Cheyenne is a young paint mare at our rescue who I have recently started riding. She had about three rides last fall and a handful more during my winter break. Just recently we’ve had two short, but great, rides working on backing up with a rider. Up to now, Cheyenne and I have worked on [...]
When do I start clicker training?
Can all horses be clicker trained? Does the horse need to know anything before we start clicker training? Can clicker training work for shy, scared, abused or aggressive horse? This is a revised version of something I originally posted on the clickryder yahoo discussion group. (Message number 80910). Some horses aren’t ready for clicker training. [...]
Alexandra Kurland and Loopy Training
At the Art and Science of Animal Training conference this year Alexandra Kurland spoke about loopy training, which is a concept she has been developing over the past year. Loopy training was the focus of a clinic I did with Alexandra Kurland last fall. The more I hear about it, the more it makes sense [...]
Horse Initiated Desensitization
Here’s a simple pattern Shiloh and I were playing with at liberty on Sunday afternoon 1) Shiloh approaches me and targets an exercise ball I am holding. Once he touches it with his nose, I click and give him a treat. 2) As I feed the treat in front of him, I move to his [...]
Mountain Coatis and Training Mechanics
I played just a bit this afternoon with the Mountain Coati at the Heard Museum. Coatis, which are close relatives of the raccoon, are found in South America and some parts of South Texas. This coati was a gregarious, agreeable sort of fellow, similar to most raccoons that I’ve met. We mainly worked on a [...]
What’s the best way to train an animal?
Stale Cheerios will help you learn new knowledge and techniques to take your training skills to the next level. So stick around, your animals will be grateful!
I'm a graduate student studying the science of behavior and training. On this blog I share stories of my animal training adventures, as well as tips, techniques and tricks to help you improve your training. Although most of this blog centers around training rescue horses, the ideas discussed apply equally to all species. The other animals I work with, including dogs and rats, also appear occasionally on the blog.
Mary Hunter
cheeriotrainer@gmail.com
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