Horse clicker trainer Alexandra Kurland often speaks of splitters and lumpers. These are funny words, but they refer to an often serious training problem! Most behaviors can be broken down into many smaller pieces and approximations. When we break our goal down into tiny chunks and build gradually to a target behavior, we’re being a […]
Training a 35 Pound Rodent? Oh My!
I’ve started volunteering at the Heard Museum with ORCA (a lab in UNT’s behavior analysis department that focuses on animal training). One of the species we worked with on my first trip to the Heard was the Patagonian cavy, a 35 pound South American rodent. I’ll admit, before going out there, I really had no […]
Building Duration With 300 Peck Pigeons
Want your rambunctious dog to be able to sit in a down-stay for 10 minutes or walk on a loose leash for a mile? How about teaching your young horse to let you hold his foot for an extended period of time of stand still for a 20 minute grooming session? Many people have trouble […]
Rosie Meets the Bareback Pad
This weekend was Rosie’s first encounter with a bareback pad. We’ve played with a saddle pad several times and she’s done a great job, so I felt she was ready for the next step. The bareback pad turned out to be a non-event, which was what I had hoped would happen. Even though I know […]
Are Saddle Pads Scary?
Rosie and I played with a saddle pad for the second time yesterday. In traditional horse training, many horses will learn to put up with saddling without truly ever accepting the process. Or, through rough handling, they later learn to resent the act of being saddled. I want Rosie to like being saddled and to […]
Stale cheerios gets a little stale…
I’m back in Dallas now and am starting to recover from my whirlwind of a summer. I spent 13 fantastic weeks running the horse program at a camp for children and adults with special needs. However, the campers and horses kept me busy 24/7, so I didn’t have a whole lot of time for much […]