This summer I’ve been working quite a bit with a young horse at the rescue named Blossom. We went slowly last summer when we started Blossom with her training for riding, giving her time to learn to be relaxed and confident while being ridden. Too many trainers rush at the beginning when riding young horses [...]
The continuous nature of targeting
I worked some with Beau over the weekend. Beau is a big black and white horse who was very badly abused at some point. He has made a ton of progress in the past year and is now a pretty friendly guy. Beau enjoys interacting with people and will approach you in the pasture, follow [...]
Letting Curiosity Work For You
These are some pictures from last summer that I just ran across. I know they are old, but I’m still posting them because I LOVE them! Most horses are naturally VERY curious. Especially if they are given the time and space to explore something new. Horses get scared when we force them to interact with [...]
Are you listening to your horse?
I rode Cricket, one of our little paint ponies, yesterday morning. It was a short, fun bareback ride. It’s really too hot to do any really intensive riding. When I went to get on him, he lined up perfectly for the mounting block. However, as I sat down on him, he took off walking. Oops!!! [...]
Tex Practices Being Brave
The weather was perfect this weekend for playing with the ponies at the rescue. I spent quite a bit of time on Saturday working with Tex, one of our two year old ponies. He’s friendly and halter-broke, but really hasn’t had a whole lot of training. Tex was absolutely TERRIFIED of people when we first [...]
Halter Training with a Head Shy Horse
Apollo is a three year old paint colt who I have been working with at the rescue for the past several months. He had no previous handling and was pretty skeptical of people to begin with. He warmed up to us pretty quickly and enjoyed being brushed and scratched, especially on his belly!! However, was [...]
Training Your Horse to Wear a Fly Mask
Does Your horse know how to wear a fly mask? We have several young horses at the rescue who need to wear fly masks this summer. These horses are all two year olds who are halter broke but have not had a lot of exposure to strange objects and materials touching and rubbing their faces. [...]
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. I work with a variety of species, including horses, rats, and dogs. Join me as we explore the best training strategies for creating fast learning, effective communication, and enthusiastic, willing animals.
Mary Hunter
mary@stalecheerios.com
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