Discover how to positively train your horse using our step-by-step science-backed techniques that easily build your knowledge, skills, and confidence (while keeping your horse more calm, relaxed, and connected).
You will be taken to our Membership Site club.connectiontraining.com to complete your enrollment.
Already a CT Club member? Click HERE to log in!
Are you ready to positively train your horse with confidence?
You’ve probably been training your horse using various techniques, but yet are looking for something more positive and science-backed that actually works.
You might be dealing with a horse that is unmotivated or disinterested, gets overstimulated or fearful, or maybe you’re simply looking to build your horse’s strength, suppleness and self-carriage through positively trained groundwork and riding.
You might have felt alone in the process, thinking the only way to train is by hiring an in-person trainer – but unable to find the right one for you or living in an area without many options.
We’re here to tell you, there’s a better way.
There is a lot of theory out there, especially when it comes to using science-based techniques for horse training. Theory is really useful, but trying to use it when you’re actually with your horse can you leave you feeling like, “Yeah, but what do I actually do?”
We’re here to show you. We teach the theory so you can understand why your horse is behaving as he is and why various training approaches work, but Connection Training is a practical approach.
We can teach you the steps to train each behaviour and how to adapt the training to suit your horse, whether he’s too excited, unmotivated, anxious or confused. Our videos show all the steps and variations (including the messy bits) so that you gain a wide understanding of the principles of the training, while learning specific steps for each exercise.
We want you to feel knowledgable and empowered when working your horse, so you know how to react to any situation or training challenge that arises.
Do you want a safe space to be able to share your training journey and get help from experts when you need it?
Horse training and riding is complex. The journey is often made harder by so much conflicting advice and strong opinions in the horse world. In the CT Club, our policy of supporting you as much as your horse creates a safe space to learn.
Ask questions (we love them all, from the simple to the challenging), follow threads on the forum, get regular training tips and reach out for one to one coaching from experts in CT.
We welcome members from all walks of horsey life and we invite you to join CT, whether you’re just beginning to add in some +R to your training or have been doing it a while and are looking for ideas, inspiration and practical solutions for riding, jumping and groundwork.
Introducing The CT Club
The CT Club is an online membership site, giving you access to world-class coaches. You can join from anywhere in the world and access hundreds of reward-based step-by-step horse training videos in our Home Study Courses. These are organised into programmes to get you started, solve handling problems like leading or feet issues right up to training freejumping and riding. We also provide regular extra content to our Members on training techniques and practical sessions.
The CT Club is also a wonderful community. It is a diverse, friendly and supportive place to learn where you can meet other members, enter our monthly training challenges, join in our live Q&A’s and access the forum. One to one online coaching is also available to members.
The CT Club is the core of Connection Training and you’re invited to join us there!
Read on to find out more about what you get as a Member of the CT Club
or click the button to join now ↓
What Our Members Say
What's in the CT Club?
Home Study Courses
We have hundreds of step-by-step training tutorials on everything from getting started, despooking and problem-solving to advanced groundwork and riding exercises.
Find out more about our Home Study Courses
Live Q&A’s
We hold regular live online Q&A sessions where you can join from anywhere in the world and chat to us directly to answer your questions. This is a great chance to chat to us and get opinions and suggestions for you and your horse.
Study Groups
In our study groups, we help you to follow a training schedule to stay focused and make progress with your horse. They are usually 4 weeks long and follow a specific topic or Home Study Course.
They are each 4 weeks long and free to all CT Club members. Find out more here.
Q&A Recordings
You can download all recordings from all previous Q&A’s. Perfect to listen to when driving or mucking out, you’ll learn loads on how to apply the training in different ways in a wide range of situations. The topics covered are clearly listed so you can find ones relevant to your horse.
Exclusive Members Forum
We have a lively private forum for members only. In keeping with our ethos, this forum is a very supportive and friendly place to ask advice. Hannah, Rachel and the CT Coaches also answer questions on the forum regularly.
