Bright Animal Training

17/12/2025

16/12/2025

After 4 months of having B & working on some foundation behaviours (the rules around clicker training; targetting different items; standing still; following me/leading; mat training) we've officially started her hoof handling training. I am expecting this to take weeks & months, with her history & level of overall fearfulness. I'll incorporate the mat training & targetting at a later point for this for the purposes of cooperative care. Today, we begain shaping a hoof lift, starting with B's front left hoof. I planned to simply scan & capture her shifting her weight off of this hoof as a starting point, but so bright & willing is B that she quickly understood that I wanted her to lift her foot and remain stationary (not stepping forward as a movement). Clicker training is so wonderful at gaining willingness from a horse and clarity with what you want them to do.

Well done B, & watch this space!

16/12/2025

Even though Eddie can't be ridden (due to poor conformation & her arthritis) she really has blossomed into the perfect child's pony. I trust her completely around my baby daughter (obvs you are always careful around with a child around any horse - likewise with every dog). To think that 5.5 years ago, Eddie was very fearful of having her feet handled (only ever done under sedation) being touched & strangers, which took a long time to overcome. Now, I can see the kind, sweet, laidback pony she really is. Eddie is now by far the easiest of my 3 ponies to do anything with (having been the most challenging at first). She is my absolute angel and always instils confidence. Whenever anyone asks to spend time with my ponies, Eddie is always the one I choose for non-horsey family children to groom & handle. I am eternally glad that Eddie came to me.

I wonder if B will ever feel as calm & safe as Eddie now does. Time will tell!

14/12/2025

08/12/2025

Learning to target novel items is a great way to build confidence in a fearful pony (or dog!)

08/12/2025

A real, imperfect hoof handling session with Edna. I would normally separate the ponies when handling them to minimise any food anxiety & respurce guarding, but chose not to here.

06/12/2025

Dog owners & walkers: livestock worrying law important update

The law on dogs and livestock worrying has recently been updated in Britain. These changes matter and they apply even on public footpaths and rights of way.

This post explains:
• what has changed
• what counts as evidence
• what “under proper control” actually means
• whether seized dogs are killed

What has changed in the law

The Dogs (Protection of Livestock) legislation has been modernised. Key points:

Unlimited fines
The old £1,000 cap has gone. Courts can now impose unlimited fines reflecting the real harm caused.

More animals protected
'Livestock' now clearly includes alpacas and llamas, as well as sheep, cattle, goats, pigs and others.

More places covered
The law applies:
– in fields and enclosures
– on public footpaths
– on roads
– while livestock are being moved

Stronger police powers
Police can now:
– seize and detain dogs
– enter premises with a warrant
– collect forensic evidence

Worrying vs attacking livestock

This is crucial.

'Worrying livestock' includes:
• chasing
• running at
• harassing
• causing fear or panic
• being loose among livestock and not under proper control

No injury or physical contact is needed.

Stress alone is legally recognised harm. It can cause:
• miscarriages
• mis-mothering
• exhaustion
• broken limbs from fleeing
• long-term fear responses

Attacking livestock involves:
• biting
• grabbing
• injuring
• killing

Both worrying and attacking are criminal offences.

What counts as evidence now

Livestock worrying often happens out of sight. The law now reflects that.

Evidence may include:

• Injuries to livestock (including stress-related harm)
• Bite marks, wounds, post-mortems
• Blood, tissue, or DNA
• Evidence from the dog (blood, saliva, bite patterns)
• Collars, leads, towels or other items
• Disturbed ground, damaged fencing
• Witness statements
• Livestock behaviour (panic, scattering, distress)
• The dog itself, which may be seized for examination

A case does not need someone to witness the moment of chasing if evidence supports what happened.

What “under proper control” REALLY means

This is the most misunderstood part of the law.

A dog is under proper control only if the handler can prevent it from worrying livestock at all times

That means the handler must be able to:
• stop the dog before it approaches livestock
• prevent any chasing or rushing
• act instantly not “afterwards”
• maintain control even if animals move or run

If the dog is stopped after it has approached or chased livestock, control was already lost.

On a lead

A dog on a lead is usually under control only if
• the lead is short enough
• the handler can physically restrain the dog
• the handler is paying attention

Flexi leads, long lines, or dragging leads in livestock areas are often not considered proper control.

