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Are you interested in animal training?

Mary Hunter and her horse Apollo


On this site I share stories of my animal training adventures, information about the science of animal training and behavior, and tips and advice to help you improve your training.

Join me as we explore the best training strategies for creating fast learning, effective communication, and enthusiastic, willing animals.

If you’re new to Stale Cheerios, I recommend that you start by visiting this page to learn more about Stale Cheerios and that you visit my Top Posts page.

~Mary Hunter

Recent posts from the StaleCheerios blog

Waterhole Ritual 1: Sharing Territory

By on May 5, 2009 in Horse Training

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 […]

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Some Recent Photos of Shiloh

Some Recent Photos of Shiloh

By on May 4, 2009 in Horse Training

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 […]

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Carolyn Resnick — The Waterhole Rituals DVD

By on May 2, 2009 in Book and DVD Reviews, Horse Training

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 […]

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Teaching Hoof Handling Using Shaping

By on May 1, 2009 in Horse Training

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 […]

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