Inside Track Blog
On top of all the material in our Home Study Courses, we publish regular blogs for our Members only. These cover extra training videos, theory topics, interviews and behind-the-scenes info from all 3 of us.
Training Journal
As a member, you get your own Training Journal on your profile where you can log your training sessions. You can track your progress, get support and share successes through your Training Journal.
Personal Online Coaching
Pay-as-you-go online video and Skype Coaching is available to our members with Hannah, Rachel or one of our top-level Coaches. Online coaching is a highly effective way to get direct support from an expert to take your training to the next level.
Connect with Members
You can find and connect with other CT Members, through following their Training Journal and discussions. You can private message members and search by location (it is optional to be added to our Members Map). Many of our members have made great friends and training buddies through CT.
Or keep scrolling for more info...
Get Instant Access to these Home Study Courses
Our Home Study Courses are the centre of the Connection Training Club.
These are online video Courses you can watch and follow from the comfort of your own home. We have hundreds of video organised into our Courses, so you can follow the programmes, or jump straight to the lessons you need. They are highly practical with video footage of real horses and people learning these lessons so you get to see what it looks like in real-life, not just the highlights!
Since each horse is different and training often doesn’t go to plan, we feel it’s really important to show the wobbles, the plateaus and the curveballs. This is real-life and, although we try our best to keep everything relaxed, engaged and progressing smoothly, there will inevitably be times when your horse gets confused, anxious, excitable or disinterested. Sometimes this comes from the training; we all make wrong calls occasionally, so this is nothing to worry about and we teach you how to stay calm, regroup and move on positively. Often, your horse’s tricky days are caused by outside influences such as hormones, the weather, change in management or just the mood he’s in that day. Again, we show you how to get the most out of each day and training session with your horse. You’ll develop a range of skills and tools to help your horse relax and focus no matter what and you’ll have more and more wonderful sessions as you connect and enjoy your time together. We also show you how to train each exercise in different ways so you can find the best way for your horse.
We split the lessons into bitesize videos of 10-20 minutes each. They’re perfect for watching on a tea break or just before you go out to the barn to work with your horse. Your progress through each Course is tracked so you can pick up where you left off when you’re ready for the next lesson. You can also jump to any lesson in any Course at your leisure, so if there’s a specific exercise or query you have, you can find the answers right away.
79 Video Lessons | 21:10:15
This Course teaches you how to improve your horse’s strength, suppleness and body awareness. Lateral exercises such as leg yield, shoulder-in and half-pass are taught in-hand. While working on a circle, you will learn how to teach your horse to bend and engage, moving towards collection. Using obstacles, such as poles, cones and pedestals, you will improve your horse’s proprioception and body awareness.
The exercises are taught positively (of course!), and are simple and progressive, beginning with basics such as walk and halt and progressing from there. They are broken down into simple steps; even if you’ve never done these exercises before, you will be able to follow along with your horse.
Online horse training course – 35 Video Lessons | 08:00:07
Starting your horse under saddle slowly, at home with people he knows and trusts gives him the best introduction to being ridden. Often, this process is seen as difficult or dangerous as young horses as put way over-threshold during this process.
At CT, we do things a little differently. This Course shows you exactly how to begin introducing tack to your horse. You will then learn how to teach him to walk, halt and back up from your rein and voice cues before you get on.
From here, you’ll build solid relaxation at the mounting block and then spend lots of time in halt, ensuring your horse is relaxed and connected to you on his back. We show you how to take your first steps to a target and build to being able to walk, halt, turn and back up calmly and easily.
Online horse training course – 27 Video Lessons | 06:06:38
Loading problems are common. In this Course you will first learn why that is as Rachel explains the ethology and neuroscience in relation to teaching horses to load. Then you will learn practical ways to help your horse feel relaxed and confident in and around the trailer until he’s walking in happily.