Off lead

A dog can be under proper control off lead but the bar is very high.

If a dog:
• runs towards livestock
• hesitates before recall
• “only chases for a bit”
• comes back after animals flee
.......it is not under proper control.

“Friendly”, “well trained”, or “never done it before” makes no difference in law.

NB Presence alone can be an offence

A loose dog among livestock, fence-running, or stalking can already count as worrying, even without a chase.

The law is about risk and stress, not intent.

A practical rule used in policing: If a reasonable livestock keeper would feel at risk with that dog there, it is not under proper control.

Are seized dogs killed?

No not usually, dogs are not automatically destroyed under livestock worrying law.

Dogs may be seized:
• to prevent repeat incidents
• to gather evidence
• during investigation

Courts usually focus on owner responsibility, not punishing the dog. Destruction orders are rare and would only arise under other legislation if a dog posed an unmanaged, serious risk.

In short

• Livestock do not need to be bitten for an offence
• Stress and chasing are recognised harm
• Evidence can be physical and forensic
• “Proper control” means preventing risk, not recalling afterwards
• Responsibility rests with the handler

This law exists to protect animals who cannot escape or speak for themselves and to make expectations clear for everyone who shares the countryside.

Please feel free to share as clarity prevents heartbreak.

This post is a general summary of current UK livestock-worrying law and practice, based on publicly available legislation and guidance. It is not legal advice and cannot account for individual circumstances.

05/12/2025

What horse people say . . . .

“I only carry the whip, I’ve never beaten my horse with it.”

But if it changes your horse’s behaviour when you carry it, then it means something to the horse, otherwise why bother with it.

You don’t have to hit them with it for them to adjust their behaviour when it's around. Much like you change your behaviour around a police car or speed camera even if you’ve never been caught.

This is true because of your other interactions with your horse involving them continually escaping and avoiding your “pressure” (aversive stimuli) and “aids” (threats).

You’ve then created a negative emotional association that colours many of the things you do together.

Horses aren’t silly, they’re good at perceiving threats due to their non-confrontational nature.

If you use it for flies, or to keep cyclists away, or as a target stick, etc, etc, and still feel the need to comment, perhaps you’re feeling uncomfortable because this still applies to you.

Photo credit www.rplusdogs.com
(I cannot find the original fb post)

01/12/2025

On a training/behaviour group I'm in, an inside dog is left alone outside for 14 hours(!) due to work shifts & it barks a lot (well of course it will!). The advice repeatedly given is to use a bark/e-collar to shock the dog every time it barks. Absolutely shocking & completely unacceptable!

30/11/2025

Sharing with permission of a client- names have been changed for privacy.

Gracie came to me after having problems with her horse Benji displaying undesirable behaviour at the gate- whenever she came to get Benji in from the field he would rush and sometimes become aggressive towards any of the other horses around him. Gracie felt unsafe bringing her horse in, and was worried about the welfare of other horses and people who might find themselves involved in the situation.

When I went to meet Gracie and Benji I spent our session thoroughly taking note of Benji's history, discussing his managment and routine. Benji was out in a paddock with friends, but no hay was supplemented due to yard rules- the owners felt their horses had grass to eat and that the over-grazed field worked to their advantage as it meant their horses wouldn't become fat. Benji was brought in daily to a hay net and a feed, then stabled overnight until the next morning when he was turned out again.

From gathering information about Benji's daily life I concluded that the undesirable behaviour happening at the gate was most likely linked to Benji being brought in to food- this is something I see often. The issue wasn't his hay net and feed in the stable, something I would encourage, but was the lack of forage in the field. Once turned out Benji was hungry due to the lack of forage available, and so coming into his stable where food would be waiting became extremely high value to him, hence the rushing at the gate to get inside where he could eat. The aggression towards other horses at the gate was resource guarding behaviour- Benji felt he needed to warn the other horses away from Gracie to ensure she was able to bring him in to the food as she did each day.

Benji was seen by a vet and was ulcery which we all agreed was probably from the lack of forage and stress related to food. He was treated, and scoped clear. He was also moved homes to a friendly yard that allowed forage out in the field.

