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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

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Motivating the Unmotivated Horse

By on December 19, 2009 in Horse Training

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 […]

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Do I have to treat every time I click?

By on December 14, 2009 in Concepts and Terms

A recent discussion arose on a forum as to whether or not it’s best to delivery a treat (or other form of primary reinforcement) every time we click when clicker training. Part of the discussion stemmed from the fact that eventually, we want to fade out those treats. Random treats are more interesting and besides, […]

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Hoof Handling and Forgetful Training

By on December 9, 2009 in Horse Training

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 […]

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