Two short video clips today of Tex, the pony who I recently started riding. The first is a clip of him getting his ears scratched. He was absolutely LOVING this! I wish I had the camera zoomed in a bit more, it was pure bliss on his face. However, you’ll get the idea. I think […]
Tex Moves Forward
Tex is moving forward under saddle. At least, that’s the goal! Recently, I posted a bit of video footage from Tex’s second ride. He’s had about half a dozen rides now, most about 10-15 minutes long. We’ve been playing around with stop and go, as well as steering. I want Tex to be really confident […]
Tex is a Smart Pony!
Tex the pony and I have been working on getting really, really good at backing up. This is one skill we’ve really been focusing on for the past several clicker training sessions. Backing up is good for Tex for two reasons. (Actually, there are probably a lot more reasons!) 1. Tex is quickly becoming a […]
Stale Cheerios: Best of 2010
It’s late January, but I still wanted to put together a short Best of 2010 list. This post features the 10 best posts of last year. I picked most of the posts on this list because of the number of hits and comments they received–I know you all really enjoyed reading them. They are also […]
Connor Moves Faster with Smaller Steps
It seems a bit counter-intuitive. If we break a training task down into more steps, it should take longer. However, the opposite is usually true. Smaller steps can get us to our goal quicker and often result in better quality behavior. This came in handy several weeks ago when we picked up Connor from the […]
Hempfling Discusses Backing a Horse
Thanks for the comments on yesterday’s post. Today is my first day of classes. I’ll make it a goal this semester to write more about what I’m learning at school. I enjoy writing about what I’m learning (whether it’s in the classroom or the barn). I think writing helps me think back through things, organize […]