybe today your horse didn’t self-halter for you…but three months ago they ran away from you in the field. 

Or your horse wouldn’t stand still to be groomed…but last month they wouldn’t even come into the barn.

One bad day doesn’t negate all the amazing progress you’ve made. You've come so far! 💛

18/11/2022

Mink side-passing a ground pole at liberty - she’s got a whole bag of cues she’s been picking up!

Cow training has its own pros & cons!! Clever brain that catches on fast - ✔️Long tongue that grosses me out - ✔️
18/11/2022

Cow training has its own pros & cons!!
Clever brain that catches on fast - ✔️
Long tongue that grosses me out - ✔️

Dolly had her first day of the saddle today! Her training being focused in Positive Reinforcement gave her such a solid,...
08/11/2022

Dolly had her first day of the saddle today! Her training being focused in Positive Reinforcement gave her such a solid, brave foundation that she was able to reach numerous future goalposts in today’s session! I think I could train ponies forever 😍

01/11/2022

Allow them to be confused.

Allow yourself that same kindness too.

Confusion is cognition. It is the momentary detachment of neurons before they make new attachments. Confusion, is a stepping stone of learning.

Many training approaches spoon feed the horse desired actions in such a manner that they never need to think for themselves.

The result might be mechanical

It’s like learning to say a poem in another language, based on the mechanics of the sounds only, but not understanding what those sounds meant.

Chronic confusion- bad training, because there’s no learning.
Regular, momentary confusion? Essential to learning

My tip to begin exploring this in a simple way with your horse:

1. Provide them a mildly ambiguous cue
2. Give them lots of time to think (ie, be confused for a moment)
3. Reward their first answer. Whatever their answer is, is their understanding of your cue. Now you know what that cue means to them.

It takes horse training and flips it on its head. And makes for a much more mentally and emotionally engaged horse. As their primary skill set pivots from…

- performing specific actions for the trainer based on a series of pressed buttons

To…

- thinking through puzzles with their partner and offering authentic solutions.

And then thoroughly understanding what it meant to THEM. Rather than, what YOU wanted. It’s a subtle nuance but makes a big difference in the horses level of enjoyment of their time with us.

Serving our wants- a pathway to servitude
Understanding how to talk with us- a pathway to connection and joy

A much easier way to be with smart horses.

By the way, what do you categorize as “smart”?

25/10/2022

Quiet sessions bore onlookers but are riveting for the participants! ☺️

18/10/2022

This video shows 5 yr old gelding, Bullet, on his first day learning a handheld target cue. Here’s a few observations to check out!

1. Protected Contact (PC) is the method of feeding the horse away from the body. This is useful for establishing boundaries for both parties and/or for mouthy horses with previous random treating from non-R+ folks. Bullet is a youngster with a lot of curiosity and willingness, a lack of trauma (hallelujah!!) so less fearful of being hit or chased away and doesn’t need to begin that, and enjoys being with people. I feed him in PC to encourage him recognizing that “I have the food, I am not the food” and to continue establishing that the food is a reward for a cued behavior, not a random treat.

2. At approx 24 secs, processing and thinking before responding: Our patience level is often the cause of so many issues in horses. Giving them the time to think through what you’d like can give you much more success with a horse who becomes more confident and willing to try.

3. 32-42 secs: Patiently allowing him to explore without swatting him away gives him the chance to use the above skills - processing that I have the food, I’m not the food, rewarding him for not pushing boundaries (trying to get the food), and thinking about what he might need to do to earn his reward. I captured a default behavior instead of using a cued behavior.

Sometimes these sessions appear quiet, bland, or like not much is happening. And honestly, that’s what I’m looking for it to “look” like. Meanwhile, SO much is happening mentally, emotionally and relationally.

14/10/2022

You don't have to ride your horse. It's ok if you don't ride your horse. It is not a requirement of horse ownership that you RIDE your horse.

I often hear people talk -
"(name) NEVER rides his/her horse! I don't know why (name) bothers having a horse, why does (name) spend all that money on board, and farrier, and veterinarian, and vaccinations and NEVER ride their horse? What a waste of money!"

First of all, it's none of their business what (name) does with his/her horse and his/her money. None.

Secondly, so what? Who care's?? If the horse is happy and well taken care of, then it's all good. I promise you that the horse is not standing in it's pen/pasture/stall saying to itself "Oh I wish (name) would come ride me!". or "Oh goody, here comes (name) to take me for a gallop around the barrels". Horses don't function like that. Horses look for and require food, water, shelter and companionship. Being ridden is not on their list of daily requirements for survival.

To be honest, I have a lot of respect for people who don't ride their horses, but are still willing to spend the necessary money, time and effort it takes to be a conscientious horse owner.

Maybe (name) has good reason not to ride, perhaps they have physical limitations, or too many demands on their time, or perhaps they just don't want to ride. Perhaps they struggle with their confidence and prefer groundwork, perhaps they don't like to ride or work with their horse when no one else is around. Perhaps they really just like to own a horse and derive as much enjoyment just being a horse owner, providing a good life for a horse they love and want to support, for as long as they can.

