positive reinforcement

Backing Young Horses CALMLY (no bucking here!) – Using positive reinforcement

Introducing a young horse to tack and rider for the first time should be a relaxed and rewarding experience for both of you. This compilation of horses and riders shows our process of using positive reinforcement to start / back / break (I hope not!) young horses. We have more in-depth videos on mounting and […]

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How to Train Your Horse to Lie Down POSITIVELY – No Ropes, Just Rewards!

I’ve always wanted to teach my horses to lie down on cue, but I’ve also had reservations about it, too – so many horses are forced or contorted into the lie down, which is horrible to do and, for me, entirely ruins the magic of your horse lying down with you. So, I decided to

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Teach Your Horse to Line Up and Stand at the Mounting Block (With Positive Reinforcement or a Clicker)

Do you want your horse to willingly line up to be ridden and to immediately connect with you when you’re in the saddle? Then this video is for you! I show you the process I took when working with a mare who bolted as soon as anyone tried to mount. This technique taught Lubie: How

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How to Make XC Jumping a Positive Experience for Your Horse – Freckles’ First Go at XC!

Taking Freckles cross-country for the first time, I wanted it to be an experience he enjoyed and that boosted his confidence and our relationship. It can be so easy to overface our horse or expect too much of them and end up in a bit of a battle. My approach is always to take it

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How to Teach Your Horse to Play Fetch – Trick Training with Positive Reinforcement

Trick training is a great way to have fun with your horse, build your communication and practice your training skills in a no-pressure way. This video gives you a quick overview of the steps I use to clicker train horses to play fetch. It’s simple, fun and always makes me smile – enjoy 🙂 For

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Groundwork: Using Mats and Pedestals for Despooking and Body Awareness

Gymnastic Groundwork Series Part 5 Teaching your horse to stand on different surfaces builds their awareness of foot placement is a great way to improve body awareness and confidence. Using soft mats and surfaces means that your horse has to use their little stabilising muscles and you can really see their body working to stay

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Groundwork Pole Exercises: Build confidence, body awareness and strength with clicker training

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

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In-Hand Work: Teaching Lateral Movements with Clicker Training

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?

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Horses Saying “Yes” and “No” – How to Read Your Horse’s Emotions

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

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How to Train Your Horse at Liberty | From getting started to lunging and freejumping!

This video shows you how to calmly and simply start liberty training with your horse… and then how to build progressively to exercises like liberty lunging, in-hand lateral work, horse agility and freejumping! Liberty is simply working your horse loose, without ropes or reins. We want our horses to choose to work with us at

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Build Your Riding Confidence Using Target Training – A Simple Technique for ALL Levels of Rider

Do you get anxious when riding your horse? How do you keep your horse calm, focused and listening when you ride? This targeting technique is really simple and I use it for horses and riders at all stages: # First steps from the mounting block so you’re connected from the start. # Teaching and refining

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Mounting a Young Horse for the First Time with Clicker Training | How to Stay Safe and Connected

Backing a young horse for the first time is often seen as something dangerous and dramatic. Horses who aren’t prepared can panic, bucking bolting and rearing. But, it doesn’t have to be that way! I believe that horses should have a positive experience when someone sits on their back for the first time and this

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