Most loading training stops there. However, teaching your horse to be relaxed while being closed in and when travelling is vital to ensure a long-term happy loader. Our Course shows you these steps, following 2 case studies of horses who panic when shut in the horsebox.
Finally, we show you how to begin your first short journeys, teach your horse to be calm and connected when you unload somewhere new and how to teach him to be comfortable loading to come again.
Online horse training course – 36 Video Lessons | 07:01:53
Being able to care for you horse when he needs healthcare is important for his well-being. Many healthcare procedures such as injections, worming and wound care are naturally unpleasant or even painful. However, using CT, you can teach your horse how to be able to calmly co-operate even when the situation is difficult, through teaching a strong positive history with the procedure.
This Course covers procedures such as injection training, wound care, giving paste, hosing your horse and more.
In our study groups, we help you to follow a training schedule to stay focused and make progress with your horse. They are usually 4 weeks long and follow a specific topic or Home Study Course.
Each week you will be directed to training videos, followed by specific exercises to try with your horse. They offer a group learning environment where you can learn alongside other members, helping each other out. Hannah, Rachel and the CT Coaches also offer some guidance and reviews through these Study Groups (though they do not offer 1-1 coaching, so we won’t be able to give everyone individual feedback every week).
They are free for all members and are hosted on the forum.
You can join in as many as you like. The ones that are open for registration include a link – make sure you follow it and enter your email address so that you receive notifications for that Study Group!
There are Foundation Study Groups for those just getting started and general Study Groups covering a wide variety of behaviours – just choose and join in the ones you fancy!
2022 Foundation Study Groups
These are designed to split the Foundation course into 4 smaller sections and offer you support as you get started, or take a refresher, with the Connection Training principles.
Rachel runs the Foundation Study Groups and will be there to answer your questions, review your videos and give you tips and advice.
(Note: Rachel also runs monthly foundation level Q&A sessions where you can join her live to discuss your questions about the foundation exercises. )
**The course of 4 Study Groups will be repeated throughout the year, so scroll down for different start dates!!**
Foundation 1
Equine Emotions and Training Principles
Getting started with Connection Training is the most complex part because you have to understand the principles and then work out the best way to apply it to your horse. This Theory-based Study Group will cover the principles of CT, plus understanding equine behaviour and emotions in relation to your own horse’s history and personality.
Foundation 2
Practical Lessons to Start CT with Your Horse
This practical-based Study Group is where you get to dive in with Connection Training with your horse. You’ll be guided through starting clicker training with your horse, the CT way, teaching behaviours like ‘stay’, ‘walk together’ and ‘targeting’. The Study Group will help you set up your sessions and use techniques that will work best for your horse so that you get off to the best start together.
Foundation 3
Going Deeper into Training Theory
This second theory-based Study Group explores deeper theory and training principles from the Foundation Course. We’ll look at topics such as balancing relaxation and motivation, fading out the treats, understanding cues and more. This knowledge will improve and refine your training for your horse.
Foundation 4
Practical Lessons to Advance with Your Horse
This final practical-based foundation Study Group takes you through the second half of the Foundation Course and supports you as you continue to work with your horse using the CT techniques. You’ll teach your horse to send and hold on a target, stand on a mat or mark, train a soft back-up and learn how to put all the behaviours together to bring more flow, softness and communication to your training.
Series 1 - Starts January 2022
Foundation 1
January 2022
Jan 3rd - 30th
Foundation 2
February 2022
Jan 31st - Feb 27th
Foundation 3
March 2022
Feb 28th - Mar 27th
Foundation 4
May 2022
May 2nd - 29th
Series 2 - Starts May 2022
Series 3 - Starts September 2022
2022 General Study Groups
These Study Groups take you through training a specific behaviour or exercise to your horse. They are supported by Hannah or one of our CT Coaches.
Please note: You can find all previous Study Groups HERE. Even though they are not supported by a coach, you can still access the videos and exercises each week to help structure your training on that topic.