Perhaps we should not judge what people do with their horses, (or don't do), as long as those horses are well taken care of.

So next time someone says to you that they own a horse, but they don't ride, don't give them that stare of disbelief, don't put them down or make snide remarks. Instead, praise them for being a dedicated horse owner, for being willing to do what is necessary for a horse to have a good life, for being a good person, regardless of what they do, or don't do, with their horse.

Horses need good people, not all good horse people ride.

10/10/2022

Sometimes it's not ulcers.

Sometimes it's not kissing spine.

Sometimes it's not EPM.

Sometimes it's not the bit.

Sometimes it's not the saddle.

Sometimes it's not the trainer.

Sometimes it's the fact you're a crazy human who continues to anthropomorphise these behaviours and insist that it couldn’t possibly be a pain related issue or anything related to you.

Sometimes it’s the fact that your horse was designed for the purpose of moving 20+ kilometres per day with their head down grazing and is now confined to a box stall and fed up on high energy grain whilst going without hay for hours each day, creating a sore tummy and a greater likelihood of having ulcers as a domestic horse than not in addition to being chronically understimulated and largely unable to exercise unless they have a human on their back playing puppeteer.

Sometimes it's the fact that you dress your horse in a variety of equipment with the purpose of restricting the movement of their mouth (flash) or creating more leverage for you to be able to ride and direct them easier by using a number of different harsher bits or gadgets like draw reins. This effectively removes any ability for quiet communication, so when your horse can’t take it anymore, they must get louder.

Sometimes it’s the fact that way too many unqualified trainers play saddle fitter and tell students their tack fits when it actually does not.

Sometimes it's the fact that your horse absolutely adores running away from you because it is one of the few things that brings them relief from the otherwise high pressure, high stress lifestyle that can be rides, especially when their communication of stress and/or discomfort is being labelled as personality and otherwise viewed through an anthropomorphic lens.

Sometimes it's the fact that you think your horse will wait for you while you mount or dismount but your horse is chronically stressed and cannot fathom the idea of standing still for a couple of seconds while they’re in fight or flight mode so they instead use the opportunity for relief by moving.

Sometimes it's the fact that the majority of the stress and avoidance behaviours we see ARE correlated with mental and/or physical discomfort and have shown consistent correlation in extensive equine behaviours studies.

Sometimes it’s the fact that we have a 70-90% rate of stomach ulceration in domesticated horses so your horse is more likely to have them than not.

Sometimes, the issue is that we as humans are really great at denying anything that would push us to self reflect and see the gravity of what is an industry wide issue of ignoring the horse and then when they finally get loud so we have to notice, blaming their loud behaviours once again on them.

Horses do not lie, their behaviour is honest. Humans, on the other hand, DO lie. Especially to themselves. To protect from having to sit information that is hard to hear.

It’s taking the easy way out to anthropomorphise your horse. But, I can promise you that if you actually put the time, money and belief into diagnostic work, you will have a very good chance of finding out what physical issue is causing their behaviour. Many who claim it can’t be pain related just don’t actually put the work in to find out because the real truth is often expensive and could be painful. For years, I avoided the truth for the same reason, all without knowing that was why.

If you learn to look for the reason behind their unwanted behaviour instead of just looking at the behaviour at face value, you also may find what situations, equipment and other factors contribute to it.

If you consider ruling out pain first and honestly looking at your horse’s living situation from a welfare standpoint, you may just realize how often pain and inadequate management cause behavioural issues, because these factors are behind the vast majority of issues we run into with horses.

After all, I thought it was “never the horse’s fault” or are we just saying that to sound good?

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You can support my work for as little as $1 a month by subscribing to my Patreon. You can get free access to behind the scenes, early video uploads, training help, tutorials and more: http://Patreon.com/sdequus

You can also see my website for more about me, my horses & free learning resources: http://milestoneequestrian.ca

04/10/2022

Huge shout out to Martin Schjoll with S*M Family Farms LLC - they came out to trim the barn pet, No Ho. They were so gentle and caring with our beloved cow, and did a wonderful job getting him set! Give them a call if you’ve got some livestock needs.

28/09/2022

Quite often with big cats, when the prey animal does not react and run, the killing instinct is not stimulated. Also big cats suffocate their prey by putting their mouths over the prey's mouth or grabbing its throat and shutting down its breathing and when it no longer reacts, they let go. So freezing is a really good adaptation to dupe the predator into thinking to let go and the prey can suddenly leap up and run off. Plenty of people have seen this in the wild, and that is why it has evolved in animals.