Benji was still happy to come in for his feed, but no longer waited anxiously at the gate all day for Gracie to arrive. He now comes in calmly and doesn't feel any need to rush in to his stable.

29/11/2025

'My horse is nappy, plants and won't go forwards, rears and bolts the other way'

What might this behaviour mean and what can you do about it?

Behaviour commonly known as napping (where horses refuse to go forwards, become stressed and try to turn around, plant, sometimes even rear, buck and bolt) has several causes.

I hear many owners refer to a napping horse as naughty, disrespectful, and rude among other things- but these are labels we use and concepts our horses don't really understand.

The truth is, a napping horse is stressed in some way. This could be pain, anxiety, distress, lack of confidence....and can be occuring for so many reasons. If a horse isn't going forwards when we ask, it's usually because they feel as though they can't- the consequences for their 'no' are often not very nice for them, so they must feel as though they're really unable to respond when this happens.

So what can we as owners do about this?
When napping occurs owners often resort to punishment and coercion- the horse isn't doing what we want so we try to force them to, either because we simply want them to or because we falsely believe that they're being disrespectful. We might kick then on roughly, tug on their mouths, smack them with a whip or shout at them- all things that aren't very nice if you think about it for a moment, and that should probably make us realise faster than we do that they're not simply saying no just because they don't want to.

Instead we should alow down. Consider what is making them feel as though they can't, and respond accordingly. This could be booking them in for a vet exam, noticing a trigger or something they're afraid of about the situation, going back to basics and building more confidence together in the saddle or on the ground. It could be asking for help, which is often one of the best things you can do, and getting the help of a kind, ethical professional.

Horses don't say no for no reason, particularly not when us humans are often not very nice to them as a result, and it's our job to take a pause for a moment and work out why they feel as though they can't do something and to kindly spend the time helping them out.

28/11/2025

Yes, this! I have said this so many times to clients - lots of times, unwanted behaviour (especiallg of an on-lead dog towards an unknown dog that has galloped up to it) is normal, appropriate & not something the on-lead dog needs to be trained out of

Meet Lucy the Border Collie.

Firstly. Isn’t she so bloody cute?!

Lucy came to me to work on her reactivity to other dogs. She would lunge and bark and snap at them on and off lead and has made huge strides forwards in her training. She can now walk past other dogs without issue and is improving every day. This week her owner presented me with the next problem to tackle.

‘When dogs come up to her in the park, she will mostly ignore them now, but if they sniff her and won’t leave her alone she will snap at them’.

My reply?

‘That’s normal. We won’t change that. I can teach you how to advocate for her, but we cannot stop her correcting a rude, out of control dog’.

Imagine for a moment that you’re in a pub. You’re there with your friends and having a lovely time but this one guy (or girl!) just won’t leave you alone. They keep touching your leg and standing just a bit too close. They keep staring at you. They ask to buy you a drink and you say no, but they keep pestering. You say ‘no thank you’ politely. You turn your back on them. They still persist. Eventually you turn to them and shout ‘I’ve told you six times to leave me alone! F**k off!’ and suddenly everyone looks at you like you’re the problem.

This is what dogs like Lucy face on a daily basis. Dogs are absolute masters of body language. They don’t communicate with language like we do. They communicate with shifts of body weight, a change in tail set, a tongue flick and a look. As humans we are such APES with our communication we often don’t see the subtlety of our dogs conversations. We jump to action when we can hear our dogs rather than watching for their language.

In the park, Lucy shows she isn’t interested in dog interaction, and this is fine. Not every dog needs to interact with dogs. She loves her humans and that’s all she wants. She isn’t broken. She isn’t ‘antisocial’. She does not have behavioural issues that need to be fixed.

City parks are full of oversocialised, overly social dogs. They come careening in at top speed and they too, like us apes, don’t recognise or read body language. Dogs like Lucy will tolerate so much before they have enough and eventually tell the offending dog to F off. This does not mean that Lucy is the problem.

Overt aggression, going out of their way to have a pop at other dogs, ott controlling of movement, over correction into biting causing damage are all reasons to book a good trainer. In Lucy’s case, we worked this week on how her owner can better recognise when Lucy is overwhelmed and defend her. We looked at body language, how to manage interactions safely, and when to control Lucy and fend off the offending dog.

It’s lovely to see this team progress in confidence every time I see them!