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 […]
A Ginger Adventure
Ginger got away at dog training class tonight. Luckily, the property is fenced, so she didn’t really get away. She just got to tear wildly around the property for awhile until I cornered her and stepped on the leash. When other dogs have gotten loose in the past, they want to investigate the other people […]
What animals can’t we train?
A smart trainer can theoretically train any behavior that an animal is physically able to perform and mentally able to understand. The folks at the New England Aquarium are taking this task seriously, and they’ve been training all sorts of behaviors to some of the most unlikely species! They’ve recently been working on target training […]