Jan 3- 30th
This Study Group will focus on basic handling behaviours such as catching, touching, grooming etc. It’s a great opportunity to teach these to young or green horses, or to refine it with older horses who may have some reluctance or anxiety around certain basic behaviours.
With CT Coach Judith Edel
Jan 31st - Feb 27th
This Study Group will use simple exercises to help you learn more about your horse’s movement, in areas such as flexibility, symmetry, natural rhythm and engagement. This is a practical way to start understanding more about how your horse moves.
With Hannah Weston
Jan 31st - Feb 27th
Despooking exercises help to build your horse’s confidence about novel or unusual sights, objects and situations. Our approach to despooking helps your horse learn how to control his impulse to flee, and think his way through the scary situation instead, turning to you for guidance. This is an amazing way to build two-way trust with your horse.
With CT Coach Claire Waldron
Feb 28th - Mar 27th
This Study Group will focus on exercises for working on bending and circles from the ground. This is a great way to improve your horses strength, suppleness and straightness. We’ll look at different exercises you can do with your horse, appropriate for different levels and to give you variety.
With Hannah Weston
Feb 28th - Mar 27th
This Study Group will focus on how you can teach your horse to communicate that they are happy to continue with the behaviour or not. This is a great way to improve communication between you and is perfect for behaviours where your horse has some anxiety as their confidence increases when they know they have more control. It’s empowering to your horse and increases safety as you’re less likely to put your horse over threshold.
With CT Coach Megan Hines
Apr 4th - May 1st
This Study Group will show you how to get started teaching your horse to short-rein or ground ride. This is great for in-hand work, as well as preparing horses for riding or driving.
With CT Coach Angelica Hesselius
Apr 4th - May 1st
Recall A-B’s involves teaching your horse to ‘stay’ and then recalling him to you. As your horse learns, you can start to add in faster speeds, poles and jumps. This Study Group will take you through the steps of getting started and building it up at the right speed for your horse
With CT Coach Kristen Vanderpool
May 2nd - 29th
This Study Group will focus on leading exercises using positive reinforcement. This is perfect to teach leading to young or green horses, or to refine leading with horses who barge, pull, rush, plant or cut in front of you.
With CT Coach Claire Waldron
May 2nd - 29th
Loading horses can be stressful for everyone – this Study Group will show you exercises to help your horse become a calm, confident and willing loader. The exercises will start small and are can be adapted even if you don’t have a trailer or horsebox to practice with. You will learn how to make going into the horse box something your horse WANTS to do!
With CT Coach Belinda Daws
June 6th - July 3rd
We’re taking the bending groundwork into the saddle with this Study Group. We’ll look at how you can train and refine turning and bending to your horse using positive reinforcement. We’ll also look at the importance of your seat and internal cues in relation to bending your horse.
With Hannah Weston
June 6th - July 3rd
If you get anxious when handling or riding your horse, you’re not alone. Rachel has personally rebuilt her own confidence following a fall where she broke her back, and has worked often in helping students build their own confidence around horses, both on the ground and in the saddle. You’ll learn techniques for self-awareness and how to systematically and safely build your confidence with your horse.
With Rachel Bedingfield
July 4th - 31st
What do you do in positive reinforcement training when your horse just HAS to do something they don’t want to do, whether that’s standing for the vet, leading past lush grass, or loading to go home? This Study Group will explore how you can train and prepare your horse for situations where you must limit or remove choice and how you can stay as soft, positive and connected in those moments.
With CT Coach Kristen Vanderpool
July 4th - 31st
This Study Group is all about getting out and about with your horse. Starting small, we’ll look at how you can help your horse stay connected and willing straight from leaving the yard. We’ll look at exercises to build confidence and connection out and about to make going out fun for both of you. You can take part on the ground, in the saddle or a mixture of both.
