Dogs, horses, and rats. Birds, goldfish, cats. Dolphins, raccoons, and elephants. What animals can’t we train? In this section you’ll find lots of great training stories and tips. You will also get to meet many of the wonderful animals that I get to train. I hope that you’ll enjoy reading about my adventures (and misadventures) and that these articles and tales can provide you with insight that will help you with your own animals.
Well, jump isn’t perhaps the right word, as it implies a major exertion of energy. However, he was pretty interested in them, especially once he learned I’d reward him for interacting with the barrels with a click and a treat. First, Shiloh nudged the barrel with his nose a few times. This evolved to licking […]
Leading is how we get our horse from point A to point B. And most horses lead well enough that you can usually get them from point A to point B. However, games that involve leading can be a great way to work on fine-tuning your communication with your horse. Creative leading exercises can help […]
Your horse is lazy. Your pony won’t go. Your mule just isn’t motivated. Many equines are masters of conservation of energy. They do what they have to or do just enough to avoid trouble and get the job done. Helen, of New Beginnings, has recently written an excellent article about motivation for Smallholder magazine. Here’s […]
This is the first of several posts on introducing a young horse to a saddle. Sebastian and I have been playing a lot with saddle blankets, cinches, bareback pads and saddles over the past month. He’s done great and accepted all of this in stride. In fact, the first time I saddled him, he stood […]
Here are four good reasons why you might want to use a mounting block the next time you get on your horse: 1) Using a mounting block is better for your horse’s back. Jumping up into the saddle is quick and easy for you, but you could be putting a lot of strain on your […]
I have been working on picking up Sebastian’s feet. Teaching a horse to let you pick up their feet is an important skill so that you can pick out their hooves and so that the farrier can trim their feet. When teaching this, I like to start with one front foot, then once that is […]
