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 »
Teaching your horse to move different body parts independently is important for body awareness, communication, finding balance and as the foundation for lateral movements such as shoulder-in or haunches-in. Basically, you’re teaching your horse to isolate different body parts and put it on cue so that you can ask for: Lateral Flexions – where your
Horse In-Hand Work: Start Teaching Isolations 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 »
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
How to Train Your Horse at Liberty Read More »
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
Horse Riding Confidence with Target Training Read More »
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
Mounting a Young Horse for the First Time with Clicker Training 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 »
Horse agility is great for despooking, body awareness, variety, exercise and fun with your horse. This video shows how I work with horses at different stages in their agility training through a variety of obstacles. I’m training using positive reinforcement, which means that I use rewards for my horses, and I’m working at liberty. Weaving
How to Train Horse Agility with Clicker Training Read More »
This video continues the exercises from P1, where we were increasing relaxation in groundwork. Now, we’ve working on reducing tension and rushing when riding lateral exercises. (Watch P1 first) Tension when riding is common and is shown through behaviours such as rushing, resisting, tail swishing, ear-pinning, napping, spooking and getting anxious or, in the case
P2 Get More Relaxation When Riding: Stop Your Horse Rushing Read More »
The key to good training is getting motivation and relaxation in balance. With reward-based training (clicker training), it’s usually easy to get high levels of motivation, but that can get TOO high, meaning you lose relaxation. When your horse tries too hard, they often throw all their behaviours at you, rush through exercises, can’t stand
P1 Get More Relaxation and Softness in Groundwork Read More »
Stuck for groundwork training ideas? Want to build your relationship, improve your horse’s fitness and have fun without riding? This is the video for you! I love working my horses from the ground as it’s such a lovely way to communicate and work together. I enjoy finding exercises that build their strength, fitness and body
5 Things to Train When You Can’t Ride Your Horse Read More »
In-hand work includes teaching collection and lateral exercises from a leading position, both at liberty and with a lead rope. So, step one is ensuring that your horse leads well (this is often missed and causes lots of in-hand work problems!). Leading with connection means that you and your horse are walking together, staying in
Leading Horses with Connection Read More »
