Sharing Territory: When we sit in one spot, we become a curiosity. I’ve recently watched Carolyn Resnick’s DVD, “An Introduction to the Waterhole Rituals,” which discusses the 7 rituals she uses to develop a relationship and begin training a horse. The first two rituals focus on establishing a bond with the horse and are invaluable […]
Some Recent Photos of Shiloh
Shiloh is a young dun QH gelding who I’ve been playing with at the rescue where I volunteer. He spent 90 days at the beginning of this year with a local trainer who mainly uses the Parelli program. He is curious, but shy, and prior to training, he was incredibly skeptical of people. The trainer […]
Carolyn Resnick — The Waterhole Rituals DVD
I recently rented Carolyn Resnick’s DVD, An Introduction to the Waterhole Rituals, from horseflix. I learned about Carolyn’s methods from several friends. Carolyn advocates beginning the training process at liberty and working on developing a bond with the horse, rather than immediately teaching a set of behaviors. I think training at liberty is extremely valuable–it empowers […]
Teaching Hoof Handling Using Shaping
Teaching a horse to pick up it’s feet can be a frustrating job. The horse gets frustrated because he doesn’t know what the trainer is asking and the trainer often goes too fast, too soon. This can get dangerous when working with back feet because an irriated, frustrated horse is more likely to take a […]
What is Stimulus Control?
Well established cues are under what is called stimulus control. The stimulus (cue) increases the chance that the behavior will occur because the animal has been reinforced for performing the behavior in the presence of the cue. But what does it really mean for a behavior to be under good stimulus control? Properties of cues […]
Sebastian Gets a Shot
Sebastian is a young red roan gelding who I’ve just started working with a bit. He’s pretty shy still and can be unconfident around people. He’s curious, but he’s not too sure about being caught or being touched and groomed. Last weekend, he needed a shot and I got to be the one to give […]