I talked a little bit awhile ago about the camp where I’ll be working this summer. I’ll be volunteering at several weekend sessions before camp starts so that I can start to get to know the horses and learn how the program works. I went out for the first time this morning and everything went […]
Paden Smells His Tail (Again!)
My friend Dawn took a great series of photos the other day of Paden smelling his tail. This is something we’ve been working on to teach him how to stretch his neck and begin working on lateral flexion. I took a break from riding, hopped into the pasture, and easily got him to stretch both […]
What’s a good reinforcer for an elephant?
Regarding finding valuable reinforcers: “One keeper I met learned that an elephant will perform for a single miniature marshmallow.” This is from Temple Grandin’s latest book, Animals Make Us Human. (I also blogged recently about her discussions on introducing scary objects and stereotypical behaviors.) I find many people object to adding a clicker to their training […]
Horses Are For Riding? (sometimes!)
I spend a lot of time on the ground these days. Not because I’m getting bucked off, but because I choose to. As I’ve explored different natural horsemanship methods over the past couple of years, I’ve learned about all sorts of new ways to play with a horse without climbing into the saddle– from obstacle […]
wait, you mean you didn’t know a goldfish could play a set of handbells?
A fellow fish blogger has made a video of her goldfish Jor Jor learning to play a set of handbells. It just proves that good training is really only limited by the creativity of the trainer! She attached strings to the handbells, then taught the fish to pull on the strings. Currently, she’s working with […]
What makes something scary?
Some horses are afraid of everything and every horse seems to be afraid of at least something! Plastic bags on the ground, a rain jacket or poncho, leaves blowing in the wind, water bottles, tarps, umbrellas, bridges, a new jump in the arena, his own shadow….the list could go on forever! This can be extremely […]