With CT Coach Melissa Deal
Aug 1st - 28th
This month, we’re doing 4 Study Groups, each only 1 week long, focusing on a little trick. We hope you can squeeze in some fun training time with your horse amongst holidays and family events!
Aug 1-7: ‘Smile’
With CT Coach Claire Waldron
Aug 8-14: ‘Kiss’
With CT Coach Megan Hines
Aug 15-21: Noseball
With CT Coach Claire Waldron
Aug 22-28: Spin
With CT Coach Megan Hines
Sep 5th - Oct 2nd
This is a month of pole exercises you can do with your horse either on the ground, ridden or both. Poles are a great way to build your horse’s strength, suppleness and proprioception. They’re also really fun to work with! Each exercise will have different levels so you can adapt it depending on the level of your horse.
With Hannah Weston
Sep 5th - Oct 2nd
Taking it up a gear can be tricky for many horses, whether they’re not so keen to put in the extra energy or they get very excited by it all! This Study Group will focus on introducing or refining trot work from the ground, focusing on creating soft, calm, willing trots from the horses.
With CT Coach Judith Edel
October 3rd - 30th
This month we’re going sideways! Lateral exercises are so beneficial for building your horse’s body awareness, strength and suppleness. We’ll look at introducing lateral work to your horse in small steps, both on the ground and/or ridden.
With Hannah Weston
Separation Anxiety
Oct 3rd - 30th
Separation anxiety is a very common and tricky behaviour to deal with, whether that’s with a horse who is reluctant to leave their home and their friends, or one who is anxious about being left behind. This Study Group will look at exercises you can do to gently and gradually teach your horse to be calm and confident about separations.
With CT Coach Belinda Daws
Oct 31st - Nov 27th
This Study Group is focused on improving and refining the trot. We’ll look at transitions, balance, changing the trot and your ridden seat in trot. Your horse must be happy to trot on the ground with you first, but from there, you can take part in this Study Group on the ground, ridden or both.
With Hannah Weston
October 31st - Nov 27th
There are many exercises you can do to prepare your horse for vet and healthcare procedues such as worming, injections, clipping and so on. This preparation makes regular healthcare and vet visits easier, less stressful and safer for everyone, and they prepare yourhorse as much as possible to be able to deal with the unexpected.
With CT Coach Megan Hines
Nov 28 - Dec 18th
There are many exercises you can do at halt to help your horse improve body awareness, strength and self-carriage. This 3-week Study Group will teach you some of them, taught by Angelica, CT Coach and Academic Art of Riding Instructor. These are perfect for a little training when you have limited time, space and light in the middle of winter!
With CT Coach Angelica Hesselius
What Our Members Say
Join the CT Club Today and get Instant Access to:
The CT Complete Training Foundation Course gives you everything you need to know to get started successfully with CT – start by learning the principles of equine behaviour and learning in relationship to training, then discover how to introduce CT to your horse, teaching him to stand and walk quietly at liberty with you, to touch a target, to send to and ‘hold’ on a target, back up, stand on a mark and to ‘stay’.
See these lessons with a wide range of people and horses, from anxious horses to ones who are pushy and ‘foody’. You’ll learn how to adapt the training to help your horse become relaxed, polite and a motivated learner. You’ll also learn how fast to progress and how to fade out the click and food rewards from learned behaviours.
On top of all this, you can watch 3 full case studies of Hannah introducing CT to 3 very different equines – a neglected colt with only one eye, a bargey, bitey donkey and an older Dales mare who has done very little in her life. These sessions show you exactly how to structure your training and adapt to the individual you’re working with.
There are over 6 hours of lessons plus the Case Studies – watch it all to gain a deep understanding of equine learning and positive training, or jump straight to the lessons you need for your horse.
Our full suite of Home Study Courses gives you access to hundreds of high quality training videos. Filmed with real people and horses, as well as many lessons showing Hannah training her own horses and theory lessons from Rachel, you will never be stuck for advice, ideas or step-by-step training programmes.
