Does your horse load… but then rush out, stamp, or stress once inside the trailer or horsebox? You’re not alone – many horses are okay with stepping in but struggle to stand calmly or feel safe when closed in. But GOING in is just the first step in training your horse to be a good […]
How to Teach Your Horse to Stand Quietly in the Horsebox Read More »
I use this exercise ALL the time. It works with horses, donkeys, minis, youngsters, oldies… all of them. The aim is to build confidence and curiosity in the face of novelty, rather than fear. Your horse will learn how to stay calm and enjoy exploring the world with you. It’s the basis of so much
The MOST Effective Despooking Exercise: Clicker Training Your Horse Read More »
Whether you’re leaving one at home, or taking one out, you want your horses to be calm and relaxed about being separated. This can be really hard for some horses, but you can train it! In this video, I show you some simple techniques for teaching horses to be more relaxed when they are separated
Helping Herd Bound Horses Read More »
Many horses can be reactive, anxious or fidgety about having their legs touched, but it’s a necessity for grooming and hoof lifting. In this video you’ll see 4 ways to train leg touching with 4 different horses: A 2yo appaloosa learning to stand quietly while his legs and hooves are touched. A young foal learning
4 Positive Ways to Train Touching Your Horse’s Legs Read More »
This video follows one session with India where she was very reactive and spooky to some noises and movements outside of our arena. I demonstrate a wide range of positive reinforcement training techniques that I use to help when the horse is anxious and spooking. Depending on your situation, your goal for these exercises vary:
12 Techniques to Calm Down a Spooking Horse Read More »
This is a simple feeding technique to help your horse explore postural alignment and exercises at halt. CT Coach Angelica Hesselius walks you through what it is, the benefits and some of the exercises you can try with your horse. As always, we encourage you to listen to your horse and work gently at the
Postural Feeding Exercises at Halt Read More »
Gymnastic Groundwork Series Part 6 This final instalment in this series is all about lunging using my Around a Round Pen technique sometimes called the Reverse Round Pen. To demonstrate this, I’m working with my QH Freckles. Lunging is a great way to give your horse more space to move and to teach him how
Horse Groundwork: Reverse Round Pen Read More »
Gymnastic Groundwork Series Part 4 Poles are a great way to build your horse’s body awareness and confidence. For many horses, this starts with despooking exercises to ensure that they’re not anxious about the poles or afraid of stepping over or touching them with their feet. You can see some of the exercises I’ve done
Horse Groundwork: Pole Exercises Read More »
Gymnastic Groundwork Demo Series Part 3 Lateral exercises where your horse is going sideways as well as forwards are really useful to build your horse’s suppleness, strength and straightness, which is why they’ve been used for thousands of years in both in-hand training and ridden work! But, how do we teach them using positive reinforcement?
Horse In-Hand Work: Teaching Lateral Movements Read More »
How do horses communicate their preferences or willingness? How do we make sure we’re listening and respecting them? Consent comes down to emotions as it’s about how your horse feels about certain situations. Giving horses a voice and enabling them to communicate with us is a key part of building a great relationship and connecting
Horse Training: Using Start Buttons and Consent Cues Read More »
Listening to your horse means being able to read what he’s saying through his body language. Horses express fear, joy, confidence, anxiety, confusion and frustration through movements and actions – when you watch for these behavioural signs and respond to them, you start to open up the conversation between you and your horse. Even though
Horses Saying “Yes” and “No” Read More »
Some clicker trained horses can get into the habit of stopping dead when they hear the click or their marker. From a trot or canter, this can cause the horse to slam on the brakes, bracing and hollowing as they stop. This can cause problems for the horse physically and is uncomfortable to ride. In
Prevent Your Horse Stopping Abruptly When You Click Read More »
