Yesterday when I was at the barn, there was still some daylight left. Although it was windy and a bit chilly I decided to work with Kyra outdoors so we could enjoy the last few sunbeams. When I walked into the barn to get her, I changed my mind about the work and decided to […]
5 things I like about my horse Read More »
In my previous post What if your horse doesn\’t like arena work I already mentioned that the first step is to find out the reason why. If you can exclude physical reasons like pain from the saddle, medical reasons like hoof cracks or maybe an unskillful (or rude) rider and so on, you can look for solutions
How to… make the arena more appealing Read More »
This is a common statement in the equestrian world: \’I don\’t ride dressage because my horse doesn\’t like it\’ or \’I don\’t use the arena because my horse hates it\’ or…Â Who hasn\’t heard this? Can you do something about it? Yes, you can! Find the reason First question I always ask people when they say
What if… your horse doesn\’t like arena work? Read More »
Whenever an idea forms about what I want to teach my horse Kyra I set it as a goal. I then start writing a training plan and make a shaping plan to achieve this goal. Goal setting My goal in this example is teaching Kyra to stand still, next to a mounting block, until I mounted and give the
How to teach your horse anything Read More »
It is useful to make mistakes and learn from them, but sometimes it is better to learn from other peoples mistakes. Here are five things I have learned owning my own horse. #1 Horses I wish I had known more about horse behaviour, training and learning theory when I bought my first pony. I thought I knew
5 things I wish I knew when I bought my horse Read More »
The photo challenge from April 1st was Landscape in my mind I was immediately searching for a landscape picture with horses… I remembered the vacation in the UK in Exmoor where we saw Exmoor ponies in the wild. Their coat is a really good camouflaged in the ferns that are growing on the Moors. In the background you can
Exmoor pony on the Moors Read More »
This is a challenge a lot of clicker trainers face. You start making adjustments in your training when you start using positive reinforcement and it works… Then you suddenly find yourself in a traditional/natural horsemanship or other negative reinforcement or pressure-release situation figuring out how to apply positive reinforcement. How do you apply positive reinforcement methods
Create +R solutions in a -R environment Read More »
Horse riding birds, I call them with a smile. I love the way they seem so confident on a horse back. They never have to be worried to fall, that\’s for sure. I made this picture for the photo challenge \’On top\’. Sometimes I see them pluck the loose hairs for their nests. This one seemed
What if your horse has a tendency to bite you? How can you solve this behaviour? The first question that has to be answered is: \’Why does a horse bite people?\’ If you want to solve a problem behaviour start with finding the cause and work from there. Possible causes There are many reasons horses bite people.
What if your horse bites you? Read More »
Is the translation of a Latin saying. A saying with a long history starting with the Romans. Festina lente, maybe you\’ve heard of it. To me this has proven a very valuable oxymoron  and it is one of my favourite personal mantras in horse training. If you take the time it takes, than it takes less time. So many times I wanted a result
My favourite motto is… Make haste slowly… Read More »