With the classic freeze response which can be followed by a violently energetic act as a means of escaping the predator, the best thing to do is get off. The next best thing to do is to turn them if you can, which may pull them out of the freeze, but it may also elicit a violent response. I have suffered major injuries from horses displaying this behavior and I would not recommend anyone dealing with that; staying on is courting danger. Get off and start all over again and maybe check out your ground work (l'd say there are bound to be faults there). Train your horse in hand, which I think everyone should do. Without moving your own feet, get the horse from a very light aid to step forward and back and stay in a parked position. If you can do those three things in hand, when you get a fractious horse and you get off, quite often you can elicit a better reaction and you may be able to hop back on and get him/her moving again.

This is an excerpt from 'Conversations with Dr Andrew McLean' available to purchase from our website: https://esi-education.com/

18/09/2022

What science says about R+ training

The art of positive reinforcement training has been studied for years. It is impossible to condense every single study into one post while explaining the context of the study and how it applies to horses. But here are some of the more recent studies that directly relates to horses.

- R+ improves the memory of horses (Sankey, 2009). "Using postive reinforcement to train young horses has the double advantage of creating effective, long-lasting results and of strengthening the horse-human relationship"

-Clicker trainers have a better understanding of equine affective states (Bell, et all., 2019) " ..suggesting that clicker trainers might be more accurate in their recognition of equine distress then other equestrians".

- Clicker Training accelerates learning of complex behaviors (Paredes-Ramos, et all., 2020) " clicker training decreased the number of repetitions required to learn a behaviour"

-Food is a valued reward for horses (Kieson et all., 2020) " all horses demonstrate preference for treats over human intercation regardless of history"

-Helps to overcome fears (Francesca Dai, et al., 2019) "loading training using positive reinforcement also reduce loading time and stress during loading"

-The horse wants to part take in training (Innes & McBride, 2008) "horses trained with R+ were more motivated to participate and displayed more exploratory behaviour"

-Improves the wellbeing of the animal being trained (Kogan, et al., 2017) ".. positively influences shelter cat's wellbeing, also makes the cats more attractive to adopters"
👆 *I added this study because have you ever tried clicker training a cat ?* 😄

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Videos

Mink side-passing a ground pole at liberty - she’s got a whole bag of cues she’s been picking up!

Quiet sessions bore onlookers but are riveting for the participants! ☺️

This video shows 5 yr old gelding, Bullet, on his first day learning a handheld target cue. Here’s a few observations to check out! 1. Protected Contact (PC) is the method of feeding the horse away from the body. This is useful for establishing boundaries for both parties and/or for mouthy horses with previous random treating from non-R+ folks. Bullet is a youngster with a lot of curiosity and willingness, a lack of trauma (hallelujah!!) so less fearful of being hit or chased away and doesn’t need to begin that, and enjoys being with people. I feed him in PC to encourage him recognizing that “I have the food, I am not the food” and to continue establishing that the food is a reward for a cued behavior, not a random treat. 2. At approx 24 secs, processing and thinking before responding: Our patience level is often the cause of so many issues in horses. Giving them the time to think through what you’d like can give you much more success with a horse who becomes more confident and willing to try. 3. 32-42 secs: Patiently allowing him to explore without swatting him away gives him the chance to use the above skills - processing that I have the food, I’m not the food, rewarding him for not pushing boundaries (trying to get the food), and thinking about what he might need to do to earn his reward. I captured a default behavior instead of using a cued behavior. Sometimes these sessions appear quiet, bland, or like not much is happening. And honestly, that’s what I’m looking for it to “look” like. Meanwhile, SO much is happening mentally, emotionally and relationally.

Session #8 of Acoustic Reward & Tactile Touch for this 1.5 year old Shetland filly. I utilize the clicker with her and touch-only cues which can also turn into body language and/or verbal cues depending on the handler; no pressure-release or tools are used for her sessions and she’s at liberty each time. This was her 2nd session being asked to move her shoulders towards the handler, which she had learned very rapidly in the previous session! Next week we will begin working on moving her hips towards us (she knows hips away).

Wendy’s first day with the target!

Wendy’s successfully handling cross ties, is tolerating her tail being brushed, and loves getting turn out time!

This yearling colt is working on a few things here… 1- I want him to THINK how to give to pressure. I don’t want the horse to think *I* am the pressure, so I want him to be able to move away from pressure and in to me when I ask. 2- truly reading my body language & my intent. My cues to him currently feel big, so I’d like them quieter/smaller than they are in this video, but it’s where he needs me to be right now. I like that he’s learning to read the small changes I make though, and thinking about what they mean. 3- checking my own ability to educate him. I only work this colt for about 20 minutes, once a week. It’s always so amazing that he picks up where we left off, and how well he retains information vs older horses. I feel confident when I do well with him!

Mink’s first time without any tack. Solid start in walk, trot, lope, stop and turns! This is a good way to test if you’re dependent on aids as a crutch - but of course, it takes quite a bit of time to build to strength, balance, trust and confidence to attempt it!

Energy vs intent ♥️ Caerus is happy to stick with me while my energy is intent on moving Crush.

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