On joining, you get instant access to all the material in all of the Courses so you can find the right tutorials for you and your horse.
Our Home Study Courses are:
The Complete Training Foundation
Daily Handling
Healthcare Procedures
Cool, Calm and Connected – Despooking for Life
Loading and Travelling
Lunging, Long-reining and Freejumping
Gymnastic Groundwork (Coming Very Soon)
Starting or Re-Starting Your Horse Under Saddle
Riding with Connection
Riding with Connection Conference Lectures
Join in on the live CT Q&A each month. You can ask your question directly and get input from Rachel and Hannah on your particular situation.
These calls are easy to join from anywhere in the world.
You can listen to and download all previous Q&A recordings. These are perfect to listen to when you’re driving, mucking out or to make housework a little more interesting! These discussions cover a wide range of topics and questions and really give you an insight into how to apply CT to all kinds of situations.
Join in our monthly study groups, giving you videos and exercises each week with your horse, along with support for the group from us or a CT Coach.
Get access to the supportive and friendly CT Forum. This is the place to ask questions and discuss horse training and management topics.
Search the forum for previous topics and replies on your question, too.
This blog is for CT Members only and gives you extra training videos, tips and techniques and behind-the-scenes from Rachel and Hannah.
Share your photos, horses and info through your profile. Log your sessions through your Training Journal – this is great to look back and see your progress as well as to keep track of your training.
You can choose to keep your Journal entries private, or share them with other CT Members.
You can browse other Members, view their profiles and search by location to find other CT Members in your area.
(Please note, adding profile information and location is optional.)
You can purchase Coaching calls with our experienced, certified Coaches. Getting one to one support from someone who lives and breathes Connection Training is the best way to make smooth progress with your horse. Your Coach can help you to set achievable training plans, pinpoint blocks in your training and offer clear, actionable advice to help you move forward.
Our Coaches are friendly, supportive and highly knowledgeable and experienced.
Join Here ☟
You will be taken to our Membership Site Club.Connectiontraining.com to complete your purchase and sign up.
CT Club Membership Info
It’s a monthly subscription to join the CT Club with your first month half price (so you can check it out and see if it’s for you!).
There is no fixed term and you can cancel your membership at any time directly from your CT account.
What Our Members Say
Free Access for Equine Charities
Reward-based training is a brilliant way to build confidence and joy in abused or neglected equines, helping them to overcome their fears, return to health and be rehomed where possible. Across the world, these needy equines are being rescued and rehabilitated by wonderful people. We want to support registered rescue centres and charities by teaching staff these techniques. We know that funds are always scarce and so we want to provide this training for free.
Registered equine charities can request free membership by emailing theteam@connectiontraining.com
And thank you to our Members for doing your bit – buying Membership for your own equine education helps us make this opportunity available for charities.
Charities using Connection Training:
- Blue Acre Horse Rescue and Rehabilitation, UK
- Cape Fear Equine Rescue, USA
- Ride On St Louis, USA
- Heartland Rescue Ranch, USA
- Shires Holt Horse Sanctuary, UK
- Peaceful Ridge Rescue, USA
- Amigos Animales Arico, Spain
- Animal Rescue League Iowa, USA
- A Horse Tale Rescue, CA
- The Kind Farm Horse Rescue, AU
- Children's Nature Retreat, USA
FAQ
How do I access the ct club?
You can find the CT Club at club.connectiontraining.com. This is where you can purchase your Membership and then log in to access the Club. Everything is online at this address for easy access from any device connected to the internet.
Can I join from anywhere?
Yes! We have Members from all over the world. In fact, the CT Team are often all in different countries, too!
How do i cancel my membership?
You can cancel your Membership at any time directly through your account. There are no long-term contracts.
Any questions? Email us theteam@connectiontraining.com – we’ll be delighted to help!